After five long, exhausting and frightening weeks my father was able to leave the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He was released to begin therapy at The Villages in
Independence, MO. We hope this phase will take no more than five to six weeks before he can go home. He went in for a procedure to fix a hietal hernia. A procedure that should be a two or three day hospital stay followed by a short recovery period. We are still befuddled by what happened that led to his life and death month long struggle. We were told over and over again that he had the body of a 60-year-old, not an 80-year-old. Until the day before he went into the hospital he was still working full-time in ministry. Today, it seems like he has aged 15 years.
Tuesday night was his first night staying by himself without a
friend or family member. I was the first to arrive to see him on Wednesday morning. He was really discouraged, wondering if he would ever get out of this place. I told him that he had to pretend that he was in training camp like the Chiefs (my dad and I are big sports friends on most of the same teams, except he is alot more fanatical about the KU Jayhawks than I am). I told him the Chiefs players have to leave their nice homes and stay in a college dorm room in order to work their butts off to be ready for the season. I used his speeches to me when I was a kid about not quitting and giving it my best even though the obstacles appeared to be insurmountable. I told him the harder he worked on his physical therapy the sooner he could go home. I also reminded him that his most precious ministry was his life of prayer. I reminded him about the mothers and fathers of the church who spent years in their cells, or caves and other places of solitary where they met Jesus and prayed in the most profound ways. I think he's embracing that challenge. Continue
praying that he will have a good outlook and the strength and resolve to work hard
at getting better.
Here's a picture of great-granddaughter Teagan with Great Grandpa.
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