As we end this day, we rejoice in that dad was able to respond to us that one time. Since then, he has remained asleep. There is really not much to report. Dad remains in the same state. He continues to remain on the ventilator. They are "hoping" to wean him off it tomorrow sometime. (We heard that yesterday)
His blood counts remain acceptable, and his color is moderate. We learned today from the doctor, that he remains on the ventilator primarily because of the amount of fluids his body has built up. Apparently, after the second surgery, he gained 42 pounds of fluid that one day. He now is only 18 pounds more than his before surgery weight. This has caused a lot of problems for him.
By far, he is not out of the woods. The best we get from any nurse/doctor is "He is doing...O.K." Please continue to pray for him. The hospital received nearly 50 emails today for my dad. His nurse said, "He must be quite an amazing man."
He has no idea!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Update IV on Dad
It is now 2:30 CST and we were just able to visit with dad.....
He's Awake!!!! Thank you so much for praying for this. Dad was awake...though his eyes did not open. He nodded and responded to questions. He is still on the ventilator, but he looks good and swelling is still down. The doctor should come in this afternoon and decide if he can start coming off the machine. Now, please pray he does. We feel that this is a good possibility due to the way he looks. I told him about all the emails that have been sent and he gave a "thumbs up." He truly appreciated them all.
Pastor Duncan and his wife from their church have been such a blessing. They spent the last two days with us and now, even at Ark City, continue to do things for mom and dad and have been such a blessing. The church here in Hays-High Plains Baptist, have now had three different families stop by and encourage us. I'm so Glad I am a Part of the Family of God!
Dad still needs to improve his kidney output, improve his breathing over the ventilator, and continue to see swelling go down. Obviously, we are encouraged at the fact that he awoke and responded to us. Please continue praying, and I will do my best to let all know what happens this evening.
Emails can be sent to him by going to this link:
http://apps.haysmed.com/PatientEmail/
We continue to pray and watch with thanksgiving!
Also, I want to thank my mom and sisters for decorating and taking over the ICU waiting room and throwing me a birthday party-cake and all!
He's Awake!!!! Thank you so much for praying for this. Dad was awake...though his eyes did not open. He nodded and responded to questions. He is still on the ventilator, but he looks good and swelling is still down. The doctor should come in this afternoon and decide if he can start coming off the machine. Now, please pray he does. We feel that this is a good possibility due to the way he looks. I told him about all the emails that have been sent and he gave a "thumbs up." He truly appreciated them all.
Pastor Duncan and his wife from their church have been such a blessing. They spent the last two days with us and now, even at Ark City, continue to do things for mom and dad and have been such a blessing. The church here in Hays-High Plains Baptist, have now had three different families stop by and encourage us. I'm so Glad I am a Part of the Family of God!
Dad still needs to improve his kidney output, improve his breathing over the ventilator, and continue to see swelling go down. Obviously, we are encouraged at the fact that he awoke and responded to us. Please continue praying, and I will do my best to let all know what happens this evening.
Emails can be sent to him by going to this link:
http://apps.haysmed.com/PatientEmail/
We continue to pray and watch with thanksgiving!
Also, I want to thank my mom and sisters for decorating and taking over the ICU waiting room and throwing me a birthday party-cake and all!
Update III on Dad
It is Wednesday morning and we have seen dad. He had a peaceful night, and seemed to rest well. He is pretty much the same this morning. His kidneys did output well overnight and his swelling is down a lot. For this we praise the Lord.
The doctor was not able to take him off the ventilator. He now has been on the ventilator over 50 hours. The doctor does not feel he can make it off the ventilator at this point; but also, he is being conservative. He explained that each time you put in the ventilator tube, the throat swells. Having to put the tube down his throat twice in such a short time has caused much swelling. It would be a major ordeal to have to put the tube in a third time if not impossible. Thus, the doctor is not rushing things.
They will re-evaluate him this afternoon and determine if he can be taken off the machine. Please pray with us that he would be able to come off the ventilator. He has been unresponsive to us since around noon yesterday. We would like for him to respond to us soon. Please pray he would 'wake up' today.
There have been so many encouraging emails sent to dad here at the hospital. It has been a great comfort to read them and share them with the family, and we will be reading them to dad as soon as he wakes up. If you would like to send one, you can go to: www.haysmed.com and click on 'email a patient'. He is in ICU room 9.
Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement. I will let you know what the doctor says this afternoon.
The Lord comforted my heart this morning in my Bible reading. I read Colossians 4:2 "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving"
We will attempt by God's grace to do just that!
The doctor was not able to take him off the ventilator. He now has been on the ventilator over 50 hours. The doctor does not feel he can make it off the ventilator at this point; but also, he is being conservative. He explained that each time you put in the ventilator tube, the throat swells. Having to put the tube down his throat twice in such a short time has caused much swelling. It would be a major ordeal to have to put the tube in a third time if not impossible. Thus, the doctor is not rushing things.
They will re-evaluate him this afternoon and determine if he can be taken off the machine. Please pray with us that he would be able to come off the ventilator. He has been unresponsive to us since around noon yesterday. We would like for him to respond to us soon. Please pray he would 'wake up' today.
There have been so many encouraging emails sent to dad here at the hospital. It has been a great comfort to read them and share them with the family, and we will be reading them to dad as soon as he wakes up. If you would like to send one, you can go to: www.haysmed.com and click on 'email a patient'. He is in ICU room 9.
Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement. I will let you know what the doctor says this afternoon.
The Lord comforted my heart this morning in my Bible reading. I read Colossians 4:2 "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving"
We will attempt by God's grace to do just that!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Update II on my father
Quick update:
We saw my father at 8:00 p.m. and spoke with the doc's assistant. They said he "is doing o.k. We are still going to let him sleep and let the heart continue to rest and heal." Between two open heart surgeries in 48 hours, the heart definitely needs to heal.
He was resting soundly with a blood pressure of 110/60. The kidneys are outputting as of now. The goal is for him to have a peaceful, restful night; and then look to take him off the ventilator sometime tomorrow. He has been on life support/ventilator for 41 hours straight now. They must get him off soon to prevent pnemonia.
His "shading" is somewhat better as they have air pressured wraps on his legs. They did not have to have dialysis today which was a great blessing. Please pray with us tonight that he continues to rest and heal and that his vitals continue to better.
We love you all and praise the Lord for His blessings!
We saw my father at 8:00 p.m. and spoke with the doc's assistant. They said he "is doing o.k. We are still going to let him sleep and let the heart continue to rest and heal." Between two open heart surgeries in 48 hours, the heart definitely needs to heal.
He was resting soundly with a blood pressure of 110/60. The kidneys are outputting as of now. The goal is for him to have a peaceful, restful night; and then look to take him off the ventilator sometime tomorrow. He has been on life support/ventilator for 41 hours straight now. They must get him off soon to prevent pnemonia.
His "shading" is somewhat better as they have air pressured wraps on his legs. They did not have to have dialysis today which was a great blessing. Please pray with us tonight that he continues to rest and heal and that his vitals continue to better.
We love you all and praise the Lord for His blessings!
Update on my Father, Wayne Burke
As anyone who might ever reads this blog may notice, there have been no posts for a while. The reasons for that are that I was very busy with day camp at our church 2 weeks ago and Bro. Carr came down with a serious case of shingles and chicken pox. Currently, I am in Kansas with my family due to my father's health. Here is what happened so far:
On Tuesday, July 22, my father drove four hours north to Hays, Kansas to see a cardiologist. My father has grown weaker and weaker the last few weeks and wanted a second and third opinion. After being evaluated, the Dr. decided it was immediately necessary to have a heart bypass surgery. The surgery would take place Friday morning, the 25th.
I and my son Alex left for Kansas on Wednesday and drove the 14 hours to Hays and the Hays Medical Center. On Friday morning at 7:oo my father went into surgery. The surgery lasted nearly 8 hours. The day was one of the longest of my life. Finally, the doctor came out and spoke with my mother and I. My father's condition was much worse than he initially thought and the doctor performed a quadruple bypass surgery, had to burn portions of an enlarged heart, and used a laser to shoot the heart into increasing blood flow. The doctor felt the surgery was a success, but the road to health would be painful but achievable.
On Friday night we were able to see my father, a sight I wished never to see again. His body lied swollen, the life support keeping him breathing, and more tubes and wires than I could count in the short time we were in there. But, the doctor felt all was going according to plan.
