For those who believe in the power of prayer, my family could sure use some big prayers this morning.
As some might remember, I shared over the summer about my brother’s battle with cancer. The good news to report this morning on this front is that we have made progress on the cancer that was originally detected in May. We’re far from out of the woods yet though. My brother has been routinely making the trip to BS&W in Dallas several times per week for appointments, blood work and treatments. Friday morning, I drove him to Dallas for a routine set of labs. As he got in the truck, I could instantly sense that he didn’t feel good. Within 20 minutes of getting him checked in for his lab work the doctors came in and informed us they were admitting him to an ICU room for possible infection. Fortunately, they and we got on top of it quickly, and I think we’re making progress to getting the infection under control. If all goes well, he’ll begin his final 96-hour round of chemo on Tuesday or Wednesday this week with a stem cell transplant to follow in 4-6 weeks.
On top of all of that, my mother was hit with a Covid diagnosis last month. She is a diabetic and has some heart issues. Not long after thinking we were over Covid, she had a biopsy performed on her kidney because she’s been having some kidney issues over the summer. Two weeks ago today she passed out in church and was rushed via ambulance to the emergency room in Waco. After a number of tests and an extremely low blood pressure that day, they determined she has been having a slow internal bleed from the kidney biopsy. They operated on her that evening and got the bleed stopped. Since then she has carried over 30 pounds of fluid build up while in the hospital. This past week we thought we were getting close to being able to bring her home. However, Thursday night her oxygen levels began to drop. After some additional scans and tests, they found that Covid is still present in her body as well as battling pneumonia.
Last night during the 4th quarter collapse, I received a call from my dad saying that ICU was preparing to put her on a ventilator. They have since done so and have now proned her as well. They are planning to start her on dialysis today to see if they can get some fluid off of her. I’ve been here with her by her side since the call.
Doctors have not given a hard outlook at this point, but based upon my own untrained eye test, the outlook seems to pretty grim. Not sure of the timeline we’re looking at, but it seems like it’s being sped up by the hour.
If you don’t mind, our family could just use some prayers right now. We are all overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, tired and all the other emotions that come with a season of life like this. More than anything, we’re a very close-knit family. We all live within a mile of one another. So it’s extremely hard to be split between two hospitals two hours apart right now.
Friday 9/15 update: God is good! Mom came off the ventilator midweek and has continued to progress and is now completely breathing on her own. She's still got a long recovery ahead of her. But, she should come out of ICU either today or tomorrow. As for my brother, he's doing better as well. He was admitted to BS&W Dallas last Friday and treated for an infection. The infection is under control. They've changed his treatment plan up. He will now remain in the hospital in Dallas receiving treatments every other day leading up to his stem cell transplant. We're in a much better place this time today than we were several days ago. Thank you all for lifting us up in prayer. We serve a powerful God!
Update— 10/13: After a long, tough 7 week stay here in the hospital, we made the extremely difficult decision to transition my mom into hospice care this afternoon. For the most part she is resting comfortably and is at peace here in the days leading up to her passing. Today has been the toughest day of my life. My mom is a special, special lady. A wonderful wife of 41 years, a wonderful mother to 3 sons and the best “Meme” to her 5 grandkids. She is 69 which seems way too young. My heart aches because my 7 month old son will never remember his grandmother. Mom was a Christian and served the Lord with all of her heart.
Probably irrelevant, but mom, loved the Red Raiders!!
As some might remember, I shared over the summer about my brother’s battle with cancer. The good news to report this morning on this front is that we have made progress on the cancer that was originally detected in May. We’re far from out of the woods yet though. My brother has been routinely making the trip to BS&W in Dallas several times per week for appointments, blood work and treatments. Friday morning, I drove him to Dallas for a routine set of labs. As he got in the truck, I could instantly sense that he didn’t feel good. Within 20 minutes of getting him checked in for his lab work the doctors came in and informed us they were admitting him to an ICU room for possible infection. Fortunately, they and we got on top of it quickly, and I think we’re making progress to getting the infection under control. If all goes well, he’ll begin his final 96-hour round of chemo on Tuesday or Wednesday this week with a stem cell transplant to follow in 4-6 weeks.
On top of all of that, my mother was hit with a Covid diagnosis last month. She is a diabetic and has some heart issues. Not long after thinking we were over Covid, she had a biopsy performed on her kidney because she’s been having some kidney issues over the summer. Two weeks ago today she passed out in church and was rushed via ambulance to the emergency room in Waco. After a number of tests and an extremely low blood pressure that day, they determined she has been having a slow internal bleed from the kidney biopsy. They operated on her that evening and got the bleed stopped. Since then she has carried over 30 pounds of fluid build up while in the hospital. This past week we thought we were getting close to being able to bring her home. However, Thursday night her oxygen levels began to drop. After some additional scans and tests, they found that Covid is still present in her body as well as battling pneumonia.
Last night during the 4th quarter collapse, I received a call from my dad saying that ICU was preparing to put her on a ventilator. They have since done so and have now proned her as well. They are planning to start her on dialysis today to see if they can get some fluid off of her. I’ve been here with her by her side since the call.
Doctors have not given a hard outlook at this point, but based upon my own untrained eye test, the outlook seems to pretty grim. Not sure of the timeline we’re looking at, but it seems like it’s being sped up by the hour.
If you don’t mind, our family could just use some prayers right now. We are all overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, tired and all the other emotions that come with a season of life like this. More than anything, we’re a very close-knit family. We all live within a mile of one another. So it’s extremely hard to be split between two hospitals two hours apart right now.
Friday 9/15 update: God is good! Mom came off the ventilator midweek and has continued to progress and is now completely breathing on her own. She's still got a long recovery ahead of her. But, she should come out of ICU either today or tomorrow. As for my brother, he's doing better as well. He was admitted to BS&W Dallas last Friday and treated for an infection. The infection is under control. They've changed his treatment plan up. He will now remain in the hospital in Dallas receiving treatments every other day leading up to his stem cell transplant. We're in a much better place this time today than we were several days ago. Thank you all for lifting us up in prayer. We serve a powerful God!
Update— 10/13: After a long, tough 7 week stay here in the hospital, we made the extremely difficult decision to transition my mom into hospice care this afternoon. For the most part she is resting comfortably and is at peace here in the days leading up to her passing. Today has been the toughest day of my life. My mom is a special, special lady. A wonderful wife of 41 years, a wonderful mother to 3 sons and the best “Meme” to her 5 grandkids. She is 69 which seems way too young. My heart aches because my 7 month old son will never remember his grandmother. Mom was a Christian and served the Lord with all of her heart.
Probably irrelevant, but mom, loved the Red Raiders!!
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