Hello all. I wanted to let you know that we have confirmed our travel details to get back home-- that word sounds really nice about right now! We are scheduled to fly out of Orange County/John Wayne Int'l Airport at 9:35 p.m. Pacific Time on a flight to Atlanta. We are due to arrive in ATL around 5 a.m. We have about a 2 hour layover in ATL before we board a flight to RDU around 7:30. We are due to touch down at RDU about 8:50 a.m. on Friday morning. I don't know how many of you have ever flown from West to East, but it is challenging under even the best of circumstances, which clearly we are not. Nonetheless, we very much look forward to arriving back at home by 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Please pray for our safety during travel, particularly for Dad's safety. There is always the risk of another seizure during the flight, so we will be traveling with medicine that can address that issue should it arise. If you're looking for something specific to pray for, please pray that he will not have a seizure at all-- ever again in his life, preferably :)
Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. I don't know how we will ever repay everyone for their help during the past week. Please know that we have been very humbled at the way in which you have surround dad and our family during this time.
I may provide one more update before we go. If I'm unable to, then we look forward to seeing you back at home.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
GREAT NEWS!!!
Hello all. We have just received some wonderful news! Dad has been cleared to leave the hospital and travel home! When we arrived at the hospital today, the neurologist and the head of the medical team were in visiting with dad and relayed to us the good news! He is stable and has made great progress and they are planning to discharge him later this afternoon. Praise God!
We are working on finding a way to get back home right now. We hope to be able to secure a flight for either today or tomorrow. Once we know more about our travel plans, we will pass them along.
I have one request-- whatever you are doing right now, please stop, take a moment and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the work that He has performed this week. We know we still have a long road ahead, but this is a big milestone and it was all made possible by God's grace and mercy.
Also, please begin to pray for our travel. First for us to be able to secure flights and secondly that dad will be able to travel without incident.
Thank you all for your prayers, love and support. We feel so good knowing that we have a wonderful family in all of you. I'll post more a little later, but for now, THANK GOD!
We are working on finding a way to get back home right now. We hope to be able to secure a flight for either today or tomorrow. Once we know more about our travel plans, we will pass them along.
I have one request-- whatever you are doing right now, please stop, take a moment and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the work that He has performed this week. We know we still have a long road ahead, but this is a big milestone and it was all made possible by God's grace and mercy.
Also, please begin to pray for our travel. First for us to be able to secure flights and secondly that dad will be able to travel without incident.
Thank you all for your prayers, love and support. We feel so good knowing that we have a wonderful family in all of you. I'll post more a little later, but for now, THANK GOD!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday Evening Update
Hello all. I realize that it is the middle of the night on the east coast, but here in the west, it is just about 10:45 and we've had a very busy day. Dad continues to make progress on several fronts. He was able to get out of the bed, walk down the hall a couple of times and he's able to get up and go to the bathroom. You never realize how big a deal something like that is until you are unable to do that for a period of time. Appreciating the ordinary-- that's definitely a lesson that we've all learned the past few days.
Dad currently has a urinary tract infection. The infection came about b/c of E. Coli. I know-- when I first heard that, I was a little startled as well. However, it appears that it is not an uncommon infection and also the antibiotic he was on before today (Cipro) made him more susceptible to the infection. His antibiotic has been changed and we hope he is on the road to getting past that infection.
Dad is mostly very tired and we're trying to make sure he gets as much rest as possible. However, we do read him your comments when he's feeling up to it and he enjoys every one of them. Thanks for sending them along-- they really help keep his spirits up.
We met with two doctors this evening. The first is a resident neurologist. We still haven't heard back from the results of the MRI that was done on Monday afternoon. I let this doctor know that we are tired of waiting and that I needed him to find out the results right away (OK, I was forceful, but in a nice way about it :) He did a little checking and was able to get his hands on the MRI. However, he indicated that he needed to consult with the chief neurologist in the morning as the chief is better qualified to read it and talk with us about it. So, we're waiting a little longer. The bottom line-- we want someone to be looking at the MRI to get a better assessment of the situation and to share that info with our medical team back in NC.
The second doctor we met with is the head of dad's medical team at St. Mary's. She is one of the best doctors we've met with thus far as she has a great bedside manner and a good way of explaining the situation so that we can understand. We talked about dad's status-- he continues to be stable, good blood pressure, good blood sugar, good oxygen levels-- and she talked about some of the next steps ahead. Tomorrow, her team will be meeting with a case worker in the hospital to begin devising a plan/coordinating details to transport dad back home. They have indicated that it would be their preference for a "home health nurse" to travel with dad as well as have the appropriate medicines on-hand during the flight to administer them to him in the event that another seizure should strike. The doctor told dad that he's "a healthy person" in that all of his organs and his body in general are in good shape, but he has the lesions on his brain so we would need to take extra precautions with a flight. Please note that this is in the event that everyone on the medical teams (LB & NC) feel that the trip back home is advisable. While we pray and hope that this will be the case, we want what is best for dad to take care of this situation. This is definitely an area you can be in prayer for us on.
