Update on Dad and Justin (Monday Morning - going into surgery)

Dad and Justin are being taken back into the OR for surgery. Justin’s surgery should last about one hour, and we should be able to see him in two hours. If a room opens up, he will be moved out of ICU and into a room after surgery. If not, he will return to ICU.

Dad’s surgery is not as sure. The surgery should last 2-6 hours. He will need some down time after the surgery before he returns to ICU. We hope to be able to see him later this evening or tonight before visiting hours close in the ICU at 10pm.

The surgery plan is to repair his pelvis bone and provide the stability he needs to recover. We are hopeful that the surgeons may not have to make a large incision. However, if necessary, the surgeons may need to open him up to repair the damage. If they do, they will also repair his bladder. If they don’t have to open him up, the bladder will heal on its own over time (there has already been some improvement!).

The doctors say that if everything goes as planned, dad should be in the same condition that he was today by tomorrow morning… except his injuries would have been taken care of. That means we would be able to stop focusing on repair and start down the road to recovery! At that point, we would be able to start talking about timelines for removing the ventilator and sedation.

So here’s the deal, pray hard now. Pray that God would guide the hands of the surgeons. Pray that Jesus would bring comfort to Dad and Justin's hearts through the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. Pray that Dad would continue to fight and never give up. Pray that Justin’s surgery would be clean and allow for quick recovery. Pray for my mom as she deals with leaving my dad and brother and spends time with the Lord. And while you’re at it, pray for complete healing for my mom’s medical condition.

Prayer is critical right now. Please pray hard, and pray now. Don’t stop praying today. We can feel your prayers and we can see God move. We know that prayer matters, so please continue.

We will give an update after the surgeries. Until then, continue to pray.

We can add Australia to the list of international places of prayer for our family. Hannah Jernigan (sorry, I don't know your new last name) is there with her new husband. They and thousands of people at Hillsong are praying for Dad, Justin, and our family.