Friday, April 17, 2015

He's Home!

From my mom:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!!! It is with great joy I 
am letting you know I brought my beloved husband Bob home late this 
afternoon. It is such a relief to have him home and I am so grateful to 
God for sparing his life. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, who 
encouraged us and have helped us out along the way. For all the help we 
have received financially and rides and visits, thank you from the 
bottom of our hearts. We are humbled and deeply grateful by the care and 
help we have received from Gospel of Grace Fellowship and our brothers 
and sisters in Christ around the world. He truly has supplied our needs. 
When I got home with him this afternoon, someone had raked the leaves in 
our yard and off all of my perennials in my flower beds and in back 
along the garage that were growing above the leaves. I have no idea who 
did it. God bless whoever did it.

The oxygen company was here early this evening and have him all set up 
with portable tanks we have to fill everyday and a long hose that comes 
upstairs to plug into his CPAP at night.
Please pray he continues to gain strength and that his lungs improve and 
will process air by themselves without assistance.

Lamentations 3: 22-24  The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, 
For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy 
faithfulness, " The Lord is my portion, " says my soul, "Therefore I 
have hope in Him."

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Bob DeWaay Health Update -Wednesday


Bob had a good day today. He is determined to go home so he is working hard to make that happen. For those of you who know him well, he can be very determined and strong willed. He has been up all day either in a chair or sitting on the couch in his room. His physical therapy went well and we took a walk down the hallway this afternoon. I pushed the oxygen tank and he walked slowly, occasionally using the hand rails when they were available. They turned his oxygen level down one degree today and he is tolerating it alright. He will go home with oxygen. Right now they are talking about releasing him Friday afternoon. He has an order for intravenous steroids through Friday and that is usually given to him at noon, so I think he could go home in the afternoon if he continues to do well. Thank you again for praying for us and please continue to lift us before the Lord. Pray Bob would continue to get stronger and that his lungs would heal and process air normally.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Bob DeWaay Health - Tuesday Update

Hello friends! Thank you so much for your continued prayers. I did get to speak with my Dad briefly today. He can't talk much but it was good to hear him. He loves his new room and is very thankful to be out of the ICU. Here is an update from my mom:

Today has been a relatively good day. It has been fairly uneventful - finally. It is his first day out of ICU and he mainly rested. He was up in his room only and with oxygen. It still makes his oxygen levels drop when moves around. 

Tomorrow he will start physical therapy. He saw his pulmonary specialist today and his x-ray today shows his lungs look the same and sound the same. They will take him off of intravenous steroids tomorrow and he will be taking it in pill form, which is a good step forward. He has been taken out of isolation, he is over the flu.

 The goal now is to get him stronger and his lungs functioning better. They told him it will just take time for his lungs to heal and function properly. So continue to pray that would happen. 

Thank you everyone for lifting us before the Lord so faithfully. We appreciate it so much. God has been so gracious and good to us!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Monday April 13 Update - Bob DeWaay Health

I finally have some good news this evening. He is going to be moved from ICU to a regular room in about an hour. He will be on the 8th floor, which is the new section we haven't seen it yet. The nurse said it is real nice, they call it the penthouse. 
 
He had a rough night last night and has been up since 2 a.m. but he did cat nap during the day. He is now on just the simple oxygen that goes in your nose so it is much more comfortable. He is still on the same amount of oxygen but it is much easier to get around with this. His oxygen levels still drop when he does any exertion. His pulmonary specialist will see him in a day or two and decide when he can go home and what kind of medications and oxygen that me may need at home.
 
 They will have to decide what to put him on to keep the Churg Strauss under control, but he is still off that medication until the infection is totally clear. They need his immune system higher to help fight the infection. 
 
They did another chest x-ray this morning and his lungs are the same, there has been no improvement. He is on 3 different antibiotics. We are rejoicing that he is well enough to be moved, it will be much quieter in a regular room. 
 
He still can't have visitors because he has Influenza B. Thank you again for your ongoing prayers. 

God is so faithful and we put our trust completely in Him.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Sunday Update - Bob DeWaay Health






Today as been another day of ups and downs. We found out today he has influenza B. They took the test when he was admitted on Tuesday but we just got the results today. So nobody is allowed to enter his room without a mask.

He had to have insulin today for the first time. His blood sugar is high from the high doses of steroids. He was allowed to go on a full diet today, so today is his first day of eating food since Tuesday; which he is very happy about, he was very hungry.

 His lungs have not really improved. The upper lobe of his right lung shows slight improvement on the x-ray, but the lower lobe and both lobes of his left lung have not improved at all. He remains very oxygen dependent and it might take quite awhile for that to improve. He still can't talk without his oxygen dropping very fast. He is getting discouraged at the lack of improvement so please pray that God would give him grace for all he has to endure.

 Continue to pray his Churg Strauss Syndrome would not get out of control, they still have him off the Imuran to see if his bone marrow improves. He remains in critical condition, but he is stronger and looks better than when he was admitted.

