I'm in Fairbanks. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep blogging, but have had limited Internet access until now and have been under the gun to get lots of things done.
I had an awesome time with my family, friends and brothers & sisters in Christ in Kenai, Girdwood and Anchorage. I love all of you guys. You have touched my life in the last week.
I am incredibly blessed to have such amazing people in my life.
Dear All,
Well, we are very excited to say we are nearing the end of Daniel's hospital stay. It may be a few days but we are getting signs that he will get to go home soon. He had 3 solid meals today. Paraphrasing, he said he knew it was cafeteria food so wasn't great but tasted really good to him. He had small portions of eggs and bacon for breakfast, chicken and mashed potatoes for lunch and chicken and rice and apple pie for dinner. Can you imagine eating solid food after basically living off of IVs since July 2nd?
Yesterday he asked us to bring his guitar to the hospital. He's played a little each day. Today, before Jonathan headed out of town, he stopped by and played a quick board game with Daniel and me. Daniel's attention span gets better each day. In fact, today he seemed a little bored. He has been too sick to be bored before today. We praise the Lord for simplicities of life. So taken for granted normally but not today.
So, we praise the Lord for continued recovery of our precious son, Daniel. He still has a drainage tube that will have to be removed, he's connected to wound care and IVs and his pneumonia is still being worked on. But, the doctors have said he should be fully functioning in all ways after some time of recovery. What more could we ask? Thank you Lord.
We pray that none of us will ever be the same again. Forgive us Lord when we forget your many blessings and continued care that is always there regardless of our circumstances. You have provided so many blessings. Simply amazing.
Thank you for caring. We can not thank you enough for all your love and prayers. We have learned so much from you.
To God be all the glory. May He increase your faith and richly bless you.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann, and Jonathan (and Aunt Sara)
Dear All,
Daniel had a much better day Friday. He showed some energy that hasn't been there since he was shot in the stomach in
Other good notes. Daniel is on full liquids today instead of clear liquids. He only took a few spoonfuls of the soup and about two bites of pudding at lunch and dinner but that is a start to getting his system working. Something that is necessary for him to be released from the hospital. And he kept it all down -- which didn't happen yesterday with clear liquids. Only two IVs now. Got 20 staples out of incision from his surgery so now he has steri strips. Etc. Etc. So good signs.
Aunt Sara made it through the night with Daniel just fine -- especially considering she is my older sister! Sara Ann is on tonight. So the young blood is back. Jonathan is in a wedding this weekend and then has to return to
We are thinking Daniel will be released this week sometime. But we patiently wait upon the Lord and know He has a plan. Do we patiently wait every minute? Oh course not. We each live in this earthly tent. But overall we do. And are very grateful just to have our son alive. And to see him walk. And to see a smile. This is his 14th day in the hospital -- in the
Daniel says visitors are fine now. He even says it with a little energy (that warms a parent's heart). Of course we know many of you are visiting us in your hearts and with your prayers. And with cards. And with your love and concern in general. Through that the Lord sustains us and we are very grateful to each of you. The Lord has certainly blessed us with the love of many. So keep those prayers going. That is obviously the thing we need the most.
Thank you for loving us -- even if you barely know us. May God richly bless you today. May He hold you close in His heart and may YOU feel it. We pray for each of you and the difficulties you are going through --- at this very moment. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann, Jonathan - and Aunt Sara
Dear All,
Today was a better day for Daniel! Daniel's treatment for anemia seems to be helping - IVs of iron. His pneumonia is being worked on - breathing treatments, new antibiotics, etc. He walked several more laps today than yesterday when he was so tired and drowsy. He was able to interact with my sister, Aunt Sara, when she got to the hospital (yea for reinforcements!). He sat in the chair for awhile. Several little things. Little things mean a lot.
Also exciting, Ross Baldwin called today when he was on a layover in
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
So needless to say, Eddie and I are doing better. We felt your prayers throughout the day. The sweet words of encouragement we have received help us so much. We, like everyone else, need the love of our brothers and sisters. So thank you for lifting us up in so many ways. God is sending blessings from different directions. He wants us to not forget how creative He is. Or how much He has the bases covered. Incredible. We don't walk this walk alone -- but with you and God with us.
As I mentioned, Aunt Sara is here. In some ways we are different as sisters and in some ways very much alike. She is very tender-hearted. So when given the option of looking at the wound care specialist change the sponge/ wound care stuff on Daniel's back, she opted to stay on the other side of the bed and shed some tears as she saw his physical pain. (Been there, done that.) She is going to take duty tomorrow night. She will fit right in with the other attending night monitors (Sara Ann and Jonathan) who can also read big honker books (that means 700-1000 page books) like A History of the American People, Harry Potter and Einstein. Eddie and I can only read little wimpy 200-300 page books like A New Kind of Christian, Irresistible Revolution, and a.k.a. Lost: Discovering Ways to Connect with he People Jesus Misses Most . Its not fair they can read them all.
So tonight its a little easier to focus on God's plan and his glory. After a long couple of days. Have you ever noticed how some days are just longer than others? Especially those days you don't want to repeat!
We love you and appreciate you. All praise to God. The creator of all.
Sweet dreams.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann, and Jonathan
My final foreign entry... ¡Que triste!
As if to affirm me as His child walking in His will, I got a sweet little going away present. Walking away from the airport in Guayaquil after confirming my flight time, I walked up next to a guy with a Bible in his hand walking along the sidewalk. Here's a translation of our conversation:
Me: "Good evening"
Him: "Good evening, you are a Christian?"
Me (a little surprised): "Yes..."
Him: "Mormon?"
Me: "No."
Him: "Evangelical?"
Me: "More or less."
Him: (goes off into this story about how he had just arrived and needed to go somewhere and didn't have money for a taxi for some reason I didn't understand.)
Me: *hands him cab fare* "Were you praying about this just now?"
Him: (affirmative, excited Spanish noises accompanied by many thank you's and praise God's)
Me: all smiles
Just to catch you up, I left the Hacienda de Esperanza after a 7:30 breakfast. A bunch of the kids, Becki, some random guy and I piled into the Hacienda's van and headed down to the main road, otherwise a 15 minute walk. After some quick hugs and Ecuadorian-style fake kisses, I jumped on the bus that pulled up JUST in time. Except for a couple quick food breaks, and a bus switch in Quito, I traveled all day and am now waiting for my flight in Guayaquil.
It leaves at 1am, I have 6 hours in Houston and then a direct flight home to Anchorage getting in at 4:30pm. I have an ERA reservation for 7:30 to come back to Kenai!
I think my last post had some pretty good end-of-trip reflections in it, and I'm pretty tired right now. I might have to keep writing about the rest of my summer just so I don't end on a lame note.
Oh yeah, just thought of another cool thing. I sat next to a Christian lady on the bus too. This place is swarming with them. She had a really cute little girl that was a fireball the whole trip, but not in an annoying way. It was really cool because I had no clue what the other girl I was sitting next to was saying, but could understand the Christian lady really well. It made me wonder if there was something more going on there.
And another thing, I put Justin (the administrator at the Hacienda) in touch with Eduardo. The Hacienda is looking for house parents and Eduardo is looking for work... I figured, what the heck. I hope it works out, he would be an AWESOME dad for a bunch of little kids, and his wife would be great with them too.
