Saturday, July 12, 2014

We Need More Prayers... And More Prayers

This morning was overcast and drizzling.  The weather matched my mood this morning.

Yesterday morning started a bit unorganized.  I was going to town to run errands.  Nicole was going to town to run errands.  I sent Luis to run even more errands.  Dorian went to the farm.  Matt was going to get a group at the airport.  The Indiana group was leaving for Guajire, planning to return on Sunday.  They had packed 300 bags of food.  While in Guajire, they were planning on building two houses and fellowshipping with the church there. 

The bus was taking the tools for the houses, the mattresses for the houses, which were also being used for the group to sleep on, food for themselves for 2 days, the group and the luggage.  Dan Kerr was driving the tundra with the 300 food bags. 

There was a bit of a transportation problem, but we soon had that resolved. 

About lunch time, Luis called and said the tundra was broken.  The tundra with 300 bags of food.  A rock had gone through the grill and punctured the radiator and the truck lost all of its water.  I rubbed my temples.  Luis said he would call a mechanic and take care of things.  He assured me he had enough money.  I knew Luis could take care of this much better than I could and I left it in his capable hands.  It was 5:30 when Luis called and said the tundra was fixed and was its way to Guajire at last.

By the time, Luis gave me that news, a broken radiator seemed liked a very small problem.

I returned from town around 2:30 and we unloaded the car.  Donna, Sherry, Matt and I were sitting in my house talking when John ran in and told Matt that Brayan had drowned and was in the hospital.  I could hear Karen's car leaving.

I bowed my head to pray and Sherry said I think we need to pray.  Matt, Donna, Sherry and I prayed.    In just a few minutes, we heard an ambulance leaving the hospital and I felt sick to my stomach.  At the exact same second we heard the ambulance, my phone rang.  It was Karen.  I felt even sicker.  Karen tends to talk really fast when she is upset.  But I understood that she was in the ambulance with him, CPR had been done, he was under oxygen and he might not make it.  She called back several times in the next few minutes as she thought of details that need to be done.  I took care of what I could and left for the hospital.

Brayan had asked to go to a friend's house to work on homework.  It was math and he struggles in math.  He rode his bike and Karen told him to be home by 5:00.  At 4:30, someone came to the gate and said Brayan had drowned and was at the hospital.

After finishing the math homework, the other boy asked his mom for some money so they could go the internet cafe and do some research.  I guess they stopped for cokes and chips and something else before they got to the internet cafe.  And then, they decided to go swimming.  The other boy saw Brayan go under and some him not come back up.  He tried to get Brayan out of the water and could not.  He began to yell for help and found some.  Someone got Brayan out of the water and the other boy did CPR.  A lot of water was removed from his lungs through CPR:  The boy and his mother had a motor taxi take Brayan to the hospital and then came to find Karen.  If those steps had not been taken, Brayan would not be alive right now.

There were Casa details and group details and everyone was calling everyone trying to get everything covered.  I was praying and calmer than I thought possible.  I was traveling at a decent rate, not extremely fast or slow, until I got to Santa Rosa and traffic slowed to a crawl.  This was the last thing I needed.  I prayed some more.

I was so thankful when I arrived at Dime.  I called Karen to see where they were.  I went to emergency.  Mark and Lori where there, too.  I went in and held Brayan's hand.  He was making an awful groaning sound.  It was not a human sound and I will be haunted by that sound for some time to come.  He was aggressive and restless.  He looked awful.  Karen and I hugged each other and the tears began to flow.  I sat down and I felt Lori's arms around me trying to comfort. 

Dorian arrived shortly after I did.  Somehow, that made things better.

The chest x-rays showed there was still a lot of water in the lungs.  They were pumping his stomach and giving him diuretics in hopes that is body would normally take care of the water.  He had fever and antibiotics were started.  He was sedated as he continued to be aggressive and restless.  His breathing was very labored.  There were three or four or more people attending him at all times.

Mark and Lori went to get us something to eat and were helping in every way possible.  And, Mark kept reminding us that Brayan was alive.  We tried to decide if he was in a coma.  Lori googled  coma and we decided he was unconscious, not in a coma.

Karen decided she would stay last night and who would stay tonight is still not decided. 

Once they begin to move him to a room, Brayan begin to get restless again.  Mark and Lori left after Brayan was in his room and I left shortly after that.  Dorian left not long after I did.

I continued to pray, as did many others, for this precious child. 

I saw that Karen posted that he continued to be restless and aggressive.  He had more sedative at midnight.  This morning they were not wanting to give sedative until after the doctor came.  The doctor wanted to try to determine if he was coming out. Before I left for the mission house this morning, I talked to Karen.  There had not been much change.  Restlessness.  Aggressiveness.

As I was returning from the mission, Karen called and said he was talking as much as he could with the oxygen mask.  The nurses asked who it was and he said Karen.  Karen asked him a question and he said yes, in English.  Karen told him what happened and he began to sob.  He said he remembered doing the homework and nothing else. 

The clouds cleared off and the drizzle stopped.  The sun is shining.  My heart feels a lot less heavy, too.

Brayan is not well, but much improved.  Please keep those prayers going.

We are blessed to be a part of the family of God and blessed to have so many people praying for us.




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