Friday (day36)

Good evening all. Shawna continues to coast along in the step down unit of floor 6. Today they downsized her trachea but haven't removed it completely due to the light secretions they have to remove with suction. Shawna absolutely hates those moments. When I was present this afternoon I could feel her tensing up even at the mentioning of suctioning. Still a good sign of awareness. She went downstairs to have a contrast chest and brain CT scan. The chest cavity drain was no longer draining anything and they wanted to see if there was any more isolated pockets of infection. Dr Wells wanted to see if there were any pockets of water in her brain and check the blood flow for obstructions in case there was anything more he could do for her. No results as of yet but Shawna came back to her room and didint need any more drains installed( maybe at this time). She was breathing without oxygen assistance at 99% before they turned on the hose to give her some humidified air so the airway doesn't get too dry. We also learned from a recent exray at the physiotherapists request that she did have a broken arm just above the elbow. At this point it is calcified and almost healed. It healed just a freaction out of alignment and may require surgery later to reshape the bone. At this point there is no need to operate as it is pretty close to being healed and will not need to be casted. Shawna again continued with the hand squeezes when asked and again move her feet a bit when asked. I could almost say I made her smile when we told her how proud of her we were and then she went back to sleep. It is quite exhausting for her and we are thankful for the care she recieves in the step down unit. Above all we know the care that our Father has for her that not a hair can fall from her head without his will. We have been richly blessed by the sparing of her life and her constant recovery. We are also thankful for even the small amounts of communication we can have and I'm sure she enjoys that too. She doesn't hyperventilate or get super excited when I talk to her but she continues to try to open her eyes. A rich blessing that she can remain calm. We'll let you know more when we hear from the doctors about the CT scan. Thankyou for your prayers and messages. Al and Deb

Thursday (day35)

Good evening all. Shawna is having a restfull day. Nothing new to report. She is still moving her arms and toes etc. Its a beautiful thing to see. She changed rooms last night because the room she was in (we were spoiled) was a single bed isolation room and someone needed to be in isolation. Now she's in a room with two other patients. The patient next to her is the same one who was with her in ICU. Nothing changes, he's still trying to climb out of bed. Only now he's tied down even though he's heavily sedated. She is receiving a quite a few visitors plus the noise next bed keeps her pretty awake. We are asking that you do not visit her from 3pm to 5pm as she will be resting after being in her neuro chair and its very important that she has down time to rest. We remain thankful and patient with what the Lord has given us. Thankyou for your messages and prayers. Al and Deb

Wednesday (day34)

Afternoon all! After a rather difficult night of stress we arrived at the hospital to a fresh day. The medicine that Shawna received seemed to put her a step back in consciousness. There was not much reaction or movement this morning. The nurses assured us that the siezures which were small are just something the body will do when the brain starts to settle down. It also could have been triggered by not having food for 6 hrs and all the movement and stimulation. After lunch Shawna spent 2 hrs in the neuro chair. When Jessica Bartels was visiting Shawna seemed to be a little more conscious and was moving both arms and feet and legs a little bit. I tried to get Shawna to respond to command by asking her to move her left foot. After 3 or 4 seconds she did it. I tried to get her to move her right foot but that was not succesful. After a few minutes I tried again with the left foot and she reponded by moving it again. We were so excited that we told the physio therapist who just entered the room and she was amazed and asked if we could try again. I asked her to move her foot again and after a few seconds she moved both feet an inch or so. Now the physio therapist was excited. It was a very good sign. Now when ever we talk we are sure hears us depending on her level of consciousness. This happened yesterday as well with her left index finger but we didn't attach too much hope on it. We are very thankful to our Heavenly father for these small steps and continue to wait patiently. Al and Deb

Tuesday (day33)

Good evening everyone. Shawna made another move today. She was taken down to the 6th floor (trauma) as they are better trained to help with her physical injuries which are more of a concern at this time. She is exhibiting more signs of slight alertness for example body part movements. She may have been overstimulated today with a two hour sit in the "neuro chair" and the move onto a stretcher and again a move onto her present bed. A whole lot of moving going on! As a result they are going to give her a sedative for siezures as she was experiencing a few as she settled down for the night. It could have been too much stimulation for today because it also occurred when I put the earphone for her MP3 in her ear. She is now in the stepdown of floor 6 as she is not ready to have her tracheostomy changed and still having secretions suctioned from her trache. We remain patient as God continues to unfold his plan of mercy regarding Shawna. He took many years to grow His beautiful flower to this point and so we wait to see where He takes us. Thank you for your prayers. Al and Deb

