A Close Call

Christmas was a lovely time as a family, all things considered. I certainly didn’t have any illusions that it would be anything like a normal family Christmas, so my expectations turned out pretty realistic. Between a lot of help with the kids, and a ton of generosity from family and friends, we were very blessed. Thank you to all of you who gave gifts to the kids and made us our turkey dinner.

It was Boxing Day that was a very, very tough day. Let me take you through my Facebook status updates/prayer requests:

December 26 at 3:04pm Please pray that the major bleed right now stops. It's been fifteen minutes now. This is potentially life-threatening.

- Daniel and I were snuggling listening to a sermon, and he gave a normal cough. Then he started pointing to his neck under the tumor and I saw the blood streaming down. I ran to get his nurse. For the next twenty minutes or more she pressed hard on the area to staunch the bleeding, using towel after towel to soak up the blood. It was streaming down both sides of him on the mattress.

3:25pm Big clot under his trache but the bleeding seems to have stopped. Still precarious. He lost a lot of blood.

- A huge clot finally formed, but the risk of it dislodging were extremely high. He likely wouldn’t be able to survive another bleed like that again.

4:18pm Pray that the clot stabilizes, and that God would yet be glorified by healing him. His will be done.

- Daniel needed trache care so his breathing could be eased, but the med team couldn’t do anything about that because of the sensitivity of the clot and risk of fatal bleeding.

6:44pm They can't get the iv started. They keep losing it. His white blood cell count is up. His heart is working really hard. They want to give him the coagulant and saline to help. Need the iv.

- His arm was poked all over the place; I lost count of how many times they tried to put in an IV.

- Since the last update, I had gone home and picked up my kids and my mom, so we could meet Daniel’s mom and brother at the hospital as we were already planning to have a little Christmas gift opening. While the gifts never got opened, it was so good to have everyone there, especially because we didn’t know if Daniel would survive.

7:19pm I'll probably be staying at the hospital for the next several hours. Daniel isn't anywhere near out of the woods yet with the effects of his major bleed (see my previous status). Please keep praying as we wait expectantly for God. He is good. His will be done.

- It was hour after agonizing hour of waiting to see how things would turn out. So many people praying. Thank you.

8:22pm Daniel is still resting. They just finished with a med using a nebulizer for clotting. And another rn was finally successful with the iv. Praise God. So they'll be giving him other meds and saline in that to help.

- The nebulizer turned the medicine into a vapour that Daniel then breathed in through his trache. His lungs then absorbed the medicine into his bloodstream. The IV that was finally successful was a smaller size than what they tried before. It was all that worked. Plus, because of his fever, his skin was clammy all over which made the IV bandage not stick which only increased the risk it wouldn’t last.

9:33pm Please pray that the care for his trache they need to do will be only successful and not start more bleeding.

- This was the second hardest part of the day. The team had to do the care so Daniel could breathe better, knowing that even the most precise movements could still cause a fatal bleed. I told the nurse that there were hundreds of people praying for her and the team.

10:06pm Trache care was a success. The nurse said to thank you all for praying.

- The nurse that was leading all of this is one of our favorites. She is so devoted to Daniel’s care, even when she’s not assigned to him that shift. She extended her shift and worked 16 hours that day so she could stay with Daniel and see him through this crisis. She was back seven hours later for another shift. She’s not a Christian.

10:34pm The plan is to give him a unit of blood. It's a fine line. Too much fluid and it could cause pressure on the clot and make it open. Too little blood and his heart will become exhausted.

Please keep praying for wisdom and healing, and above all that God's will would be done and He would get all the glory.

- Daniel’s nurse said later that she was actually amazed that the small sized IV worked with the transfusion. Another answer to prayer. She also said she expected Daniel to lose pulse in his feet, but she could still detect it and that was very encouraging.

- Thank you to Sandy for coming and supporting Daniel and I through this hard time!

11:53pm I'm home now. Daniel is feeling more alert. Sandy said he is as stable as he can get. So, I'm home to sleep and regain my strength.

- It was an incredibly trying day, filled with intense prayer and constant vigilance over Daniel. Once Sandy came, I was finally comfortable to eat a little (I was weak with my “natural fasting”), and was just utterly spent.

- Daniel was already recovering well. He was alert, no fever, and was even using an oral syringe to put some ice water in his mouth to help him feel better.

December 27 at 1:44pm Daniel is feeling better. Thank you for praying. Keep praying for strength and that God would be glorified, that He would heal Daniel.

- Dec. 27 is our anniversary. Six years. During so much of the previous day it seemed hard to believe he would live to see this day. That evening, we watched our wedding DVD. It’s been such a long road, that it was so nice, though bittersweet, to see and remember how Daniel used to be. Yes, that’s how hard this road has been and continues to be. Daniel hasn’t spoken since May, and not normally since January’s biopsy. But nor do I want to dwell on how things used to be because I need to able to cope with the now so I can serve Daniel where he is at now. 

Some have asked, why did it bleed? It’s because the grapefruit-sized tumor on his jaw/neck, as well as the smaller lesions surrounding it on both sides, is just open tumor, no skin. It’s awful. And the way cancer works is it throws out blood vessels in front of it to feed itself. The tumor is a random mass of anatomy – an awful effect of a fallen and sin-filled world. God’s wonderful mechanisms run amok.

So, since then the medical team has been working on getting Daniel’s levels back to his normal. He received another three units of blood today. This morning I met yet another new hospitalist doctor who has Daniel this week. With each new face we encounter, I view it as another opportunity to briefly share our faith and perspective, trusting God will use it for His glory.  

Thank you to all who kept vigil over Facebook and prayed incessantly for Daniel and I. Your prayers did and do make a difference. Please pray for Daniel’s cough, as the irritation in his trachea can not only be bothersome, but can be painful and as we’ve seen, cause extreme complications. Pray for continued strength, peace, protection, provision, and joy. God knows what He is doing, and He is faithful and will sustain us through whatever He allows us to endure, for His glory and our ultimate good. And please continue to pray for full healing and restoration, not only for Daniel’s sake and our family’s, but for the sake of so many unbelievers connected near and far, that they would see God’s mighty power displayed and believe.

To God be the glory; His will be done.