Please Keep Praying

Dear All,

Today John sat on the side of his bed (with help) but was able to hold his head up by himself pretty good. He ate 4 teaspoons of applesauce (dyed blue) and no blue came up in his vent or from his lungs when he was suctioned. He breathed on his own yesterday for 9 1/2 hours and expected to do 12 hours on his own today. He squeezed Martha's hand on command and then let go of it on command also. Still very tired and barely opened his eyes but was able to nod his head yes or no when asked if he was comfortable. Thank you Lord for your love and mercy and strength! May the Lord protect and bless John and all who have lifted him up in their prayers. May the Lord be with all those who are suffering at this hour and are less fortunate than ourselves. Blessed and Praised be the Holy and Undivided Trinity, now and forevermore.

To God Be The Glory

Dearest Family and Friends,

John was moved to a rehab facility on Monday evening. Today he breathed on his own for 6 hours. The nursing staff is almost completely sure that he can swallow on his own but haven't begun testing him for it yet. All of his numbers (blood sugar and pressure, etc.) look good. Tonight while visiting with his family he was told that O.S.U. basketball was on tv and so he picked up the remote and changed the channel to the game. As you can imagine, our cups overflow! We give praise and thanksgiving to the Lord and bless his Holy Name. We thank Him for his kindness and mercy. We thank Him for the love of family and friends and lift unto Him all those who suffer at this hour. May the glory of all good things be to God!

Seems like Thanksgiving Again

Dear Family and Friends,

Today was a special day for us. Since John's aneurysm we have never had a for sure confirmation that he can understand us and remember us. Sometimes we think so from his facial expressions but often there is only basic infantile responses or mature responses that we just can't interpret 100%. This is how today started out with John, but, after being awake for about 2 hours John really focused and we asked him if he remembered us and he nodded his head yes and tried to speak the word. He shook his head no when asked if he knew what had happened to him and shook his head yes that he understood when we explained. Again, many times he tried to mouth the words "yes" and "no" along with his head movements. We explained about his rehab and to stay positive and afterwards he exercised his arms and hands with some of the family. He actually exerted pressure against our arms and hands as we did range of motion exercises and he completely followed our commands. Tomorrow John may not be able to focus and we must always remember today and what he is capable of. We thank the Lord for his countless blessings. We thank the Lord for family and friends such as you who are willing to take time out of your day to pray for John's recovery and for his family. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Thanksgiving Day

Hello Everyone,

Little by little we think that we see positives in John's recovery. Today he did have some instability with his blood sugar and blood pressure and we ask the Lord to resolve this for him. John looks so much better as his swelling has mostly gone away and he no longer has all those tubes hanging out of him. We try not to fool ourselves but are often so sure that he is responding to us with his facial expressions and nodding of his head. However, we will not know for sure until he is off the ventilator and can talk to us. Some nurses say that each hour he responds to most of their commands and other nurses say that he does not. We are now waiting for his rehab assignment. We thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for John and all of us. We thank Almighty God for His good gifts and we praise His Holy Name. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ that He grant us strength and peace and may we never fail to trust in Him.

Surgery Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Today John had a temporary tracheotomy and a temporary feed tube inserted. His surgery went well. He did not need the ventricle shunt (Praise God!), and has had the tube that was draining fluid from his brain completely removed. Tonight he was still heavily sedated and seemed to be resting fairly comfortably. He is moving around much more than before (Praise God, Again!), but it is still one step at a time. We continue to pray for no vasospasms, for John to be weened from the ventilator and that he can swallow on his own. We thank God for the blessings that He has bestowed on us today! John is still very sick and we ask for your continued prayers for him. Your prayers and support are so appreciated and there just doesn't seem to be any words that can truly express our thankfulness for all of you. May Almighty God bless you.

Thank you Sharon and Craig H. May God heal Cindy. Zach, we are especially praying for you this week, God's speed.
Thank you Otto M., Charlie T. and family.

