4 Weeks

Yesterday was the 4 week anniversary of the accident that has changed a precious, young family & so many other lives forever. This has to be the longest 4 weeks ever! It is still so unreal to think that it went from essentially a few broken bones & Kacyn being our biggest concern & the only one in critical condition to Jennifer fighting for her life. The events of the last 4 weeks really make you stop & think how your life can change in an instant. It makes you realize you need to be thankful for & enjoy every minute.

It is very difficult not to ask "Why?" or "Why Jennifer?" or "How could God let something like this happen to someone as good as Jennifer?" I catch myself asking these types of questions, but I know we can drive ourselves crazy trying to figure it out & never find the answer. Instead of focusing on the "whys" we need to focus on the "nows" & put that energy into trying to get Jennifer better. We may never know the "why". But I do know that Jennifer's story has touched many, many people & brought them closer to their own families & to God.

Dad & I went up to St. Louis on Friday. We came back home last night & guess what! Mom came home with us! This is the 1st time she's been home since the accident! I think it will be good for her to spend a couple of nights at home & seeing her other 5 grandchildren will also be good for her. I was planning on convincing mom to come home with us & expecting a fight to get her to do it. But she actually mentioned it on her own yesterday morning! Of course, we weren't halfway home & she said "I wonder how my baby's doing." I'm know she'll be wondering about that the whole time she's home just like the rest of us do. I'm also sure Jennifer's nurses will probably get several phone calls from mom! But I still think mom getting away from the hospital & coming home is a good thing. She's going to drive herself back up on Monday & even see about getting a room at Haven House instead of staying at the hospital every night. Haven House is a place where people who have family in the hospital can stay. That is a big step for mom!

Jennifer has essentially been breathing on her own the last couple of days. The vent is only giving her some extra pressure. The breaths are being initiated by Jennifer. The vent is not breathing for her. For several hours, the last couple of days, they have even turned off the pressure & just given Jennifer oxygen then all of the breathing is Jennifer. If she did ok with this yesterday afternoon, they were going to keep it that way all night. I'm not sure right now how that went. I do know all of the vitals regarding Jennifer's lungs looked good yesterday which is an indication that her lungs are healing.

She had dialysis again yesterday. I think they got another 3.5 liters of fluid. The dialysis tech told us that a liter of fluid was equivalent to about 2.2 pounds! Jennifer's kidneys still aren't working. But the drs still believe they will start working. The kidney dr told us that in a trauma the kidneys are the first thing to shutdown, but the last thing to start working again. He says that once Jennifer's lungs & other body functions are working again, her kidneys will start working.

Even though Jennifer is no longer sedated, she still appears to be. She's still on pain medication which puts her to sleep. Because of all of this, she's still not showing a lot of response or reaction. Mom & David have seen her respond to their words or actions. The dr said she was so heavily sedated & drugged up that it'll be DAYS before it's all out of her system. I didn't see as much reaction from Jennifer as I would have liked to when I was there, but I know God is healing her on the inside. We may not be able to see it on the outside, but just because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening. This is the reason for today's thought for the day - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1. I've used this before for the thought for the day, but felt it fit well with the current situation. Our hopes are to have Jennifer healed. We have faith in God to do this. But we have to know that even though we may not see it on the outside doesn't mean the healing isn't occurring on the inside. I am certain that she is being healed regardless of what we can see or what the drs may say. She's being healed from the inside out.

They are moving the NICU into a new wing of the hospital on Monday. Kacyn will have his own room! His nurse picked it out a few weeks ago. She found the room she thought was perfect for him & claimed it as his! She picked it out because she liked the colors & how it was decorated. She also chose this room because it was big enough for David to maneuver around in in his wheelchair & also big enough for all of us! His new room is located at #23 Butterfly Lane! I look forward to seeing it!

Prayer requests:
Jennifer - head to toe healing, strength to help her continue to fight & get through this, comfort to keep her from getting upset, scared, agitated, etc.
David - continued healing of his leg, strength & comfort to not only help him get through this, but also to cope, keep him strong physically, spiritually, & mentally
Kacyn - continued healing of his brain, continued improvement in his bottle feeding
Josiah - angels to watch over him & keep him safe
Rest of the family - strength & comfort, remove all questions about "why" from our minds

Love,
Lynn