Author: kathryn

kathrynhttps://prayforanne.wordpress.comTeacher, servant & child of God
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“Please make her good.”

Anne is stabilizing. Now that she is off the ventilator and breathing well on her own, their next goal is to increase her feeds to what she needs for her weight. If she can tolerate the increased feeds, she can then be moved to rehab – hopefully by the end of this week…

Rehab is where they will begin the slow process of retraining Anne’s brain. We pray that she learns to swallow, use her eyes, limbs and voice. There are a lot of unknowns. All the doctors will say is that with this severe of a brain injury, there will be some deficit – to what extent, they don’t know. Every child is different.

Please pray for Anne’s healing and for us and Canon and Kate to deal with the sadness of Anne not being with us at home. Also for all of us to take one day at a time as we wait for God’s plan for Anne and our family to unveil.

Last night, Canon prayed, “Lord, we’re not asking you to make Anne perfect, but please make her good.”

-kathryn

What a glorious day!

To see Anne breathing on her own is a miraculous gift. We are so grateful. Tomorrow – and all of its challenges – will come. But today, I have seen God’s goodness in the land of the living!!! This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!

Happy Sunday everyone :-)

-kathryn

Evidence of God’s grace…

Today was a difficult day for me personally. It’s painful to watch her tremor. She tremors when she’s agitated… either from her breathing tube or being moved – just anything that might over-stimulate her.

Even though the day was painful, God’s grace was evident…

Anne’s neurologist held a bright red Elmo doll close to Anne’s face and moved it. Anne tracked the doll with her eyes. That was very encouraging.

I was also able to calm her enough to stop her tremors a few times – just by being close and talking gently to her. Her eyes would lock onto mine and slowly, she would still. Though her eyes are dull and distant – she’s still my precious Anne.

God has bolstered Eric up, for he was amazing today – encouraging me with God’s sovereignty and mercy, assuring me that Anne was in His good hand. Eric is helping me hang on to the promise that God will work everything out for good. I love that man!

Please continue to pray for Anne. Pray that she would progress enough to remove her breathing tube – soon! (It causes her so much angst.) Pray for God to work out his good plan for Anne and our family – and most of all – that Anne would experience the fullness of God’s joy on this earth.

Gratefully, kathryn

Rough morning

Anne’s morning was rough. The doctors have re-intoduced her sedation meds – at a much lower rate than before. She just wasn’t quite ready to wake up yet. But she’s almost there. They’ll let her rest a few more days and then try again – probably weaning her yet again over the weekend sometime.

We covet your prayers for Anne’s brain to heal and the swelling to go down completely. We continue to trust in God’s faithfulness and goodness as we wait for Anne to let us know when she is ready to wake up.

-kathryn

Anne responds!

They’re continuing to wean her off the sedation meds. So far she’s responding well.

I’ll share one exciting thing… I (Kathryn) brought my sweet friend, Tracy Bunch, back to see and pray for Anne. When I started talking to Anne, she opened one eye and looked right at me. I then walked to the other side of her bed and her one eye followed me. She then opened both eyes to look at me. I told her to fight, because she is a fighter! I talked to her for a while, and then told her to close her eyes and rest. She immediately closed her eyes! She still obeys her mommy :-)

Now, Eric wasn’t here and is by nature skeptical ;-) But I have both Tracy and Anne’s nurse as witnesses. So hopefully, with two witnesses, he’ll believe me!

Please pray that she’ll continue to respond well to the reduced sedation meds. God has sustained her today. We are so grateful.

Kathryn

Calm before the storm

Anne remained stable all day. In some ways, it feels like the calm before the storm. They’ll begin to wean her of her sedation meds slowly over the next few days. We’ll pray she responds better the 2nd go around…

Just an aside… Canon has been sleeping in Anne’s bed in the same room as Kate. They listen to music each night. Just now, both Canon and Kate were singing along to “Blessed Be Your Name.” -very loudly, I might add :-)

There’s nothing more glorious than children singing, “Blessed be your name, on the road marked with suffering, though there’s pain in the offering, blessed by your name!”

Thank you for your faithful prayers. I pray Anne continues to rest well.

-kathryn

Back within normal ranges

The sedation meds are working well for Anne – at least for now. Her pressures (both brain and blood) have returned to within normal ranges. She has CONSTANT attention and care – in both the seen and unseen realms :-)

We pray for the grace to walk this road with utmost trust in our good God. -kathryn

Still not ready…

They haven’t been able to reduce the pressure in her brain. They are higher than I’ve ever seen them. I’m trying to not let it scare me… The doctors have decided to re-start the heavy sedation meds. As Eric said earlier, Anne just wasn’t ready to wake up yet.

I think it’s a testimony to God’s sovereignty and loving care that our church is fasting and praying for Anne today – of all days…

I am grateful. -kathryn

Good & Bad News

I (Kathryn) got to spend an extended time at the hospital with Anne today. I prayed this morning that God would encourage me today. He answered that prayer:-)

Eric’s life-long friend Howe who lives in Princeton, NJ flew down for the weekend and attended the early morning prayer service for us and then stayed for church. Howe is like family to us, so it was very meaningful for him to meet some of our church family in Atlanta.

I had many sweet friends visit in the hospital today. Last night was volatile b/c they dropped so many meds, but today she remained relatively stable. But most encouraging of all was… her pupils responded to light; I saw her cough, and lastly, she lightly squeezed my finger. I would say that God answered my prayer – abundantly!

So when we met with Anne’s neurosurgeon, and he said he had both good and bad news… I was prepared. God had shown me throughout the day, that He is our good, loving Father, and I can trust Him.

I’ll let Eric describe the good and bad news. He’s better at the technical stuff than I am. Basically, the good news is that the left side of her brain appears healthy. The bad news, is that there is ambiguity regarding the right side of her brain. So we wait…

Thank you for waiting and praying with us. I’m going to sleep :-)

kathryn

Staying in the present

I am feeling a bit better today and am able to spend some time with Anne. The swelling in her face (so evident the last time I saw her on Thursday) has subsided and her cranial pressure numbers are still low and stable for the moment.

They are reducing some of her medications – the first step in a long process to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the swelling.

We are striving to stay in the present, and today is a good day. Anne looks so peaceful and small in her big hospital bed. Our Lord, Jesus is with her – I feel that deep within me – His presence sustains me, Eric, Anne and the children.

I’ve read every guestbook entry and am so thankful for every word of encouragement and support. Thank you all!

kathryn