Roller Coaster.....

What a roller coaster ride today has been! This morning I awoke around 6AM to a slew of nurses rushing into Ron's room where I was sleeping. They could see on their monitors that Ron's heart rate had skyrocketed and his blood pressure was extremely low, he was very lethargic, too. Within the next few minutes we were rushing back to the Critical Care Unit. It was a frenzy of activity for the next hour and a half, and I confess, my hope was wavering! Ron's blood level had dropped to 6.2 (average should be around 10 or above) a sign that he had more internal bleeding, and his belly and back pain had returned. They immediately started him on meds to stabilize blood pressure and heart rate, extra IV fluids, and replaced 4 units of pack cells (the "good" part of blood product). He stabilized fairly quickly after that. Dr. Eaton (Dr. Elieson's partner) came in, as well as Dr. Elieson...even though it was his weekend off. Decision was made to watch and see how he does, we've known he has a leak and thought the existing drains were taking care of it and the hope is it will seal up on it's own. It would be "very hostile to go into an even more hostile situation at this point, unless there is no other choice." Basically, it would be extremely risky to go into any abdominal surgery at this point, secondary to the already present inflammation from previous 2 surgeries. So, they put a couple of the drains on suction which pulled quite a bit of bloody fluid (most looked like old blood) out of his belly, which tremendously reduced the belly & back pain. And actually since late afternoon, he's been saying "I know it sounds crazy since my heart almost gave out this morning, but I really feel good!"

This is all a result of that crazy pancreatitis. They keep telling us he'll have bad times until this finally runs it's course, but we certainly weren't expecting this!

We feel like we've been hit by a mack truck and run through the ringer all at the same time!
Poor Ryan, he had another call to Florida to "get here, QUICK!" Aaron & Kristin, fortunately, were at our house so were here within 10 minutes. Our hearts, minds and emotions were going crazy! We couldn't imagine that God would bring Ron this far just to drop him!

God continues to be gracious! Our hearts are at peace knowing He is Sovereign!!! Satan may have won a skirmish but we refuse to give up, God has won the battle and victory belongs to Him! "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world."

And we know God goes before us and evidence of that came this morning as we were talking to his nurse. When she arrived at work this morning, she had no patients! Since they were over-staffed, they were going to have her doing tech work instead. So, when Ron was rushed over here...Susan was available to take him on, one-on-one, as her only patient for the entire day!

I know you will continue to join me in praying for a complete recovery...we would like it to come quickly!
Please pray specifically:
that the pancreatitis will "settle down" for good!
that his blood pressure, blood sugar level and heart rate will remain stable
that the source of bleeding will stop!
for conclusive answers when they do CT scan tomorrow

Thank you dear prayer warriors! You are much loved and appreciated!

Christie, Ryan, Aaron and Kristin

Psalm 62: 5-8 "I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me....trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge."