Monday, April 17, 2000

Dear Family,

Greetings from this temporary encampment on Monday afternoon - I am holding forth from 
the 2nd floor north day room where I often work during the day.

When I got to Skylar's room this morning there was a rehabilitation specialist working 
with him, moving his arms and legs through a range of motions to help him to exercise 
and loosen up stiff muscles and joints. He was definitely not enjoying this; however it 
is very necessary for him right now so that he can recover from weeks of sleep and 
stillness. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
thee light!" While it is hard to see Skylar scrunch up his face in pain and cry, I am 
encouraged that these steps are being taken to help him regain his bodily strength and 
flexibility.

I can only say that I was delighted when I saw his ventilator settings; his PEEP is at 
5 and his oxygen at 45%. This is very encouraging because these numbers are very close 
to levels at which I have been told it would be reasonable to consider trying to remove 
the ventilator entirely. Oh, pray that the time may come soon! As the opportunity 
presents itself, I will be asking more about any other signposts they may be looking 
for before they attempt that.

Other encouraging news from yesterday and today; I mentioned Skylar's increased lung 
compliance (this is a measure of flexibility; the more compliant, the more flexible; 
the less compliant, the stiffer). I have seen compliance numbers in the range of 7 to 
12. Today I asked a respiratory therapist what a "normal" lung compliance might be. She 
told me that 10 was typical. What good news! That tells me that the Lord has answered 
yet another prayer by decreasing the stiffness of Skylar's lungs, and now already perhaps 
to a normal range! I thank and praise Him for this good news!

Another prayer that I have been praying is that God would confound the doctors by 
granting Skylar recovery and improvements in his health that exceed the doctors' 
expectations. Let me tell you a little story about one way God answered that prayer 
yesterday.

Pam was in the room with Skylar yesterday afternoon. They had done quite a bit of work 
on him, relocating some IV lines to the other side of his body and they also had removed 
his Foley catheter (this is a tube through which he has been urinating since they put him 
on the ventilator weeks ago). These lines were moved and removed to reduce Skye's risk of 
infection.

In order to keep Skylar comfortable while doing this, they had to give him about three 
times the normal dose of "sleepy-time" medicine to knock him out -- apparently when one 
has been sedated for such a long time, the body builds up quite a resistance to the 
sedating . Skylar has been wearing a rather large "diaper", and the medical staff simply 
expected that he would urinate in the diaper for a while until he recovers further.

Well, Pam was in the room interacting with Skylar who kept fighting to be awake and alert. 
He began to indicate some agitation. Pam was asking him "yes or no" questions to find out 
what was troubling him, with no success. It finally occured to her that he no longer had a 
catheter. "Do you need to pee?" she asked. "Yes" Skylar's head nodded. Pam rushed from the 
room and asked for a urinal bottle at the nurses station, where she was met with blank 
stares. No one could belive that Skylar was really going to use it. "Do you really want a 
urinal?" they asked. "Yes" Pam insisted. When she took it in to Skylar's room, he was able 
to use it just fine.

It is amazing, isn't it, what can at times bring joy to our hearts! When I later stopped 
and told his attending physician that he had used the urinal, she was amazed! Thank God 
with us for this notable progress. It is yet another indication that Skylar's brain is 
functioning as it should. He has continued to be able to communicate this need and use 
the urinal from time to time. Please pray with us that God will continue to confound the 
doctors as Skylar recovers.

Yesterday Pam and I also saw another respiratory therapist in the hallway on another 
floor. She knows and has treated Skylar but had not seen him for some time. When we 
told her how he was doing, her response was "There are miracles going on in that room!" 
Yes, I believe that there are. No, not precisely the kind of miracle that we would have 
seen when Jesus or the prophets or the apostles walked the earth -- in those times God 
announced His kingdom with incredibly dramatic, instantaneous and completely undeniable 
healings. And no, not the kind that will occur when Christ returns and the dead are 
raised and we are instantly transformed into His perfect likeness -- but to me, 
miracles nonetheless.

What do I mean by a miracle? In Skylar's case, he was at the very door of death because 
of the dreadful bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy that had been given to him. Time 
and again the medical professionals here were ready to write him off as an unfortunate 
statistic; and yet, God has had mercy on Skylar and upon us who love Skylar so much.

When Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus, he told the grieving onlookers "If you believe, 
you will see the Glory of God". You might think that everyone who saw Jesus raise a 
stinking, days-old corpse from an undeniable state of death to life would simply have 
to acknowledge the glory of God -- and yet we know that the hardened hearts standing 
there were hardened all the more.

And so with Skylar, I know there will be those who will simply say "What a strong 
little boy" or "Wasn't he lucky" or "They surely did a good job to bring him through". 
And some of those things may be true to varying degrees; I certainly appreciate the 
dedicated efforts of the many who have worked diligently to care for Skylar.

However, to this Papa, whose soul is bound up with Skylar's (just as Jacob's soul was 
bound with Benjamin), every time that I look at Skylar for the rest of my life, I will 
see and be reminded of the Glory and the Compassion and the Lovingkindness of God. I know 
it will be the same for all of you who along with me recognize Jesus as Sovereign Lord. 
May we praise and glorify our loving God!

Thank you for continuing to pray for Skylar. Today I noticed that he is having some 
difficulty seeing - it may be trouble coordinating his eye muscles, as he was closing 
his left eye from time to time in order to see better. Also, his arm and leg muscles 
are still very weak. Please pray for growing strength and healing so that when the 
time comes he will be able to get out of bed and move around.

As I left his room once today, having said goodbye and that I had to go back and work 
for a while, Skye did manage to lift his right hand slightly and curl his fingers into 
a "goodbye" wave for me! I praise God for even these small but encouraging signs of 
progress!

With love,

-Dann (for Pam as well)