Okay, that's feeling a little less lame. I just had my last meal of chicken, rice and lentils, my staple here and am going to head back to the airport to stir up some more trouble. Thanks for being readers, faithful or spontaneous! And thanks to God for giving me fingers with good endurance... actually, we can go ahead and thank Him for everything.
Dear All,
Daniel has had a couple of tough days. He is anemic now. So he doesn't feel like much. Plus the pneumonia. Plus the fever continues to be pesky and they are trying to narrow that down some more. So another CT scan tonight. More breathing treatments. Etc. Etc. So at this time, Daniel prefers to have no visitors for a couple of days. He just needs to be allowed to rest and let the doctors and nurses do their thing. He didn't even take a phone call from a very loved close friend tonight. So you know the body is weary.
Is this disheartening. Of course it is. He's our baby. Are we distraught? No. Our Savior lives and our God has a plan. Do we covet your prayers? Without question. So on your knees, standing looking up to heaven or sitting quietly with your head bowed. How ever you connect with the Father. Let it rip. But be sure and thank Him for His bountiful blessings and His continued care. Be sure to praise Him for the glorious loving Father He is.
A few days after Daniel was shot, the song that God placed on my heart is based on the book of Job. It says "Blessed be the name of the Lord . . . He gives and takes away . . . Blessed be the name of the Lord". That is a very comforting truth. I also think of Hebrews at this time. God says never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Thank you Lord for that truth. With that, we are comforted. Dr. Hendrickson continues to indicate these are medical things Daniel just has to go through. So we continue to trust in her and the other doctors God has put in Daniel's life. This is just a phase that has to be gone through.
On a lighter note, Daniel is not a tv watcher. I mean none at all. So we are all getting a lot of reading done. Besides the Bible I think we have each read about 3 books. I don't know why this is taking the time it is (possibly another week or so in the hospital - maybe more then a long recovery at home) but I do believe God has a plan and part of it if for each of the 4 of us to be still at times.
Have a fantastic evening and a wonderful tomorrow. May God be praised and glorified in your life.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann and Daniel
Latest word from the Stinsons:
Dear All,
Overall there is much to be thankful for with Daniel. For example, he walked bunches on Sunday, so much so that the doctor was going to order therapy and changed her mind. Of course he has had to have his entourage to walk since he needs the support of Eddie or Jonathan to walk as well as Sara Ann or me to push his IV pole along. When nurse Bud (that's his real name) saw him walking, he said, "Daniel, you look taller when you're out of bed". (Daniel is 6'3'.) "Good one, Bud!"
Daniel's color is better and his responses to things are more alert. But he has continued to have that pesky fever, especially at night. So today they ordered a chest x-ray and sure enough, as they suspected, he has pneumonia. Dr. Hendrickson says that is not unusual with someone who has had 3 surgeries. The fact that he traveled from a foreign country as he did could have led to pneumonia all by itself. The good news is she consulted with the other doctors and they continue to be pleased with things (thank you Lord) and say that his belly is fine and the antibiotics he is on are doing what they should be doing. So there you go. More good news. No, that is really great news. More surgeries are unlikely.
He got a Wound V.A.C. today. The wound care nurse said that this machine, which he will basically be attached to 24/7 for 2-4 weeks, could make the open wound on his back heal twice as fast. You haven't lived until you have seen an open 3" by 1" wound on your son's back. But it is pink, good skin and the doctors are much encouraged. Why not just sew it up? Due to the infection. So we are thankful for wise doctors and special care products and people.
So please continue to praise the Lord for good progress. Even finding out he has pneumonia is good news since it gives direction --and rules out big problems! Please pray for Daniel's comfort as it is hard for him to breath and be restful. Please pray his lungs will clear and he'll continue to be motivated to walk and he will heal. Please continue to pray God's blessing on the rest of our family as this is a long haul. God told us there would be marathons, didn't he? But to just continue to run the race. So we run.
My sweet sister, Sara, (we call her Aunt Sara so all are not confused) will be here tomorrow. We are overjoyed by that. For as she says, when she gets here, she will be Aunt Sara (the family knows how glorious that is!!!).
Thank you for the cards, emails, and visits. By all this we are much encouraged. And thank you so much for all the prayers. We are so blessed to be lifted up. God has a call on Daniel's life, and you are part of it. Thank you!
To God be the power and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann, and Jonathan
The kids are darling. I don't know what it is about orphans, but it seems like they just soak up love and attention. Diana, Maria, Katy, Gladys, Jorge and John are absolutely adorable and range from 5 to 10 years old. There are two older kids that have been at a local Christian camp this week, Christian and Leoli. The little girls run up to you for hugs and crawl in your lap when you have a lap available. They are all smiles and their words to God before meals have been very humbling and inspiring.
(Hacienda de Esperanza is translated as ¨home of hope¨ roughly)
It was hard to leave this morning, but I wanted to make it up to Otavalo (where I am sitting right now) so that I could leave a significant amount of money behind me when I go back home. I was successful. Otavalo is known for its handmade crafts sold by the local indigios (natives). And if you're wondering, no, I didn't get you anything. =)
Lately, people have been asking me what I learned in Ecuador, or why I think God sent me here. Oh boy, here it comes!
I have absolutely no idea.
And I'm okay with that.
I honestly don't care too much about the why's. I'm not too concerned with putting things in nice tidy boxes so I can pull one out labeled ¨Ecuador¨ and display it to the curious passerby. The mystery of God is beckoning me to realize that I am changed deeply by encountering Him, in ways that words only serve to cheapen. I follow Him regardless of whether I am blessed or beaten down, whether he opens up the floodlights to the path ahead, or whether I stumble in the dark with only His hand to guide me.
My righteousness is looking less like me being a good person and more like me realizing my depravity and need for constant reconciliation with God. And yet, at the same time, my flesh is dying to the joys of this world and desiring more permanent satisfaction. And I don't mean to sound ascetic because I clearly love good food and hurling my body up and down various courses, but I'm realizing that those things are merely shadows of something much greater.
The fruits of this trip to Ecuador and both tangible and intangible. I've talked mostly about the intangible because it's a lot more mysterious and intriguing, but let me just conclude for now by praising God for the countless impacts He has had on lives because of the experiences of a couple clueless guys stumbling around a foreign country or two. I am humbled by the fact that you have taken the time to follow our stories and shown such incredibly love and faithfulness, both in your words and prayers.
I'm feeling a little nostalgic because I'm leaving tomorrow, so if that sounded like a farewell address, it's just me warming up to leave. Peace!
I had a good night in Tena, visiting with expats, eating good food and all that. I met some girls from California that I talked to for a while and had a great time with. Michelle gave me some ad hoc salsa lessons and said I was catching on! I got to share a little of Christ with them, but wasn't quite as resolute as I could have been. Next time. There's always next time to be more like Christ.
I read II Peter today and realized that the promises he is talking about are things like Jesus said about repenting from your sins and receiving forgiveness. It's putting our faith in those promises that motivates us to grow through moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, patient endurance and all that. After all, when we realize that it is Christ alone and the forgiveness of God that purifies us, we are motivated out of thanks to respond by honoring God.