We've also been in touch with Dr. O'Lila at UNC-CH and he indicated that he's anxious to have dad back home so he can "get to work" on this. My dad, and our family, think very highly of Dr. O'Lila as well as Dr. Olajide (oncologist at Rex) and that is why we have them weighing in on the situation.
Dad received several of his ASPE friends today at the hospital as they are wrapping up their convention and returning home. We were grateful for their support of dad when we could not be here in the initial hours of all of this. For that matter, we are grateful to everyone for their love and support as we know you've all been reaching across the country to help us during this difficult time.
I did want to update on a couple of items from earlier: 1) we have secured our hotel rooms through at least Monday of next week. We hope we won't need them, but we at least have them. Thank you for your prayers in that area. 2) I'm feel much better as I got some rest this morning and took some decongestant to alleviate the crud I was experiencing. Again, thanks for your prayers for me-- it is easy to get so focused on providing support for others that you forget to take care of yourself.
Please continue to pray for our family (all of us-- here in LB and those back home in NC). As you know, my brother-in-law, Josh, returned home on Tuesday and my wife, Melinda, is at home with both of our children (3 yr. old & 5 month old). It is a time like this that test a family's strength and I would like to request prayer to make sure those bonds remain very tight. Also, please continue to pray for dad for total and complete recovery. I'm not picky-- God can make the disease simply disappear or it can go away with the help of treatment, but please pray for complete and total recovery.
Well, that's it for today. I'm sure I left out a lot of details, so if I think of anything else, I'll update in the morning. I do want to leave you with a smile, so I'll try this-- while we know it's been quite chilly back in the Triangle (50's, I believe), the temps here have been in the 80's and sunny! OK, anyone who knows me knows that I'd rather enjoy a cool/cold day in the fall than warm weather like this! But, when you're putting on that jacket in the morning, think of us as we're out here with the warm weather!
Thank you for your prayers, love and support. We know our family will never be able to repay you for the kindness you've shown during these past few days.
ps-- in case you weren't aware, you can "follow" this blog by clicking on the "follow" link to the left of this entry and I believe it will e-mail you whenever I post a new update. Of course, you're welcome to simply stop by as well-- we appreciate the support. Have a wonderful night!
Dad currently has a urinary tract infection. The infection came about b/c of E. Coli. I know-- when I first heard that, I was a little startled as well. However, it appears that it is not an uncommon infection and also the antibiotic he was on before today (Cipro) made him more susceptible to the infection. His antibiotic has been changed and we hope he is on the road to getting past that infection.
Dad is mostly very tired and we're trying to make sure he gets as much rest as possible. However, we do read him your comments when he's feeling up to it and he enjoys every one of them. Thanks for sending them along-- they really help keep his spirits up.
We met with two doctors this evening. The first is a resident neurologist. We still haven't heard back from the results of the MRI that was done on Monday afternoon. I let this doctor know that we are tired of waiting and that I needed him to find out the results right away (OK, I was forceful, but in a nice way about it :) He did a little checking and was able to get his hands on the MRI. However, he indicated that he needed to consult with the chief neurologist in the morning as the chief is better qualified to read it and talk with us about it. So, we're waiting a little longer. The bottom line-- we want someone to be looking at the MRI to get a better assessment of the situation and to share that info with our medical team back in NC.
The second doctor we met with is the head of dad's medical team at St. Mary's. She is one of the best doctors we've met with thus far as she has a great bedside manner and a good way of explaining the situation so that we can understand. We talked about dad's status-- he continues to be stable, good blood pressure, good blood sugar, good oxygen levels-- and she talked about some of the next steps ahead. Tomorrow, her team will be meeting with a case worker in the hospital to begin devising a plan/coordinating details to transport dad back home. They have indicated that it would be their preference for a "home health nurse" to travel with dad as well as have the appropriate medicines on-hand during the flight to administer them to him in the event that another seizure should strike. The doctor told dad that he's "a healthy person" in that all of his organs and his body in general are in good shape, but he has the lesions on his brain so we would need to take extra precautions with a flight. Please note that this is in the event that everyone on the medical teams (LB & NC) feel that the trip back home is advisable. While we pray and hope that this will be the case, we want what is best for dad to take care of this situation. This is definitely an area you can be in prayer for us on.
