i prefer pi

Yesterday was quite a day.  Mom called early in the morning to let me know that my Uncle Bob was undergoing an emergency open-heart surgery, and that he was not expected live.  My Aunt Ruth had said her good-bye to him, and unless the Lord Jesus Christ designed to intervene in a miraculous way, it would be their last.  Praise the Lord that he saw fit to extend my Uncle Bob’s life!

The following is an e-mail from my Aunt Ruth, received this morning:

Dearest Family and Friends,

Yesterday we saw a true miracle.  Around 7:30 a.m. the nurse asked me to come and kiss Bob goodbye around a multitude of tubes as they rushed him off to a “desperate attempt” at surgery.   She explained this would probably be the last kiss we would have.

I had been sitting watching Bob’s bed for the past 2 hours as over 30 medical people came and went, working rapidly, tubes were inserted, medications begun, and a stream of professionals consulted.  The many clots in Bob’s lungs were too large for his heart to push the blood through, and finally the nurse came over to tell me they were doing CPR on him.

The quiet truth of God’s love for us throughout our marriage overcame the noisy chaos of the room, as I kept repeating to God my gratefulness for 32 wonderful years with this man whom I adore, enjoy sparring with at times(!), and who has made me laugh over and over.

The surgeon had told me 30 minutes prior that if he tried open heart surgery again, in effort to remove the clots, Bob would bleed to death. Now, through my tears, Dr. Martin touched my shoulder and said they would be going to attempt surgery… which led to my hurried “good bye” kiss.

So… 10 hours later, after surgery, I came back to the same room.  Bob had returned with MORE tubing attached, still very sedated, and when I saw him look at me, my tears of amazement at God’s work started again.

Bob did NOT know he would have surgery again at Shands (he was rush-transported to Shands hospital for observation but they immediately had him put to sleep to start multiple interventions).  Last night he was confused and worried why he has a  breathing tube and so much more. However, overnight he was writing notes to the nurse on a clipboard to ask
questions, and that shows encouraging brain function.

We are eager to go visit him today but wanted to FIRST LET YOU KNOW that the God we serve is King of our lives, and He is entitled to do whatever He chooses with us.  How humbled and grateful we are to Him and to YOU for the continued gift of Bob’s life.

THANKS!!!

Ruth and Family

And from my cousin Bob, his son:

Dad is out of surgery, and that by itself is a miracle.  The highly-skilled physicians working on Dad did not expect him to survive the surgery; they did not know that an even Greater Physician was also at work.

The surgery that Dad went through was a surgery of last resort.  The doctors did not expect Dad to survive.  The head physician apparently repeated that multiple times to Mom after the surgery, either for emphasis or out of disbelief.  The expected mortality rate for someone in Dad’s position is apparently 99-100%.  It is not a stretch to call it a miracle that Dad is still alive.  The doctors have said that, despite doing their very best, it’s definitely not their doing; they thought they were operating on a dead man.

That’s not lost on the other medical workers there, either.  The Hindu nurse that administered the drugs that got Dad’s heart beating again (the first time, when it stopped due to clots, not the second time, due to the surgery) spoke to Mom.  She was apparently moved by what happened and how Mom was handling it.  She recognized the power of the God to which Mom prayered and asked Mom to pray with her for peace, which Mom did.  Only God knows what seed He may have planted as a result.

Dad is now in recovery.  His responses so far (he is unable to speak yet) lead those observing him to believe that his brain functionality may not have been significantly impaired.  Mom doesn’t think he looks that great, but the doctors are still amazed that he’s alive, so “not
dead” looks pretty good to them.

Once again, the next 24 hours are crucial.  Dad’s heart has been restarted a number of times now and needs to be carefully monitored.  Once Dad is stable, they still need to get to the root cause of why his blood has proven so difficult to thin and prone to clot.  God has done great things so far.  Though we don’t know what He will do next, as Dad told me the first time he was in the hospital, we will give God the glory whatever happens.

Praise the Lord!  His mercy endures forever.

See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
– Deuteronomy 32:39