Update on Dad

Please continue to pray for Dad as they will be flying him to a hospital in the Denver, Co area today. We still do not know the next step that will be taken in regards to the repair of this artery, other than the fact that is beyond what they can do where he is now. So continue to pray for wisdom for those that will be making this decision.


Pray for safety as my sister and possibly my Mom (we don't know yet if she will be allowed to go on the flight with him) make the five hour drive to Denver today. Also pray for another sister of mine, her husband, and family as they too are on the road to Colorado today.


Thank you all for praying and for continuing in prayer.

Update: All have arrived safely at the hospital. Dad has already had tests run and we are now awaiting news from the doctors.

Happy Birthday, Curtis!

Today our oldest turned 11 years old. It was quite a day. One I am sure he will not forget.

#1. I forgot it was his birthday until one of the other kids wished him 'Happy Birthday'.

#2. We had to hurriedly get everyone together, call my husband home from work, and drive 1 1/2 hours one way to meet my sister so she could take my parents car to Colorado.

#3. I attempted to make Curtis a 2 layer jello cake - don't bother to try it. As you can see by the picture things didn't turn out as anticipated. The first layer went on great and then as I tried to get the second layer out of the pan and put it on top it crumbled. So I ended up just breaking that layer into pieces in the lid of my cake dish. I covered that layer with the cool whip/cream cheese filling and cherry pie filling. Then I transferred the other layer, which began to crack as I moved it, to the top and finished topping it off. It tasted great, but definitely didn't end up looking like I thought it would.

In an attempt to make the evening a little more festive, Curtis and Briana decided we would eat in our dining room with fine china, crystal glasses, cloth napkins, and candlelight. With all that has been going on, I didn't think to take pictures of it. It was rather nice though.



The Cherry Dream Cake

Happy Birthday, Curtis! I hope you enjoyed your day despite the extreme busyness of the greater part of the day.

A new puzzle!

Sam looking on while Curtis opened up his gifts.

I didn't get any pictures of the rest of the evening but we finished it off by watching the final presidential debate. Then, in fulfillment of Curtis' request, we enjoyed crackers and cheese ball for a snack.

Please Pray for Dad

In regards to the bleeding in Dad's sinus cavity, the doctor believes it is coming from his damaged left carotid artery. This could be life-threatening. The doctors are trying to decide the next step. Please pray for wisdom as this decision is being made.

There is also a large possibility that Dad will have to be transferred to another hospital in order to repair this problem. Wherever this repair is done it will be a major surgery with serious risks involved.

Thank you for praying.

Please Continue to Pray for Dad

Please continue to pray for Dad. Things are really serious in regards to the bleeding in the sinus cavity. I will update later when I know more.

A Little More Than An Occasional Update

It has been decided that Dad is going to need more care than can be given in the Neurotrauma Unit so he has been put back in ICU.

Update on Dad

Dad came through surgery and is in recovery. The sinus areas were packed off and that packing will remain for at least five days before they can go in and remove it. He will remain in the Neurotrauma Unit at this time. This surgery is a setback and will mean a longer hospital stay.

All of his therapy on his arms will continue as planned. Thank you all again for praying.

Please Pray for Dad

Dad has been taken into surgery this morning. He started bleeding in the sinus cavity so it is imperative that something be done to stop the bleeding. Again, things are complicated because of his artificial heart valves.

Thank you,

Another Update on Dad

On Friday the cast was removed from Dad's left arm and it was replaced with a hinged splint. Therapy has been started on that arm.

Today Dad was moved from ICU to the Neurotrauma Unit. Another step on the road to recovery.

Tomorrow he is scheduled to have the cast removed from his right arm and then therapy will begin on that arm, also. One of the first goals of therapy is to have Dad work on being able to feed himself.

At this point unless there are major changes, I will probably only update occasionally.

We thank the Lord for his touch on Dad and we thank you for all your prayers.

Update on Dad this Morning

I talked with my sister this morning and she said that Dad's fever is gone, for which we are very thankful. All the levels in regards to his blood are looking good.

They are going to try to get him up in a chair today and if things continue to improve he should be able to move out of ICU before too long.

It is definitely going to be a long time of recovery as so many body systems were involved with the various injuries. Please continue to pray for him as he faces many months of recovery.

We thank you all for your many prayers and we thank the Lord for his touch on Dad thus far.

Today's Update on Dad

Dad has been rather tired and sleepy today. His blood pressure was high throughout the day, but they have gotten it stabilized with medication. He is now running a fever. Please continue to pray for him.

Thank you,

We are Thanking the Lord!

Dad came through his 5 hour surgery on his arms amazingly well. The orthopedic surgeon came to talk to us and was very pleased with how things went. She was able to put his left arm back together using only one plate instead of two. She said she went through 3 drill bits putting the screws in, which made her very happy. His bones are very hard and strong. She repaired his right wrist with a metal plate. She also had to insert a pin, because the ligament was torn from his ulna. This pin should be removed in approximately 6 weeks.