That said, yesterday was incredibly purifying. I rafted in Tena with an Irish guide who has lived in Tena since he was 14. His family runs the Riverpeople rafting company and rafting with them, in Tena, is the absolute best rafting in the country. Go with the Riverpeople! We went cliff jumping and waterfall sliding before hitting the river for the day. There was a diverse group with 4-5 in two rafts. Mostly British girls and a couple from Canada. I teamed up with the Canadiens and the guide Tim for an amazing day of all kinds of terrain from thick jungle to grassly lowlands surrounded by green mountains shimmering beneath the intense Ecuadorian sun.
Lunch was along the river with the local village kids coming up to stare, play and get our leftovers. The rapids were exhilerating, but managable (nothing too life-threatening, Mom) and there were several places to jump out of the raft and swim. The most memorable event on the trip was the raft ahead of us hitting a wave, going straight up, and then curling over to fully inverted, like a back flip, and seeing everyone in the boat falling out. And then realizing that we were intentionally heading for the same spot =). Good times. Our raft did more of a tornado, backwards surfing type thing there.
I could write a lot more about the rafting trip, but I digress. After returning to Tena, I met up with Becki again to head toward Quito. We took a taxi north to a place called Paraiso de Orchida, which is an animal refuge. I made friends with a monkey named Lucho and did some walking through the actual jungle there. I needed a machete.
We ended up waiting by the side of the road for a bus to Quito with some of the local town people. They were really nice and helped us figure out which bus to take. So we ended up outside of Baeza at a highway junction trying to pick up the next bus, and decided not to keep traveling because Quito at night is dangerous, so we found a cheap hotel where we could each get our own room and crashed (after eating across the highway of course).
I'll write more about the Hacienda de Esperanza later, but today we basically took the bus to Quito, met up with Cecilia (Jon's wife) and drove north to the Hacienda. It's a home for several orphans and is a part of a larger missionary effort called Operation Ecuador. Lots of cool connections all over the place up here... staff from Seattle, Washington and Pensacola, Florida (where my preacher at home is from!) Time to stop typing though. Night!
We are thankful for a good day for Daniel. Yesterday was good in that he had the surgery the day before so God gave him the start of healing and the doctors said the surgery was successful. But, he had a lot of pain. I mean a lot. Thank you for your prayers for his pain. Today, it was much better.
Today, Daniel was able to sit up for 4 hours. He also got the catheter out. The tube came out of his nose yesterday. He is still tethered by several tubes of various kinds but going the right direction. The wound care for his back is painful (there's a hole in his back that is about 3 inches long) but Dr. Hendrickson says there is healthy tissue and that is good. When the wound care nurse showed him the picture she took to show the doctors (aren't we in the modern age to just whip out our little camera and take a quick digital?!), Daniel said it looked like "lips". The wound is about that shape. I just keep thinking when things come up about all his wounds (the gun shot, the stitches down the middle in the front, the hole in his back, etc) that saying -- "Chicks dig guys with cool scars!" Well, there should be a lot of "diggin'" going on with Daniel.
Daniel was asking about visits from friends today. Tomorrow and in the days ahead, he should be very ready for visits. I hope his peers especially can visit him in the hospital or even when he gets home. This would be a great encouragement to him. But I can't promise you'll get to see the cool scars!
So, all of our spirits are good. I was especially blessed today when I got to spend several hours with him alone in the afternoon and he felt well enough to talk and for me to read the Word to him. I, II, and III John have an awful lot to say about loving others. And that is something that Daniel relates to -- and lives I might add. He and I agreed as we read that one of our favorite verses is "perfect love cast out fear". I pray each of you have the freedom to love and not fear. Even if God sends you to Ecuador.
All praise to the Father above. Glory to His Holy name. May all that is done in the days ahead to heal Daniel be a blessing to us and an honor to God. Pray for his healing. But also pray for his witness and blessing to others today and in the days ahead.
Thank each of you for your concern and love and prayers. We feel them. We are truly blessed.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann and Jonathan
Lots of terrain covered today. I started out in the midst of a verdant, green valley with mountainsides covered with the markings of agriculture: green houses growing tomatoes, fields staged to produce all kinds of things from bananas to melons to weird fruits and vegetables that don´t have English names. My drive today from Baños to Tena took me through winding mountains roads sprinkled with cascading waterfalls. At times the road came precariously close to the edge that separated the bus from hundreds of feet ending in a meandering river. We drove through a rainstorm that threatened to change my plans only to arrive in Tena to a beautiful sunny afternoon.
All that to say, yep, my camera got stolen/lost (either is likely), so I'm resorting to the ¨thousand words¨ approach. Oh, and by ¨my camera¨ I mean my dad's. Sorry Pop. (stack that one on with the rest of the below confessions!)
Tena really is beautiful though. It's in the jungle with a couple rivers flowing through it. There's an island with a zoo of sorts on it that I visited after arriving. The squirrel monkeys ruthlessly pursue any type of fruit you may offer them. I felt like a pirate walking around with a squirrel monkey perched on my shoulder. YAARRR!!
[FYI: at this point I lost my blog due to crappy internet. Pity me.]
Post-zoo I spent some sweet time in the Word on the banks of the Tena River. A comment I received today on here suggested that I spend some purifying time by running water. Sound advice!! There's nothing quite like experiencing God in the midst of His Creation.
A cool randomness (look for this phrase in a blog title coming soon): I sat down by a kid with a runny nose on the bus and gave him some Kleenex. He looked like he was in pain or something, but insisted he wasn't sick. We ended up talking a bit and it turns out that he wants to be a doctor when he grows up! He has a sister in med school in Ambato and furthermore, his family follows Christ and attends an evangelical church! He was so darn cute I had to buy him an ice cream. I love the body of Christ (oh yeah, the other internet café I went to in Baños was Christian-run... I think it's a conspiracy).
Wow I had a great meal tonight... steak and fries for $1.50. Do I really have to come home??
I thought about a lot of cool stuff today too, but it was in the lost blog, so I'll just leave you with this, which is quite timely considering the recent events:
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow!! For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Now imagine that on a sunny rock with a rippling river emerging from the jungle greenery upsteam and calmly flowing by, drowning out the noise of the surrounding city, and you might feel the confident hope that I caught a glimpse of today.
Dear All,
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Daniel is out of surgery and it went well. He did in fact have his right colon removed. But more importantly, Dr. Eliason removed a lot of infection that needed to be taken care of for him to be healed. He said that before he thought that was what needed to be done but now he knows that was exactly what needed to be done. So, thank you for your prayers for Dr. Eliason having wisdom.
We were blessed to have many of you with us in heart and prayer this afternoon and several in person. We did have to behave ourselves in the surgery waiting room since we had an elder from Pleasant Ridge, an elder from N. Davis and an elder from New York Ave present. We thank God for each of you that were present in person or in spirit. What a blessed encouragement to Eddie and me!
