Update 4-29-10

A bit of good news has been coming our way. Yesterday mom was in the room with dad and as she was heading to dinner she went over to tell dad she was leaving. She leaned over and said “Greg”. Immediately dad’s eyes opened! He began to move his arms and squirm. He even crinkled up his eye brows when mom said she was leaving. This was so exciting for us!


Dad responded today to the Doctors and has even been responding to commands such as “move this arm”, “wiggle your toes”, and “give me a thumbs up”. There is still greater movement on the right side but the doctors were encouraged and of course we have been thrilled.


Later mom was talking to someone in dad’s room. They were not talking specifically to dad but when mom said that Elizabeth caught her first fish dad raised his arm and gave the ‘ok’ sign. All of these reports lead us to believe dad is processing information. Because of this the medical staff is encouraging us to limit the times we try to stimulate dad through questions and information. When he is over stimulated his vitals reflect it. We are going to be letting you know of the best times to come up to the hospital if you want to visit. This way dad will be able to rest for designated periods of time and then be stimulated for designated periods of time. Those times should be coming soon.


After dad is awake generally there are many hours of him not responding at all. The staff says this is normal and as healthy people we may need a 15 minute nap to keep going but dad may need a several hour nap before another “awake” session.


Tonight after we got back in town I was able to get to the hospital for a little while to see dad. I was so excited to find out that he was awake! It was a little challenging because he is alert enough now to be frustrated about things. Just today he has started trying to mouth words. Of course, we normally have no clue what he is trying to communicate and this obviously causes frustration for him. I love to see the action and responses and life in dad and then after I have seen it I like to see him resting in peace. It’s hard to watch him hurt.


We are praising the Lord for the things He has done and are continuing in prayer for the many days ahead.

The prayer requests currently are:

1.) For continued healing for Dad’s brain

2.) For peace to be upon Dad as He is waking up

3.) Minimal pain for dad as He begins the recovery process

4.) Peace, health, and wisdom for Mom as she continues be by dad’s side every day.


The Tulsa Conference went well the past few days and now it is on with OCHEC. We are beginning that conference tomorrow. Please pray for the children’s hearts to be open to the promptings of the Lord!


Rachael

Update on Dad 4-27-10

Ummmm… wow. I think that is all I know to say to start this post. This weekend has been crazy and the week is only going to get busier. I want to first say how sorry I am that I have not been able to update this blog more often over the past several days. We do want to keep you all up to date because we value your prayers and we believe that pray works. I will continue to work to get to a computer and send updates your way.



I am writing this update from Tulsa, OK. As I type, Student Missionaries (aka young adults) from Western Hills Church are serving with Character Focus Ministries to reach children with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were about one hundred children in attendance today at the conference. (I will get an accurate count soon).



Things have been crazy here. I am trying to do what my Dad has done for us for so many years. I value his leadership, organization, and attention to detail so much. I have been trying to run registration and logistics this year… something I can do but do not enjoy near as much. My heart is to be WITH the kids and Student Missionaries. The Lord has allowed me opportunities to speak truth to both the kids and the youth, but my attention has been divided because of the responsibilities that must be fulfilled. Dad is so gifted at logistical leadership.



Speaking of Dad… I am sure that is why you are here. :) Uncle Scott (Dad’s brother) is in town with Dad while I am in Tulsa. Here is the update as of last night:



After a fairly uneventful weekend where Greg was very quiet, like in a deep sleep his vitals jumped for a bit this morning with his temperature and respiration rising quite a bit.



This afternoon they are down and closer to range thankfully. He is very active right now with his right arm and some movement in his head/neck area. He is not awake but seems to be responding to his body/pain. While I would do anything to take it away it is also good to see him reacting physically in some way. They have done two x-rays to check new areas for injury.



I am reminded of how much and how often Christ has born my pain and suffering. How He has stood in my place. I am truly grateful. We ask Him to take Greg's burden and ease his pain during this time. We also are asking for Greg to awaken at God's appointed time.



Thank you to all who are praying, to all who have written, called and texted. Special thanks to my cousin Dennis for sitting with Greg at 5 am the past few days. We love you.



Please continue to pray and believe with us. My friend Justin reminded me today to keep asking, to keep believing as my Father loves to give good gifts to His children.



