Post Operative

Trevor has been operated upon. I wonder sometimes if the doctors can feel God moving them to do the things that we pray for. It's been interesting how many times in this blog, I've asked y'all to pray, and then in the next day or two, I post the how God has answered that prayer. It's so cool!

The operation went well. The ongoing prayer issue, of course, is infection: if the wound gets infected, they have to "tear it all out and start over." It's a little more complicated because they had to leave a drain in, and it's possible that an infection could bypass the skin's protection by entering through the drain. So we pray it won't!

Trevor tells me that the way that they were able to do the surgery was much simpler than they planned originally. As I said, the change was successful, but doing it this way has cut at least weeks, and possibly months, off of the healing process and possibly off of his hospital stay. As it stands now, he may be home as fast as next week.

Thanks for watching over him in prayer!

Praying for the Surgery

Trevor's wound is pretty substantial; it will require surgery to close it. In fact, until this morning, they were talking about skin grafts to close it, but the rate of his healing is so remarkable, that they don't expect to need the skin grafts. In fact, there are a number of folks that are coming by to look at Trevor, just to savor the high-speed healing process. It seems that Trevor has "a bit of a will" (which is a fine, strapping understatement), and his determination to be well appears to be helping him heal quickly. That and the prayers of the saints!!

Trevor told me that when he left the hospital in San Francisco, they took him out through the emergency department, as it has the best street access. But when he went through, all the nurses in ER that were part of his treatment clustered around: "You're going home already?" We love the power of God to heal!

So they added Trevor to "the slate" of surgeries for tomorrow. However, he can be "bumped" by an emergency surgery, so we're praying "No bumping, please." If we miss this time, we're not sure what the next option is; the doctor will be going on holiday for a while.

Another topic for prayer is infection. They'll leave a drain in the wound when they sew it shut, but infection is always a possibility. If there's no infection, he can go home perhaps as fast as next week. If there is an infection, that will be delayed, perhaps significantly, as they cut the wound open again and go to work all over again. That's not an acceptable alternative.

A final note for today: Trevor & Judy are grandparents again. Matthew & Evie have 6 pounds, 11 ounces of Adelaide to be a sister to Isabella. You should hear the pride in his voice!

An Update from Trevor!

Dear Intercessors,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. They are literally one of
the reasons I am alive today. I am not sure if you all were able to check
out the blog web site (put together by David Mclain), so here is what
happened, in a nutshell:

Aug 7 - On our way down to the conference in San Fran. I became aware that I
had an infected bug bite on my right side. Twice during the drive down I
stopped to put a hot water and salt compress on it, hoping to draw out the
infection.

Aug 8 - I wasn't feeling very well, so during the day instead of going with
David & Todd to scout out the area, I stayed back at the hostel and rested.
That night after I spoke on the panel, I was not feeling well at all and
left the meeting hall half way through to lay down. During the night I was
having problems breathing.

Aug 9 - In the early morning (between 5-7am) I asked Dave if he could please
take me to the hospital. We went to Saint Francis Memorial, which was 4
blocks away. We went into Emergency and I remember walking in and giving my
medical cards and being lead into a treatment room, and then I passed out.

The next thing I remember is 5 days later, having the intubation tube pulled
from my throat and being told that I had come extremely close to death. They
had kept me in a semi coma for those 5 days. I am told that this is what
happened during those days:

Aug 9 (afternoon) - Doctors were trying to determine what type of infection
I had, they did a CT Scan on me and multiple blood tests. One of the tests
came back saying that the infection had spread into my blood. My daughter
Rebecca was told by the ER manager to fly down to San Fran as soon as
possible, as they did not expect me to make it through the night. My kidneys
were shutting down, almost non-functioning at the time. I was rushed in to
surgery and a portion of my right side was removed, as it had become
severely infected and was now just dead tissue, and they were trying to stop
the infection from growing further.

