August 2

Today is one of those days. Matt seems to be tired today. They were able to put the PIC line in and he is getting his nutrition, I am hopeful that this will help him have more energy. They took him for a CT scan last night and hopefully we will get the results of that today. The GI doctor came by last night and he is going to look into doing the PEG line in his stomach on Sunday, but it may be Monday or Tuesday if the stomach is not gone down enough. Please pray for things to go well so that we can get that PEG in and then we can get back up to the rehab floor and get that going again. I will post again later with an update on the CT scan and any other news that we may get. Thanks again for all the prayers.

August 1 Update #2

Matt has been very alert today and is doing very well. He has been talking just a little, but is communicating with us more than he has in a few days. They have put a PIC line in his arm so that they can give him the nutrition he needs to gain his strength back (approx. 2600 calories). According to what we are told they are taking him for another CT of his head today just to check and see if all of the blood has been re-absorbed. The GI doctor is also going to try and do the PEG line in his stomach in the morning sometime. Please join us in praying that the CT will show that all of the blood is gone and maybe even a surprise that the AVM is shrinking (WOW that would be great news) and also that the doc will be able to get the PEG line in so that we can get the tube out of his nose. I am so encouraged as to how well he is doing and how alert he is today. Your prayers are being answered on a daily basis, please just keep lifting him up and I will keep posting about the miracle that continues to unfold before my eyes. You are all special to us and we appreciate your love and prayers.

August 1 Matt's Update

I wanted to update what is going on. Matt is on an acute care floor at this time. They are trying to get his intestines moving and keep his stomach from getting bloated. The doctors are also re-hydrating him and giving him nutrition through his IV to help get his strength back. They are going to try several different things to make sure that this problem doesn't happen anymore. In the next day or so they will insert a tube into his stomach (PEG) that they will use to feed him and then eventually when he is recovered enough and eating on his own they will remove it. This is just so that they can get the NG tube out of his nose. He is doing well and I have been reading him all of the cards, and emails that you all are sending. Keep praying and we are watching with AWE at how God is working. In our everyday lives we do not get to see miracles, but I am sitting here day in and day out watching as our God is doing miracles everyday. Please know that we love you all and are very thankful for all your prayers and love for our family. Keep praying and I will keep you updated.

Matt's Story

Matt is in the hospital and is very sick. Let me start at the beginning. About a month ago, Matt got a very bad headache and I insisted that he see our doctor and have it checked out. The doctor decided to do a CT of his brain and they found and AVM (arterial brain malformation). It is a group of blood vessels that are in a bundle in his brain instead of just going straight. He has had this since before he was born, it is something that develops while you are growing in the womb. From our family doctor he went to see a neurosurgeon, and he told us that the spot did not look like it had bleed and did not look as if it was going to, so we scheduled an angiogram 2 weeks from then. This was on a Tuesday July 8th, on Thursday July 10th, he had another very bad headache. It was a very bad one, he got dizzy, starting throwing up and had blurry vision. I took him straight to the ER. On the way to the ER he was going in and out of a coma like state. I kept shaking him and waking him up, right before we got to the hospital he went to sleep one more time and I woke him up and told him not to leave me. He opened his eyes, looked at me, and said I am not going to leave you I promise. That was the last words that he spoke. In the ER they did another CT and I was told that he would not live through the night that the AVM had ruptured and that it had bleed so much in his brain that he was going to die. I was then asked about organ donation and so on. I had to go out and tell our boys that their Dad was going to die. I am not sure what I even said to them, but it was the worst thing that I have ever had to do. We were told that his blood pressure would drop and that he would be declared brain dead and it would be over. We called all the family and they came to the hospital. The call for prayer also went out to people far and near. Thursday night came and went and his blood pressure did not drop in fact it stayed strong and steady. During the night he was having spasm like movements and early Friday morning they suddenly stopped. His movements became more like movements that he did on a daily basis. He was scratching his head and doing things that only I would recognize as Matt. The doctors were still very sure that he was not going to make it. Our oldest son Jonathan stayed with me through the night and Friday morning we were standing by Matt’s bed and Jonathan had his hand on Matt’s chest. I said to Matt can you reach up and grab Jonathan’s hand on your chest and to our surprise, he reached up and grabbed his hand. The nurses were shocked. I had been telling them that he was still with us and that something needed to be done for him, they finally called the doctor and they performed an EEG to check for brain activity. They results came back that there was still a lot of activity going on, and the doctors decided to move him to another hospital and see what could be done to help him. On Sunday morning, they took him into surgery to make a drain hole in one of the ventricles in his brain. While the doctor was in there he removed so large blood clots too. About 4-5 hours after the surgery was done they nurse called me into the ICU room and there lying in the bed was Matt and his eyes were open and he was looking straight at me. I cannot tell you how this made me feel. Things were getting better and better by the day. Two days after surgery, they took out the breathing tube and the first words he said was I Love You. It was determined that he was going to have some problems that we would have to deal with, but at this point I was so happy that God had answered our prayers that it did not matter what we would have to deal with. Now let me fast forward a little bit. It is now July 31st and we are at another hospital where Matt was transferred to do inpatient rehab, but we have had a few little set backs. He was started on a puree diet before the transfer, they stopped giving him IV fluids, and he became dehydrated. This lead to his intestines getting backed up, so they moved him from rehab to the acute care floor and we are dealing with the intestine problems now. The doctors are saying that all of this has to do with where the brain bleed was and that is why he is having trouble with his intestines. They are trying several different approaches to fix this, they are also saying that he may have lost the sensations when he had the brain bleed. I know for a fact that this is not true because just last week he was telling me that he needed to go to the restroom. In my opinion once they get him hydrated and the proper nutrition in him all of these problems will be solved, but they don’t see it that way. So, I am asking that you please join us in praying for Matt and that he will make a full recovery and that all of the problems he is having now will be resolved so that he can go back up to rehab and get home soon. He has some weakness on his left side, but with some work the PT doctors say that he will have full use of his arms and legs. We are so thankful for what God has done for us so far and that He is using this to show people that He is in the business of miracles. So many people have been touched by this and I look forward to Matt and I being able to share our experience with many more people when he gets well. One of his nurses told us today that by watching us and seeing the faith that we have that God is healing Matt, that she has re-examined her life and got some things worked out in her personal life because of Matt. I will keep you posted and please have everyone pray that God will take care of Matt and continue the heal him and we will be sure to give God all the glory for this wonderful miracle that he has done for us.