For those of you who don't know, my Uncle Tom was in a very scary medical state two months ago. A text on March 29th from my mom read:
"Tom isn't doing well. His lungs can only do 20% of his breathing, the ventilator (life support) is doing 80%. Conflicting reports from doctors. He is in too serious of a condition to do a biopsy. He is so swollen he can barely open his eyes. He is still in critical care. Keep praying."
I went to Peoria to visit Uncle Tom the previous weekend and could barely stand the sight of seeing someone I love in that condition. It was heart wrenching. When I visited, Uncle Tom couldn't talk because of the life support tube into his lungs, he couldn't walk due to the high volume of blood clotting, but he was still the strong man I knew him to be. He is a fighter. It was an extremely scary time for all of our family. During his month in the critical care, his wife, Maria stayed a constant encouragement and source of "chuckles" for Tom. As well as his kids who constantly prayed, visited and sent cards. What a beautiful picture of God's intention for family and community.
We kept praying. We asked Covenant Seminary to pray along side us, as well as our wonderful church family at South City. On March 30th we received this text, after a "miracle doctor" came into the picture, identified the source of the problem and took Tom into his own care:
"He is doing well! Praise the Lord! They will start giving him more nutrients as well as begin an insulin drip today. He is beginning the weaning process off of the life support. Slow process but good news. Tomorrow or Sunday they want to get a cat scan done and check on the two masses. Other than that, he has had a great day! :)"
What a journey the past few month have been for Uncle Tom and his family. Its not over yet, but he continues to fight the medical battles. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful praying community around us, who cares enough to lift Tom and his family up in prayer daily.
PRAISE THE LORD! For he does work miracles, and has brought Tom out of a very scary time, into a time of surprise visits and sweet times with his beautiful family. Our God loves us, he cherishes us as his children, and he holds us in his mighty hands. We praise you, Lord, for the miracle healing in Tom!
Needless to say, their visit was beyond wonderful. The kiddos enjoyed some fun Wii time with Sam (not sure who was enjoying it more), as I got to stare in amazement at Uncle Tom sitting in front of me without a breathing tube! And of course, visiting with him and Maria (and Faith too, who enjoyed the adult conversation more than the boy Wii time :) ). They were such a blessing to us this weekend, and we hope to find time to visit Peoria later this summer. We are so thankful for all of you, and your fun surprise visit to St. Louis.
Love,
Katelyn & Sam
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