Hold on to Hope!

Uncle John spiked another fever last night, and his oxygen and blood pressure began to drop through the night. The doctors have ruled out a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs), and are currently running a lot of cultures to try to determine the cause for his fever. His response to this most recent surgery is very similar to when he underwent heart surgery. The difference is that after the first surgery, and even the second one (to place the trach), he was able to use what the doctors have called his reserve. This helped him tolerate these surgeries. The bad news is that his reserve is pretty much all used up right now, so he is basically in a state of shock. This is a very serious condition especially for someone as vulnerable as John. The doctors believe the anesthesia they are keeping John on may be causing some of these negative reactions. So they are trying to balance between lowering the dose of anesthesia, but also trying to keep him relaxed and still so he doesn't cause his body more harm. We really need to pray that the medical team can have the wisdom to discover what is causing John to spike a fever. We need to pray now more than ever that Uncle John can remain strong enough to continue this fight. He gave his girls his word that he would keep fighting, and he is not one to go against his word!

As I said in a previous post, this is very emotionally draining for his family because they were just getting accustomed to having their dad back, and now he seems to be right back to where he was two weeks ago. We need to pray for his family that they can continue to trust that God knows what He is doing, and know that He will not abandon them and He will never abandon their dad.

At the very beginning of this journey we all asked ourselves, "Why?". ..."Why would such a horrible thing happen to such a wonderful man and a genuinely good family. Throughout this journey, we each answered this question specific to our own life because of how Uncle John's story has touched us. As Uncle John began to improve, I think we stopped trying to answer this question of "Why is God using Uncle John, and what is He using him for?". Instead we focused on John's small steps towards recovery. Now that he is facing yet another setback, we are back to asking "Why", and trying to figure out what is the purpose of all of this. Instead of trying to figure out what God will do next, we need to embrace what he has already done. We need to put our utmost trust in Him and His plan for our quiet giant. Most importantly, we need to hold on to the hope that God is not yet quite done with John!

REMINDERS:

After each post, you can click on the word comments, and then post a comment. You need to click on the drag down button and click on anonymous, unless you already have a google account. I hope this helps all of you who were wandering how to leave posts of encouragement and support.

For those of you who have also asked about making a donation - thank you!
An account has been set up for The Hannan's. The goal is to help with the mounting financial costs while John is recovering and unable to work.

Checks can be made payable to Maureen Hannan, and sent to

The Hannan Fund
c/o The Corbeys
108 North Adams Street
Rockville, MD 20850