Walking thru the Valley 7

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Chapter 7

I wish I could tell you that through this journey I faced each day like a mighty warrior. But that wouldn’t be true. I mentioned I don’t like rollercoaster rides. I can’t stomach the anticipation of the coaster climbing or the feeling of helplessness as it plummets to the ground. That’s how my days often felt.

November 12th. I arrived at the hospital and saw Joey’s oxygen reading was at 94 and his vent setting was at 60 percent! A group of hospital workers who were with anesthesia walked in and said they needed to speak to me about having the trach placed. I was in shock when they told me they were about to wheel Joey off to have it done!

The surgeons explained the procedure, made sure I understood the risks, and I signed all the necessary papers, giving them permission to perform the surgery. I kissed Joey good-bye and they took him away. My heart racing (coaster climbing), I sent out another update and ran to pray with my coworkers at church.

Neil, Kevin, and other coworkers and pastors gathered around and prayed. I was told the procedure wouldn’t take long so I ran back to the hospital. Before I even made it inside the hospital, the surgeon called. They couldn’t do the trach. (Cue the plummet of the coaster). When they shaved Joey’s neck, they noticed what they thought was a skin infection, so they called it off. They wouldn’t proceed until they ran tests and did a CT scan. They were afraid he might have an infection, and that it might be in his chest.

While Joey was having the tests, I waited in his big, empty, cold, ICU room alone. My mind wandered, knowing that the last thing we needed was an infection. My mind filled with the possibilities of what that would mean. I was also well aware that our “window” was closing.

After they brought Joey back to his room, what happened next and the following day was nothing short of amazing… or should I say, a miracle! I posted about it on my Facebook page and included it below.

All I can say, is I am in awe of what God is doing! After the disappointment of not getting the tracheotomy yesterday, I sat by Joey’s side, rubbing his arm and holding his hand, praying over him as I always do.

I kept reminding myself over and over that God’s timing is not our timing. I’ll admit, I wasn’t happy about it. I tried to fight the thoughts about our window of time to get this done and how we were cutting it close.

Later, as I sat there, I noticed Joey’s oxygen going up. By 1:30pm his O2 was 98 on 59% vent support. Ten minutes later it was at 100! I giggled a little and asked God out of excitement what he was up to? His O2 was holding in the upper 90’s and 2 hours later they lowered the vent support to 50%!

By 6pm I was getting ready to head home and he was still in the upper 90’s. I almost didn’t want to leave because it was so exciting seeing this happen! All I could do was laugh and praise God!

November 13. Fast forward to 8am this morning when I got in to the hospital. Joey’s O2 was still in the 90’s and when I looked to see what the vent support was set at, it read 45%! I asked the respiratory therapist, who was also in the room, when the vent was changed. She looked in the computer and said at 8:30pm the night before!

In regard to the infection, the CT scan was NEGATIVE! They are talking and thinking he will have the trach possibly today or tomorrow!

My friends, I know Joey is fighting! I tell him every single day how proud I am of him. But I also know that God, Himself is healing Joey. OUR prayers are being answered!

In my very first couple of posts about Joey, I told you that I believe in the power of prayer and that there is power in the name of Jesus! We’ve all witnessed it here, on this journey. He is faithful!

This morning, like I tend to do, I was singing to Joey. He seemed less sedated and a tad more responsive. As I sang, he kept raising his eyebrows and moving slightly. He seemed aware of my voice.

It was a song Joey would sing and play and the words were perfect for what my heart was feeling. So I leave you with these words about how great our God truly is!

“How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin:

How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God, and ALL will see how great, how great is our God!

Name above all names, worthy of all praise, my heart will sing how great is our God!

…to be continued!