On Saturday he lay pretty much the same and the doctors desired to take him off the ventilator and sit up in a chair. Well, we almost made it. That afternoon they were able to take him off the ventilator, but they were not able to sit him up. His body was too weak for any further advances, but he was able to speak to us that he was hurting, but fighting to get better.
On Sunday morning we came and visited Dad and there wasn't much change. Mom and I and Alex went to High Plains Baptist Church and enjoyed a visit with the wonderful folks there at that church. Pastor Ben Lowery preached a wonderful message on the Christian's Rest in the Lord. I also want to thank Pastor Lowery for coming and visiting dad twice and praying with and encouraging us. Bro. Lynn Sparkman from the church also came on Monday and prayed with us. It is so wonderful to be part of the family of God. The bond of love that saints enjoy is one of the many wonderful blessings and privileges of being a child of God. Folks we have not ever met, opened their hearts and homes to us. How we praise and glorify the Lord. By Sunday afternoon, they had did sitting up in a chair hugging his heart pillow. He spoke with us and we enjoyed seeing dad sitting up and conversing with us. When we went back to the hotel that night, I and Alex planned on leaving early Monday morning.
RING! RING! The phone woke all of us up at midnight that night. The nurse wished to inform us that dad was not doing well. They were having to give him blood and his breathing was not right. She said not to come to the hospital, but for us to be aware and able to pray. Well, needless to say, we didn't just drift back off to sleep. After staring at the ceiling for a few hours, I finally drifted off to sleep. It was then the phone rang again. Our hearts sunk. It was 4 a.m. now and the nurse told us that the O.R. Team had been organized and dad was being taken into exploratory surgery immediately. They were losing him and did not know why. We literally ran out the door and to the hospital. We were able to see him just before he went into surgery. He looked bad. His blood pressure was 60/40 and all his vitals down. My sisters were already on their way from Ohio, and mom and I again found ourselves waiting alone in a dark waiting room. We waited for nearly 2 hours, and finally around 6:30 a.m. the surgeon came to see us.
He told us that all the graphs were holding and that there were no clots around the heart. He had no medical reason for dad's failing health. Soon dad was back in ICU again on a ventilator, but this time his vitals were much worse. The doctor said they were going to keep dad sedated all day and let his body rest, and that on Tuesday they would begin taking tubes out and showing him that 'rough love' to get him back sitting up and healing correctly. Around 9:30 that night, my sisters and Ricky arrived. They were able to see dad for the first time, it was a very difficult visit for them. We left and headed towards the hotel and laid down for the night, praying for a peaceful night for dad and us.
The Lord did bless with that peaceful night, and we found ourselves back at the hospital at 7:45 a.m. waiting for our first visit. At 8:00 a.m. we went in to see dad. Dad was still on the ventilator and his condition was the same. The doctor was not pleased with the lack of progress. It was quickly decided that dad would not be taken off the ventilator again today as his body was not able to handle being off it. His kidneys are not functioning correctly. To aid the kidneys and vital organs, he is on medication to restrict most blood flow to the vital organs. As a result, dad is experiencing a lot of "shading" in his extremities. His toes, knees, and fingers are turning purple and yellow. Due to this and diabetes, they may soon have to take him off the medicine so that these problems may be corrected. This, of course, would not benefit the kidneys and other vital organs. There now is talk that because of a great increase of fluids and swelling on the head and chest, dialysis may be necessary. The doctors are watching him closely and will determine that this evening. As for now, we wait and pray.
His blood pressure is up some with medication. His kidney counts are about the same, but not worse. We know the Lord will take care of him.
I will do my best to keep you updated to my father's condition. I, my mother, and sisters wish to thank everyone for their prayers literally from all over the world. There have been phone calls from so many, and we are humbled by the outpouring of love and support. We love you all and thank you for your love in the Lord.
Folks may email dad here at the hospital at: www.haysmed.com , click on email a patient at the top of the page. He is in ICU room 9. Thank you everyone!
On Tuesday, July 22, my father drove four hours north to Hays, Kansas to see a cardiologist. My father has grown weaker and weaker the last few weeks and wanted a second and third opinion. After being evaluated, the Dr. decided it was immediately necessary to have a heart bypass surgery. The surgery would take place Friday morning, the 25th.