Monday (day32)

Good evening all. Not too much to post. Shawna continues to rest. Her white cell counts are coming down nicely.....infection is going away. They are no longer giving her oxygen. They are also starting the process to remove the tracheotomy. During this first stag if she can continue for 24 hrs they will move her out of stepdown on floor 7 to the trauma ward on floor 6. This will most likely happen tomorrow. The shawna watch begins with watchers through the evening to give a little help to the nurses who are not always in the room as they have 4 to 6 patients under their care. This happened a bit faster than we anticipated but it means again she is well enough that they are confident of the move. We thank God for her progress and continue to lay her needs before his throne of mercy. Again just a little housekeeping. If you are feeling ill or any of your family is ill please do not visit. If you do visit you must clean your hands with the solution provided. We've had a few scares in the last few days as visiting conditions are becoming relaxed. Yours in Christ. Al and Deb

Sunday. (Day31)

Good evening all. After a night of uneasy rest Deb phoned me from the hospital to tell me that Shawna had a very good nights sleep. She was in a very deep sleep. Her lungs breathed slow and deep and her heart was beating nice and slowly. Later on when I came to the hospital after worship services Deb filled me in on what had happened today. More of her reflex actions for her eyes are now present. When Deb did the physio work her eyes were trying to open approx halfway(not that she's conscious). There has also been a lot of body part movement starting with fingers, a bit on arms and slightly on legs and toes. Later when we saw her she was tired and starting to sleep again. In this room there is no hustle and bustle and at night everything is dark. It is definitly a better rest for her. They will be keeping her in the step down for quite a while and she is placed right in front of the nurses station. They keep a very close eye on her. In this respect Deb feels very comfortable to come home for the nights to be with us. Again we as family witness the blessings God has given us today. God bless you all as you remember us in prayer. Al. And Deb

Saturday (day 30)

MOVING DAY! Praise be to God who gives all things in his time. Shawna has been deemed stable enough to go to the stepdown unit of floor 7 (neuro) this afternoon. Step down is one nurse to three patients. She will stay there till they feel they can remove the heart and breathing monitors safely. Then she will be moved to the ward and slowly weaned from the oxygen supply tube currently set at 28%, which is close to the 21% you and I breathe. They have warned us of the possible return to ICU for complications due to infections and pneumonia, which happens to patients who are immobile and do not have full circulation. They have pulled a couple of the drain tubes from her chest cavity as they are not draining anything anymore from behind her lungs. The less infection points the better. The nurses are feeding her food by the feeding tube a much as can be delivered to a person Shawna's size(which isn't as much as mine but it's still a goodly amount). The food has been succesfully absorbed over the last day and a half. We will know in a couple of days if we can have round the clock attendees to monitor her as the nurses may be too busy to watch her full time. This may be a needless worry as she is very stable and has had no difficulties breathing in the last three days. The suctioning of her lungs has also decreased as there is a lot less fluids being generated as her lungs heal. The main reason for round the clock monitoring would be for stimulation and just being there when she wakes up. We remain thankful that our almighty Father and Healer continues to provide for our daughter, His child. We continue to receive bessings of strenghth and patience as we wait for His unfolding plan. Thankyou for your messages and prayers. Al and Deb

Ps. We won't be at the hospital tonight till later(Wil and Katie's engagement party)

Friday (day 29)

