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| Mr. Nutkins is in the Hospitalso, i know not everyone has facebook, so i figured i could post this on here too so other people could know about my dad and how he's progressing. i was up at the hospital pretty much all day today and so i need to write more, but i will do that later when i'm not so tired. Saturday, July 12, 2008, 11:45 PM my dad spent the day in the emergency room in OSF saint francis hospital in escanaba on thursday. we were there for about 6 hours while they were running all sorts of tests and things. not a whole lot of questions were answered, but at least we were able to eliminate different possibilities. they did an MRA scan, which is of the blood vessels in your head - this was the first clue as to what was wrong.
after coming home, my dad rested in bed for a while and then came downstairs to watch the news in the living room. his hearing went all out of whack, and then his eyesight. his hearing came back, but his peripheral vision is still gone. the next day my parents met with dr parmet again, who is a neurologist. they also saw an ophthalmologist, and the two of them figured out what was going on. there is a tear or a "kink" in one of my dad's vertebral arteries, which caused clotting and restricted blood flow. this is the source of the facial pain, dizziness, nausea, numbness, the sweating, his loss of sight, and maybe even his heart palpitations that he's been having for months now. each of his dizzy spells has been a small stroke, and more damage was done to the artery further and further down each time. my parents were able to see a neural surgeon today up in marquette general hospital, and they did another scan, but further down besides just his head. in his neck and shoulder area, they saw the further damage. he is now in the ICU in marquette (an hour north of here), being woken up every hour and monitored very carefully. they will keep him on a blood thinner IV, and gradually reduce it so that he can go on some oral medication to do the same thing. their goal is that he not be on it forever though, but we are going to get to know the neural surgeon quite well. they are optimistic that his damaged artery will heal itself and that he may regain some of his vision. in the meantime, he'll be having some therapy and learning how to live with the limited vision. we're not sure what this will mean for his job, as the environment is already very dangerous to begin with. we'll just have to wait and see, and keep on praying. i know there have been a lot of people out there thinking, worrying, and praying for our family - thank you. and don't stop, at least not the praying part. i'm going up to marquette tomorrow with my mom to see him. she said he is in better spirits and has his appetite back, which is a really good sign. we're also really thankful that he is mentally "all there". he can read and study and think fine.
it's hard to believe that this is happening. my dad is only 51 and is in pretty good health. i'm so thankful that they finally figured out what has been going on, and aren't just doing random trouble shooting. i hate that. at least now we know what the problem is and can take steps in the right direction.
i'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. i'll be bringing some cookies. if anyone has any messages they'd like to send along, post them below and i can pass them on to him. thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! Monday, July 14, 2008, 7:30 AM hi everyone, my mom and i are getting ready to go back to the hospital this morning, but she is blow drying her hair and i wanted to write a quick update for you all.
first of all, i know there are tons of people out there praying for my dad and my family, and we want to say thank you.
second of all, my dad is doing well. he is still in ICU in marquette, but we expect him to be moved to a regular room sometime today, so then HE can start taking some of the millions of phone calls we've been getting.
he's in good spirits and at peace (isaiah 26:3). he is taking, by IV, heparin, which is a blood thinner. he will be on it for a few days while he starts to orally take cumadin, which is also a blood thinner. he is on heparin first until the cumadin starts to kick in (they said it takes a few days). we were able to determine an estimate of a date when my dad ripped this lining in his artery, causing all these problems. sometime this winter, february perhaps? he was out snowblowing the driveway with the help of joe and jared. i always tease him because he came running in the house and just yelled, "debbie! get me something to clean up some blood!" and then left. we were like, "ok, did you stick your hand in the auger? did you run over jared's foot...??" we didn't know what the cause of this blood was. come to find out, he had slipped on some ice and fallen forward, turned his head to the right, and hit his lip on the snowblower, with his tooth coming right through his top lip. the doctor told us that this type of tear is caused usually by a fall and a jerk of the neck, which my dad did. we know this because of where his face hit and his tooth came through his lip - on the right side.
