The Road to Recovery (Days 8-9)

Waking up in my lounger chair Sunday morning in the hospital room I overheard Jed telling his nurse how God challenged him in the night. He shared how he was asking God for an hour of sleep before 4 am when the x-ray team would show up. Knowing that God’s word says He gives rest to those he loves, (Psalm 127:2 “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat- for he grants sleep to those he loves”) and that God gives to those who asks according to his will, (1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him”). Yet he laid there with unanswered prayer. He got frustrated as the time frame he asked for passed. God ended up bringing rest later around 5 am in His timing. When Jed woke up God ask him are you willing to follow my way and not Jed’s way? The challenge is that we may know God’s word, and God’s will, but struggle to surrender to God’s way.

Listening to Jed share this, it reminded me how this has been the theme of our journey so far. Are we willing to trust God in His ways, in His timing? We have been asking for healing for so long and our way would have been a complete healing of the old lungs, yet that did not come. Our way would have been no dry runs, yet they came. Our way would have been smooth and clear recovery process, yet the bumps have come. Our way, is that these new lungs would never face chronic rejection, and yet we are left to continue to trust God in the unknown. We rely on God’s word and God’s will, so that we may trust in God’s ways. That morning Jed and I took time to talk, pray, and cry together. Our emotions were a mix of praise, gratefulness, and knowledge that the road of trusting God with Jed’s health is not over.

As our day progressed we found out that Jed’s chest x-rays are slowly improving. The crepitus is still present but decreasing. Jed was also moved from a liquid diet to solid foods. His first solid food for over a week was a PB&J sandwich. According to Jed it was the best tasting sandwich ever.

With the new source of energy from food the Doctor suggested we get Jed outside and let his body take in a little sun light. She felt this could help with his sleep cycle being disrupted. So far, I have learned how to unhook and hook up Jed’s drain lines and IV pole so that he can move about. Due to me being comfortable taking care of him we decided we could take this adventure just the two of us. That may have been a little presumptuous on our part. I pushed Jed in a wheel chair and a heavy IV pole down the hallway. Our troubles came when we hit the elevator. We were a sight to watch I am sure, but I was on a mission and there was no stopping me. Lacking all grace, we made it to the hospital’s outside garden. Jed walked out and took his first breath of fresh Wisconsin air with his new lungs. He stood there awhile and just let the sun rest on his face. It was a much-needed pick-me-up after a long week stuck in his hospital room.

Despite the ongoing lack of sleep, all the small steps forward are times of excitement for us. Come Monday, Jed’s epidural in his back to numb his chest was removed and he got switched to oral pain medicines. Another digestive tube was removed and the biggest step forward was his first chest tube came out. Every time a chest tube is removed there is a chance of the pressure on the lungs causing a collapse. Jed’s blood pressure did drop and cause him to become dizzy after his tube was removed, but he was able to take a short nap and his strength slowly returned. A follow up chest x-ray showed that the lungs were still holding strong. The Doctors like to wait 1-2 days in between removing each tube to make sure the body responds well. It feels as though we are now getting to take two steps forward with only one step back.