Rollercoaster Ride

After writing our last blog post when Alan was in hospital, he had his other lung lining drained (1.2 lites of fluid!) and we came home the same day. The doctor thought she had sorted that lung and it wouldn't cause any more problems...

On Wednesday, Alan had his first lung drained again and on Thursday he started immunotherapy treatment. There were no problems that we knew of, although Alan mentioned that he was still breathless and the doctor wasn't sure why. 

On Friday, Sharon and Dave departed for a long weekend away and we took over grandparent duty. Alan was insistent that they didn't cancel their break and I got back-up people in place just in case there were problems. 

That evening after the children were in bed, Alan was very breathless and didn't think he would cope with the night. So, we called Auntie Mandy for a sleepover whist I took Alan to A&E for a sleep over there. (Actually, it was a more a wake-over there as no sleep was had.) 

Alan wondered if he was going to survive the night, despite the medical staff being around. In the middle of the night he said it would have been so easy to give up trying to breathe, but he felt God had more for him yet. I asked him why he didn't press the bell - I thought it was because he wouldn't want to bother anyone. He did eventually manage to grab a nurse and explain he couldn't breathe. The nurse upped his oxygen levels, but because they didn't know what was causing the problem until various tests came back, they didn't know how to treat him.

Alan had an emergency tap put in to his other lung lining on Saturday afternoon. This tap is different from the first one, and is continually draining, apart from hour-long rest periods to give his body a chance to adjust. This was a tremendous relief and meant that Alan was a lot more comfortable and able to breathe a bit easier. He also had a good night's sleep that night - the first he'd had for quite some time. 

It may be a coincidence, but we tend to think of them as God incidences, but when putting our granddaughter (A) down for a nap that afternoon, she suddenly said, 'I know what we can do - God make Bampa better!' Did the prayers of a 4 year old touch heaven? It was shorter afterwards that the Dr did the procedure needed!

Beth came over to help look after the children on Saturday afternoon, and babysitting that evening, with Mandy popping up for a while before heading out again. That meant that I could pop over and see Alan on the Saturday night,after getting the children to bed - I felt much more at peace seeing that he was doing better and that he was being looked after. I had asked A if she wanted to talk to God as I was putting her to bed. She said 'yes - God give Bampa a good nights sleep, give Gran a good nights sleep, give L and me a good nights sleep. love from Jesus'. that prayer was just what was needed - altho A and I were up to deal with the itchy chicken pox scabs!!

Despite all the ups and downs, I think A quite enjoyed her weekend, waking up in the morning to discover Auntie Mandy had had a sleep over too! L (our grandson) seemed fine except puzzled to where Bapa had disappeared. He was going around calling, 'Bapa' and I'm sure he put 2 words together and said, Where Bapa?' Maybe he thought Alan was stretching the hide and seek game a bit too far!

Nannie (Dave's mum) took over grandparent duty on Sunday morning so that I could spend the day with Alan in the hospital. Nathan and Zoe popped in for a visit too, and Alan was glad to see them. 

He's still in hospital - it's been a real roller coaster ride and neither of us have ever liked roller coasters! Alan is still struggling to breathe and the doctors can't yet work out why. But, we are in God's hands and are thankful for all the prayer support we have been getting. We feel a bit like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furniss. They said, 'Our God can deliver, but if not, we will still not bow down and worship any other God'. (Sue's paraphrase). 

On the positive side - Alan doesn't seem to have had any side effects to the immunotherapy. 

Love Sue