Sunday, 18, November

Hello,
It has been an emotionally draining weekend. We are seeing what may be very small steps forward. We are praying that John may not need the ventricle shunt as he has tolerated it being clamped yesterday and today. The night shift nurse thinks that he responded ever so slightly to squeezing her hands on command. We remain hopeful in the Lord and continue to thank Him for His many blessings. Again we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer that He bathe John in the mystery of His mercy, love, and healing. We lift each of you and your special intentions to Almighty God. We pray for all those who suffer at this hour. Blessed and praised be the undivided Trinity, now and forevermore. Amen

Meeting with the Doctors

Family and Friends,
Today we met with some of John's doctors. Their assessment is grim. John is not progressing anywhere near the rate of a patient that they expect to have a good outcome from and they no longer believe that he can be weaned from the ventilator. The last time they tested him he was only able to breath on his own for 15 minutes. Since his mini-strokes he shows no responses to any of their commands and they give him less than a 1% chance of ever being off life support or regaining any quality of life. Instead of withdrawing care our family has decided to give John a few more weeks to heal from his original brain injury to see if he can regain any more strength cognitively and physically. Monday we will give our consent for a temporary feed tube, temporary tracheotomy, and ventricle shunt. We made this decision based on the fact that John does not seem to be in undue pain and the doctors can not tell us what brain damage he has actually suffered, just that he is not progressing. We ask so much that you continue to pray for John's recovery, he has nine more days in his high risk for vasospasm period. We also ask that you would pray for us, specifically that we can make wise, unselfish decisions for John. May the peace of God be with you and may His Name be praised forevermore.


Thank you to all who are praying for John and for all who post here. We are lifting all of you and John up to the Lord in our family rosaries.

November 14, 2007

Dear Family and Friends. Sorry we missed the last two days getting any news to all of you. Sometime on Monday the 12 th , John suffered some mini-strokes. No one at the hospital seems to be unduly concerned about this and are still positive about his improvement. Mini-strokes just seem to be part of the the picture when it comes to these types of brain injuries. John opens his eyes and tracks his visitors and nurses as they move around the room. He still responds to pain and tickling stimuli. Stroke damage is not reversable but is recoverable. We don't know what any of this means and are continuing to wait on the Lord with full confidence and to trust the knowledge and experience of the people He has provided for John's care. Thank you hospital staff for all of your care and encouragement not only to John but to his family and friends also. We lift each of you up to the Lord. Thank you Charlie T. and family, we lift you up to the Lord. John is still doing wonderful breathing on his own and his care team hopes to wean him from the ventilator soon. Just want to share some positives that we hold onto for anyone reading this who may be facing difficult situations personally. This aneurysm had to be dealt with and John had no knowledge of it and was not seeking help about it. The Lord took care of it in our own home and not while John was out driving where he could of damaged a lot more of himself and possibly others too. John isn't smoking anymore. Family and friends are communing in the body of Christ, comforting each other through the mystery of the Holy Spirit, and lifting all the glory of all good things to God the Father. Thank you Heavenly Father for Your unchanging faithfulness and mercy. We just don't understand the terminologly of this injury and so we don't know if mini-stroke and vasospasm are the same thing or if they cause each other, or if they don't have anything to do with each other. We believe that the Lord is healing John and we ask for your continued prayers for a 100% recovery and no more strokes and no vasospasms. We offer all our personal sufferings from this situation up to the Lord, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and for all those who suffer here at this hour and our less fortunate than ourselves. May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Sunday's Visit Nov. 11

Hello All, Just home from visiting John. He is maintaining at a steady pace. Again he breathed most of the day by himself. They dialed the ventilator back up around 5pm. when he got tired. He was wide awake at 10pm. We put his glasses on him and then we all just stared at each other until the sedative kicked in a half hour later. It was wonderful. Few words, but lots of love and encouragement. Thank you Lord, it was one of the best half hours in life. Thank you Fr. Foeller for offering mass for John. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Doug D. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers, they are so needed and so appreciated and they are doing so much good. Goodnight to day 6, we look forward to the good gifts God will give us tomorrow. Heather, God's speed and joy.
Trust Him when dark doubts assail Thee.
Trust Him when thy strength is small.
Trust Him, when to simply trust Him,
Seems the hardest thing of all.

