Proclaimer

Hi all--Jim here with an update.

Grant is still in the "fight-for-his-life" stage of the journey.

We've come up with a subjective scale of 1-10 that we use with the doctors/nurses, where 1 is perfect and 10 is as bad as it can possibly be. He was definitely a 10 on Sunday--that is what triggered the emergency surgery. He has been floating around in the 7-9 range ever since, though today he is more toward the positive end of that scale.

They have been successfully reducing a number of his 13 medications that are being constantly fed into him via computer-controlled drips--I think he is down under 10 different meds now, with some of them at reduced dosages. He resisted that yesterday (by "resist" I mean that his vital signs--blood pressure, etc--would react too dramatically to the changes, thus preventing them from doing it), but he is tolerating it today. So that is good.

The Dr. is considering closing up his chest today or tomorrow (he had open heart surgery, you know), which would be a major victory. It would mean that he is stable enough to handle the procedure and that they don't fear that they'll have to hook him up to a machine called "EKMO" (sounds like the name of a Muppet, to me). My limited understanding of EKMO is that it would serve as his heart for him--his blood would go out of his body, into the machine and the machine would pump it for him. That would be bad. So, we're hopeful they'll give the go-ahead on closing his chest.

So, as said, still in the 7-9 range, but closer to the 7 as of late. Thanks for continuing to pray for complete healing.

I (Jim) am doing fine--thankful to be experiencing God's strength. Shan has been so filled with God's power, too; I'm very proud of her. Sleep for her, though, has been rare. Please pray that she would begin to be able to sleep solidly.

A final cool note: one friend came to visit Grant and pray for him. After a short time our friend shared that he felt God saying that Grant is a "Proclaimer" and that he would bodly proclaim how good God is. I thought that sounded great but I really didn't make much of it; kinda put it on the shelf, if you follow me (maybe it was God, maybe it was just a kind thought, maybe it was nothing). A few hours later another friend suggested that Psalm 118 would be for Grant (actually, he now claims he suggested Psalm 116--but I'm certain he said 118). I read Psalm 118 and right in the middle of it is verse 17:

"I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done."

The surrounding verses are just as encouraging--you can read it and turn it into a prayer for Grant (Psalm 118 http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=psalm+118&version1=31).

Thank you, thank you for surrounding us in love and Grant in prayer.