The past 6 weeks have held MANY challenges for my father, my family and myself. In order to spare you all the details, let's just start with "my dad had a bad fall" and go from there. After the fall he had to undergo surgery on his brain in order to release a build up of fluid and blood. This is a fairly common surgery performed by neurologists and we knew he would spend a few days in the hospital, but NEVER did we expect what actually happened. We took my Dad to the hospital, spent some time in the pre-op dressing room joking around with him and praying over him and told him "bye" as he headed off for surgery. We met him in a room after recovery and talked to him a bit and decided to leave the hospital for him to get some rest. This is when our world as we knew it turned upside down.
My dad suffered post-operative seizures that left him in a coma for 10 days. He developed pneumonia during that time and had to be placed on a ventilator in order to get adequate oxygen to his lungs for healing. The outlook was bleak in our eyes, although the neurologist kept telling us to pray and that he was optimistic. So pray we did and I mean we PRAYED!!
On day 9 of my dad being unconscious, they began to talk to us about the possibility of a feeding tube and performing a tracheotomy. My sister and I discussed the issues and decided that a feeding tube was not an option and I prepared myself for the worst, for you see I had already been down this road with my brother and it was long, hard, dark and ended in having to tell my brother goodbye.
Day 10: I walked into ICU to talk with the nurses and physicians and see my Dad. Imagine my surprise when I got into the ICU unit and my Dad's nurse said "your dad is waking up. His eyes are open." And, she wasn't kidding. My dad was waking up and not only waking up, but trying to talk and pull his ventilator tube out. PRAISE GOD doesn't even capture the joy I felt - as a matter of fact, I don't think I would be able to put into words the way my heart and soul felt at that moment and the moments following when I was there to watch my Dad come back around.
But, this isn't even the most amazing part. The most amazing part was my Dad's telling Chris and I (and the next day telling my sister and her family) that he had been in heaven. He had seen my Mother and he had seen Jeff. He had been there with them........and that my friends is where my story of healing begins. I hope to be able to put into words the way God used that experience to heal a huge hole in my heart. I pray I will be able to verbalize it in a way I can share with those around me. I want to testify to God's grace and mercy in my life and also in the life of my family through this entire experience. So, for now, let's just say this story is to be continued............
