Most of everyone who reads this is aware of what has happened over the last couple of weeks. However, for the benefit of those who are not aware, I am going to give a brief description of the events and then an update on the latest.

UP TO NOW

My grandparents arrived in Texas on November 21st excited to be visiting for the holidays. During the beginning of their stay, they seemed to be having a good time. That was until December 15th.

On Tuesday December 15th, my grandfather tripped over the curb because he is blind in he left eye and can barely see out of his right eye. The fall caused a break in the right wrist bone. We took him to the hospital and had him checked out. They placed a make-shift cast on his wrist and sent him home with a follow up visit with a bone doctor. The bone doctor saw him that Friday and placed a fiberglass cast on his wrist that would be on for six weeks.

Following the fall, my wife and I had a serious talk with my grandparents about returning home of coming to live with us. We cited the recent fall and asked them what would happen if this had happened back in New Jersey where the closest family is fifty miles away and on the other side of New York City. I even had a word from God for my grandfather that I shared this night. They unfortunately thanked us for caring and rejected our offer.

Things went well on Christmas day and we had a good time and a great dinner.

The day after Christmas was another story. My brother had taken my grandparents to visit with them. During their visit, my grandfather got out of their minivan and fell on his right side. My brother took him to the hospital and called me. I arrived at the hospital to discover that my grandfather broke the bone socket in the pelvic bone at the top of your leg bone (femur) where it forms a ball and fits into (an Acetabular Fracture). Very painful and required surgery to repair.

My grandfather was transported to JPS Hospital in Fort Worth, where he was operated on New Year’s Eve. All went well, however, considering his advanced medical conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, blindness, dialysis, etc) they were uncertain of his recovery time. For a person of average health the minimum time was two weeks in rehabilitation followed by using a walker for several months with no weight put on the leg with the break. In my grandfather’s case, they estimated two months in rehabilitation followed by six months in a walker. This did not sit well with my grandfather, but like he had a choice.

On January 5th, my grandfather was accepted and transported to a local rehabilitation center close to our home. We spoke with the physical therapist and got a schedule of the rehabilitation program and how things would work. We further found out that grandpa’s supplemental insurance was good enough to get him a private room and at least 100 days of full coverage. This would give him a little over three months to get well enough to move around on a walker.

That brings up quickly up to date.

UPDATE

My grandfather is experiencing pain during rehab which is expected. However, he is responding to the pain by sitting back down and not continuing the exercise. The physical therapist had told us that one week into the rehab they had wanted him to be able to hobble around (with arm bars) on the one good foot. My grandfather told me that he is only able to stand for less than a minute and then must sit back down. He had complained to many that the therapists expect him to do all the work, which was exactly what we expected, but not what he expected. The short end is that if he continues this rate of improvement, he will be there much longer than several months.

In addition to this, the orthopedic doctor told him that he would not be able to ever handle stairs again due to his advanced medical conditions in conjunction with this break and the lack of ability to develop great strength in his arms (due mostly to advanced diabetes). This means that he is not able to return to his home in New Jersey and live there as it is one three levels with many stairs. The problem is that grandpa is determined to return home no matter what and live there. Something the family does not want because he drives and he can not see. My grandmother tells him when to turn or he takes routes he knows by heart. Very scary!

So that is where we are. Please pray for my grandparents that God enlightens them because they are not listening to us or the doctors. If God would break through then we can all rally around them like we want to and make their years fruitful and happy.

Love in Christ,

Pat

I talked with my grandfather early this morning. He had just returned from an angiogram and found that he has several issues but one completely blocked artery. The problem is that my grandfather is refusing the surgery and wants them to seek other alternatives. So, they are sending him home today (he should be home by now but I have not heard yet) and giving him medicine they are hoping is going to work. Please continue to lift him up in prayer because he no longer sounds hopeful when I speak with him. I am not sure, but I think that he is giving up and wanting to pass on and not suffer any more. And whether he has 24 hours left on earth or 24 more years, I just want God to heal him so that he will not have any more pain and can return to a quality of life.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and I will post more when I have more information.

Since I last posted on the blog (sorry it has been a bit), my grandfather was released and sent home. They determined that he had a heart attack that caused him to collapse and several minor aftershock attacks. They kept him in the hospital for almost two weeks and then sent him home, even though his vitals were not great, with an oxygen tank that he had to have at all times. I think that decision was based more on insurance than his best interest for health care. In either case, he went home and was able to sort of resume living, at least living with an oxygen tank.