We thank God for small improvements. We continue to trust in God's sovereignty. Thank you again for continuing to pray for us, we appreciate it so much. I know that is what is keeping us going, so bless all of you who are praying.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Saturday afternoon update - Bob DeWaay Health



We are thankful to be seeing small improvements today. His hemoglobin is holding steady and his white blood cell count climbed to 3.4. They were able to get him a smaller mask, which he likes. He is still needing a lot of breathing support from the bipap. He did get to have some clear fluids this afternoon, which was a real blessing. He has not been able to have anything by mouth since Tuesday, so he was thankful for even a little fluid.


The hemotologist took him off of Imuran because that can affect bone marrow. We are hoping that will help his blood numbers. Imuran has been keeping the Churg-Strauss syndrome under control the last couple of years, so please pray about this. 

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Bob DeWaay Health Update - Ups and Downs

Here is a quick update that my mom emailed last night:


"I am overjoyed to let you know that when I left the hospital this evening they told us his white count had climbed to 2.2 - which is still low but no longer life threatening. God is so faithful and I am so thankful for your prayers. There may be lots of ups and downs. His oxygen levels had to be raised today and he hasn't had anything to eat or drink since Tuesday because they still may have to put him on a respirator. He had already lost 10 pounds last week and he is down another 3 as of today. God has been with us every step of the way and our trust is totally in Him."

Thank you for your continued prayers and support, and for all of your kind words of encouragement.

I'll post another update once I hear how the night went. We are also posting updates on the CIC Facebook page, which is public so you can see it even if you are not on Facebook. 
https://www.facebook.com/CICministry

Friday, April 10, 2015

Pray for Bob DeWaay - Critical Update



Thank you for your continued prayer and support for my Dad. He condition today is critical, still has pneumonia in both lungs.He's been breathing with a bipap (breathing machine), and we were warned last night that he would might have to be intubated and put on a ventilator. The doctor was ready to do that overnight, but he really doesn't want that and the doctor was willing to wait a bit. That still might have to happen if things don't turn around soon. Please pray that he will allow that to happen peacefully if it becomes necessary. 

His hemoglobin dropped to 6, so he was given a couple of units of blood. His white count is down to .9, so he has no immune system and there's nothing they can do about this. 

We have the results of one of the cultures and that showed the presence of streptococcus in his lungs. They will now use antibiotics that target strep, in hopes that eliminating the others will help his white count rebound. We are still waiting on a lot of other tests.

He cannot have visitors, and he cannot talk at this point but we do appreciate all of your messages and prayers.

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
-Psalm 121

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Urgent Prayer Request - Bob DeWaay April 9 Update

Thank you all for your continues prayers, messages, and emails. 
My Dad's pneumonia is worse this morning, and he had to be moved to the ICU and put on a BiPap (breathing support).

Please continue to pray for healing, for wisdom for the doctors, and for peace and comfort for my family.

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
 Philippians 4:6

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

April 2015 Bob DeWaay Health Update and Urgent Prayer Request



Many of you  know that my Dad, Theologian Bob DeWaay, has been in the final stage of Churg-Strauss Syndrome. You can read the history of that here: http://www.bygracealone.net/2012/10/a-bob-dewaay-october-2012-health-update.html

He has been sick most of the winter, and now has been hospitalized.  We do not yet know if this is Churg-Strauss related. He currently has pneumonia in both lungs, he is jaundiced, dehydrated, and very weak. This is the third time he has had pneumonia since Christmas, and this is the worst it's been.

He has also had a very sore throat for the last few weeks and has had no voice. An ENT did a scope of his throat today and his vocal are red and inflamed, and he has a vocal chord granuloma. We do not know is this infection is related to the pneumonia or not.

The doctors are doing many tests to try to determine what all is going on. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, peace and comfort for my mom, and healing for my Dad.

Because he is immune system is compromised do to the Churg-Strauss syndrome he is not allowed visitors at this time, but we appreciate your prayers.

I will post updates as we know more.

Thank you for praying!

Friday, April 3, 2015

Clothed in His Righteousness

“By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

On the hill of Golgotha, when Jesus was stripped of His physical clothes, the execution squad of soldiers divided what little He had between them-His belt, sandals, and other things.  But when it came to His beautifully woven inner garment, they decided that instead of tearing it into four pieces, they would gamble for it.  So while Jesus hung slightly above them, groaning in excruciating pain, they callously ignored Him and tossed the dice (John 19:23-24).
 People today still toss the dice for the robe of His righteousness.  While coldly ignoring His death on the cross, they gamble for His “robe” by betting their eternal lives on the chance that they can earn acceptance with God through their piety, their sincerity, or their morality.  But the only way to obtain it is to exchange your sin for it at the cross.
 (HT: Craig Hines)

 HIS ROBES FOR MINE (Text by Chris Anderson; Tune by Greg Habegger)



 His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
 Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.
 Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.
 In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

 Chorus:
 I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:
 Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
 Bought by such love, my life is not my own.
 My praise-my all-shall be for Christ alone.

 His robes for mine: what cause have I for dread?
 God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.
 Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine,
 Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death and life.

 His robes for mine: God’s justice is appeased.
 Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased.
 Christ drank God’s wrath on sin, then cried “‘Tis done!”
Sin’s wage is paid; propitiation won.

 His robes for mine: such anguish none can know.
 Christ, God’s beloved, condemned as though His foe.
 He, as though I, accursed and left alone;
 I, as though He, embraced and welcomed home!

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