Update on Doug

Days 14 and 15 - The last two days have been filled with mixed emotions as my precious Doug has developed a variety of complications. Thursday was tough on him as he became more ill through the day. We left last night praying that God would keep him safe and guard his organs. He struggled with high, then low blood pressure, fever, an irregular heart beat, and pneumonia. Doctors are still keeping watch over his kidney and liver function. Every time the nurse came in, there was something new which needed to be attended to. But, he made it through the night and was stable, although fragile, today. The decision was made to keep him sedated and on the ventilator through the weekend. This will allow the antibiotics to work. They especially want his lungs to improve so that he will be able to take the deep breaths needed to get off the ventilator. Everything right now is treatable, and that is good to know. He is in an unconscious state and we are told that he will not remember anything that is happening to him.  Good news: He is producing white blood cells.  The swelling of his body has gone down. The ventilator is doing 50% of the work, he does the rest. He is responding to the nurses commands. Pray for: healing of his organs and of the pneumonia in his lungs, stability of symptoms, healing of the cancer. We pray that he has reached the bottom of the valley and that he will now begin to go uphill. Pray also for Jessica, Tina, Erik, myself, and our close family members. Ask our Father God to keep us from discouragement, from fear of the future, and to rest in the assurance that He is in control of all that is happening. We need his comfort, peace, and confidence right now.  I do praise God for holding me up this past week. Right when I felt like I couldn't hold it together, He came to me in a song or His Word came to mind, or He sent someone to sit with me. This valley experience has reinforced that close walk with Him and I will continue to praise Him in the valley as well as on the mountaintop.