“You Father the orphan; Your kindness makes us whole; You shoulder our weakness; And your strength becomes our own; Now you’re making me like you; Bringing beauty from ashes; For you will have your bride”
Journey to a Miracle continued
September 6th, 2018
Things seemed to be better. Dustin seemed more himself as we began to navigate the day. The numbers on his lab however did not get better they were not horribly worse but they were slightly worse on some things and slightly better on others. We still had no answers. No cultures were growing and everyone was guessing as to what this mystery infection was. Dustin had some pitting edema on his side but the doctors seemed to think it was a side effect of his surgery.
September 7th, 2018
The morning started just like the morning before some numbers slightly worse some slightly better. The pitting edema seemed to worsen and the doctors continued to be puzzled. As they examined his edema I heard the same words over and over “well it’s not hot and red”.
Reinforcements arrived on Friday in the form of Aunt Shellyne and Uncle Tom. Up until this points so many friends and grandparents had stepped up taking different children at the drop of a hat for playdates that went through dinner time and I made a point to put the kids to bed every night.
As evening came and I tried to figure out something Dustin would eat he asked me to re adjust his hospital gown as a did I looked at his left side and it was red. I quickly put my hand to the area and sure enough it was hot. I called for the nurse who seemed to wave my concerns away. I then texted my good friend who told me to insist they draw a line around the area and measure it as well as call the doctor. We did all of that and a good friend came to visit and talk to us about the new symptoms. Once the doctors came you could tell they were concerned and also confused.
On instagram with a continued prayer request I posted a picture with this quote “The God who has carried you till now can be trusted to carry you till you’re through” Little did I know how rough the waters would get in the next few days.
September 8th, 2018
My instagram post “We are still living in the world of no answers. We are fixing out eyes on Jesus and trying to settle into the unknown”
As Saturday marched on with lots of doctors and opinions and thoughts yet no answers I watched as Dustin looked sicker and sicker. Again there was little change in the numbers. Antibiotics were once again shuffled around and more tests were discussed and executed.
I don’t want to forget to mention the gift of our nurse on Saturday her name is Kari and she was beyond special. She met us in a place when we were so dependent on our care team paying attention to every detail. You will hear more about her later.
September 9th, 2018
Sunday felt like groundhogs day. We loved our weekend infectious disease dr. His spirit was kind and gentle and he was working so hard to figure out what was going on with Dustin. And again we had our nurse who we loved. The day went on and tears sat on the edge of my eyes the entire day. Often times they would roll down my cheeks as a watched Dustin eyes closed going more and more inward. A friend came to visit Dustin and I excused myself to go home. No one was at the house I laid on our bed and wept (like the ugliest cry you have ever seen). I cleaned myself up and headed back to the hospital to spend more time with Dustin. Our nurse informed us she would be off the next day but that she had picked our nurse for the next day and our other favorite nurse on the unit would be the charge nurse and she had been calling to check on him everyday.
September 10th, 2018
We found ourselves in the same place again. Numbers doing the same type of thing. Hot and red pitting edema growing. Dustin silent with his eyes closed and no apetite. I asked a dear friend if we could get lunch together I needed a safe place to talk. She immediately said yes. In the middle of lunch Dustin texted asking when I would be back. We finished up and I headed back.
In the afternoon Dustin began experiencing shortness of breath. Our nurse came in to talk to us. She and the charge nurse agreed Dustin should be moved to ICU so that he can be watched more closely. They said they really didn’t want to end up in a moment where we needed to do it stat. We agreed that was a good idea and she left to get things moving. Dustin was sitting in the chair in the room tears were already running down my face and he had quickly closed his eyes again when the nurse was finished talking to him. I put my hands on his and said would you like me to put on some worship music. He nodded yes and I opened up a playlist and pressed shuffle. The first song that came on was “Ever be” with tears streaming down my face I sang not thinking Dustin would say a word. But then as the chorus came on I heard his soft voice singing “His praise will ever be on my lips ever be on my lips his praise will ever be on my lips” Tears flowed faster and stronger. Here we were in our darkest moment together and the LORD’s presence was so thick and the weight so heavy. We were not alone our God was with us and He was holding us.
We moved to the ICU and very quickly a new doctor walked into the room and introduced himself as a thoracic surgeon. He stated “so we are doing surgery”. Mamma bear quickly came out and I said “wait what?” I then followed up with “I am sorry we just haven’t met you before. I am going to ask you a lot of questions sorry” (This is probably why it was noted in Dustin’s chart “wife is a doula”) We quickly learned that Dustin’s beloved infectious disease dr agreed we needed to do surgery to remove the infection from his side. Of course any surgery carries risk but this was going to be a very large incision. For the first time I sent out a text for pray that ended with for the first time I am legitimately scared. We both cried. Quickly we were told elders from church were on there way and Jono the pastor who married us and who we consider a dear friend said I am on my way. Jono was the first one to arrive. He prayed and when he had finished Dustin said through tears “Jesus you are my best friend. I love you so much come be with me” Tears streamed down my face faster. My phone was buzzing every second. My parents ignored my don’t come and got in the car. The room was buzzing with activity. The elders arrived and prayed over Dustin again. We were covered in prayer. The room was full of the Holy Spirit. Again Dustin got a sweet anesthesiologist who also surfed. As they rolled him back I could hear them discussing surfing, Dustin was taken back to surgery around 7 and the waiting room was full of people. As nerve racking as it was Joy still filled that place. The Spirit was evident and we waited. I knew the longer the surgery was the more infection they had found. So I was counting the minutes. 45 minutes later the surgery screen said procedure complete. I knew that meant there was quite a bit of infection that had been cleared out.
The surgeon came out and explained what he found and that his wound was large. 30 cm to be exact. He told me that he may be intubated when he heads back to ICU. Once I knew all was well I asked a few questions including the one that was on everyones mind “will he be able to surf again?” The surgeon chastised me for asking and everyone in the room quickly came to my defense. It was ok I laughed it off knowing God was bigger. we waited and waited and we saw them rolling him down the hall next to us I leapt out of my chair and ran out into the hallway. He was NOT intubated!
We waited a little longer and a few people at a time we all went in to give him love. One of his friends had even jumped in the car and driven up from San Diego. It took me a while to leave but eventually I left and went home to sleep.
to be cont…
