heartofdakota.com

Ladies,

I just wanted to let you know that Julie and I are so thankful for the outpouring of love from each of you on this board. We are blessed beyond measure by your prayers as our father is in his fifth consecutive week now at the hospital. We are hopeful that he will be transferred to his hometown hospital this upcoming Monday, if he is able to finally begin eating and keeping a bit of food down.

I know many of you have traveled a path like this in the past, and you each know how important it is to be bathed in prayer and to be trusting in our heavenly Father who is the great physician. As we work to make sure that we are also balancing our busy writing and convention season as well, we are grateful to each of you who have so graciously chosen to pray for our family. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! It is our privilege to serve families like you.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,
Just wondering if this was considered normal or is your father having complications from the surgery?

Praying for your whole family. (((HUGS)))

Both Carrie and I feel so blessed to have all of you praying for our Dad! Thank you for your support and encouragement. I printed off your kind words here and shared them with our parents in the hospital, and they felt such support and love from you. They really were so surprised and touched by this.

Five weeks is not a normal hospital stay after a whipple surgery. Usually 10-14 days is the projected hospital stay after a whipple. Dad is just having a difficult time eating. His stomach is significantly smaller - that part of the whipple surgery is similar to a lap band surgery. He has to eat very small portions at a time, more often a day. This has been quite an adjustment for a big eating meat and potatoes man! We are very encouraged by the last few days though. He has been able to eat small amounts of various kinds of soups, jellos, and puddings, as well as drink some juices and Ensure. We praise the Lord for being with our family through this every step of the way. Lord willing, Dad will move to swing bed at the start of the next week! We have gone to see him every single day of the past 5 weeks, other than when we were attending book fairs. It will be more difficult to see him in their hometown, which is over an hour away.

Please pray for a smooth transition to swing bed, for his eating to increase so he can get off stomach tube feedings, for his nausea to go away, and for his blood pressure to go down. We appreciate your prayers more than words can say - the Lord has blessed us and all of our family with each and every one of you! We always pray for the Lord to lead whomever He chooses to HOD, and we continue to be so amazed by the wonderful ladies He has chosen! God bless!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you for sharing that with us, Carrie. I will certainly pray for your Dad.

Praying for your dad and your entire family.

my3sons wrote: Please pray for a smooth transition to swing bed, for his eating to increase so he can get off stomach tube feedings, for his nausea to go away, and for his blood pressure to go down.

Praying!!!!
April

Adding my prayers to all the rest!!

Thanks for the update. I will continue to pray for your dad and entire family.

Adding my prayers for your Dad, and all of your families!

I will be praying for you Dad and your family.


Tracy

Thanks for the update! Still praying for your dad:-)

Our family is praying for your family. So thankful that the Lord holds us in His hand and knows us intimately. May your family continue to experience the supernatural peace and presence of God and the Lord Jesus Christ as your Dad recovers.

Praying for you all.

Thanks Carrie and Julie for updating us on your father's condition. We will continue to pray for him as well as the rest of your family, as these things always seem to affect many more than just the person with the illness. Thanks Julie for sharing a bit more about your dad, as that helps us so much in effectively praying for his specific needs.

May God continue to strengthen your faith as you walk this road, and that His richest blessings would fall upon your father and your family, as well as healing.

Blessings!

I will be praying for your dad and your family.

Jennifer