Hello all. Last night Shawna did not go back on the ventilator at all. She is progressing quickly. She has been off the ventilator for over 36 hrs. We have been told that if she can stay off for 48 hrs she will be moved up to the stepdown unit of either floor 6(trauma) or floor 7(neuro). They must be pretty confident of this as the ventilator is no longer present in Shawnas room. The nurses have said it will most likely happen this weekend when they need a bed for another ICU patient as she is the most ready patient able to move. . Another good development is they have again started feeding Shawna through her feeding tube and it has so far been succesfully absorbed into her system. She spent another hour in the "neuro chair", and seems now to be settling in for a good nights sleep. We will keep you posted about location and visiting hours as more than just immediate family will be able to visit her. Please do not visit if you are sick as she is still fighting hard and doesn't need to fight needless infections as well. I know that Deb worries about the fact there will no longer be one on one care. It will be one to three and after a couple of days one to four or six. It may be a few days again for me to wean her from the hospital. We leave all things in our Fathers hands as he is taking care of his child. We thank and praise Him for the blessings he has given Shawna today! Thanks again for your messages and prayers. Al and Deb

ps. I will put a few pictures of Shawna on the Facebook page "freinds and family of Shawna Bethlehem" for those who cannot visit

Thursday (day28)

Sorry for the tardy post.......again! Not too much to report this time. Shawna only required 6 hrs last night back on the ventilator. She is again off of it. After a rigorous physio the nurses gently placed Shawna in a "neuro chair". I have no idea what they mean by it but the change in position is good for her circulation as her legs can now dangle over the edge of the chair. Deb has to remember to take Shawnas sneakers to the hospital tommorrow as the lucky girl gets to wear her shoes to bed. How many kids have been able to do that? She needs that though for proper ankle support and keeping her toes up. Again not too much to say tonight but definitely more "baby" steps toward recovery. We remain thankful for everything the Lord has given and patiently prayerful that he will grant her full recovery. Thank you for your messages and prayers. Al and Deb

Wednesday (day26)

Oh how rich are the blessings we receive from God each day! Today Deb called me at work excitedly to let me know that Shawna was taken off the ventilator and breathing on her own. There is a tube that supplies oxygen across the trachea which she breathes in and exhales on her own. She no longer has the ventilator keeping the damaged lung inflated and pushing air in. She seems to be doing pretty well on her own. Later at night they will reconnect the ventilator to give her a rest. Shawna also now recieves blood thinners to reduce the concerns of blood clots developing in her upper body. The body cavity infection seems to be under control. One problem which the doctors and nurses are working on is trying to get Shawna's stomach and digestive tract functioning properly. Although she recieves nitrients via IV it would be more advantageous to her to receive nutrients through the gut. When Deb and I look back and see how far the Lord has carried us from when Shawna had her accident we can only stand in awe of our great God. We continue to be surrounded and strengthened by the Communion of Saints from across the world.

Many have asked what happened to Shawna as it has not been spoken of directly. She was involved in a single motor vehicle collision. Her car was wrapped around a tree on the drivers side door. Traffic reconstruction dtermined speed of collision at 40 to 50 km/hr. She was tended to at the scene of the accident by several passerbys who kept her warm till she was extricated from the car and airlifted to Hamilton General. The extent of her injuries were unknown until the doctors performed emergency surgery to stop the bleeding almost 7 hrs later. We now know that her injuries are broken pelvis and damaged socket, 7 ribs broken on left side, cracked shoulder blade, smashed spleen, ripped,scraped, and deflated left lung, punctured liver and severe brain trauma, and some very deep cuts in her legs and ankle. When we look back at the overwhelming amount of damage that happened to our daughter we can only stand at her bedside in amazement at God's mecy. God is good, God is great! At this time it looks as if she is quietly sleeping.

Antother misconception some have is that the skull cap which was removed to allow the brain to swell has been replaced. This is not the case. Normally with head trauma when the surgeons can they remove the skull flap and insert it into the patients abdomen to allow it to receive nutrients and antibodies. In Shawnas case her body was too damged to do this so they put her skull cap in a freezer. She will have to be in tip top shape before they even think about replacing it as the danger for infection will be very great.