there are two outcomes to this situation. the tear in the artery may heal itself, especially with the help of the blood thinners, OR, it may become completely blocked/clotted off, and the blood will ALL pass through his other vertebral artery on the left, which is in perfect condition. the doctors will be monitoring carefully to see how it progresses, and they estimate he'll be on the cumadin (or as he affectionately calls, "rat poison") for about 6 months. in the meantime, he should be coming home on thursday and be off of work for a month at least, assuming the mill allows him to come back to work. he will have to be extremely careful when it comes to sharp things: no more using the chainsaw.
well, we are heading out to the hospital. thanks again for praying and i'll update again soon! | | |
| this is the most appetizing thing i've read on the internet in a long time: 20 Worst Foods in America
oh, and notice that the worst starter (#2 on the list) is an awesome blossom from chili's, which is a favorite of michael scott.
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| so, my church has been doing a DVD bible study series by john piper, called battling unbelief. last night was the final lesson, before the "review" next week i guess. this week was on battling the unbelief of bitterness and impatience. the book basically takes all these various sins and shows you how they are really "unbelief" (see mark 9:24) and how we need to have faith in what john piper calls future grace. anyways, this week was particularly good, i thought. not that the other weeks are bad or anything, but i came away with a few little nuggets of wisdom that i have been thinking about since the fact.
on the topic of revenge (in the bitterness category) - we don't need to seek revenge, because it is not our role to act as judge or punisher. we do not need to seek to punish people for their sins because: 1. if they are a christian, Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross already took the full punishment for that sin... and how dare we think we need to add to that? as if his sacrifice wasn't perfect enough to take the full brunt of God's wrath on that sin?? and 2. if they are not a christian... punishment for that sin will come within time, in hell. do we really need to add to any of that?
and on impatience, which is believing that our timing is better than God's timing, and as john piper puts it, "murmuring against Providence when we are forced to be obedient in an unplanned place or at an unplanned pace." (phil 2:14). he gave the example of joseph in the OT. how many years did he suffer from things that weren't his fault? he had his clothing taken away, was thrown into a pit and left for dead by brothers who hated him, sold into slavery (in EGYPT, none the less! yucky!), falsely accused of rape, thrown into prison (i have been to egypt, and modern egypt isn't that great... i can't even imagine the prison conditions of BC egypt), forgotten by his inmates, etc. through all of that, did he complain? well, we don't know for sure, but it says that God was with him (acts 7:9-10) and rescued him from all his troubles. i'm sure that joseph could have come up with some pretty good solutions to his problems along the way, that would have brought immediate relief... but... that wasn't what God had in mind. genesis 45:7 and 50:20 tell us that joseph believed that God purposely SENT him into these things, and although his brothers meant evil against him, God meant it for good. the most awesome point of this whole thing was when john piper told us that since joseph was sent to egypt ahead of his brothers all those years in advance, and had the chance to plan for the famine, he saved the israelites and provided a way of survival for the line of the Messiah. so... God definitely took their planned evil and turned it into his good, and our good.
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| we had quite the wind/snow storm the other night. when i woke up, i looked out the window at the glistening snow and i thought the front yard reminded me of a mini sinai peninsula... except with snow, not sand, of course. there were so many drifts and weird shapes and things. pretty cool looking. and -25 with the windchill adds a whole other dimension, which probably isn't that similar to the sinai either. anyways, so, i was thinking about the israelites wandering around out there for years. wouldn't it have just been simpler to obey God in the first place and take a direct route to eretz israel as he led? kind of like how in my life i sometimes decide i know a better way to do things and end up wandering around aimlessly while God is so obviously pointing in another direction and waiting for me to figure it out. it would have just been easier to listen to him in the first place. just a thought. either way, he has been faithful to me and i am so glad.
 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Psalm 89:8 | | |
| i'm in chicago, and it's FREEZING. i was in starbucks for 2 hours today, trying to un-numb my feet, and spent a good portion of the time reading my bible. here's one passage that i read.
Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God. 4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 6Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord GOD of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons. 9For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me. 13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me. 16Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Hide not your face from your servant;
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies! 19You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. 22 Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous. 29But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high! 30I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31This will please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33For the LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 34Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it. ok i need to go call my parents.
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