Prayers for Opa

If you follow me on facebook, you know I have been speaking a lot about prayers, family, health, and hope lately. I want to take a minute and explain a bit more. I haven't said too much online because a) it was quite complicated and long-winded; and b) I was afraid of the outcome, and didn't want to face it completely.

My grandfather is in the hospital. He went in the first time a week or so before Thanksgiving. He was having a lot of pain in his abdomen and he was diagnosed with pancreatitis caused by gallstones. Due to his previous medical conditions, his organs are not in the normal place or position, some are even missing. Due to this, his gallbladder was very difficult to get to. The surgeons and other doctors decided to remove his gallstones but wait on removing his gallbladder.
He was released a few days later and was still in pain days after that. He saw a doctor again and was assured everything was "normal" due to his body healthing (though no tests run), and they would wait until after the new year to remove his gallbladder.
Early Sunday (11/30) morning my grandfather (whom we all call Opa) was in terrible pain, worse than ever before. My grandmother (Oma) rushed him to the ER and they quickly decided he needed emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder.
Now since his organs are not that of an average person, the surgery was invasive and difficult. During the surgery he has massive aspiration of fluid into his lungs. They knew this might happen due to his altered anatomy, but it was far worse than what they prepared for.
He was put on a ventilator, and numerous IV's for fluid, antibiotics, sedatives, pain medication, etc. He was running a fever still on strong pain killers; he had stubborn infections due to his gallbladder that was forming gangrene; and then got double pneumonia due to all the fluid on his lungs. He was so sedated he would only flutter his eyes open for a few minutes to some-what acknowledge who was in the room...only to forget minutes later. He has his hand restrained to the bed so he would not continue to try to pull out his breathing tube. They tried to get him to breathe on his own by turning off the ventilator, but he couldn't. At one point they couldn't wake him up, he wouldn't respond to any commands.

I visited him Monday and felt in my gut I would never see him as the Opa I grew up with. I was certain this time, he couldn't beat it. I felt a heavy heart, fearing we would lose him right before Christmas. I prayed, and cried, and prayed more. I prayed for his health, his strength, his comfort. I prayed for my Oma who was by his side all the way, along with my mother (Opa is her father). I prayed for our family as a whole. (In the past few weeks I have had 2 different aunts lose one of their parents...one of which was the morning of Opa's emergency surgery.) In a time of joy and festivities, my family was struggling to crawl out of this hole of sadness, grief, and exhaustion.

Just in the past 2 days, I have heard some wonderful, surprising news. My Opa has not run a fever in 24hrs, he has stayed awake for not minutes, but hours, he even had his breathing tube removed today.

I prayed for a miracle, and I truly believe we have one.

I am not saying he is out of the woods yet, but he is miles closer than he was just a couple of days ago. I continue to pray. If you are the praying type, I urge you to pray for him as well. This man, my Opa, is the strongest, most stubborn man when it comes to illness, cancer, and complications. He fights and he fights hard. I pray for him to be stronger, healthier, and more comfortable by Friday (his birthday) and hopefully home by Christmas. All I want this year is my family, my whole family, together at Christmas.
I know his day will come, like all of ours, but somehow through the dark terminal fog I felt he was in, God has shown him the light to fight through it. My heart is, for the first time in almost a week, hopeful.

This song was on the radio, and I will never hear it the same way again. Sure, the original meaning is completely different, but this lyric stuck out to me, and no matter what else happens, it will mean something special to me from now on.

"The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life."

Prayers still, please. Prayers for Opa!



M.LEWIS