Thank you once again for your continued prayers. Al and Deb

Tuesday (day 26)

Good evening all. Shawna continues to heal. The specimens that were tested two days ago did develope active organisms so Shawna is again on some pretty heavy antibiotics. It seems to be under control. When I checked in on her after work she was resting very comfortably as we can tell by looking at the monitors and seeing how fast she is breathing and how fast or slow her heart is beating. When I started to talk to her about my work day her heart rate increased quite a bit. Deb has been keeping an eye on these reactions to "chart" response to hearing and its been pretty consistent with voices which have special significance to her. They have dialed down her ventilator again this morning and its at the level a normal healthy adult would breathe through the machine. They will keep her there for a long time till she can cough mucus etc above the trachea tube location. It will still be a long process but we are quite hopeful that she may be moved up to acute care from intensive care soon. This will depend completely on the ventilater being disconnected. The pain reflexes on all her digits(fingers and toes) are also back as her brain continues to settle down. We continue to wait patiently as God unfolds his plan of mercy with our daughter. Thank you all. Al and Deb.

ps it was a good night at home with our remaing children. Rebecca and Shaun returned safe from their honeymoon.

Monday (day25)

Good evening all. Shawna continues to be in stable condition. The samples taken from her abdomen showed to not have any active organisms. This means there are no more infections at this time. They continue to drain the fluids. Her heart rate was up a bit and they held off feeding her more food through the tube untill her digestive system functioned completely. Her breathing continues properly with minimal assistance from the respirator. We continue to be thankful for Shawna's progress and pray for the Lord's continued blessing over her.

We finally weaned Deb from the hospital and hope we can continue to enjoy a good nights sleep at home while Shawna is unconscious. This is a difficult time but we have full trust in our Father that he is keeping our daughter safe in his arms. We spent a considerable amount of time going over the many cards we had received in the mail. Although all of them convey the thoughts and prayers of our Communion of Saints and community which touch our hearts deeply, there was a few cards which are very special to us. First from Deb's class at Acres and another from the Girls Teen Club at Vineyard Canadian Reformed Church. The last one from grade three at Immanuel Christian School in Winnipeg, Manitoba continues to show us how fully God's arms are encircling and upholding us and Shawna. We continue to be so thankful for your cards, emails,prayers and messages on this blog. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Sunday (day 24)

Good evening everyone. Shawna remains quite stable. The CT scan from yesterday did show some fluid buildups. They proceeded today to drain them and obtain a sample so they can properly treat it with antibiotics to clear it up. They have removed the stomach bile drain from her mouth. They also plan to start Shawna on a liquid lunch direct to her lower intestine through the feeding tube as there was no leaks from the test feed a couple of days ago. The respirator remains steady and Shawna seems quite at ease for her breathing.
Once again we may be thankful for the professional care of the General nurses and doctors. The loving care of our Creator is evident in his childs progress and we continue to thank Him for his tender mercies to our family. Yours in Christ. Al and Deb

Satuday (day22)

Good evening all. We've been waiting for the results from a CT scan which was done late this afternoon. The results may not be available till quite late tonite. The Doctors are trying to determine if the pockets of fluid they've seen in the regular ultrsounds and xrays are infections in Shawnas abdominal cavity. While we wait for this Shawna continues to improve her breathing and they continue to dial the pressure down. It is almost to where a healthy adult would breathe through the machine without assistance. All the support tubes have now been removed from her lungs and the lungs seem to be functioning properly. The addictive pain medication is now completely off and they will use tylenol or codeine for future pain. Her heart rate remains steady and we can notice a bit more strain as she is working to breathe now. Her white blood cell count is no longer climbing and has leveled off showing that her body is fighting and doing ok against the infection without antibiotics. There is still a lot of swelling around the brain area which is coming down without anti-swelling drugs. They have given her a diaretic(similar to us having a coffee or tea) which helps the body to get rid of fluids. Overal there is still very good progress for which we can thank our heavenly Father. We wish you all a blessed sunday of worship and praise. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Friday day22

Good afternoon all. It almost seems sureal that its been exactly 3 weeks in a couple of minutes to the time of Shawnas accident. When we see where we are now and look back at the progres that God has done for his child Shawna we stand in awe and express our profound gratitude to our Creater. God be praised
Last night Shawna continued on with a little less help from the respirator and they turned her pain meds back by half. This caused a higher heart rate for her as she had to work to breathe now. This morning they turned it back up again to give her a rest. They are talking about taking the last support tube to the right lung outand may have already done it. Last night they also started to feed her food through the stomach drain which is in her mouth. The two tubes they pulled from her left lung yesterday showed signs of infection and thus it was a very good thing they came out. The white blood cell count has risen a bit probably because of this. Her temperature has been steady. This afternoon they tested and the food had been absorbed into the stomach which means another critical body function is again working. This makes it possible to feed Shawna through the feeding tube and remove the last tube in her mouth which drains stomach bile.
When Deb assisted(while I watched) with physiotherapy to keep joints moving it was seen that Shawna still was very flexible in all joints and only one ankle(the one that had been damaged) showed signs of tightening up. These range of motion exercises are done two times daily to keep joints loose.
We continue to place our daughter's needs before God's throne. We also continue to thank you for your many prayers and messages. Al and Deb

