It's been a while since I've posted. So much has happened in our lives. God has taken us down one path and now we're on another! Before I update you all on Brooke, let me tell you what God has shown me.
Philippians 4:4 says "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice"!
It's not always easy to rejoice in the Lord. Trials and tribulations come and we lose our focus that Jesus is our High Priest. He is the One who can identify with us as we go through each trial, each pain, each suffering and each temptation. But we are human. As a christian, I can beat myself up on "why can't I be victorious in all areas of my Life?" Why do I cry or lament or get filled with anger and despair? Why can't I just get it - that God is in control, HE knows best, HE will always be there for me. Sure, through the good times when everything in my life seems to be going smoothly - no bumps in the road, I can "rejoice in the Lord". But it's those times when I am weary, when I can't see past the circumstances, that I need a boost. I need some help.
In the Bible, it shows me that there are people just like me. Some times they're courageous and walk through life in total faith. Other times they cry out "I don't understand, or I'm afraid." That's where some one comes along to help. Moses had Aaron and Hur who held up his arms when he became weary. David had Jonathan to encourage him when He went through trial after trial. Naomi had Ruth who said "I'll stand by you in your time of despair". The apostles had one another. Like minded friends to call upon to pray for each other.
I so desire to be that kind of person. One who will come along side another to encourage, to pray with, to cry or laugh with. I want to be a Ruth, that will listen and comfort; or a Jonathan a faithful friend; or an Aaron and Hur who gives physical help when it is needed. More importantly, I want to be a woman who reminds others that God has not forgotten them, that His promises are for all of us, that His mercies are new every morning and that HE loves us and will never leave us!
On July 14th at 6:00 a.m. we took Brooke off the ventilator so she could go to the bathroom. We then returned her to bed, hooked her back on to the ventilator, as she wanted to sleep a few more hours. All was well. We then went into the kitchen where I began to use our vitamix machine to make us some smoothies. If you have ever used one of those machines, you know they make alot of noise. In between throwing different fruits into the vitamixer, Tex, who's hearing is questionable at times, said "stop I hear something". We could hear a faint "beep, beep, beep". We run into Brooke's room and she is motioning that she is drowning. I quickly disconnect the ventilator, and Tex is ready with the ambu bag to give her oxygen. As soon as I disconnect the ventilator from the trach tube, water comes running out! Water. That had never happened before and no one told us this could happen. We suction her get her breathing well and proceed to figure out what happened. Tex has to go to work, so I am alone to make the calls and get answers. I call the Respiratory Technician. She says she will come out and check the ventilator. In the meantime, the RN who was assigned to us for follow up shows up at the door. She is there to make sure all is going well. I tell her what happened and she says she has never heard of water coming out of the trach when you disconnect the ventilator. The respiratory woman shows up and the two of them go over the machine - top to bottom. Nothing wrong. No way water could get in there. They determine something must be wrong with the tracheostomy - may be a crack in it - but where did the water come from? They suggest I call Brooke's pulmonologist and get her all checked out. I do that and he suggests I get her down to the emergency room at Pali Momi.
We are now in the ER at Pali Momi - after xrays, blood work and four hours of waiting for all to be done our doctor shows up and says he wants her to spend a couple nights for observation to see how she does off the ventilator. Wow! But she and I hunker down at pali momi. It's a long uncomfortable night as I am trying to sleep in Brooke's wheelchair with my legs propped up on a chair - very very uncomfortable.
I stay awake all night watching the monitors, listening to the rhythmic beep and an occasional alarm - but all goes well. The next morning at around 7:15 the doctor comes in and says according to all the stats from the previous night she had a remarkably great night! Praise the Lord! (that's me saying that not him) He tells her he feels that the ventilator and tracheostomy is causing her more problems than good and that if she wants, he feels very comfortable removing the trach - WHAT? Queens told us a minimum of 6 months but highly doubtful as they felt she would be on the ventilator at night for the rest of her life! Brooke agrees, for some reason (God I believe), kept my mouth shut. The doctor proceeds to take out the trach - it took less than 5 seconds. Brooke says is it done? He says yes , and she begins to weep. Tears rolling down her cheeks. He gets all worried and asks if anything is sore or wrong and she says "no, nothing is wrong, I just have my life back". The nurse and doctor are quiet and leave the room quickly. She and I just cry and rejoice!!!!
Since July 14th her oxygen level has been in the high 90's which is normal and remarkable. She has not had to have any oxygen, although we have a few tanks in our home. She is not on any medication. She is breathing on her own and doing light exercising like walking, stretching and tomorrow she goes into the pool! It is a miracle.
Here is my take on all this - the water that came out of that trach. No one can tell us where it came from or how it got in there, but remember Jesus is the Living Water. He healed her. If it wasn't for that water she would still be hooked up to all those machines. Water - living water - healing water.
So join us in rejoicing!