Uncle Scott added this to Dad’s report this morning through a text message:



Greg is very restless this morning. He continues to move his right arm a lot. He is also shifting his head and shoulders. I thought I saw his left side move so I held his left hand and, with some degree of strength, he pushed down with his left arm! Definite movement that I saw. He seems really uneasy. Almost agitated (as is to be expected), but that is good. Vitals are good. 37.2 C on temp (about normal). His heart rate is 93 and the respiration is at 23 (both are in a good, safe range). Coughing a lot and you can tell it hurts. The amount of movement makes it stressful but it is a good sign for recovery. He has moved his left shoulder/elbow numerous times. Eyes open for a few minutes. Strong grip on his right hand.


These updates are encouraging! It means that Dad is moving in the right direction. Obviously there is still a long road of recovery to travel. We value your prayers SO MUCH. I would not be taking time to write an update during this conference if we did not believe prayer was vitally important.


One last thing… just want to do a shout out to my brothers, Jonathan and Justin. They have been so faithful to serve with us at Character Focus for so many years. Justin cannot be here because of his injuries. Jonathan has started a new season of life and is now working full time at Hobby Lobby. I know both of them (as well as my dad) would be here if they could. I also want to say thanks to my sister, Lauren (aka Sally). She was so key in the successful launch of Character Focus. Love you, sis! And, of course, I would like to tell my mom I love you. You are such a warrior of faith and love. I am praying for you. Fight the good fight and lean on Jesus.


Many children have made decisions for the Lord at the conference today! Again, I will get more numbers for you soon. We have another day after this one so keep us in your prayers!

Update 4-26-10

There haven’t been any real significant changes with Dad’s condition. He has continued to move a little but very limited. Last night and today his fever was up to 102.2. However I just received word that his temp is back down and his vitals are looking good. Praise the Lord! In the evenings dad seems to be “awake” more. He is moving his right arm quite a bit, moving his right leg, and even moving his head occasionally. His left side is not as active. Please continue to pray for healing in God’s perfect timing.



I thought a lot about Dad today. Maybe it was all of the trip preparations. While I was at the church packing our custodian asked me a question about the building. Without a thought the words began to flow right out of my mouth “You should probably call…” I caught myself before ending the sentence remembering that Dad wasn’t available to be called to answer questions about the building. Those realities come hard. But that is not the only reason why I thought of Dad today. At the beginning of the school year Dad began “FISH Club” in a middle school near our church. It started with 3 students who were Christians. Once a week, for the first three weeks they would have lunch with Dad and a few others. The fourth week is called “hook week” and they were all challenged to bring a friend. There have been many salvations and relationships built through this program. It has proved to be very effective. The club has grown each month through the members bringing friends on “hook week”. There were about 40 members regularly attending until this week. Today was “hook week” and there were over 60 middle school students in attendance! Brother Steve Harris shared the gospel and 35 students received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! Praise the Lord. Dad would have been so excited!


This journey is so unsure. The outcome is still foggy but through it all I have learned to trust Jesus more than ever. He is a great daddy and is willing to carry my burdens, wipe my tears, and comfort my hurts. I am so grateful for all the Lord has done for us!

Rachael

Another Update (Friday Night) - sorry it's late!

Here we are – day 13. Almost two weeks since the accident. So much can change in two weeks.

Sorry I didn’t update yesterday or this morning. I know many of you are watching the blog for updates regularly. I will do my best to stay consistent. I haven’t updated for two reasons: 1) There has been no significant changes in Dad's condition (up to this point) and 2) because conference season is here for Character Focus (a non-profit organization Rachael and I started to reach children with the gospel of Jesus Christ) and we are overloaded with preparations.

Dad has been pretty much the same for the last 48 hours. The doctors have come by a couple times. Each time they do, they are at peace with Dad’s condition and say that this type of injury just takes time.

Things have been quiet with Dad… until the past couple hours. Around 6pm this evening, Dad began to move his right arm even more! He reached all the way up to his mouth. Dad also moved his head some and has opened his eyes a little! The doctors also told us that his lungs are looking better and the pneumonia is clearing a little. Answers to prayer!!! These are all really good signs of recovery. We believe God is waking Dad up in His timing. Please continue to pray with us for complete healing.

I know Dad is going to wake up sometime between Monday night and Thursday morning. Why? Because I am going to be out of town those days and it would be just like Dad to wake up at a time that was least convenient. (I am just kidding, of course. Well, at least I am kidding about knowing about the timing of him waking up.) We will be out of town hosting a Character Focus children’s program in Tulsa, OK during the Easter Oklahoma Homeschool Convention. We are expecting a good crowd; please pray for us. Most of all, pray that we will be effective in reaching children for Jesus and training young adults to been genuine disciples of Jesus Christ. (more details about Character Focus at www.characterfocus.com)

This will be the first children’s programs with Character Focus that Dad will miss. We have four planned programs this year (Bethel, Tulsa, OCHEC, and Searcy). The Lord first gave me the vision for this ministry at 12 years old, and it started taking shape when I was 14. Dad has been there all the way. I know the Lord is faithful and will provide all we need, but I still miss my Dad.