I would like to say that Daniel is resting comfortably but in fact with a tube up his nose and pain from surgery, he is going to have a tough couple of days. But that is ok. Its the cost of healing. I don't say that to be flippant. I don't like to see my baby suffer. I say that because I know that is how Daniel feels about it. I don't expect Jonathan to get much of Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborn (Daniel's favorite book right now) read tonight between giving Daniel chips of ice and other things. Please pray for Daniel to be pain free quickly.
We are so grateful that there is a clear plan. For example, Daniel has a hole in his back still for drainage that they will purposefully keep open for awhile. Our friend Connie was talking about wound care this afternoon and then Dr. Hendrickson told us she was going to order the exact wound care products that nurse Connie talked about. Coincidence? I think not.
How long will Daniel be in the hospital? About a week, give or take. Jonathan can stay in town until next weekend so that should work out well with him and Sara Ann trading off night shift.
Thank you for your continued love and support. To God be all glory and praise. We place You in the highest place. Sweet dreams to each of you.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann and Jonathan
Wow, I have about a million things to write about, but such poor recollection. =)
One really cool thing happened last night when I went to pay for using the Internet. I noticed that lady up front reading the Bible and asked her what she was reading. The conversation progressed and I found that she and her husband are yet another example of Christians who genuinely love God and don´t let denominational boundaries interfere. I don´t know how to explain it, but I had a really great kinship with them. I had noticed that there was Christian music there earlier and asked about it, only to have a copy of the CD handed to me. So now my drive to Washington can be complimented by praises to God... in Spanish.
I woke up early and met Becki to get her shipped off to the right city. Then I went back to sleep until my body decided it was done. Ahh glorious day!! When I could sleep no more, I mosied on for breakfast and some sweet time in the word. I´m going to miss the coffee & milk, the bread and the fresh fruit for breakfast when I leave.
I spent some quality time on the Internet this morning, writing overdue emails and taking care of business for school. It turns out that if I didn´t accept my financial aid today, I would have some problems to deal with later. Yay!
Most of today I spent hiking in the mountains/pueblos outside of Baños. I met some great people including a lady with 8 kids and a sweet mountainside farm. I helped her with some sticks for firewood and she gave me a lemon off of her tree. Delish.
I had time to do a lot of thinking and praying and generally hanging out with God. It made me realize how weak and dependent I am. I think I can fool myself into thinking I´ve got things figured out, but coming face to face with the Holy One reminds me of how UN-holy I am. So in the spirit of dismissing any myths of my status as a super-Christian:
Please don´t excuse these dark places in my life. I want them exposed to the light so that I can be healed, not dismissed because others fight the same battles. I need forgiveness from those I have wronged and I realized today that forgiveness comes with a price. Forgiveness comes with the shedding of blood, metaphorical and literal.
Forgive me.
Now all Glory to God who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever hope or imagine. May His name be lifted up because of His faithfulness to show mercy and love to those who deserve neither.
I´m finally sitting in the fabled Baños, a destination recommended to me by many travelers and locals alike. It´s dark, so we´ll see how it really is tomorrow.
Staying with Roberto´s family was great! They have a nice house in Riobamba and were incredibly hospitable. Roberto´s dad and sister (Natalia) ended up waiting for us at the bus terminal for an hour and a half while we checked internet and stuff, thinking that we would call them when we were ready to be picked up. Yeah, my Spanish still isn´t that great. A little misinterpretation and I felt REALLY bad. They took us out for an AWESOME fried chicken dinner at Happy Pollo afterwards.
Natalia took us around town today (after a breakfast of hot milk with sugar and instant coffee and REALLY good rolls and cheese) to do a little shopping and see some sights including a mummy in a nearby town called Guano. I got a couple sweaters to fend off the cold. We had more amazing food at a restaurant in town with batwing doors. Good stuff.
Spiritual highlights included meeting a lady studying tourism who had never really met a foreigner who loved Jesus. I got to encourage her a bit and give her my email address so she can ask questions. The sweater vendor was also a Christian and I got to encourage him too. Tonight, I met a guy at the actual Baños (natural hot water mineral baths) that used to be a Christian but is now living in San Francisco (those two aren´t necessarily mutually exclusive) apparently doing IV drugs. He said I could live in San Francisco. I was honored.
Tomorrow Becki takes off for a clinic outside of Puyo and I plan to recreate, pray and do other renewing-type stuff in this resort town. I´ll be praying for Daniel and the surgeons tomorrow. I have full confidence that he will make a full recovery and want to give God the glory!!
The latest email from the Stinsons:
Overall Daniel is doing ok, going the right direction in some ways. His brother and sister continue to take turns staying with him at night while Eddie and I go during the day and evening as much as we can. Daniel is comforted by our family's presence. But, despite strong, multiple antibiotics, Daniel does have infection that is not completely under control which is a big concern to the doctors.
So, Daniel is to have surgery tomorrow, Thursday, at Harris HEB at about 1pm. They will take out his right colon (they say he doesn't need it! - plus it has a stinkin' hole in it) and will deal with the infections that are still there in his back. We are thankful for Dr. Eliason, the trauma surgeon, who has taken great care to make the best decision by waiting to see how Daniel is doing, consulting multiple times with his partners, etc to make this decision. It is obviously a very well thought out decision on his part. Please pray for wisdom and skill for Dr. Eliason in this surgery as well as blessings in his life.
To me it is a relief to have a firm direction the Lord is taking us. Although in some ways his body is recovering and several things are a little better, the infection is still there and the hole is still there. For various reasons it is a big decision on whether to wait for the hole to heal more or to go ahead with the surgery. To the best of my knowledge and simple understanding, the infection trumps all and that is the reason for surgery now.
Of course, surgery is still surgery so we covet your prayers as well as your praise to God for His continued blessing on Daniel's life. This will be Daniel's third surgery since July 2 but hopefully his last. And at least this one is in the United States - yea! He will not be all healed after surgery but will still have months and months of recovery. But, as I have said, we are thankful to have our sweet son around and look forward to God's provision of sweet blessings in the months ahead. We know there will be many "iron sharpening iron" moments.
Please continue to pray for blessings on Eddie and I but also on Sara Ann and Jonathan as they minister so sweetly to their brother. You can imagine the things they are "getting" to do. Each is willing to put their lives on hold for their brother. Each is so attentive and loving. Willing to get him a drink, put covers on him, walk with him, read to him, etc. How blessed we are!
We also ask blessings on Dr. Hendrickson who has already given so much since we have been home. May God give her wisdom and blessing as she continues to guide Daniel's overall treatment as his Internist. She has been so comforting and available to us (thanks for taking our call at 9pm last night) and giving (when is the last time someone stopped by the store on the way to the hospital and got you blue Jello?). We are truly blessed. We praise you Lord.
Thanks for the continued care and love of each of you. We have had several sweet short visits that we greatly appreciate. And yummy food to provide physical strength and spiritual encouragement. We appreciate the emails. And we appreciate the prayers. May God bless you as you bless us.
Please pray for Daniel tomorrow afternoon especially. May God receive all glory and praise.
Love,
Eddie, Marilyn, Daniel, Sara Ann and Jonathan
For those of you keeping up with Daniel, I´m going to be posting separately for what I´m doing and what´s new with him. This is the me post.