Thursday day21

Good afternoon all. We continue to be so very thankful for the mercies we receive every day. Last night the doctors trimmed the ventilator back on how many repetitions of air it would give Shawna. She was at 18 reps they turned it down to 14. Shawna takes breaths at 25 to 30 reps with full assist of pressure. Shawna kept up with that all night. Today they turned down the pressure and Shawna continued drawing the same amout of air with a lot less pressure. She doesn't have far to go and they will back the pressure down to normal breathing pressure. Then they will see after a few days if there are any negative reactions before they test disconnect the respirator. They also were going to remove one "peg" from her left lung. It was seen that they could and also have removed both "pegs" from the left lung leaving the one in the right just in case. The nurses will also start to decrease the pain medication. The white blood cell count continues to decrease and Shawnas temperature has remained good all night and day. Some of these steps aren't baby steps today. They are leaps and bounds. God has richly blessed Shawna with his healing. We are so wonderfully kept in his grace. Although there are still dangers due to blood clots and infections she shows signs of beginning to move from her room in the ICU. Praise be to God. Yours in Christ Al and Deb

Wednesday day20

Good afternoon all. Last night Darryl and I were holding Shawna's hands and talking to her about the winter storm going on outside. As we desrcibed the street outside and talked to the nurse Shawna mouthed a huge yawn. We could see her tongue neatly in place(no longer sticking out of her mouth) and her nicely brushed teeth. Simply amazing. It was something to our knowledge that hadn't happened since the accident(not talking about brushing her teeth). We almost yelled at the nurse to look. I did a little research though and it says a yawn is a reflex action associated with tiredness and stress(although exact cause is undertimined). We mustve been pretty boring.
Today her lungs are clearer and they continue to suction out the mucus. The blood and bladder cultures have not returned yet, but the fever seems to be under control. Several areas of Shawnas body are at different temperature and it could be that the part of the brain that regulates temperature may not be settled yet. Dr Wells has seen her again and we have been told there should be no further danger to the brain swelling it should continue to settle down. The ICU doctors have decided they will try to remove one of the two "pegs" which keep her left lung inflated. They will leave the one in both the right and the left in place for now. They are going to try to reduce the amount of air the ventilator gives her so they can see if she is ready to breathe on her own as she routinely breathes above what is supplied. They are also going to slowly reduce the sedatives she recieves. Although there are still many concerns, Shawnas life is firmly in the hands of our great Physician. We are thankful for the blessings and progress we have received today and continue to look to him for our daily support. Thank you all for you continued prayers. Yours in Christ. Al and Deb

Tuesday day19

Good afternoon all. Again only a few things to report. They removed the staples from most of Shawnas cuts from the crash. The cuts are healing beautifully. The lung infection/mucus is shrinking due to medication and aggressive physio. The Doctors are still concerned with fevers which spike above the tylenol treatment. They are looking elsewhere now for infections such as the bladder, the blood abd other areas. She is otherwise resting well and continues to be upheld by God's grace. We are thankful for the continued prayers of his saints and continue to receive strength from that as well. It is unfortunate that as we sit here it tends to become routine. The pain and suffering we have seen is really tough. We talk to others and try to be a comfort to them. It is unfortunate for some though that they miss the only comfort in life and death, namely belonging body and soul to our Saviour. What a comfort who could ask for more! Al and Deb

Monday

Good afternoon all. I just got back from work and was able to wee Shawna right away. They have remove the staples from Shawnas cuts(abdominal incision excepted). There is still a large concern with an infection in Shawnas lung. They have removed two mucus plugs which were interfering with the air delivery(ventilation). The Doctors will be doing rounds in an hour or so and discussing doing a bronchial scope to see what is going on. They tested the mucus and the antibiotics are the right ones for the job. We continue to wait and pray for her continued recovery. Thank you all. Al and Deb