Mom told me an encouraging story of hope this evening. The RN who is has been taking care of Dad recently was in a bad car accident. Her car was hit by a large truck and the impact pancaked her vehicle. They do not know how she even survived. She was in the very same sort of state that Dad is in right now. She was able to minister hope to Mom as she shared her testimony of God’s goodness and told mom that her family sees her as a walking miracle!

God has put so many people in place to encourage our family at just the right times. We have been so blessed by the prayers, cards, gifts, and visits from our friends and family. The Lord is so good. We are so grateful to serve an awesome God!

Justin is out of rehab and is doing well. They Myers’ clan has helped us in so many ways. We are so grateful! Justin is staying with the Myers for the first several nights away from the hospital and rehab. They are taking great care of him.

Mom has been able to go almost every night since the accident and rest. So many people are stepping in to serve her and our family at the house, hospital, church, and everywhere in between. Please continue to pray for healing for my Mom. She had another doctor’s appointment today.

I found out that we can add Nepal (located next to India) to the list of international places where believers are praying for Dad! Wow! I need to get a map going or something. If you know of anyone praying for Dad outside the states, please let me know by commenting so I can add them to a future post.

The Bethel children’s program is tomorrow. We are expecting a few dozen children to attend! All of these children are from homes without a father. We are hosting the children’s program during a single mom’s retreat put on by the Bethel Foundations (a ministry for single moms). Many of these children do not know Jesus. Please pray that the Lord will work as we share the gospel with them tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers!

Update on Dad (Wednesday Afternoon) & Visiting Hours

Dad is still resting at the hospital in ICU. He has not woken up from surgery yet, but that is to be expected. He is still on pain meds, blood pressure meds, and a little sedation. They are watching him closely and working on brining the levels of medication back down. The respirator has been doing a lot of breathing for him, but they are weaning him off slowly today.

A praise report is that there is no more blood in his urine! A good sign that the repair done to the bladder was successful.

Dad is doing well, but he needs to rest. Yesterday was exciting as he began to open his eyes and blink. We hope to see him responding again soon. However, just because he is responding doesn’t mean his brain is ready to work all the time. We need to let him rest. We would like to ask our friends and extended family to help us with this by not going into the ICU area without permission. We are allowing Dad’s immediate families (his wife, his children, his mother, and his brother) to come into ICU. Other than that, please obtain permission from one of these people before you go back to see him. Thank you for helping us do what is best for Dad’s recovery.

Please continue to pray for Dad:
1. Quick recovery from surgery
2. Blood clots to dissolve
3. Healing from pneumonia and infection

You could also pray for our family as we work through insurance, medical bills, replacing the car, rehab, home bills, and other paperwork items. These things are not very important to us when we consider the overall circumstances. However, they are responsibilities that take time, attention to detail, and wisdom to know what is best. Thanks for your prayers.


Justin has LOVED having all the visitors! So many people have come to visit him, and he is so grateful. The young people from Western Hills and YOUGROW are going to visit Justin tonight after church from about 8:00pm-9:00pm. There is a meeting room downstairs reserved for all our guests. We hope that you will be able to come and see him during this time.

Because of all the visitors, Justin hasn’t had much time to rest. Justin has asked for some time to nap before all his guests come this evening. Please no visitors from 5:00pm-7:30pm.

If you are coming tonight, Justin is at the Jim Thorpe Rehab Center at Integris Southwest on 44th and Western.

Dad's Out of Surgery (Tuesday Afternoon)

Dad was not able to go back for surgery until around noon today. He just came out of the OR. Here is the update:

Dr. Roberts says that he feels the surgery was successful. They put a plate in to stabilize his pelvis. The doctors said he would have liked to put a plate in that was a little larger, but because of the bladder injury they were limited by the size of the incision. They do feel as though all the breaks have been corrected and that the pelvis will heal on its own. Although there were hopes of removing the external fixator, the doctors decided that it will need to remain in place for 4-6 weeks (which is better than the initial prediction of three months).

They stitched Dad’s bladder up while he was in surgery. They feel good about the repair that was done.