Last night Becki and I hung out with Joáquin and two of Roberto´s (the one in Girdwood) younger cousins. We toured Guayaquil a bit and saw some cool stuff including an old fort that protected Guayaquil from pirates and the river walk. Joáquin is a brother in Christ and I we got to encourage him in his faith, and vice versa, as usual.
This morning we met up with a girl I met on the airplane ride down here named Kate. She is in a pre-med/med program and is working at a clinic down here and attending classes in the afternoons for 6 months. We went to do some health screening at some local schools and also gave some DT vaccinations. Everywhere we go, we have the chance to plant seeds for the Kingdom and got to do some of that today. After lunch with her, Becki and I took a bus to Riobamba to stay with Roberto´s father. It´s looking like Becki will be going to a jungle clinic while I do a little sightseeing. We may meet up again in Quito, but it´s been good to see her and help her get situated in Ecuador initially.
I´m realizing that I really need some serious solo time after all of this and I´m hoping to get that in the next few days, although God´s plan always prevails and if it happens that I will be around people a lot, God will provide the strength. I wish that I could be in Texas with Daniel, but have peace that I am in the right place right now.
Riobamba is COLD and feels GREAT after months of heat. I´m loving it, but I´m going to have to buy a sweater or something for these mountain towns. The jungle is beautiful, although a bit too foggy to get a really good look. More adventures to follow.
I´m just going to post the updates I get from Daniel´s mom for those of you who are interested and actually write about what I´m doing, so I get both of them done. Here are his updates for today:
Update on Daniel
It was a good day. We had three different doctors come in today. The internist, trauma surgeon and infectious diseases doc. Another specialist is to come tomorrow about nutrition. They are watching Daniel, trying to get his counts at a good place and then see about the surgery. His blood pressure was low today. His liver has some understandable probs per the internist that she is watching. She is also working on hydrating him.
Treatment plan: about 8 weeks of intravenous antibiotics that he can finish doing at home when he is released, see how he does in the hospital the next couple of days and then the trauma surgeon will be closer to making a decision on removing his right colon at some point (not an emergency but probably necessary at some point) which all docs say would have been protocol in the US, no driving for at least 6 weeks, wound care for front of abdomen, sit up and walk as much as possible (use it or lose it the trauma MD said).
We feel very good about our doctor friend Allison being his primary. She is very proactive. Other docs were great too. Taking time to answer our questions and explain things well. Had loving calls and visits today. We felt loved by them and our Father above.
Second Update
I am tired and it is late but wanted to let you know it was a good day. Daniel saw several doctors today who got various things going. We still don't know about surgery but Daniel will be watched the next couple of days by the trauma surgeon and internist to see how he is progressing. The doctors are still saying surgery to remove part of the colon is the most likely course but they are working on assessing and getting everything going the right direction for now.
We do know he will be on IV antibiotics for around 8 weeks. Dr. Hendrickson explained that he can continue this course of treatment once he is released from the hospital whether that is in a few days or later if surgery is done sometime soon. Other functions are off but not critical so she is working on all those issues too.
We felt very blessed today by all of the doctors. The trauma surgeon was very professional and down to earth. He took time to explain and answer our questions which helped Eddie and I a lot. The doctor prescribing the IV antibiotics gave great direction on what to expect and why that course of treatment is best. And Dr. Hendrickson (our friend Allison) was proactive and very comforting to us. We praise God for putting her in our lives years ago for such a time as this.
Jonathan and Sara Ann are taking night duty with Daniel at the hospital (Jonathan last night and Sara Ann tonight and they'll switch off as needed for now). We praise the Lord for their love for their brother and their Lord. We were blessed with several phone calls and brief visits today. Thank you Iva Nell and Jane Jane for setting that up.
We are all tired but good. Daniel is sleeping better since he has arrived (hours and hours of travel was good for him in that way). Eddie and I are trying to get back to some normalcy in life. Especially since Dr. Hendrickson said this will be a months and months recovery, not days or weeks. We are thrilled to have Daniel around for awhile (instead of Alaska or Ecuador) and look forward to many more sweet times like some of the conversations we had today. Thank you Lord for a sweet son whose heart's desire is to be totally yours.
Yesterday was a full day from 4am to 2:30am. We got up early and shipped Daniel off without too much trouble. He had a pretty raging fever Saturday night, but we slipped him some drugs and prayed and it calmed down. En route to Dallas, Daniel and co. got delayed in Houston, only to run into Becki or her way down to Ecuador. So they got to spend some time together in the Houston airport, which was quite fortuitous in a my-plane-got-delayed kind of way.
Daniel is now in Harris HEB hospital in the DFW area and is being scheduled for another abscess drainage surgery (a fairly minor procedure). His medical records were translated from Spanish by an ER doc there who does medical missions, which helps with the transition in care. I´m receiving updates from Daniel´s mom by email and I´ll try to keep this blog current with how he´s doing.
I slept the sleep of the dead for a few hours after going to the airport, then went to Jon & Cecilia´s church down the road from the hotel. (they were the ones picking us up and helping us in Quito). It was good to be among believers and sing familiar songs to God even if the words were different. I got to see a little bit of Quito before getting on the bus to Guayaquil.
Becki had a big welcoming crew at the airport including me, Leonardo, Roberto (cousin of Roberto in Alaska) and some friends. Her flight was delayed so we didn´t get back to Roberto´s until 2:30 or so and immediately crashed.
We are now praying for God´s direction for the next steps to take which probably will be going back north. My plan is to get Becki situated somewhere she can work while she is down here, then do a few touristy things myself and head home.
God continues to open lots of doors and teach me many things. A few highlights:
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
We did get the bills paid today. Here´s how it shakes out:
We are looking for the body of Christ to respond in a huge way here and know that there are collections being taken up all over the place. In all humility, Daniel gratefully accepts any donations, and I personally hope to see the entire amount covered so that Daniel can resume using his gifts effectively for the kingdom of God!!
I neglected to mention the sweetness of this morning in the hospital. We started off with some prayer (with the parents) and then read Phillipians out loud. Which I might add was an AWESOME section to speak to the troubles and joys of the day. If you´re up for some encouragement, read Phillipians with Daniel in mind. All that followed by singing some praises to our God in the hospital room. A fantastic way to leave.
I also had a great talk with Dr. Bello this morning in his office. Good times. He has invited all of us to come stay at his house on the beach when Daniel gets to feeling better! It´s a BEAUTIFUL house.
I´m sitting in a really nice hotel in enchanting Quito, Ecuador right now having just finished a delicious steak dinner at a top floor restaurant overlooking the lights of the city. Wow am I content. Jon Feeney treated us to dinner, along with his wife and baby, and it was dang good.
The first leg of the trip went just great. Daniel was pretty exhausted by the time we got to the hotel after driving and flying and driving, but his spirits were up. Nothing too extraordinary about the trip except that I got two snacks on the airplane cause I stole Daniel´s.
It was a little difficult saying goodbye to everyone, as funny as it sounds, and I will miss the hospital and the people there. On the other hand, Quito is a wonderful place to be. May God be glorified for His provision for today and tomorrow!!
Everything this morning is going well. No fever, a bowel movement and more energy. Daniel is doing well too (just kidding, I´m describing him). We leave for the airport at 4 p.m. The doctors are putting the finishing touches on him so he can leave.
