Nov 17?

Hi All....What a blessing you all are. Your emails are very loving.
Stan is in Alaska Regional in CCU.

We are all scared, but I am trusting in the Lord, and you would be absolutely amazed at the support and love being sent to me because of Stan. There is rarely less than 30 people in the waiting room through out the day. Guys he apprenticed, church family, our kids, etc.... and 3 pages of emails when I got home last night. I tried to write something generic to send but couldn't stay awake, so now it is time for me to get...but I will try to write a quick update.

He is chemically paralyzed so that he cannot move and heavily sedated so that he cannot be aware of things, and has a breathing machine that does the work for him....there are more "bells and whistles" ...i.e. tubes and wires...than I have ever seen. He has a nurse to himself while in this condition. She was very sweet last night. She explained most of the machines and their functions to me. When they finally had him settled in his room, we were each allowed to go in and see him...two by two...just like Noah and ark! We were not allowed to touch or talk...they want as little stimulation as possible so the swelling in his brain will go down. They removed the large clot. He has some kind of a pressure guage in his head to monitor the swelling. The number for that went down from 30 (way higher than the surgeaon wanted) to 1 and 0 as we took turns going in to see him before going home last night. This is pretty miraculous....so we are not without hope. This is kind of a "nutshell" account....

The CAT scan yesterday showed no larger bleed than the day before but there was added pressure....so they decided to do surgery about 3 yesterday...and had him in the OR by 4....It was 8 when he arrived back in his room and 9 before we saw the doctor. At that time there were 32 people waiting and praying plus several who had to leave earlier. Three different families brought food to that waiting area...enough for all the "fans" and we were well fed. This is going to happen throughout. (Subway sands, chips, bottled water, oranges, cinnemon rolls, etc....)

He knew who we were before the surgery even tho he wasn't really responding verbally. He would wiggle his right foot when I would ask him to do that if he knew "so and so" was there. Each time he would wiggle. I am hoping to write a lot of the comments from his friends down when I can think and sit long enough.
Love, M