Pete in MI
New member
Hi, I just wanted to let you know how Pete is doing. Thanks to God's faithfulness and care, in answer to the multitude of prayers storming heaven for Pete, he is doing so much better! Last evening he was moved out of ICU and onto a regular floor...here is the account of things as I posted them in emails:
Wednesday afternoon Pete believed he'd pulled muscle on his right side, over his rib cage. By late evening the pain had spread all across his back ribs. By about 3:00 a.m. he started having trouble breathing, and the pain had gotten so severe he literally couldn't stand.
We arrived at the ER at about 4:40 (the hospital is 26 miles away and it is all Xway but there was heavy fog) and they started pain meds, O2, and tests. By 8:00ish he had a tentative diagnosis of pulmonary embolisms, both lungs, from a blood test that is an indicator of such things. He then had an ultrasound and a scan that confirmed the diagnosis, and the doctor told me that he was "very seriously ill" and that people who had a single PE "often did quite well" but that he had them in both lungs and that he "couldn't be expected to so as well." By this time the prayer wheels had started turning and prayers were going out from multiple churches and our brothers and sisters and Christ online and his Christian Metal Detectorist group.
Meanwhile, Pete was pale gray in color. His CO2 level was 1.5 times normal. His struggles to breathe were horrific to watch as his chest heaved and he grunted with the effort of every breath. Thankfully, he was knocked out from the pain meds during the worst of this, as his pain, on a 1-10 scale, was a 12. His skin was cool but he was sweating profusely. By mid-afternoon his doctor told us he was going into congestive heart failure and that I needed to notify his family now. He spiked a temp. His creatinine level became elevated, indicating a possible kidney issue. Fluid was accumulating in his lungs. I was told that there was a "strong possibility" he wouldn't survive the day on Thursday. He vomited yellow fluid, they called in a surgeon who suggested a gall bladder issue. Friends and our pastor came to the hospital or called to pray with us...for my own part I was telling God the He couldn't have Pete yet, and clinging to something I'd seen on a church sign just a few days earlier: I need not fear tomorrow because Jesus is already there.
Late Thursday afternoon they did another test to check Pete's lungs. They could find no evidence of embolisms. The respiratory therapist put him on a CPAP machine to force air into his lungs and help him get more oxygen than Pete would get himself with just the O2 mask. By Thursday evening his CO2 levels returned to near normal. During the night Thursday, he woke up and, while still in pain, was able to breathe more easily and the CPAP was removed with just an O2 mask in its place. Friday morning they ruled out gall bladder problems and congestive heart failure, and Pete was able to breathe on his own with just a nasal canula. His color returned to normal. His kidneys were working. His temperature returned to normal by Friday evening. He was still in pain and still needed pain meds but it, too, was improving. He ate some jello, then some custard, then some soup. He then got a diagnosis of pneumonia.
Saturday morning they put him on a regular diet. The respiratory therapists started working with him every couple of hours, turning him on his head (almost literally) and having him do various breathing exercises upside down and on each side. It was very painful but, as one RT said, "Pneumonia is one of the top-10 killers in this country...but nobody has died from pain." It has been exhausting him, but by late this afternoon he could finally breathe without pain. They downgraded his condition from critical. After dinner he was moved out of ICU and into a regular unit, and is able to get up and walk around.
God is faithful to hear and answer the prayers of His people. If God had in His will that it was time for Pete to go Home, he was ready - moreso than I would have been to "let" him go. But whatever the reason for all of this, we live every day knowing that God is in control, and we know it is for God's purpose and for His glory, and that's reason enough for us.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support and for caring. We are looking forward to Pete being able to come home in the next couple of days. We sincerely appreciate every single person who wrote and expressed their care and concern for my Petey and every prayer that was said for him.
Thanks, you are Pete's family and I know that he loves and appreciates you all and has been coveting your prayers this week
.
This morning is Casey's first morning singing with the worship team at the new church we've been attending and she's really excited. So I've got to hurry up to get there before we go to the hospital but I wanted to let you all know what's been going on and how he's doing today so you can join us in our praises!
