sunday night, february 17

i'm sorry for the delay of my update today. here goes...

they decided to do ANOTHER dialysis today. i'm not certain why they chose to do another treatment - today was supposed to be an "off" day - but i think i heard that it had to do with the fact that his body was handling the dialysis well? and obviously, it's really important to do the dialysis as much as the body will allow it to be done. i'm almost positive they'll take tomorrow off.

his kidney levels did the same stair stepping i mentioned previously - (they decreased immediately after dialysis but rose again overnight, but were slightly less than the previous mornings levels).

i haven't mentioned one area that needs really specific and intentional prayer that is interlaced with the kidney creatinine tests. we need to pray HARD for dad's BUN levels to decrease (these work hand in hand with his kidney creatinine levels)...BUN means blood urea nitrogen. i'll copy and paste an explanation so our prayers can be specific:

A blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test measures the amount of nitrogen in your blood that comes from the waste product urea. Urea is made when protein is broken down in your body. Urea is made in the liver and passed out of your body in the urine. A BUN test is done to see how well your kidneys are working. If your kidneys are not able to remove urea from the blood normally, your BUN level rises.

obviously if his kidney levels (creatinine) are high, then his BUN levels will be high as well (in most cases). the significance of both of these for you "give me the bottom line" folks is that dad's kidneys aren't functioning well. i think you've gotten that picture over the last several blogs. we all know kidney functioning is extremely vital, so i can't express enough how much your prayers are desired in this area!

dad is more and more "aware" everyday. he's obviously frustrated to not be able to talk, but boy, he's sure trying! he seems to recognize us. the doctors have mentioned that they think there has been no neurological effects from the organ shock and trauma from all he's endured over the past two weeks, but it never hurts to claim this in prayer!

it's possible they'll remove the ventilator over the next few days (pending many factors). i think this will remove a lot of his agitation and hopefully keep that blood pressure down!

specific prayers:

kidney(s) will begin to function (creatinine and BUN levels start to rapidly decrease)
blood pressure
he will remain as calm as possible
anything else that comes to your mind :)

the next few days will be a new ballgame for dad (and mom) with him being more awake. it's wonderful that he's finally awake, but with it comes the knowledge of knowing that he is aware of the pain, possibly confounded as to what has happened and why he's where he is, and the frustration that accompanies it all. it's hard for us to see him wanting to just jump up and run out of the hospital, but even harder for him not to be able to jump up and run and, also, for him to not understand why he can't! so, pray for everything this concerns.

again, your prayers are as much needed today as they were two weeks ago tonight...i will say this until i'm blue in the face because that's how much we covet and desperately need your prayers...dad is not in the clear. he is still very sick. pray hard. pray specifically for God to heal his kidneys - and his overall mind, body, and spirit.

thanks for the comments and encouragements! it makes me well up everytime i open up the blog to post and see how many of you have signed on to check on how dad is doing.