Thursday morning

Good morning eveyone. There is not much to report. Yesterday shawnas temperature on the right side of her body was significantly lower and pupil response on that side was also diminished. This was probably due to the left side of her brain being badly damaged. Today the temperature is again normal. The docs haven't made their rounds yet. Shawna is scheduled to have her abdominal incision closed today. We take it one day at a time. We are sure the progress will be very slow. Shawna remains in a coma of her own it is not induced by medicine. We are confident of God's hand protecting our daughter and strengthening us. Many have asked what they can do for us. We only need your prayerful support. We do ask if you want to do something also very positive that you donate blood. Shawna used over 20 units of blood and many other blood products. These donations probably came from 30 people. Imagine what we all could collectively do to help others in this situation. Praise God that he gave us the wonders of these medical advances that doctors can do this much for those so badly injured.

Wednesday

Sorry for the tardy post today. We wanted to wait till we met with the surgeons to give a more informed picture of what's going on. The surgeon is very pleasde with the chest inscisions and lung repairs. The chest may be closed in the next couple of days. The neurologist is very concerned with the amount of damage that shows up on the CT scan. Several areas which regulate the eyes and thought and movement are still very swollen and possibly irrepairably damage. Of course the doctor gives us the worst case scenario but we still notice small things which give us hope for her recovery. When we grasp Shawnas hand her hand tightens around ours noticeably. Not with an immediate strength but just a tightening. When someone familiar talks to her at times when she may be awake her heart beat increases from 60 to almost 70 beats. We are confident we have been chosen to go down this road in Gods plan. We are constantly upheld by everyones prayers and hopes. Thankyou ever so much for the visits. We really do enjoy them as we are trying for the next week to give Shawna as much rest as possible and just hanging around the ICU waiting room. The neurologist will know better in a week what is going so we have decided to give her less stimulants of personal contacts. Continue your prayers for us, Darryl and the Hoesema family. During this time of need we are so uplifted by the outporing of God's Holy Spirit when we read the responses to this blog. The communion of his saints all over the world is precious to Him and comforting to us. Thank you

Tuesday Afternoon

Greetings from the hospital crowd. Shawna had her CT scan today. The results were less than hopeful. The neurosurgeon explained that shawna has a lot of damage to the sides of her brain, which is still extensively swollen. His prognosis for her rehabilitation was not very good. There will have to be some descisions made in a week as to feeding tube and air tube being placed. Shawna may never be a fully functional adult. Please pray for us as we attempt to digest this information and we again lay our needs at the throne of God's mercy. Al

Tuesday morning

Good morning everyone. We've been forced to finally get a good nights rest. Shawna received a new "roomie" last night. With the amount of initial work they have to do on new patients they did not want us in the same room. Therefore we were forced to leave. When we returned this morning we were told Shawna had an unevetful night. That was a blessing in itself for now we know we can get some sleep so we can continue to function. Shwna will be getting a CT scan later today the facial swelling is gone and the puffines in hers skin around her fingers and arms is sarting to go away as well. She is now recieivng a liquid lunch(looks a lot like 1 litre bag of milk). They want her system to start functioning to also help with the drainage of excess fluids which the body was storing due to trauma. They have washed her hair and she looks beautiful with nice colour and long braids. They worked so hard braiding it to save it before they cut her open. We are so very thankful for the outporing of Gods holy spirit working in his childrens heart to respond to our need. We are lifted high upon eagles wings so we can see clearly gods plan in all of this. We won't pretend to know his whole plan but several things have been made plain. We will never ask why this happened because we know several significant things which would never have happened otherwise. Please continue to pray for us and by God's grace we may be able to inform you of more positive progress. Thank you everybody. On behalf of the family

Monday Evening

We're writing you from the hospital. Shawna continues to improve significantly. The doctors examining Shawna are pleased with her progress. Most of the facial swelling associated with the brain's swelling have disappeared leaving a few swollen areas which were points of accident contact. The brain itself is slowly shrinking back to where it should be. The neck brace has been removed allowing us to see her better. They have delayed the CT scan till tomorrow to allow Shawna more rest. She has progressed well so far and it looks like she is healing nicely. Shawna is still unconscious. There is pupil response, but still no response to pin pricks. While we wait for any sign of consciousness we realize that she has suffered a major traumatic injury to her brain and it may take a long time to see any of these signs. Debbie, Darryl, the family and myself are encouraged by the amount of progress to this day and we continue to lay our daughter's needs before God's throne of grace. We know our great healer is mightily working in his child. Al

Monday Morning

The Lord answers prayers! Yesterday, thousands of prayers from many congregations went up asking for the Lord to heal Shawna.