Sunday

Good afternoon all. Our senior "shawna sitter" was relieved from duty this morning by a couple of our family members. She faithfully texted us about Shawnas progress all day yesterday and early this morning before we went to church. We are now here taking up the "watch", and have finally been able to see her at 530pm . There is not much to report as they are still keeping her sedated to eliminate the pain from her abdominal operation. We have noticed a lot of eyelid flutter and she chews a bit on the stomach drain which is still in her mouth. Her white blood cell count is steadily decreasing which means the infection is decreasing. The nurses keep her elevated side to side and use aggressive physiotherapy to combat possible blood clots in her upper body. The cuts on her legs are healed and they may remove the staples soon. . Dr Sne examined the abdominal cuts and is pleased with the progress. We remain thankful for the capable Drs and nurses who tend to her. God has richly blessed us. We continue to rely on him for the blessings he has given. We sometimes expect too much and want her to wake up right now. God is teaching us to be patient and expect all things from him in his time. We thank all of you for your continued prayers for Shawna. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Saturday

We had a very beautiful wedding day. Allowance was made during the day to take family pictures with Shawna. The loving and caring nurses had cleaned and brushed Shawnas hair to a gorgeous sheen. Her braids had been removed and her beautiful long hair flowed across her shoulders. The nurses had draped pink "girl" sheets over the equipment and strategically covered her IV tubes and traech. We took family pictures gathered around her with the bride and groom and quietly left her with the most capable nurses. Many thanks to the doctors and nurses at Hamilton General ICU for allowing this beautiful event to take place. They are truly a caring and dedicated staff. The Poorts and Bethlehems, as well as Rebecca and Shaun would like to thank everyone for their heartfelt wishes and prayers for this day. Yes it was a day of mixed emotions, but we are thankful to our heavenly Father for again carrying us in his arms and allowing us to celebrate this beautiful beginning to married life.
Once we had left the hospital they stopped giving the paralysis drug to Shawna. The Shawna "sitters" (Marlene, Simone and Jessica") reported that she was still comfortable and at 800pm Shawna had moved her head and at 1000pm her eyelids were again fluttering. Again we see small baby steps toward recovery and we are thankful for this. God is good and his greatness surounds us all. All praise and glory to him. Have a blessed sunday. Sorry for the tardy post. We didn't have much time to spare today. Al and Deb

Friday

Good morning all. Not much to report today which is still a good thing. Shawna had a very stable uneventful day and evening. In the nurses words "she's coasting along just fine". She remains paralized by drugs and delicately kept under the level of consciousness. For that reason we are only allowed to look at her. We cannot talk to her or touch her as she comes into consciousness with stimulus. As a result a good freind of the family checked in on her last night regularly as we went to the wedding rehersal and a small "party" at the Poorts last night. They will continue to keep shawna under these same conditions today. The swelling is constantly going down as her kidneys continue to function properly. She required no blood products for the last operation and her blood remains in good shape. Again day by day we are strengthened by God's almighty power as he shows us how he is keeping his daughter in the palm of his hand like a precious pearl. We continue to be thankful for the prayers of the communion of saints as they lift Shawnas needs before His throne of grace. Yours in Christ. Al and Deb

