Looking at the bigger picture

Let me begin by saying that Aunt Maureen called today with another minor setback, but on a positive note Uncle John was squeezing her hand with his left hand (the weak side) the whole phone call.

Uncle John has to have surgery tomorrow afternoon because it appears that one of the wires keeping his sternum together has come a part, and he also has a little infection at the base of his wound. To an outsider or a new member to this blog, this may seem horrible considering all that Uncle John has already been through. Although, this surgery does pose more risks for Uncle John, you frequent 'blog followers' should know by now that there is always a bigger picture to see when something goes wrong for Uncle John during this journey. That bigger picture is that God's hand is still very much at work.

As I said, it is not a positive step that John has to have this surgery or that he has another infection. However, it is positive that this problem was discovered now before it got worse. This torn wire may be part of the reason why Uncle John is having such difficulty getting off of the respirator. It is obvious now that God's hand was at work long before this incident occurred.

It turns out one of Shawn's (Uncle John's oldest daughter) bosses, Dr. Otero, is the head of plastic surgery at Washington Hospital, and specifically specializes in wounds. Because Dr. Otero knows Shawn so well, she has been following Uncle John's case from the beginning. She was able to brief the family on how Uncle John's heart surgery went before the surgeon even came out. She became concerned based on Shawn's recent updates, and decided she would pay him a visit. While assessing John, she felt his sternum and ordered an X Ray because she thought there might be a tear. It turned out she was correct. She decided the surgery was very necessary, and she is planning on performing the surgery personally. She is very confident that Uncle John is stable enough to go through this surgery. Dr. Otero is not Uncle John's doctor, but she was obviously brought into his life for a very specific reason. On behalf of the Hannan family and all of us who love Uncle John...words cannot express how thankful we are that you have taken such a special interest in our guy.

I know there are hundreds of people praying for Uncle John tonight, and my hope is that the prayers can multiply by the time he has his surgery. We need to pray once again that his body can tolerate the surgery tomorrow and can heal from his infection. We also for the first time need to pray for his mental well being. When we first learned Uncle John had a stroke, we were unsure how 'with it' he would be, but I am proud to report that he is very much with it and very much aware of what is going on. Although this is AMAZING news, it does mean that we need to keep his mental well being in mind as we pray. He is obviously nervous for the surgery and frustrated that it is difficult to communicate. We need to pray that God can help him relax and find comfort in knowing that he is on the road to recovery and that the Lord is by his side every step of the way.

His kids have asked me to share one more fact about John. Their Dad has always been one to shy away from attention, and this is no exception. Although he is lying in a hospital bed, unable to breathe on his own or communicate fully, he is still making sure those around him are OK. He doesn't want the focus to be only on him. He constantly tells his kids to watch over their mother and take their vitamins so they dont get sick. He always makes sure Aunt Maureen has gas in her car before she leaves. And he even told his daughter to get one of his visitors a glass of water because he began coughing. WOW! What an amazing man! We all loved Uncle John before this journey, but this experience just reiterates what a wonderful, kindhearted man he truly is. We love you Uncle John, and are so grateful to all the lessons you have taught us....Oh and sorry if you don't like the spotlight, but get used to it because you are now a hero to so many of us. You may not have physically saved any lives through this journey, but your life has saved so many spiritually and given us all a new perspective on our own journey!