Monday, August 08, 2005

The email queen

     Today people from Swedish Hospital visited Kari and brought along a crown.  The old record for emails was 300, but you all smashed that by sending over 500!  So Kari is now the email queen, and who knows how many more you would have sent in if the Craig Hospital had a similar system.  Thank you all.  As the web site says, these emails lift everyone's spirits immeasurably.  It's harder, now, to print them out, but they still lift the spirit.  Aaron also reports that the apartment he's moved into is really nice, and not cramped.  The TV has educational videos on demand to help him learn more about the kind of injury Kari has.
     The process of weaning Kari from the ventilator is going ahead of schedule.  By yesterday afternoon, they were already almost at 15 minutes with the ventilator completely off, instead of the 5 or so minutes they would have been at had they followed the protocol completely in sequence.  They think Kari is that strong.  In fact, though yesterday morning was a down time emotionally, by the afternoon, Kari reported that she felt stronger than she has ever felt since the accident.  Her lungs are slowly getting back to their full size, and during the night time, they will be using greater pressure to blow up her lungs more fully, so that the next day she can take that much bigger breaths.
     When I spoke in an earlier update about God troubling the waters, I thought later that what Jesus brings us is a miracle beyond a miracle.  When the waters stirred in the Pool of Silome, people had to rush to try to be the first one in that day so they could experience a healing miracle.  But Jesus, being Himself the font of living water, made the hustle and rush unnecessary.  During these days of rehab I hope Kari and Aaron can trust that whether the gains each day are big, or small, or, maybe even undetectable on some days, that beneath what we can measure medically God is calmly, assuredly, working to restore Kari.  Pray that they can rest in that trust, and that we all can as well.
 
--Richard R. Guzman
    

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How typical of Aaron and Kari to ask for prayers for others during this their time of need. You can be sure that we will be praying for your 17-year-old friend whose life has been so altered. We so agree with Richard's comment about celebrating ALL achievements no matter how small. Keep up the good work Kari! We love you!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Guzman,
Someday I hope to meet you. I admire you so very much. Your frequent updates and prayer suggestions have been very helpful for those of us who are far away. Your writings, amazingly beautiful and touching, have caused me to think deeper about the miracle of miracles and have brought me closer to God. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Laurie Haessly