Thursday, June 26

Thursday, June 26

Thank you for traveling this journey with us with prayers and petitions.  

Be encouraged with these answers to your prayers.

• When I was heading up to  Bozeman yesterday to get Tim there was a line of southbound traffic at least one mile long at the road constriction site.  When we were heading home to the cabin last evening we were THE LAST CAR TO GET THROUGH before the road crew stopped traffic to allow the northbound vehicles to use the single open lane!  That was the hand of God!  Thank you for praying about that.
• TJ & I both slept soundly with one productive coughing spell (music to a nurse's ears) during the night and then right back to sweet sleep.  (Rest is one of the most essential things to healing.)
• TJ was released with Oxygen, thankfully, and his Oxygen SATS have been in the 90's.  He has been stable between 3-5 liters depending on activity.  We are very thankful that the supporting health care company is willing to help where ever is needed.   TJ has a home concentrator, six canisters of O2 for times when we can get out, and a large tank in case of power outage.  (It is rural Montana ;)

Please continue to join in prayer for the complete and total healing.

Our cell coverage is not great here in the mountains.  We have access to a phone in case of emergency but we sometimes do not receive calls.  We are embracing our silence as encouragement to sabbath. 

We are grateful for the beauty of the mountains, for a fire accompanying me as I sit and drink tea, for dear friends and for TJ experiencing your healing touch.  

~Mary Ann...maegan

WE ARE OUTTA HERE!!

Well, my friends,

How exciting it is to tell you that WE ARE OUTTA HERE!  TJ is discharged from the hospital!

Please join us in continuing to pray:

• There is a great deal of construction between Bozeman and our cabin.  Sometimes the waits in allowing traffic have been up to 45 minutes long.  It would be great if it would be a short and seamless transition to the cabin.
• TJ's transition to the cabin and the higher altitude air.
• Continued good and FULL recovery.  

Grateful for your support. 

In Jesus' Name,

Mary Ann...maegan

6/25

If Tim can walk down the hallway without a significant drop in oxygen he will be discard later today!  Please pray that the walk "works" and all the discharge process goes well.

6/24 Slow and steady wins the race

I finally was able to speak with TJ's nurse this afternoon.  He is doing well.  His chest x-ray was stable from yesterday, catheter pulled and is weaning off of the oxygen.  He is very fatigued.  And does not want to see anyone today.  Our hope is that with rest he will be ready for discharge tomorrow.

Prayers requests:

• Continued on the healing trajectory.
• Smooth discharge planning.  Could you ask for favor in my direction in the discharge planning?  (I am a nurse :) )  I would like TJ to be discharged with Oxygen due to the altitude difference in the mountains from our usual low midwestern altitude.  
• No gut side effects from the massive doses of antibiotics.  

We are so grateful for you joining with us in this battle.  Your prayers on TJ's behalf have played a critical part in this journey.  

One of the blessings of being surrounded by people who pray is also hearing how the Lord has spoken to them on our behalf.  

Below is a tender message I received today from my friend B:

"I was just cutting the lawn at the farm and the wind started and I again knew I was in GOD'S presence.  Then you and TJ came to mind and I felt you stepped into a new level of His Presence.   That wind on the Bridge your were on has stopped.  

Here is what the bridge looked like:

You are on the other side now.  I sense Peace and Knowing."

We are so grateful, 

Mary Ann...maegan

6/23 Good night and good news!

Go Team, Go!  Keep up the prayers as the Lord leads you.  

Today was a day of remarkable progress.  As you know from previous posts, TJ was moved from ICU to a regular room.  Our hope is that translates to more opportunities for rest, which is essential for healing.  When I left TJ today he was settled into his new digs and was reading.  Yesterday he was too tired for reading or even to stay awake for a conversation.  The Lord has done great things!

Our hope is to discharge from the hospital late tomorrow or on Wednesday if there are no hiccups.  

Please pray in specific:

• Straight forward and steady trajectory towards health and complete healing.  
• No infections or "hiccups" like c.diff gut infection which can come as a side effect to all the antibiotics.
• Good night of rest for both TJ and myself.  
• Discharge tomorrow.  

We know that recovery could take some time but have been blown away (in a good way) by the path this time.  "God is good all the time, all the time God is good."  Rest would be so much more pleasant in the sunshine of Montana on a mountain being cared for by your wife and treasured friends, right?  We are hopeful.  

Thank you for your investment once again.

Good night, 

MaryAnn...maegan

Moving! 6/23 4pm

Transferring to a regular floor as soon as his new nurse calls to get report!

6/23 afternoon

Dear Ones,

I am back in the ICU with TJ where things are definitely looking up.  Hopes are that TJ will be transferred out of the ICU to a regular floor/room today when a bed becomes available.

Measurable Progress:  
TJ is off the insulin drip and doing his own diabetes management.
Oxygen SATS are at 97% on nasal cannula for oxygen and no Bipap.  TJ's breathing is much less labored.  All excellent and amazing progress.  It is especially amazing considering it was only yesterday that the doctors were considering intubation and being put on a ventilator.