Dad will be back in ICU shortly. There are still questions revolving around long term damage. There is a possibility of nerve damage in Dad’s lower back, as well as effects that the trauma could have had on his brain. These concerns cannot be addressed until Dad is awake and able to participate in tests assessing his condition. We do not have any indication that there is long term damage, but because of the injuries it is certainly a possibility. Please pray that God would work in his body and that there will be no long term damage. Our prayer is that Dad will be able to make a 100% recovery.

Justin continues to improve. He is looking forward to seeing his dad. There is a possibility of that happening this week.

The risk of infection is ever present after surgery. Dad still has pneumonia and blood clots. Please pray for healing to continue in his body.

The doctors cannot give a timeline for him waking up, but they are hopeful that it will happen quicker than the last surgery. Please continue to keep Dad and our family in your prayers.


Here is a web album of the Explorer Dad and Justin had their wreck in:

Dad and Justin's Car Wreck

Quick Update (Monday Night)

Our last YOUGROW (Character Focus Youth Discipleship Ministry) for
this season was tonight. This ends the third year. God has done so
much. He is so good. Dad has normally been there at the end. Miss you,
Dad.

Dad's surgery did not happen today. The doctors say that Dad's surgery
might happen tomorrow morning at 7:30am. It could be later. Please
continue to pray for the clots to dissolve and for healing from the
pnemonia and infection.

Please pray for Justin as he and our family make decisions about what
is best for his recovery.

Thanks for praying!

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks,
-Brandon

Update on Dad (Monday Afternoon)

Dad has opened his eyes! There is still limited response, but it has been encouraging to talk with him and see his eyes again. He even blinks when we ask him to! This is a great sign. He seems to be more responsive by the minute. We have been careful on the amount of information we have given him, but we have been able to tell him that Justin is okay, that things are good at church, and that all of you are praying for him. Please don’t stop! Prayer is really amazing, and I believe that it is working! God is good!

We have to take the good news with a grain of salt – surgery is scheduled for today. Dad has not gone back for surgery yet. It is not uncommon for these procedures to get bumped to a later time. We are hopeful that it will happen today so that he can begin recovery sooner. However, we are willing to wait and trust God for His perfect timing.

Dad needs God to continue to bring healing, so we ask you to continue to pray. Here are the prayer requests:
1. Dad has at least two blood clots (one in each arm). Pray that they would dissolve completely.
2. The doctors have Dad on antibiotics for infection and pneumonia. Please pray that he would be completely healed of the infection and pneumonia.
3. Please pray that the surgery would go well and would happen in perfect timing. Pray that Dad would recover quickly.
4. Pray against long term damage in his body (especially his brain and pelvis)


Doctors are so limited, but God is so able. Healing certainly comes from the Lord. Everything the doctors do is just to try to make Dad comfortable and healthy… they always tell us that it will take “time” for him to heal (aka God’s working hand and incredible design).

We have been reminded through this entire process that we are not the only ones who are suffering. There are so many people around us who are in pain. It is especially easy to remember that truth on this day (April 19). 15 years ago tragedy struck many families in our city. Our hearts and prayers are with those who are still affected by the 1995 OKC Bombing.

When tragedy strikes, there is not much to hold on to. The feeling of hopelessness can be overwhelming at times. God has certainly encouraged our hearts before this surgery by seeing Dad awake; however, there have been many days throughout this process that have brought feelings of grief, fear, sadness, and loneliness. I could not image facing these things without the hope of Jesus. I know that many people would say, “How can you believe in a God that would allow these things to happen?” I say to you – how can you not? God is so faithful. We trust God is bringing healing and restoration to my dad’s body. We trust Him for the outcome. He is our rock, our anchor, our hope, our security, our fortress, our mighty God… in Him we trust. Even if Dad does not live, we will still praise God. Why? Because Jesus Christ has paid the price for our eternal souls to live with God forever. Apart from God I would have no hope for life after death, but would spend eternity separated from God in hell. But because of God’s great love, I will see Dad again… whether he lives or dies. Because of Jesus sacrifice Dad will be healed… either in this earthly body or by receiving a new body that knows no suffering or pain. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for the hope of eternity and life everlasting. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain. I love Jesus so much and I am so grateful for the hope and comfort He brings.

Do you know Jesus? Do you know that hope, peace, and love that comes from a relationship with Him? If you don’t know Him, it is not too late. Come to Jesus, He loves you.

(if you need to know more about how to know Jesus, call 405-634-1454 and ask to speak with a pastor)