I and my son Alex left for Kansas on Wednesday and drove the 14 hours to Hays and the Hays Medical Center. On Friday morning at 7:oo my father went into surgery. The surgery lasted nearly 8 hours. The day was one of the longest of my life. Finally, the doctor came out and spoke with my mother and I. My father's condition was much worse than he initially thought and the doctor performed a quadruple bypass surgery, had to burn portions of an enlarged heart, and used a laser to shoot the heart into increasing blood flow. The doctor felt the surgery was a success, but the road to health would be painful but achievable.
On Friday night we were able to see my father, a sight I wished never to see again. His body lied swollen, the life support keeping him breathing, and more tubes and wires than I could count in the short time we were in there. But, the doctor felt all was going according to plan.
On Saturday he lay pretty much the same and the doctors desired to take him off the ventilator and sit up in a chair. Well, we almost made it. That afternoon they were able to take him off the ventilator, but they were not able to sit him up. His body was too weak for any further advances, but he was able to speak to us that he was hurting, but fighting to get better.
On Sunday morning we came and visited Dad and there wasn't much change. Mom and I and Alex went to High Plains Baptist Church and enjoyed a visit with the wonderful folks there at that church. Pastor Ben Lowery preached a wonderful message on the Christian's Rest in the Lord. I also want to thank Pastor Lowery for coming and visiting dad twice and praying with and encouraging us. Bro. Lynn Sparkman from the church also came on Monday and prayed with us. It is so wonderful to be part of the family of God. The bond of love that saints enjoy is one of the many wonderful blessings and privileges of being a child of God. Folks we have not ever met, opened their hearts and homes to us. How we praise and glorify the Lord. By Sunday afternoon, they had did sitting up in a chair hugging his heart pillow. He spoke with us and we enjoyed seeing dad sitting up and conversing with us. When we went back to the hotel that night, I and Alex planned on leaving early Monday morning.
RING! RING! The phone woke all of us up at midnight that night. The nurse wished to inform us that dad was not doing well. They were having to give him blood and his breathing was not right. She said not to come to the hospital, but for us to be aware and able to pray. Well, needless to say, we didn't just drift back off to sleep. After staring at the ceiling for a few hours, I finally drifted off to sleep. It was then
the phone rang again. Our hearts sunk. It was 4 a.m. now and the nurse told us that the O.R. Team had been organized and dad was being taken into exploratory surgery immediately. They were losing him and did not know why. We literally ran out the door and to the hospital. We were able to see him just before he went into surgery. He looked bad. His blood pressure was 60/40 and all his vitals down. My sisters were already on their way from Ohio, and mom and I again found ourselves waiting alone in a dark waiting room. We waited for nearly 2 hours, and finally around 6:30 a.m. the surgeon came to see us. He told us that all the graphs were holding and that there were no clots around the heart. He had no medical reason for dad's failing health. Soon dad was back in ICU again on a ventilator, but this time his vitals were much worse. The doctor said they were going to keep dad sedated all day and let his body rest, and that on Tuesday they would begin taking tubes out and showing him that 'rough love' to get him back sitting up and healing correctly. Around 9:30 that night, my sisters and Ricky arrived. They were able to see dad for the first time, it was a very difficult visit for them. We left and headed towards the hotel and laid down for the night, praying for a peaceful night for dad and us.
The Lord did bless with that peaceful night, and we found ourselves back at the hospital at 7:45 a.m. waiting for our first visit. At 8:00 a.m. we went in to see dad. Dad was still on the ventilator and his condition was the same. The doctor was not pleased with the lack of progress. It was quickly decided that dad would not be taken off the ventilator again today as his body was not able to handle being off it. His kidneys are not functioning correctly. To aid the kidneys and vital organs, he is on medication to restrict most blood flow to the vital organs. As a result, dad is experiencing a lot of "shading" in his extremities. His toes, knees, and fingers are turning purple and yellow. Due to this and diabetes, they may soon have to take him off the medicine so that these problems may be corrected. This, of course, would not benefit the kidneys and other vital organs. There now is talk that because of a great increase of fluids and swelling on the head and chest, dialysis may be necessary. The doctors are watching him closely and will determine that this evening. As for now, we wait and pray.
