The Longest Day Ever

Here is what happened today:

When we got to the hospital he was in kidney failure (4:30 a.m.). He is on Dopamin to keep his blood pressure up and another medication to keep his heart rate up. He had told the night shift nurse, myself and my father (who is not bearing up at all during this) that he did not want to go on the ventilator and he did not want dialysis. They put him on Dopamin to keep his blood pressure up until we could all get there. The nurses changed shifts at 7 am and we had to wait for the doctor's to make their rounds and also to talk to the new attending doctor on duty. He brought us in and explained that our option was to stop treatment based on what my brother had said or to go ahead with dialysis anyways despite my brothers' wishes. We said we wanted our brothers' wishes to be upheld and then we made a BUNCH of very HARD decisions regarding a DNR - codes, CPR, shocking, antibiotics, Dopamin turned off, etc. The doctor went in to explain to my brother that he would be kept on the ventilator, but no other treatment would be given (IVs, feeding tube feedings, etc.) based on his wishes and my brother at this point changed his mind and asked them to start dialysis if there was any chance it would save him. A complete change of events. So when we left, they were inserting a Swan-Ganz catheter, an ATR (?) and starting a type of dialysis that might start his kidneys working again (50-50% chance). I went ahead and brought the kids back home. The emotional drama and the lack of no sleep is just too much right now.

IF the treatment works, they will know by tomorrow, but honestly I will be AMAZED if it does. He is swollen up SO large, that he is barely recognizable. At that point if his kidneys are not receptive, we will most likely have to go through all of this again. He is on 100% oxygen (full ventilator settings) and his lungs are failing as well. PLEASE be in prayer for my brother's salvation and also for my father. It was horrendous to go through this and I don't think he can go through it again emotionally.

Philippians 4 verses 6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jeff

Just received a call from my brother's nurse saying that they were transferring him up to Trauma Intensive Care Unit because his blood pressure was down to 71 today. He is grossly swollen and his kidneys are not working. They are wanting to put him on dialysis tomorrow. It is not looking good at all. He is in the process tonight of telling nurses what he wants and they are writing it down. I will have to go down tomorrow and read what he has written, try to talk to him and then sign papers indicating what he wants done. Please be in prayer for our family. This is a very hard place to be in. Love,

Melissa

My brother's "cardioversion" went great and his heart rate is back to normal at 82 and completely back in rhythm. Just wanted to let everyone know real quickly that things went well!

Melissa

Prayer for Jeff

Please pray for my brother today. He is going to have a procedure called "cardioversion" at 1:00 p.m. today. They will shock his heart to try to get it back in rhythm. The kids and I will be going down this afternoon after the procedure to visit with him.

Also, Chris and I are going to be going to an event called "Walk To Emmaus" in September. We are really looking forward to it. If you would like to read about it, you can go to the website upperroom.com to read about it. We are asking our friends and families to pray for us during these weeks leading up to our Walk and that we will learn and grow during the weekends that we attend.

I just had a few minutes to post and I hope this post finds everyone doing well. FYI - I am going to try to post in the next few days about our experience last week drywalling our upstairs. Let's just say it was full of excitement (arguments) and a great learning experience (we had NO idea what we were getting into!) :)

Love,

Melissa

Fun in the Sun

Abby and Emma at my sister's pool with their new friends, Noah and Matthew!

Update

My brother, Jeff, is pretty much still in the same condition. He has movement in his arms (gross motor movement - no fine motor skills) and can wiggle his toes. That looks like all he will regain. It is also looking like he will be on the ventilator (tracheostomy) from here on out. He had some respiratory difficulties Sunday morning and had to have some blood and also had to go back on higher settings on his ventilator. He told me when I went to see him yesterday that he had almost died. I asked the nurse and she said "yes" it was a very close one. Please keep praying not only for his healing, but especially for his salvation. Blessings to all - Melissa

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another not lacking in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you - bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:9-15

FATHER'S DAY 2007

Happy 4th!

Update - my brother will likely get to go into a "step-down" unit today or tomorrow. The next step is finding a facility that will accept ventilator patient's to care for him until we see exactly what type of recovery he is going to have.

We were going down to see him this afternoon, but the kids are sick and we are going to go sit in the doctor's office instead. I was looking forward to getting down there, but God is in control. If they feel better, we will try and go down to Chris' mom's for the 4th and come back in the evening.

I wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July! Thank goodness for our men in the service who insure our freedom!

Love,

Melissa

Jeff

I saw my brother yesterday afternoon and was actually able to communicate a little with him by reading lips. He has a tracheostomy tube now and that has given him some relief as far as breathing goes. He still has a fever, a blood infection and pneumonia, but he is on antibiotics and hopefully that will clear up soon. He has had a little movement (gross motor movement) in his arms, but obviously still none in his legs and the movement in his arms is not really all that great. He is still considered quadriplegic.

Please keep praying for him and also for guidance as far as all the decisions that our family needs to make regarding his future care. I am going this afternoon to pick the girls up from camp and then will be spending the weekend in Chattanooga. Love to all!

Melissa

Pictures from Camp

Here are some pictures of the girls at camp. Please keep praying for my brother - he has had a tracheostomy put in and hopefully that will give him a little more comfort and relief. He was my faithful blog reader.........