They were treating me for tick bite fever and a general antibiotic for the
infection, but were unaware that my daughter Grace had just tested positive
for a Streptococcus infection on her skin. Once the doctors found this out
they started me on a full array of antibiotics specifically for this.

Aug 10 - My vitals had been erratic all night and continued to worry the
doctors throughout the day. My heart rate nearly reached 200bpm, blood
pressure at one point was 180/160, and temperature was consistently high. My
organs were all starting to shut down and my lungs were on the verge of
developing pneumonia. It was not looking good. The doctors were not sure if
they should attempt more surgery, or just wait to see how the antibiotics
worked.

Aug 11 - Doctors were still contemplating more surgery, but keep it as a
last resort. They were trying to determine if the infection had spread to
the fascial layer of my skin (this is the layer just before muscles and
organs). If so then it had become necrotizing fasciitis (commonly known as
the "flesh-eating bacteria") and they were not sure if they could keep up
with the infection before it over took me. My wife Judy arrived and laid
hands on me and prayed for my recovery, my vitals gradually begin to improve
throughout the day, my heart rate getting down to 120.

Aug 12 - The doctors are checking my surgical wound every few hours to
monitor growth of the infection, it has slowed down and they are hoping not
to do any more surgery. My vitals are getting better throughout the day, but
it is still a rollercoaster ride. The doctors confirm that the infection has
touched the fascial layer but do not think it has penetrated *into* the
layer (this is crucial).

Aug 13 - At this point the doctors decide not to do another surgery, as my
vitals are getting better and the infection growth has slowed down enough
that the antibiotics should be able to stop it completely. They remove the
intubation tube. and I wake up not knowing how close I was to not making it.

Aug 14 to present - The gradual process of healing begins, keeping me
hydrated, full of antibiotics and getting complete wound care to keep it
clean and free of bacteria. It might take awhile to fully heal, but it is
much better than the alternative.

Again I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers
and support. It has made all of the difference.

I hope to be able to write you all again soon.

In His Grip,

Trevor

Trevor is back in Canada!

Trevor is indeed in Canada, in the hospital near his house. Rebecca tells me that he's very glad to be close to home, but he just got set up there Saturday, and he's already antsy to get out.

In reality, his wound has flared back up again in the move: some inflammation. I didn't get the impression that the infection was flaring up, just the redness, tenderness and swelling. On the other hand, I forgot to ask in more detail: please pray as you feel led.

And we finally have gotten the Macpherson van back to them in BC. Some friends were coming up from Portland this weekend, and they stopped to pick it up. We're getting close to "back to normal." Just need to get Trevor prayed out of the hospital.

Thanks for your faithfulness and encaouragement!!

Please Pray for Randy Emerson

Trevor also asks for prayer for his friend and mine, Randy Emerson, pastor of Cloverdale Christian Fellowship. We don't know much at this point, but it appears that his thyroid is acting up in a way that is causing problems with his heart, and he may have to be hospitalized as well. Please pray for his thyroid and his heart to come into submission with their original design and for peace. Might want to pray for the leadership of the church while we're at it.

You're a blessing!

They're going home!

I spoke to Trevor last night. He's going home!

The doctors in SF and BC have finally connected, and arrangements are being made for his return to BC. He'll be transferred to a hospital in BC, in fact, it's only about 5 minutes from his home. Even better, the doctor he'll be working with appears to be the same one that treated a previous issue with him, and who knows him.

Yet another answer to prayer. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Trevor and Judy are both feeling a great sense of relief!

Trevor and Judy are Restless

When I spoke with them this afternoon, both Judy and Trevor were very eager to go home. Judy says Trevor is about ready to walk home!

There has been missed communication between the Canadian doctor and the American one: they keep playing phone tag. Please pray that they'll keep up the game of tag until they actually connect, because Trevor's not going anywhere until they do.

Both Trevor and Judy sounded in good spirits. Trevor is getting stronger. The original plan was to transfer him to a Canadian hospital. Now (and this may be because of the delay), there's a chance that they'll be able to transfer him directly to in-home care. Woo hoo!