Al called this morning to say that the swelling in her brain is going down visibly. Her face looks almost normal. There is still swelling around her ears. This is what the doctors told the family to look for.
Shawna's heartbeat is steady and her blood pressure is good.

This morning Shawna will undergo a CT scan which hopefully will confirm all of this. Most importantly the scan will report whether or not there is still bleeding in her brain.

Al and Debbie, Darryl and family are very thankful for all of your kind words and prayers. This encouragement gives them strength. Please continue to hold them up before the Lord. We know He answers prayers.

Bill

Sunday afternoon

Here is the latest news from Debbie and Al:
Today the neurosurgeon examined Shawna. He is content with her progress thus far. Another doctor looked at her abdomen, and was also pleased with her condition.
Shawna's blood pressure is going up. This is a good sign, as it was a bit low before.
She previously had water pressure causing swelling around her eyes. This swelling is going down.
Tomorrow Shawna will have another CAT scan which will tell them about the bleeding in her brain, among other things.
Debbie and Al continue to be thankful for all of their visitors, comments on this blog and especially for your prayers. Please continue to hold Shawna and her family in your prayers.

Kate

Sunday morning update

Another update from Al:
Shawna did ok through the night last night. Her blood pressure is good and holding. Her heart beat is steady and strong. Her pupils are dilating properly.
The brain pressure sensor is not working anymore, so there is no data on that point.
There are no more operations scheduled for a long time.
Shawna is resting comfortably.

Al via Ruth wrote last night,

Debbie and Al would like to thank so many people for remembering them in prayer and also for coming to visit. The amount of people visiting has, however become overwhelming, especially as they are wearing down from stress and lack of sleep. If you come to visit, please stay only for an hour, especially if there are many visitors. Thank you for understanding.

We are trying to set up a schedule to spread out the regular visitors and to make sure there is always someone there to support the family.

after the operation

I just received a call from Al. Shawna is out her latest surgery. She squeezed Al's hand. However the news about her brain is not as good as it was this afternoon. There continues to be bleeding and pressure. I will let you know more in the morning.
Kate

visiting

Just a quick update on visiting Shawna. At this point, and for the next while, only immediate family is allowed to visit Shawna. I will post a note when others are allowed to visit.
kate

for family and friends of Shawna Bethlehem

Hello Everyone.
I am starting this blog on behalf of the family of Shawna Bethlehem. This blog will be updated as news of Shawna's condition becomes available.

To let everyone know what is happening, the following is an excerpt from an e-mail that Shawna's father wrote this morning.
As I am writing, Shawna should be in an operation to hold her pelvic bone in place and start to close her abdominal area.
Please feel free to leave messages , as the family will be checking this blog.

From Al:

Good morning Friends and family. As most of you have heard and been there for us, our daughter Shawna was involved in a very serious car accident in which she had to be extracted and airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital. She underwent major surgery to remove her spleen and repair her deflated left lung and fix other blood loss. At one point it was told to myself Debbie and Darryl that the doctors had done everything they could but she was bleeding out from the thin blood(she received 15 units). They gave her a special shot to promote clotting which seemed to stabilize her enough to have a cat scan done to determine the extent of head injuries. It was determined at that point she would have to have immediate surgery to remove part of her skull to allow the brain to expand upwards instead of down which would kill the brain. surgery was completed at 330am today and she is resting comfortably. The brain will continue to expand for between 48 to 72 hours. This is a critical time in our daughters life. Her blood pressure and heart beat is good as well as the brain pressure. We also learned that she only had a broken pelvis which is going to be held in place externally. I just got off the phone with Rebecca who is at her side and she apparently squeezed back on Rebecca's hand. They will be completing surgery closures to her stomach area this afternoon. We continue to be upheld and encircled by our Lords arms and we are most appreciative to all the support we have been shown by our brothers and sisters in Christ. Please continue to pray for Shawna that she also may experience the riches of God's mercy.

Yours in Christ Al and Deb Bethlehem


Please continue to pray for the continued healing of a very special daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and friend.

Kate Buist