Any wrapping and or casting on his left arm will be removed by Friday, at which time they will begin therapy. At that time his arm will be in a hinged splint. It was originally thought that Dad would only have 45 degree extension of his left arm, but the surgeon was able to extend it fully and therapy will be done with that goal in mind. The wrapping and casting on his right arm will be removed on Monday and therapy will begin.

The next 24 hours will be crucial as they cannot start to thin his blood again until 4:00 tomorrow morning. The surgeon was amazed at how well things went together. That was definitely an answer to prayer. The surgeon said she definitely felt the presence of God during surgery. The nurse said in regards to his brain bleed that she has never seen one stop and reverse as quickly as his did. They usually cause extensive brain damage. She agreed that it was definitely God, because there was nothing they could do to intervene. So A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS. God is good!!!

Written by: Heidi

Posted by: Dixie

Today's Update on Dad

We are thankful this morning that Dad's double vision has cleared up. This is a good sign in regards to the bleeding.

They gave him blood yesterday and are giving it again today to try to strengthen him for surgery tomorrow. At this point, they have decided to go ahead with surgery at 9:30 AM Colorado time, which is 10:30 AM Central Time and 11:30 AM Eastern time. They will be doing both arms. This will be a major reconstructive surgery of 6+ hours complicated by his artificial heart valves. As best I understand it, this means that it greatly increases his risk of bleeding, stroke, and/or heart attack due to the fine line that must be walked in regards to keeping the thickness and/or thinness of his blood just right for him in this circumstance.

Please pray for him as he goes through surgery tomorrow. We appreciate your prayers. I also wanted to let you know that your prayers are being heard. Mom said that throughout the day on Sunday she could feel the Lord's presence there with them in the hospital room. Thank you again.

Dixie and Family

Update on Dad

At this point, things are pretty much the same as yesterday. The new changes from yesterday are that the cardiologist is concerned about his heart, he is in a lot of pain because they are unable to give him any pain medication due to all the complications, and they are saying that the bleeding on the brain is not necessarily stopped. But they do know it is slowed because of certain neuro responses they are seeing.

Your continued prayer support is greatly appreciated.

Dixie & Family

Urgent Prayer Needed for My Dad

My Dad is in critical condition now. He has had some bleeding on the brain, but it is stopped at present. The whole situation is touch and go at this point due to the need to keep his blood thin enough that it doesn't cause a stroke or heart attack, but yet thick enough that he doesn't start bleeding on the brain again. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Dixie and Family

Prayer Request - For My Dad

My Dad (Francis Weingard) was in an auto accident on Thursday morning and is in ICU in St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, CO. He has two skull fractures, a ruptured right ear drum, a ruptured vessel behind his nose, three fractured ribs, a bruised heart, bruised lungs (one lung partially collapsed), a fractured right wrist, a severe compound fracture of his upper left arm and elbow. He had no memory of the accident but today is beginning to realize what happened to him. Actually, all of his short term memory has been relatively poor since the accident. The cardiologist believes that he also had a heart attack sometime after the impact.

On Thursday evening Dad underwent surgery. The doctor set and splinted his right wrist, cleaned out his left arm, put in a drain, and temporarily pinned it.

Sunday morning he will undergo more exploratory surgery of his left arm.

Then on Wednesday he will have extensive reconstructive surgery of his left arm and right wrist.

He has artificial heart valves which require him to take a blood thinner. But the surgery requires him to stop taking his blood thinner and this greatly increases the risks of surgery for him.

Our greatest concerns at this point are the possibility of his arm becoming infected, the possibility of complications associated with the surgeries, and the short term memory loss that prevents him from fully understanding where he is and why he is there.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,


Dixie and Family

'My Name is I Am'

I ran across this quote today as I was reading and just thought I would share it.

"I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly God was speaking: "My name is I am." I waited and God continued: "When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I was. When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I will be. When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is I am."

~ Helen Mellincost

If you don't use Google Reader and are visitng my blog...

If you don't use Google Reader and are visiting my blog to see our vacation pictures, you will have to scroll down to previous posts. I am posting all my pictures using the dates that they were taken so they will not show up on top. I am doing this so that when I look at the posts later on I can see when it happened.

These posts will be posted under the dates September 5th through September 14th.

Jeff was able to transfer pictures tonight so you should start seeing posts appear as I have a little time here and there.

Enjoy,

Fall Centerpiece

The centerpiece on my kitchen table. My sister made the table runner for me and she also gave me the cracked glass candleholder. I did the flower arrangement in the cornucopia quite a few years ago. If my mind serves me correctly, I believe I made it when we still lived in Wichita, KS.

Flowers

Just a few closeups of various flowers we saw while on vacation in Massachusetts. As soon as I have more time and can get Jeff to transfer the first half of our vacation pictures from his work laptop to the desktop I will blog about our vacation.

Samuel in an Indian Headdress!

A sweet lady from church who knows that Samuel loves things related to Indians gave him this Indian headdress this past Sunday.