He´s gotten his IV lines removed and is now tubeless. We´re taking care of paperwork and finances and medical records and all that this morning. Not sure when I´ll write next, hopefully tonight to keep everyone posted on how the star of the show holds up on the first leg of the journey.
We´re being picked up in Quito by a Christian guy there named John and he´s taking us to a hotel. He´ll bring us to the airport in the morning as well. Keep us in your prayers!
Another sleepless night for Daniel and another night of interrupted sleep for me. We were both worn out this morning and I was feeling discouraged despite a really excellent day yesterday. Things just aren´t shaping up like I wanted them to. Daniel is supposed to be totally well by now and I´m supposed to be off spreading light in other places.
Then again, it was never really about me was it?
I was incredibly humbled today to realize that when we are serious about serving God, our selfish desires play a fairly minor role. God tells us exactly how to be happy: Be poor in spirit, mourn, be humble, have a pure heart, make peace and so on. Then God will make us happy. Too often I try to ask God to make me happy under the circumstances and ideals I´ve placed myself in. Today was a nice jolt back to reality. As I was commiserating with Daniel, him lying there in the bed, he floored me by saying, ¨Hey Ross, you want to pray together?¨
It was a sweet time, despite the interruptions and I felt yet again refreshed, both by the faithfulness of my friend and by the provision of God to renew me daily. All glory to Him who can miraculously renew what was dead!
Daniel was approved to fly home. So tomorrow we drive to Manta (45 minutes) in an ambulance while Daniel´s parents ride with a Christian sister named Ruthie who will translate for them at the airport and get everything ready for our arrival. Then we fly to Quito to spend the night. The morning flight takes off at 6:30 for Houston and Dallas. I will see them off at the airport.
Daniel got his 15 sutures out today and will get his central line out tomorrow. Back to no tubes sticking out of his body, and only one colostomy bag on his back. For the 30 hours of travelling he will have pills, water, Ensure and prayer to sustain him. Please pray that the travelling goes well. He will check into a hospital in Forth Worth when he lands in the Dallas area.
MEDICALESE TO FOLLOW
Inflammation down, white bloods cell count steady at around 13-14k. Fever off and on up to 39 C. Dr. Bello says that Daniel´s fistula is immature (leaking into the surrounding tissues) and will be mature in another 9 days or so. When that happens, it should more closely resemble a tube created by the body that separates the badness from his living tissue.
He still believes the fistula will close on its own given enough time and does not want to recommend any more surgery because of the inherent risks of hacking people open.
Daniel wanted a hamburger today. Dr. Bello and I were all for it, but the mom put the hammer down along with the other doctor and vetoed. He was back to his usual feisty self today, enough to severely lose to his parents at spades (I was his partner and probably lost the game for us... even when he´s sick he can play some mean spades...)
There´s a lot more I could say about travel arrangements, securing medical records and all that, but this is getting a bit long, even for me. Suffice it to say, everything is coming together well and we are being provided for in every place we will go.
SEMI IMPORTANT
If you´re in the Dallas area, the Stinson´s would not object to having meals brought over and Daniel would definitely not object to those wishing to help with the medical costs. Visitors may want to hang on for a few days to let Daniel adjust to being home and recover from the trip.
Peace!!
Yep. I took off for the day. I´m in Bahía de Coraquez having just been treated to some homestyle Ecuadorian cooking (it was excellent I might add). The gracious hostess was my friend Jeff´s mother-in-law. He was down here for the Peace Corps and happened to meet the right girl =). He told me I should visit his family down here and this city is actually where Daniel and I were planning to come after leaving Portoviejo. I thought I should finish what we started.
I really enjoyed spending time here and having some one-on-one with God was really good for me too. I feel a bit of the tug that maybe I should have encouraged the people here in the Lord more, but then I think: hey, I just saw a massive turtle! And I feel all better. I´m currently across the street from their house. They were incredibly hospitable and hung out with me as we trekked all over this part of town.
I´m jumping back on the bus soon to head back to the hospital for the night. When I left Daniel this morning, the infection looked even better and his spirits were up. Today has been a good day for me!
We have a flight scheduled to leave Saturday at 6pm from Manta to Quito. Daniel & his parents will be flying out of Quito the next morning early for Houston and Dallas. I plan to fly to Guayaquil to pick up my friend Becki from the airport. I considered going back with the Stinsons, but don´t think I would be much more help and am a little strapped for cash to be buying last-minute plane tickets. Besides, I think God has some more for me to learn down here before I leave.
Daniel´s fever has subsided and he´s drinking A LOT of water. He´s back on a liquid diet of food today. His inflammation has gone down a lot too. The only remaining concern is that his GI tract is still routing out his back more than its usual path. It would be really great if that hole in his colon would close up.
I´ve been pretty worn down these last couple days (hence the brief posting) but see a light at the end of the tunnel. God continues to provide enough comfort for me to get through each day, not just by surviving, but by finding joy in Him. I don´t believe that grace merely implies survival, but finding joy in the Lord despite difficult circumstances.
After waiting several hours this morning, we finally got a CT done around 1:30. The results indicate that the fistula will close on its own with time. And that is all we need now. Time and prayers for the infection to subside and the hole to close. Daniel is back on liquid food tomorrow, water for the rest of the day today.
Slight improvements today, although not enough to get REALLY excited about, just KIND OF excited about. Marginally excited. We´re waiting for an ambulance to come take Daniel to another hospital for a second CT (CAT) scan. His white blood cell counts are down a little bit (from 15,500 to 13,700) which is a good sign, and his side appears a little less inflamed. We´re still praying for the hole in the colon to close and for the infection to continue to subside.
The Stinsons and I have been really encouraged by those emailing to say they can send money. As we continue to stay in the hospital, the costs continue to rise. I would guess the bills are up to around $12,000 by now.
It looks like I´ll be flying to Quito with the Stinsons on Saturday if things go as planned.
Eduardo left last night for Quito to look for work. We will miss his presense. He shines with the joy and peace of the Lord. I got to pray with him on the street brother-to-brother last night as he was leaving. It was a sweet time. I am very grateful for the wonderful people that God has brought into our lives through this experience.
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our suffering, you will also share in the comfort God gives us... ...But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God.
I read that this morning and it really helped me see how God is working through this situation.
Reasons Daniel is staying in the hospital longer:
I´m going to give two versions, the short and the long.
SHORT VERSION
The earliest Daniel can go home now is Friday. He can´t eat enough to travel without being fed through the IV and his infection from the abscess isn´t completely eliminated. He gets to start eating again tomorrow. There is a small hole in his colon that is draining out through the incision we made in surgery on Sunday. Rest assured, it will close on its own and be fine. Keep praying and send money.
LONG VERSION
All of the perforations were closed during the first surgery. Dr. Bello believes that there was likely an explosion in Daniel´s colon (explosive gas + firey-hot bullet) that killed the tissue around one hole toward the back. OR, a large mass of blood built up and killed that portion later.
