Rock of Ages
After two surgeries over two days and a spiked heart rate this morning, he’s off intubation and in the beginning stages of recovery. He is a warrior and did not flinch when he barely had pain or numbing meds. The Lord’s goodness to give him a liver at just the right moment has me in awe of what just unfolded over the last month and for what’s ahead. Each time something occurred and it felt like we were standing before the Red Sea, waiting for the waters to part, I couldn’t see a way through. But God, He parted waters, held up our arms through His church and our friends and family, and led us through on dry land. When all I could see was the valley of the shadow of death, He somehow miraculously brought life. And now Jeremy has a new life again with a new liver—from a choice made by another to give life after his death. It’s a resurrection story. One we couldn’t possibly write but one given to us for our good and God’s glory. And you all have helped to carry us through. What I saw as the end, God went ahead and started an “In the beginning…” intro once more. Our wild, Author God and the stories He tells. Never easy or comfortable. Always transforming and abiding. His presence with us. Tenderly, gently aware of our suffering and enduring it with us. What a Savior. What a Father. What a Counselor and Friend. Jeremy’s quote weeks ago that he held onto is the one attributed to Charles Spurgeon: “May I learn to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.”
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Yesterday’s Evening Update:
Jeremy is a fighter man! He’s been so brave. They can’t give him sedation because they want to extubate him. But they can’t give him lots of pain meds because it causes his heart rate to drop. So he’s feeling a lot and not very asleep anymore and still has a tube down his throat. It’s hard. But he also has fluid around his lungs so they need to keep him intubated overnight to try and get that cleared. The dialysis will also help with this. But to say: it is going to be a long night for him again. He’s fighting and strong but the mind can only take so much. So please pray with him tonight. I did ask them to up his pain meds a bit. And he’s been writing words in my hand to help me know what he wants. He asked me to read Jane Austen to him. I told him I would read the Hobbit to him but he said I like Jane Austen so he wanted me to read Pride and Prejudice. I love him so much! Just wanting him to get better and to be comfortable and strong again. We’re just so thankful for him and to have him with us still.
Today’s Evening Update:
Jeremy had a good day today after his heart rate spiked, which they said can be normal. After they extubated him, he was really thirsty, and he seems more out of it now than he was before, which was discouraging to me, but he’s also on a whole lot of medication right now as they’re giving him anti-rejection medicines and immunosuppressants along with all the anesthesia that he’s had in his body, painkillers, and everything else. So I’m hopeful some of that will get processed out of his system with his new liver and the dialysis. We are still waiting for his kidneys to recover and function properly again. Please pray for that so he can leave the ICU and move towards post-transplant healing and recovery. We can’t leave the ICU until his kidneys start functioning well again. He is able to sleep a lot better now and overall just looks a lot better right away. He’s on a limited diet but ate some jello and his favorite Lavender Blueberry juice from Panera.