Thursday

Good morning everyone. We were so relieved when Shawna came out of surgery yesterday. It took quite some time to be able to see her. When we did, we were initially shocked. Her facial swelling had returned. This was easily explained though as she had been laying down flat for 6 hrs plus and immobile. Deb Darryl and I were very content just to have a 2 minute glimpse of her before shift chang at 700 pm. When we finally could be with her again at 930 pm, we were met by the head ICU doctor who explained all that had been done. The blood filter had been installed and the digestive tract fully examined. Shawnas abdominal muscles had been brought back together. To fascilitate that they had to "loosen" them at the sides of her rib cage. There was still a bit too much pressure when they joined them and the doctor felt it was in her best interest to completely immobilize her. Shawna will be completely paralized for 24 - 48 hrs to eliminate any movement till the swelling and fluids stabilize in her body especially in her brain. She will also be sedated so she doesn't know she's paralized. Again this is a dangerous time in her treatment as we have regressed a bit in her responses and it will be quite some time till we are again at the level of response attained so far. We are very happy though that the operation could take place as Shawna's abdomin was open for 12 days and very prone to infection. Although the danger for infection is still there iit has been lessened. It will be another 24 hrs till they feed Shawna throught he feeding tube they have placed. She is now receiving her oxygen through the traceotomy. It is a happy moment to see her beautiful face without tubes hanging from her mouth. We are sure there is more comfort for her as well as she showed some voluntary movements of her neck and head as if she was upset by the tubes going through her throat. We will go to see her again this morning but she is so completely under that she will not be able to sense us. This is a small blessing for us as we take some "time off" to make some preparaions and go to the wedding rehearsal. Again we can see God's timing and care in our lives that we can carry on with the other beautiful moments he has given. Thankyou once again for your prayers for Shawna during her operation. God bless and keep you all. Al and Deb

Wednesday

Thankyou again for your prayers. Shawna is out of the operating room. She was in from 1100 to 530. We won't know much details tonite but she is back in the ICU and that's reason enough to be thankfull. Thanks. Butterflies have left the building. Al and Deb

Wednesday morning

Good morning everyone. We continue to get some good news. The CT scan showed the swelling is reducing and this shows itself by pupil response and more pain response in all limbs. The body scan did show a blood clot in the lung area which explained the high heart rate and increasing white blood cell count. Her body is fighting to eliminate that clot. To prevent further life threatening clots they cannot give her blood thinners but are right now installing a filter inside her leg veins to prevent clots from travelling to her heart. There are no other clots at present in her body. There is now enough room in Shawnas brain to accomodate increased blood flow so the Drs. have scheduled Shawnas abdominal closure for this afternoon. This is still a very complicated proceedure as they have to ensure there are no holes in her digestive tract and when they close the ab muscles they have to ensure there is minimal pressure to the brain. The doctors will also give Shawna a feeding tube and tracheotomy to minimize her discomfort from feeding line and ventilation in the future. God bless the work of the surgeons. We continue to wait in faith that he give us all things for his reason. Thank you once again for your messages of comfort on this blog. It is a great source of comfort and strength. God bless you all. Al and Deb.

Ps. We'll post again after the operation. Enjoy your snow day( at least those in southern Ontario)

Tuesday night

Hello again. Not nuch change today. They took Shawna for a CT scan again today to see if the lower brain swelling is going down. Her pupils are getting smaller but still unresponsive. It may be interpreted as a good sign. The doctor is concerned that her heart has been fairly consistently high at 115 to 130. This could be signs of swelling. He is checking her legs and lungs and heart for blood clots. They put in a power pik line from her arm to heart to inject dyes and also medicines later. Her gag reflex is very active and she has a lot of eyelid flutter. Deb is now assisting in washing Shawna and helping with her physiotherapy. That is therapy in itself. Its beautiful when we can start to do some of the things to again take care of our child. We are so richly blessed. God has protected her life to this point and we can tend to some of her needs we continue to lay the rest of her needs before Gods throne of grace. Thankyou for your prayers. Al and Deb

Monday night

Hello all. Thankyou for your many prayers. Again we are so thankful for all the Lord has given. They tried to feed Shawna through her stomach but there was no absorption so they discontinued in case there is still a hole in her stomach. Her gag reflex has increased in intensity. Her eyelids flutter and heartbeat increases when certain visitors talk to her. Her kidneys are now fully functional and draining away excess body fluids. The swelling in her arms and legs is almost gone. It is a delicate balance that they are trying to maintain with drugs for her hemogloben to control fluids from leaving the veins. Her white blood cell count is going down and almost normal meaning the infection is being controlled. She also is once again breathing above what the ventilator supplies. I don't know if she's enjoying it but she recieves physiotherapy(what she was studying for at McMaster) to assist her body in freeing up fluids. Good on the job training. At least she'll know first hand if that's what she wants to do later. We are very thankful for these developments and continually look back on how God has upheld us in the past week. Then we can be assured of the future he has in store for us. Thank you for your poems, texts, emotional and physical support. We know the road is long and narrow, but with our great Shepherd leading us we have nothing to fear. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Sunday night