Either way, the back of his colon developed a hole where the bullet went through. Rather than leaking out into his abdomen, it leaked into the hole where the bullet lodged in his back. Over the next few days, this created an abscess (bacteria + poop + dead tissue), which we drained on Sunday, effectively allowing Daniel´s colon to drain out his back. This probably sounds bad, but it could be much worse. The tunnel (fistula) from his colon to his back will eventually close on its own and does not require further treatment.
However, the doctor wants to more closely observe what happens when Daniel starts eating solid food tomorrow. He also wants to see the inflammation in Daniel´s back go down before releasing him. Your continued prayers are much appreciated. Daniel continues to feel better but is also racking up more expenses than expected.
On the bright side, I got to share Christ with one of Daniel´s vistors today. She had some pretty serious misconceptions about what being a Christian was all about and I got to share with her the joy and the freedom that we have in Christ. I hope this situation continues to stir your heart and push you toward deeper faith and persistent prayer! God is great!
For those of you who would like to help Daniel with the excessive costs of medical care, you can mail checks to:
Daniel Stinson
2801 S. Shady Lane
Arlington, TX 76001
Last night went very well and we both actually got some sleep. We made it up early and I had breakfast with Daniel´s parents. Now they are up in his room giving him his first ¨meal¨ in over a week. He can have liquids now, just not anything with a lot of fat (no milkshakes =).
The fever is basically gone, the abscess continues to drain a lot of stinky fluid and his back is still pretty tender, but he is doing great all things considered.
I was expecting Daniel to feel much better yesterday, but the afternoon was rough. He was really out of it again and couldn´t get comfortable all night and that darn fever wouldn´t go away. Dr. Bello came in this morning and had a look at Daniel´s back where the bullet was resting and decided Daniel needed an ultrasound to look for an abscess (a bunch of bacteria living in a little sack). The ultrasound revealed a significant abscess, which was the final culprit for Daniel´s persisting fever. In addition, his back was swollen and inflamed on the lower right side. The ultrasound revealed good news though, that his intestines had healed very well and were virtually back to normal. - Overall, A Decline.
So we packaged Daniel up for surgery again. The only way to get to the bacteria is with the blade. I scrubbed in and actually got to make the first cut in the procedure. When things got more technical, Dr. Bello took over and thoroughly cleaned out the rest of the abscess. Suffice it to say I would rather stick my head through the hole in a port-a-potty for an hour than spend five more minutes cleaning out abscesses (not really, they just smell that bad). For you science nerds out there, it´s because the bacteria were anaerobes from the colon displaced by the bullet. Oh, I forgot to mention that Dr. Bello had the bullet out in no time as well. The ultrasound lady told us it was in a different place, but Dr. Bello dominates. So Daniel now has a souveneir slug from a 9mm. - A Drain
Despite feeling the closing suture go into his back, Daniel felt great post-op. The cathartic moment for him came when I ran to grab a water for him to rinse with and Dr. Bello gave him to go ahead to drink a little. Afterwards, his face lit up like Christmas tree... or maybe the kid in front of the tree. But he was thrilled. After the decline of yesterday, he has since made a monumental recovery and is moving and speaking better than ever. He still has a small drain in his back (which still smells terrible), but it doesn´t seem to be holding him back. Just make sure he gets it changed... a lot. - A Drop (of water)
And everyone´s favorite subject: money. Everyone has been asking if there´s anything they can do to help. There is. Considering the cost of the surgeries ($4000), the medicine ($2000), the hospitalization ($1800), the lab work ($1000) and a new ticket home ($1000), Daniel´s bill is coming up to be around $10,000 plus his medical costs when he gets home (these numbers are rough guesses based on estimates from receipts and stuff, I´ll update them). He also got hit with a bill from Anchorage that we didn´t know about until today. This is in addition to his student loans. With as many people as have been praying for him, this sum does not seem insurmountable by any means and Daniel could definitely use your help. No amount is too small in truth and we will rejoice over any offering you feel led to share. Please email me at doctorbaldwin@gmail.com with how much you can share if you plan to help so we can start crunching numbers. - Financial Concerns
Our prayer for all of you is that this experience empowers you to stroll outside your comfort zone, to put yourself at risk, realizing that it is not in being safe that we find life, but in serving the Lord and obeying His calling. And to remember that the life we are called to as Christians is not one devoid of pain, but one filled with supreme comfort and fulfillment. We desire that this experience would stir things inside you and that you would embrace the calling of the unknown.
Good news is boring. It would be much more invigorating if Daniel had turned out to be pregnant or something, but as it stands, he continues to recover and regain his health. His catheter is gone now, and tomorrow the drain. Monday he gets to drink again and Wednesday he can be released to go home. This is all assuming that God continues the amazing work that He has already done.
Dr. Bello was very impressed with Daniel´s quick recovery time and keeps telling me how ¨lucky¨ Daniel has been through all this. Yeah right, Daniel just serves a freakin´amazing God and has a TON of people who love him. I´m taking this as a testament to how much love Daniel has shown in his life and to the quality of people that surround him (that´s a lot of you guys).
Eddie and Marilyn (Daniel´s parents) arrived this morning with Nacho, a local Christian who brought them from the airport. They are thrilled to be here and said that I´m taking excellent care of Daniel (that made me say that). They are staying at a nicer hostel across the street and I will continue to stay with Daniel due to my superior skills in Spanish and medicine. It´s really nice to have a little help though.
We moved to a bigger room today, I think because the nurses saw the money bags walk through the door this morning. We now have a sitting room, 2 bathrooms and a bigger TV and warmer water. They told us it would cost the same, then changed their minds when we moved... pretty sure that was unintentional though, the nurse seemed really embarressed.
Not much else going on. Please pray Daniel all the way back to the U.S. and then some. He´s not out of the woods til he´s running around getting in to more trouble for the glory of God!
I feel like I´m leaving stuff out, but sleep has been scarce and interrupted. Again, thank you for your support and encouragement.
Need I say it? Daniel is well on his way to a full recovery. Tomorrow he gets his catheter out. The next day he gets the tube draining his injury out. The only remaining concern is the fever, which is either an unrelated sickness or simply due to the continued trama of having tubes sticking out of his body.
He was much more alert today than he has been since the injury and he is walking much better. Neither one of us got much sleep last night, but today was really relaxing... not many visitors and relatively few doctors and nurses to see us.
The lab results came in and showed that he doesn´t have dengue fever or malaria, the two major concerns, and it doesn´t appear that he has any other serious infections. Dr. Bello (that´s the name the surgeon actually goes by, I got it wrong the first time) and I both think he has some kind of cold virus or something. Dr. Morales, the guy called in as a consultant, says the fever could simply be the body´s response to trauma.
As things slow down and Daniel gains stability, I will have a few more prayer requests which I want to first discuss with him. For now, pray that the fever subsides and he has a safe trip home next week (probably Wednesday).
Witnessing and feeling the healing power of God firsthand has been humbling. The title of my blog poses the question: What if Christians united like this in prayer over other issues? Like the starving poor all over the world, or the fragmentation of the bride of Christ? Or even that God would bless the annoying person at work? I suppose we could always ask God to put an issue that He cares about on our hearts and pray with fervor for His will. Hearing about the character and frequency of many of your prayers has really humbled me and provoked me to develop my own prayer life. I hope to challenge and encourage you in similar ways as your brother.