His blood pressure is up some with medication. His kidney counts are about the same, but not worse. We know the Lord will take care of him.
I will do my best to keep you updated to my father's condition. I, my mother, and sisters wish to thank everyone for their prayers literally from all over the world. There have been phone calls from so many, and we are humbled by the outpouring of love and support. We love you all and thank you for your love in the Lord.
Folks may email dad here at the hospital at: www.haysmed.com , click on email a patient at the top of the page. He is in ICU room 9. Thank you everyone!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Temporary Delay
Due to the fact that I have been Tied up at Day Camp all week, and that Bro. Carr
has been stricken with great illness.....our blog updates will be delayed one week. Thank you for your patience.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Who's to Blame?
When it comes to stress in modern America, one would think it to be non-existent. After all, we have so many technological advances to make our lives easier and everything is more convenient. Problem is easier doesn't make better. There seems to be opposing forces at work in our society - as our technology advances, our character weakens. Because we have chosen in so many instances to take the "easy" way out, we have become weak and flabby in our character, the very thing that made us the great nation we were. So who's to blame in this stressed out world? Funny thing about stress - our forefathers worked harder longer and for less benefit, yet they didn't seem to have the stress problem we do. What is stress? Another word for stress is tension, which is best defined by that awkward feeling one has when in a room with two or more people who everyone knows are at odds with each other and all are awaiting the confrontation. Contention is another good synonym. Proverbs 13:10 explains where contention originates:
Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well-advised is wisdom.
Stress; tension; contention - these terms are pretty much synonymous by modern day usage. What is at the root of them all? - pride. Argue it anyway you may, it all boils down to me not liking the situation, whether that involves people, circumstances, or things. Our homes are no different. It is time we stop blaming the kids for the stress level in our homes and remind ourselves of where our children learn their behavior. The older I get and the more I learn of people, it's almost humorous how we blame things on the kids, yet we are merely reaping what we have sown. If our children are rude, they learned it from us. If our children are rebellious, they're just a chip off the old block. May I offer an observation, followed by a solution.
We struggle to control our children, because we struggle to control ourselves. In I Timothy 3 is the list of qualifications for a pastor; verses 4-5 mention the idea that he must rule his own house. Well, if one cannot rule himself, he will not rule his house. And as it says, if he can't rule his house how can he rule the church of God? Many ministries have been ruined due to men who could not or would not rule themselves. Well, you may say, I don't plan on pastoring a church. No, but are you planning on pastoring(leading, shepherding) your home. that was my observation; here very simply is my solution - let us rule ourselves. Think about this statement - The more one governs himself, the less need he has of outside governing forces; the less one governs himself, the more he requires an outside force to govern him. This is based on two verses from the book of Proverbs. I leave them for you in closing:
Proverbs 16:32 -
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 25:28 -
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well-advised is wisdom.
Stress; tension; contention - these terms are pretty much synonymous by modern day usage. What is at the root of them all? - pride. Argue it anyway you may, it all boils down to me not liking the situation, whether that involves people, circumstances, or things. Our homes are no different. It is time we stop blaming the kids for the stress level in our homes and remind ourselves of where our children learn their behavior. The older I get and the more I learn of people, it's almost humorous how we blame things on the kids, yet we are merely reaping what we have sown. If our children are rude, they learned it from us. If our children are rebellious, they're just a chip off the old block. May I offer an observation, followed by a solution.
We struggle to control our children, because we struggle to control ourselves. In I Timothy 3 is the list of qualifications for a pastor; verses 4-5 mention the idea that he must rule his own house. Well, if one cannot rule himself, he will not rule his house. And as it says, if he can't rule his house how can he rule the church of God? Many ministries have been ruined due to men who could not or would not rule themselves. Well, you may say, I don't plan on pastoring a church. No, but are you planning on pastoring(leading, shepherding) your home. that was my observation; here very simply is my solution - let us rule ourselves. Think about this statement - The more one governs himself, the less need he has of outside governing forces; the less one governs himself, the more he requires an outside force to govern him. This is based on two verses from the book of Proverbs. I leave them for you in closing:
Proverbs 16:32 -
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 25:28 -
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)