We've also been in touch with Dr. O'Lila at UNC-CH and he indicated that he's anxious to have dad back home so he can "get to work" on this. My dad, and our family, think very highly of Dr. O'Lila as well as Dr. Olajide (oncologist at Rex) and that is why we have them weighing in on the situation.
Dad received several of his ASPE friends today at the hospital as they are wrapping up their convention and returning home. We were grateful for their support of dad when we could not be here in the initial hours of all of this. For that matter, we are grateful to everyone for their love and support as we know you've all been reaching across the country to help us during this difficult time.
I did want to update on a couple of items from earlier: 1) we have secured our hotel rooms through at least Monday of next week. We hope we won't need them, but we at least have them. Thank you for your prayers in that area. 2) I'm feel much better as I got some rest this morning and took some decongestant to alleviate the crud I was experiencing. Again, thanks for your prayers for me-- it is easy to get so focused on providing support for others that you forget to take care of yourself.
Please continue to pray for our family (all of us-- here in LB and those back home in NC). As you know, my brother-in-law, Josh, returned home on Tuesday and my wife, Melinda, is at home with both of our children (3 yr. old & 5 month old). It is a time like this that test a family's strength and I would like to request prayer to make sure those bonds remain very tight. Also, please continue to pray for dad for total and complete recovery. I'm not picky-- God can make the disease simply disappear or it can go away with the help of treatment, but please pray for complete and total recovery.
Well, that's it for today. I'm sure I left out a lot of details, so if I think of anything else, I'll update in the morning. I do want to leave you with a smile, so I'll try this-- while we know it's been quite chilly back in the Triangle (50's, I believe), the temps here have been in the 80's and sunny! OK, anyone who knows me knows that I'd rather enjoy a cool/cold day in the fall than warm weather like this! But, when you're putting on that jacket in the morning, think of us as we're out here with the warm weather!
Thank you for your prayers, love and support. We know our family will never be able to repay you for the kindness you've shown during these past few days.
ps-- in case you weren't aware, you can "follow" this blog by clicking on the "follow" link to the left of this entry and I believe it will e-mail you whenever I post a new update. Of course, you're welcome to simply stop by as well-- we appreciate the support. Have a wonderful night!
Morning Update & Prayer Requests
Good morning all. We are heading over to the hospital soon to see dad, but we've already spoken with him this morning and he said he actually got some good sleep last night. Additionally, he's asking for a shower and a shave. I realize many of you wouldn't likely be aware of this, but when I was about 7 or 8, my dad decided to grow a beard for the winter. I always thought he looked like a grizzly lumberjack with the brown beard and because he's a husky guy, but alas, it did not last for long. Well, since he hasn't shaved since last Friday, he's got quite the beard coming in, but this time it is no longer brown, but rather a salt and pepper color! I told him it's not a look I would advise for him (he's always prided himself on the fact that he never really has gray hairs) and I believe he agrees!
We're heading over to the hospital soon, but I wanted to offer up a few prayer requests for today. The first is for us to be able to get back in touch with the oncologist back at home as we seek advice from her about when she believes dad could be transported back home. Also, we want to hear from her about the risks associated with a flight. So, if you could pray for us to be able to speak with her and also for God to bless her with wisdom to address the issue, we would greatly appreciate it.
A second prayer request is for me. I believe I'm rundown from everything and I'm starting to get a bit of a cold/cough. I came to Calif. directly from vacation with my wife, children and in-laws and I believe the stress of everything is settling in on me. I'm going to swing by a pharmacy and pick up something, but I would appreciate prayers for strength.
Lastly, we continue to ask for your prayers for healing for dad. We know that God is wonderfully awesome and he can resolve any situation as He's in control of everything.
As always-- and I can't say it enough-- thank you for your prayers, love and support. I'll have more later today.
We're heading over to the hospital soon, but I wanted to offer up a few prayer requests for today. The first is for us to be able to get back in touch with the oncologist back at home as we seek advice from her about when she believes dad could be transported back home. Also, we want to hear from her about the risks associated with a flight. So, if you could pray for us to be able to speak with her and also for God to bless her with wisdom to address the issue, we would greatly appreciate it.
A second prayer request is for me. I believe I'm rundown from everything and I'm starting to get a bit of a cold/cough. I came to Calif. directly from vacation with my wife, children and in-laws and I believe the stress of everything is settling in on me. I'm going to swing by a pharmacy and pick up something, but I would appreciate prayers for strength.
Lastly, we continue to ask for your prayers for healing for dad. We know that God is wonderfully awesome and he can resolve any situation as He's in control of everything.
As always-- and I can't say it enough-- thank you for your prayers, love and support. I'll have more later today.
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