Evening, Nov. 10

Dear Family and Friends, Peace be with you. We are trying not to ride a emotional roller-coaster and understand that this could be a two steps forward three steps back recovery but wanted to share this positive news with all of you. Today John breathed almost all of the day without the help of a ventilator. They started it back up this evening when he began to get tired out. Later after waking from a deep sleep (sedative) John had a small wink and smile for the nurse and wiggled his (or kind of, the nurse accepted it as a wiggle) toes. Still no squeezing of hands but we thank our Heavenly Father for hearing our prayers and we wait for the Lord with full confidence. May the glory of all good things go to His Heavenly Name. Please continue praying for John specifically for no vasospasms and for a 100% full recovery. We thank you so much and pray that our Lord blesses each of you. Special thanks to Mim and Mom, we lift you up to the Lord. We lift up the dearly departed souls of Ken F. and Keith G. Thank you Bill, Tom, Will, Kevin and all who are willing to pray a Rosary with us whenever we ask, we lift you up to the Lord. May the Lord be with all those who suffer at this hour and those who are less fortunate than ourselves. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Update

If you had difficulty leaving comments that has been corrected. Thank you and God bless.

November 9

Hello everyone. John had an uneventful night but is running a fever that his nursing staff is addressing. We are told that all of his numbers (the techno bleeps and graphs on the machines around him) look good. Just keeping vigil, and are often there when the troops come in to put him through the stimuli and response regimen. He responds to pain pinches and tries to open his eyes when asked but often needs some help. John's new hair style is something like a half bald crazy tonsure. He looks a little like our St Anthony of Padua statue. Jason says that he is bringing in his clippers and taking over the situation. So many people have shared stories with us about this same event in their loved ones lives and it really uplifts us. Special thanks to Doug D. Your story meant so much. We lift you and your wife up to the Lord. Thanks to Lauren and Eric B. for your snacks and your stories. We lift you both and Eric's mom up to the Lord. Thank you so much to chef at Claremont, we lift your heart to the Lord. Thank you Aunt Georgie and distant cousin in Korea, our cups overflow and we lift you up to the Lord. Fr. Lutz and Fr. Foeller, thank you , it means so much to find your cards and to know that you have been there. We lift you up to the Lord. There are so many more wonderful friends and family to thank and we are praying and thanking God for each and everyone of you! And to Pam who sang her beautiful song to Travis and Martha outside of the chapel, thank you, we remember that "we are covered in His precious blood", and are praying for your recovery. Legion of Mary (Sacred Hearts), and students of St. Vincents we thank God for you and pray for success in all of your endeavors. God the Father, bless us; Jesus Christ, defend and keep us; the virtue of the Holy Spirit enlighten and sanctify us this night and forever; and may the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Welcome

This blog is to help inform friends and family to the condition of John. On November 5, John had a serious aneurysm. He is currently in the care of Riverside Hospital in Columbus. In the past 3 days we, his family, have received abundant blessings through our family and the swarm of friends who have rushed to our aid through prayers and good works. Thanks so much for checking on John's condition. He came through his angiogram procedure Tuesday with flying colors and it was successful.
We are asking for specific prayers that he has no vasospasams over the next 21 days.
The doctor says that if his condition does not deteriorate through that time than John will
have made it past a large hurdle toward recovery. Our hope is in God for this. We will try to update this with any information we get about John's condition as quickly as possible. Please feel free to leave any comments and questions. We are so overwhelmed by your care and concern and all of this lifts us up and helps keep our hopes alive. Thanks again to all of you, thank you Fr. Lutz, thank you Zach and everybody else. May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.