April 12, 2000 Dear Family, Today is Wednesday, April 12th. Skylar had a good night and in fact, when we arrived at his room, they had reduced his PEEP (baseline vent pressure) from 9 to 8. They moved his oxygen up to 45%, but this was the same process they used yesterday when they brought the PEEP down to 9. He was tolerating the new settings fairly well, with good oxygen saturation, and the respiratory therapist told us that his blood gas measurements were very good. This particular milestone is very encouraging because when previously they had reduced his pressure to 9 (a few weeks ago) he suffered a serious setback; and so we were all somewhat nervous. And so this morning I gave thanks and praise to our Father for this new milestone of improvement! Then later today I was working on my consulting project, sitting in the day room on floor 2 North. I was making good progress in my work when Pam burst into the room. "Come and see Skylar!" she said. "What's happening?" I asked. "He's awake, he want's to see his Papa, and I want to see his face when he does!" I hastily shut down my computer and we headed for Skylar's room on the PICU floor. Along the way, Pam said to me: "Peter is dying." And so we wept for Peter and his family as we went on our way. I don't know any details; perhaps the Lord will yet have compassion and save Peter; please continue to pray. When we arrived at Skylar's room, I could see that his eyes were open. Suzanne said to him "Papa's here". I hastily (but thoroughly) washed my hands (everyone does every time we enter the room to protect Skylar from infections) and went over to Skylar's bedside. "Hi Sweetheart, Papa's here and I am very happy to see you! Can I sing you a song?" Skylar looked at me with his beautiful blue eyes and nodded his head 'yes'. My joy was great! I sang a whole series of songs for him, including Psalm 5 and Psalm 116, His Name is Wonderful, Psalm 40, a couple of songs that Skylar himself had previously written, a song I wrote for him about Coco (Skylar's favorite dog!) and several others. I was tremendously encouraged when I would mention a particular song and he would nod his head "yes". I was also greatly encouraged when I asked him, "Can you see Papa smiling at you?" and he nodded "yes". Rejoice and praise Jesus with me at this wonderful milestone and strong evidence that Skylar's brain and mind have been spared great damage! And that his eyes are working to a great degree! Hallelujah! Thank You Lord, You have heard the voice of my cry! I thank and Praise You, Lord! Has not Your Hand made all these things? You are a great God and a great King above all Gods! I praise You and acknowledge Your great goodness and Your work in bringing Skylar to this place on the road to recovery! I thank You that he wanted me to sing about You today, and he was able to tell me so by nodding his head! Hallelujah! Dear Family, praise God and rejoice with us for this notable token of God's favor! And with your thanksgiving (may it be great and glorious) please persist in your requests with us for Skylar's complete recovery. The vent settings are still too high to consider removing it; and yet I have observed that, now that Skylar is awake, his saturation seems to be improving. Who knows what the Lord may do? The plan up until now has been to perhaps perform a tracheostomy on Skylar and keep him on a vent for rehabilitation; but who knows? Perhaps the Lord will confound the doctors by speeding Skylar's strength and recovery and strengthening him to leave the vent behind before too long. Please pray that Skylar will not be afraid, and will not fight the vent (try to imagine having your mouth and throat completely obstructed with tubing). I know this must be massively uncomfortable and even fearful to Skylar, so please pray for the Lord's consolation and help for him while in this condition. Over the last weeks, I have been singing Psalm 130 for Skylar. I will add the words here below for your meditation; if you have an internet connection, you can find the tune for these words at: http://creator.cjb.net/art/depths.html Psalm 130 Out of the depths have I cried To Thee, O Lord, hear my voice Let Thine ear be attentive As I humbly beg You for aid If You made us account for each sin O Lord, who then could stand? But You grant us forgiveness And so we fear You just as You planned My soul waits for the Lord My hopes are pinned on His word More than the watchman waits for the morning All through the long, dark night longing for dawn O people, trust in the Lord Lovingkindness He will afford Abundant redemption is with Him He will redeem us from all of our sin The Lord has heard my cry from the depths and has answered! Praise Him! Thank you Family for your faithful and persistant prayers for Skylar and for us. Rejoice with us! Keep on asking for God to complete this good work! I have been reminding the Lord that we wouldn't want unbelievers to say that God brought Skylar this far but couldn't finish the job... With great thanksgiving, -Dann (for us all) PS - Pam just came in with tears in her eyes - Peter has died. This is a grievous thing for us and it will be for Skylar as well when he knows. I pray that even now, Peter may be beholding the face of our loving Saviour and being comforted. Please pray for Peter's parents Chris and Irena, his Grandmother and his little sister Daria.