TJ's cousin, Gary, was in Saturday and once again today.  He affirms that TJ look A LOT better!

Another lady in the waiting room was commenting on the quality of staff at the Bozeman Hospital.  She said, "They are on it before it even happens!"  That sums up the care that TJ received yesterday which allowed him to dodge being put on a ventilator.  (Remember, he has played that game a few too many times already in his life!)

TJ is getting up to the chair now.  Sitting up and having additional doses of Lasix is helping to stay ahead of the excess fluid.

Continue to pray!  TJ was encouraged that our Good Shepherd has been awakening some of you to pray even during the middle of the night.  It is a great comfort to know that he is being cared for in such tender ways both physically and also spiritually.

Stay the course.  Pray for:
Continue ease in breathing and healthy transfer of oxygen.
Fluid reduction.
Transfer to a regular room.
Rest. Rest. Rest.
...and for me as I to head to the mountain to pick up some things.

What a pleasure it is to bring you such great news.  Encourage one another.  Pray without ceasing.
~MaryAnn...maegan

6/23 am Press in for Progress

Good morning, faithful friends and family,

Today's theme:  Press in (to Jesus in the power of the Spirit) for Progress

Just a quick update this morning so far:
Praise:  Mary Ann was able to talk with TJ on the phone.  Praise that he has enough breath to talk.
Prayer:  TJ said the night was marginal.  As many of you know, ICU is not known for its optimal sleeping conditions.  TJ had very little sleep.
Would you pray for a day of rapid progress so TJ can transition to a regular room, discharge and then to the mountain for sunshine and healing?

The doc's have not been in for rounds as of yet.
with great gratitude to God,
Mary Ann, maegan

God at Work

Below are the observations of a friend who has been with TJ.  Mark it.  Your prayers are effective.

Mary Ann,
We spoke about this, but I want to memorialize my belief that God specifically intervened at least twiceyesterday and today. Yesterday, when Tim's bp levels were low and the Dr. decided to put a port in Tim's jugular, somehow it would not take the wire so the Dr. withdrew. The result was that Tim's bp jumped 20 pts from the trama but retreated only ten which was then the beginning of a steady rise throughout the night. So why did that happen?
Today, as the Dr. was prepared to insert the dreaded vent tube, the lasix kicked in at just the last moment. Isn't that an interesting development.
From my perspective, God simply answered the prayers of those that love him. And why are we astonished?
Grant

6/22 6pm

Keep praying!  Be encouraged.  

Tim is up in a chair.  He has been wearing a bipap most of the afternoon because he prefers it.  His blood oxygen, blood pressure and fluid management are all good.  

Pray for TJ, 6/21 Bozeman, MT

Dear Family and Friends,

It is time to rally the faithful for praying for TJ’s health.   As in times past, this blog has been a battle cry in the heavenlies that we have seen over and over again change the trajectory in these situations.  There is a huge component of spiritual warfare to this. 

TJ is in Montana.  It is a place that allows him to think, reconnect and recharge.  However, he is in the battle for his health currently instead of swinging the rhythm of the fly rod.

Yesterday, TJ was admitted to ICU in Bozeman with an acute pneumonia.  Given his history with such conditions going down hill fast the doctors are hitting it with about four big gun antibiotics. 

TJ’s health is in a very fragile position and he is very sick.  This morning there was a time where he was in “flash pulmonary edema”.  His lungs suddenly stared to fill with fluid.  He could not breath, vital signs became unsteady and he was not moving oxygen.  The doctors put him on bipap and a good dose of Lasix that helped him put out a lot of fluid which turned things around.  The pulmonologist thinks that yesterday he was in septic shock and they had to give him many liters of fluid to keep his blood pressure up.  Today that fluid was just looking for a place to go as the antibiotics started to kick in and the shock resolved. He currently is on a nasal cannula oxygen and may switch back to bipap when moving to a chair or other things that may stress his system. 

Please pray:

• ·      Resolution of the pulmonary edema.
• ·      Pneumonia would respond to the antibiotics.
• ·      Sepsis would completely resolve.
• ·      Kidney function would remain high and responsive.
• ·      That oxygen transfer in his lungs would happen with ease.
• ·      That he would be able to transfer from the ICU within 1-2 days, and then make a fast pace towards discharge to recuperate on his mountain. 

Mary Ann is doing well.  She is having assistance with communication.   Please know that she values your prayers more than anything.  She will not be able to communicate directly with each of you at this time.  She is at TJ’s side with limited cell coverage.  As you pray, could you ask for relief of the soreness in her feet? 

Feel free to post in the comments.  Your communication and prayer is of great worth and value.  The family appreciates it so much and will review often. 

~praying through Ephesians 6:10-20

with gratitude,

maegan for Mary Ann & TJ