His,
Sherry
www.owly.net
Wednesday afternoon Pete believed he'd pulled muscle on his right side, over his rib cage. By late evening the pain had spread all across his back ribs. By about 3:00 a.m. he started having trouble breathing, and the pain had gotten so severe he literally couldn't stand.
We arrived at the ER at about 4:40 (the hospital is 26 miles away and it is all Xway but there was heavy fog) and they started pain meds, O2, and tests. By 8:00ish he had a tentative diagnosis of pulmonary embolisms, both lungs, from a blood test that is an indicator of such things. He then had an ultrasound and a scan that confirmed the diagnosis, and the doctor told me that he was "very seriously ill" and that people who had a single PE "often did quite well" but that he had them in both lungs and that he "couldn't be expected to so as well." By this time the prayer wheels had started turning and prayers were going out from multiple churches and our brothers and sisters and Christ online and his Christian Metal Detectorist group.
Meanwhile, Pete was pale gray in color. His CO2 level was 1.5 times normal. His struggles to breathe were horrific to watch as his chest heaved and he grunted with the effort of every breath. Thankfully, he was knocked out from the pain meds during the worst of this, as his pain, on a 1-10 scale, was a 12. His skin was cool but he was sweating profusely. By mid-afternoon his doctor told us he was going into congestive heart failure and that I needed to notify his family now. He spiked a temp. His creatinine level became elevated, indicating a possible kidney issue. Fluid was accumulating in his lungs. I was told that there was a "strong possibility" he wouldn't survive the day on Thursday. He vomited yellow fluid, they called in a surgeon who suggested a gall bladder issue. Friends and our pastor came to the hospital or called to pray with us...for my own part I was telling God the He couldn't have Pete yet, and clinging to something I'd seen on a church sign just a few days earlier: I need not fear tomorrow because Jesus is already there.
Late Thursday afternoon they did another test to check Pete's lungs. They could find no evidence of embolisms. The respiratory therapist put him on a CPAP machine to force air into his lungs and help him get more oxygen than Pete would get himself with just the O2 mask. By Thursday evening his CO2 levels returned to near normal. During the night Thursday, he woke up and, while still in pain, was able to breathe more easily and the CPAP was removed with just an O2 mask in its place. Friday morning they ruled out gall bladder problems and congestive heart failure, and Pete was able to breathe on his own with just a nasal canula. His color returned to normal. His kidneys were working. His temperature returned to normal by Friday evening. He was still in pain and still needed pain meds but it, too, was improving. He ate some jello, then some custard, then some soup. He then got a diagnosis of pneumonia.
Saturday morning they put him on a regular diet. The respiratory therapists started working with him every couple of hours, turning him on his head (almost literally) and having him do various breathing exercises upside down and on each side. It was very painful but, as one RT said, "Pneumonia is one of the top-10 killers in this country...but nobody has died from pain." It has been exhausting him, but by late this afternoon he could finally breathe without pain. They downgraded his condition from critical. After dinner he was moved out of ICU and into a regular unit, and is able to get up and walk around.
God is faithful to hear and answer the prayers of His people. If God had in His will that it was time for Pete to go Home, he was ready - moreso than I would have been to "let" him go. But whatever the reason for all of this, we live every day knowing that God is in control, and we know it is for God's purpose and for His glory, and that's reason enough for us.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support and for caring. We are looking forward to Pete being able to come home in the next couple of days. We sincerely appreciate every single person who wrote and expressed their care and concern for my Petey and every prayer that was said for him.
Thanks, you are Pete's family and I know that he loves and appreciates you all and has been coveting your prayers this week
.This morning is Casey's first morning singing with the worship team at the new church we've been attending and she's really excited. So I've got to hurry up to get there before we go to the hospital but I wanted to let you all know what's been going on and how he's doing today so you can join us in our praises!
His,
Sherry
www.owly.net
