I want to start this by thanking everyone who has been praying for our family. You can never know how much it helps to know that others are interceding on your behalf. That being said, Im pleading for your continued prayers. Many have asked for an update and this is the easiest way to reach everyone. It seems that things have gotten pretty tough for my father. On August 8th he was admitted to the VA in Syracuse with an extremely high potassium level and renal failure. That day he had a very difficult time with the necessary treatments and was placed in the ventilator. Last week I told you that they needed to do dialysis to help remove some of the fluid that had accumulated in his body because his kidneys were not able to do their job. They were able to remove a tremendous amount of fluid and try to wean him from the ventilator again. They were not successful. He has developed pneumonia to go along with his other issues. Today I spoke with the attending physician. He was very honest about Dads prognosis. He said that it is very poor. They cannot do enough dialysis to pull the remaining fluid because his heart cannot handle the process. His blood pressure drops and that causes his oxygen levels to drop as well. If they try to remove the ventilator, he will not be successful at breathing on his own because his body is very weak and his lungs have infection in them. They would have to put him back on the machine. There is no time frame they can give us either for him to improve or deteriorate. He can maintain, on that slippery edge, for quite some time, or he could rapidly decline. Ben and I have some very serious decisions to make over the next several days. This has been so very hard for Ben. It hurts my heart to hear the turmoil and sadness in his voice. Tonight I ask you to join me in prayers for Ben. I pray for comfort, peace, and strength. I pray Gods will with my father. And when it becomes necessary, I pray for traveling mercies. I pray for my Aunt Betsy and Uncle Charlie as well as our family and friends that are scattered throughout the country. Thank you for continuing to lift us up.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 02:20:38 +0000