That also began them looking at his heart to try and determine how bad things were. They did an EKG and some other tests and then scheduled a Stress Test. Today, he went for the stress test and got about a minute into it on the treadmill (why they didn’t do the chemical one with him I will never know) and he collapsed. They rushed him to the hospital and admitted him. The hospital, Chilton Memorial Hospital (in Pequannock NJ which is like a mile from their home), closest to him is not the best for cardiac care so they have decided that they are transferring him today to Morristown Memorial Hospital, some 20 miles away, which will make it very hard for my grandmother to be able to get to see him because she does not drive and is dependent on others to bring her. And the doctors told my grandfather that they are going to do angioplasty because there is a lot of blockage around his heart and he is not in good shape.

I will know more hopefully tonight. In either case, my grandfather and our family is in need of your prayers at this time. Pray that God heals him supernaturally so that the surgery is not needed. But should it be needed pray that God guides the hands of the surgeons to accurately and precisely take care of what needs to be done to repair my grandfathers heart and surrounding area.

Also, my grandmother needs prayer because she refused the back surgery that had a fifty percent chance of causing her paralysis. This means that she is still in pain and needs God to step in and miraculously heal her back. And in this time of need when she is concerned and worried about her husband of well over fifty years the last thing she needs is pain herself. Pray for her healing as well.

I will post more when I know more. Thank you for your prayers

I have not been able to get ahold of my grandfather. He has his cell phone in his room, but he has not been answering it. I have been able to get hold of my grandmother when she has been at home. She has told me that grandpa has been improving slowly and that they extended his stay to Sunday. They have been getting him up and walking around and he has been sleeping a lot while in the hospital. This is probably why I have not been able to get hold of him. My grandmother has to rely on others to get to the hospital and has been snowed in yesterday and was unable to get to see grandpa. She only spoke with him on the phone.

So, from what I gather, he is not improving as well as or as fast as they had hoped and that is why they extended his stay. I am concerned because of his spirits not being well and he is speaking about potentially not getting out of the hospital. However, a woman from my church reminded me that it was the faith of the men who carried the paralytic to Jesus who got him healed and not necessarily the faith of the paralytic himself. So, I am grateful for everyone who is praying with me that God heals my grandfather.

I will post more when I know more

Ok, we know more today or perhaps we are being told more today. My grandfather had a heart attack Sunday night followed by some strokes. After those, whether he knew he was having them or not, he went to sleep and got up, he went to dialysis. Since he did not inform them he had a heart attack the night before, again he probably didn’t know that is what it was, they went ahead with the treatment. This caused problems with his systems and thus caused his blood pressure to crash and the reason they rushed him to the hospital via ambulance. Once their, they discovered that he had the heart attack and that he had pneumonia. They are still trying to get his temperature down, but he was able to walk some today. So his strength is returning. However, his spirits are low and he is speaking like he thinks he might not leave the hospital. Please continue to pray for him that God would heal him and restore to him his youth and his strength. And pray for my grandmother who is just completely stressed out over all of this. Add to the fact, I found out, that no family members can get there until the weekend. My great uncle has to work and my great aunt is out of town. My dad does not have the funds to return to NJ at this time as he is in Waco, TX. So pray for them.

I will post when I have more information and the praise report!

I was able to speak with my grandfather and then my brother spoke with my grandfather and then my father spoke with my grandmother and we have some more information about what is happening with my grandfather. Also, since I am at home, I have added some to the email that I did not have at work that I know would stand with us in prayer so this may be the first you are hearing of it.

On Friday, my grandfather went to dialysis and when he left he was very very cold and had chills very bad. He did his best to keep warm, but he believes that he got a cold at this time. Last night, twice he collapsed and passed out and my grandmother had to do her best to revive him. I am unsure why she did not take him to the hospital then or exactly why he passed out and was unconscious. This morning he went to dialysis and after having the treatment, he was unable to stand up. His blood pressure was extremely low and they called for an ambulance to rush him to the hospital. They have run a bunch of tests and discovered that he has pneumonia. While in the hospital, they got his blood pressure up and gave him antibiotics. His temperature is 104 degrees and they are having trouble keeping it down. At one point while speaking with my father, his blood pressure spiked really high and the nurses came rushing in and my dad had to wait on the phone. My grandfather was admitted to the hospital and will be spending at least four to five days there.

My day has spoken with some family members in the area to come and help, but most of them will not be able to come until closer to the weekend. We covet your prayers for my family at this time that God will move and help my grandfather who just a week an a half ago was here in Texas with us enjoying his grandchildren and great grandchildren. I will post when I know more.

It is times like these that remind you what is really important