Dad's Update IX - 10/8/09

 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging……."Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  (Isaiah 46:1-3, 10-11)

In the middle of the night, you awake to the sound of the Swiss medic helicopter as it lands at the Centre. Immediately your heart breaks as you pray for the sustenance of a complete stranger and his/her family and loved ones as they enter this world of paraplegia after some unexpected accident.  Life is changed forever...the learning curve of the “new normal”… with each day providing a new challenging twist or turn.  Yet there is always hope.....hope that God who promises His presence, will create a new purpose for His glory.

Meg and I returned home yesterday after two weeks at the Centre Suisse des Paraplegiques with Bryce and his mother, Jennifer.  Jennifer will remain through December and family members are beginning a rotation of visits (Uncle Adam 10/12-19, Cousin Cara in early November, and Grandma Zaccara in mid/late November).  We learned yesterday that Bryce leaves ICU next Monday, October 12th.  He will relocate to the third floor - a double in Ward C (patients reside in Wards A-D).  This provides Bryce with a new firm goal.  Although well cared for, it will be a relief to finally leave ICU.  Once on the ward, visitation should be more flexible.  We encourage friends to visit Bryce as schedules permit during this challenging time as the reality of what he has lost continues to penetrate deeper.  While he has a few new local friends visiting from the International Church of Luzern, he should be more available once the doctors remove his trachea tube in a week or two.  

Bryce has strengthened steadily over the past week in terms of breathing and eating – he no longer needs external intravenous food.  He has slowly weaned from the ventilator machine, as those pesky lungs continued to produce water requiring coughing or lung suction through the trachea hole.  Earlier in the week, he returned to intravenous water hydration  because his kidneys were expelling water too rapidly.  That problem seems to be improving.  He has struggled periodically with low blood pressure, low grade fever, and dizziness.  Another challenge has been a low appetite.  He isn’t exercising and therefore is not very hungry.  He doesn’t like the food very much, finding it salty and distasteful (I think it’s delicious), but that might be because he has lost his sense of smell since the accident.  We hope that once the trachea is removed, his olfactory system will be at 100%.  Over the last few days, his left arm has shown a few new signals so we are increasingly hopeful; his surgeon still believes movement will return.  We are hoping things continue to level out, especially the lungs, so he can make the transition out of ICU on time and get on with rehab. 

We found comfort locally at the International Church of Luzern (www.icl.ch), making lots of new friends who will visit Bryce over the next few months.  Pastor Wilson and his wife, Rachel, visited with Bryce last Sunday.  We are comforted by the fact there will be family members, as well as new friends visiting to keep Bryce’s spirits up.  We continue to be grateful for Jay and Nancy Adams of Black Rock Academy (Kadern, Germany) – who have generously graced all of us on so many levels.

Please pray for continued left arm feeling and motor recovery, kidney normalization, emotional and physical strength as he begins full rehabilitation, and for his faith in the Lord.  Also, please pray for efficient and effective insurance claims processing between the U.S. insurers and Swiss health care system. 

We thank many of you who have asked about Keefe.  Keefe is staying strong in his senior year at Taft, maintaining his school work, playing goalie for the Varsity soccer team, and hanging in there through the college application process.  He and Dad are visiting the Naval Academy on Monday, Keefer’s first college choice.

We are close to initiating some fundraising activities along with more detailed medical information about Bryce’s current status and expectations for recovery.   Please prayerfully consider how you might be able to support him.  We will provide more information shortly.  As always, we thank you for all your love, prayers, and support.  They continue to encourage and sustain us – and we are tremendously grateful.

In Him,

John

P.S.  Attached pictures of the Centre Suisse des Paraplegiques living quarters and central atrium for your interest.