Hello all. We are thankful that we could go to worship with our Brs. And Srs. this morning. This puts things in perspective. Although Shawna lies in the hospital bed unable to attend service we know she has communion through the Holy Spirit with all of us. We do not have any more real positive things to report, maybe a few negative things, but we continue in Gods grace. Shawna has developed an infection possibly in her lungs(pneumonia) from lying still on her back and being unable to cough up dicharge. Surgery has been again postponed because she needs to be elevated and not flat for the operation. There has been no further degradation of vital signs and she now has her gag relex when they clean out her lungs. Again just a little positive development that was not there before. Please continue to pray for Shawna. We are very comforted by the replies to this blog and all the personal emails we have received. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Saturday night

Good news!!!!! We met with the new doctor who is in charge of the ICU, who ordered the CT scan and he confirms the things we noticed. They took shawna off the morphine because it was keeping her reactions under wraps. There is a secondary swelling in the lower brain which was around the central cortex which endangered her vital functions. They have administered a special anti swelling drug for this which has alleviated some of that swelling. She is still in danger from this for another 3 days. We have noticed eyelid flutter and stonger hand squeezs in moments when the drug is wearing off. There is elevated heart beating which shows the body is aware of stress and she breathes above what the ventilator provides. This is what the doctor is looking for. She also has slight evidence of awareness of pain stimulants on her left arm. This has never been present before. The Doctor still cautions us that this is only on the level of reflexology and that she still has evidence of extensive brain damage. We still take this as positive evidence of God's grace in the life of our daughter. We are thankful for these mercies no matter how small. We are comforted also with the words of Romans 8:26,27. " In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will". May you all have a blessed sunday of worship and praise. Al and Deb

Saturday morning

Good morning all. Apparently the snowstorm didn't keep everybody away. Of course Darryl was here and also his close friends. There were others who visited and gave us a lot of hope. We are especially thankful for the visit from Jason Jonker who related his personal example of Gods unfailing mercy in the healing of his now wife many years ago. They have been reading the blog and relate to many similarities in this situation. We are supported many times over by your faithful prayers and loving visits. Shawna meanwhile remains under the highly professional and learned care of the ICU of the General. We are sure that it is not by chance she is at this location. We are thankful for Drs. Sne and Wells. Even though we may not enjoy hearing how "damaged" our daughter is. We know they are doing everything possible for her. She went for a CT scan yesterday for which we are waiting for results. They tried for a long time to find a vein for large bore delivery of a dye to give contrast imaging for the CT scan. This ended up being impossible to do at this time. They will try again later. She has been off of morphine now for a day and we noticed elevated heart beats and other signs of elevated response. They gave her a different painkiller to calm her down. The nurses said they are waiting for her to wake up. We will post results of the Scan when we get them. Thanks again for all your prayers we are comforted and we know prayers are always answered. It may not be the way we would like it but it is his plan and we live daily in that. All blessing, honour, glory belong to him our King. We continue to wait and pray. Al and Deb

Friday morning

From the hospital gang. Acually its just Deb and me. We do not expect any visitors today as the storm outside continues. Were safe here with Shawna in Gods arms. Nothing much to report. Shawnas incision was not closed yesterday as thought due to the full OR room. It will be done on Monday as they are keeping room for possible accidents this weekend. They are taking her for a CT scan again today I learned yesterday that they used the equivalent of 48 units of blood to keep shawna alive at this point. The normal body only has 9 units in it. Simply amazing but this needs to be replaced please give! Shawna was saved in this life 5 1/2 times by blood donations. We know though that more importantly shawna is saved by the one sacrifice of our saviour on the cross. We are so comforted by this that words cannot express our feelings. It gives us an inner strength in which we can give this over to the Lord and look only to him for our needs the Lord indeed bears us up on eagles wings so that in the midst of the darkness and uncertanty surrounding us we can focus on the light given us from our Redeemer. May His Holy Spirit comfort you all as you read this as much as he has comforted us with the communion of all his saints. Amen and God bless you all. Al and Deb