All praises for God and His healing power and may those praises far outweigh any fears that Satan inspired in you because of what happened. My prayer for all of you is that you see the glory and provision of our Lord and Savior rather than the danger of a dark world that we have been given *dominion* over from its inception. My sister summed up my feelings in an incredible statement of faith:
¨I will also be praying that God gives you wisdom -- not so you can keep yourself safe, but so you can continue to do the work you feel God has called you to do.¨
After a long night and many trips to the bathroom with two IV poles in tow, I´m filled with joy despite not exactly being filled with rest. Daniel´s intestines are now working quite well as evidenced by my lack of sleep. The doctor stopped by this morning and was very happy to hear the report. As he left, he said ¨Now, it is only a matter of time to recuparate. This makes me glad.¨ (Those weren´t his exact words, but then again, he was speaking Spanish)
I really can´t think of much else to write about. I went out to dinner on the local church´s donated money last night and it really helped to clear my head and restore my energy. The food was really good too, and it´s the first beer I´ve had in quite a while. I hope that´s not offensive or hurtful to anyone, but I think Jesus would have had one with me as we rested together in God´s presence. Come to think of it, He kind of did.
In a nutshell, Daniel´s wounds appear to have healed well. He still has a lot of swelling and some fluid in his lungs still, but things continue to look better. With all of you praying for him, I never really any doubts =). Keep asking our Father for rest and recuparation for the both of us.
Let me begin with the bad. (it gets better)
We have a lot to be thankful for. Daniel is more alert and walking and talking more and more. He got me up at 5 this morning to go walking because he feels better after he walks. I was pretty happy about that actually, despite having to get up so early =).
However, a few concerns to be prayerful about.
Daniel is getting a CT to see how things are healing and if there are any residual fragments of bullet in him. Pray that his intestines healed correctly and that he doesn´t have any hematomas (blood masses). Pray that the bullet is totally gone. Pray that he doesn´t have an infection. I will keep this updated as I know more. So far, there is nothing to be concerned about, but these next couple of days are critical. Rest in the peace of the Lord!
Daniel continues to improve. He walked a lot today and is now watering himself as opposed to me watering him. He still can´t eat or drink, just washes his mouth out with water to keep it from drying out. And he´s getting nutrients through the IV still.
He is talking more and joking around more and generally has more energy. I´ve been in touch with his mom and she got to speak with him briefly today which was another sign of improvement and something that HAS to warm your heart =). He had a fever today for a little while, but all of his blood count levels were normal. Tomorrow he will get another blood test and an X-ray to see if there are any bullet fragments left anywhere that they missed. He´s showing a desire to hasten the healing process and working through the distasteful process of getting out of bed to exercise.
The way things are going, it looks like he´ll be homeward-bound this weekend, flying Continental through Houston and back to Dallas. It looks like he will go to a hospital when he gets back and they will observe him for a day before releasing him to go home.
[the rest isn´t really about Daniel]
It´s a pretty great metaphor to see. Lying in bed is comfortable and getting up hurts, but the more he fights through the discomfort of getting up, the more healthy he will become. People too often get comfortable and refuse to do the things that are uncomfortable, even knowing that they will bring life and health to them. Come on church and get on up!! =)
I continue to have amazing opportunities to witness here. I think everyone should hang out at hospitals. Or maybe just people who want to be doctors and nurses and stuff. I got to buy dinner for a guy tonight who was working outside the hospital watching cars and helping people park. He was a really scruffy guy who confessed to me that he was addicted to drugs, but he had such a beautiful heart. He responded to my love with such joy and we´re practically best friends now. I want to put him in touch with Eduardo who used to be on drugs, but now shines with the joy of the Lord.
I also got to have lunch with my friend from the front desk. It turns out that she is another ex-Christian who is disenchanted with the modern church, but still believes in God and Jesus. I got to share with her what I have seen happening with our generation, basically a great desire to draw near to the heart of God and shed anything that detracts from fulfilling His desires in this world. When you speak Truth and Life, people respond and they want it SO bad you can see it in their eyes. If God has given you the gift of speaking, speak as if God Himself were speaking through you!!
It amazes me when I try to write down everything that´s happening. It amazes me that God is doing so much when it doesn´t feel like anything spectacular is happening. When you live moment by moment, you don´t realize the cumulative effect those moments have until you take time to reflect.
Daniel is walking now. Good news. We took a couple trips around the room this morning with no problems. Except he said he´s having a hard time focusing. His thoughts are scattered. I guess that´s a reasonable expectation seeing as how he was shot and in a 4-5 hour surgery. Personally, I think he´s just high, I mean, he´s been getting painkillers and stuff and surely that messes with your head. But I don´t know much about medications... yet.
We are slowly getting all of our stuff transferred from the house to the hospital. Eduardo brought both of our backpacks to the room yesterday. That guy is awesome and full of life in Christ. He´s always spouting off about Jesus and stuff. Good guy to have around. I think people are understanding that visitation is not exactly welcome for more than a few minutes. With the best intentions, they come to wish him well, and I entertain them for a little while, then tell them to leave (in a really nice way of course). Between chasing off guests, running down to the pharmacy to buy more medications & IV food, entertaining the various nurses that come in and keeping Daniel comfortable, the day actually goes by pretty fast. We´ve been watching movies too.
Oh yeah, another piece of good news. No more nasogastric tube (it was draining his stomach). The doctor gave the okay to remove it this morning, so Daniel doesn´t have a tube sticking out of his nose anymore. He´s actually looking a bit more normal now, or as close to normal as he normally is anyway. =)
I´ll post more as I know more. I´ve made a friend here who is letting me use the internet at the hospital, so I may be able to keep in better contact now. She also brought me some really good cheesy bread this morning.
I also heard a rumor that we made the newspaper yesterday. Eduardo´s sister came by this morning and said she would bring me a copy. I also gave her some ibuprofen for her wrist that she hurt a while ago. Little things that fill our days... I guess that´s all for now though. Peace!
Today had mixed results with Daniel feeling both better and worse. He actually had the energy to talk with me a little today and even joke around a little bit. He had a bit of a fever during mid-day which has since passed. Tonight he was totally wiped out when the doctor came during his rounds. The doctor wanted him to get moving and walking to help with the healing process, but Daniel was too tired. Tomorrow we´re going to try walking and hopefully get the tube out of his nose that is draining his stomach.
We had some powerful prayer today and I can literally feel the blanket of protection that is being woven around our room. Daniel has had a little blood in his urine the last couple days which isn´t a big deal, but had me a little worried. I prayed that it would clear and could feel the healing power of God moving both through and around me. Needless to say, the blood is gone. Please keep praying, it has real tangible results.
The surgeon described exactly how ¨lucky¨ Danie was to me today. In addition to the five holes in his intestines and colon, there was a hole behind the colon in the back wall of the abdomen in between the ureter and vena cava and just inferior to the renal artery. For those that don´t speak medicalese, if that fragment had been diverted a quarter inch to the left or right, Daniel would likely have died, lost a kidney or had other major complications.
I´m running out of things to write about right now, but for those that don´t know, both of Daniel´s parents will be here on Friday. They would have come sooner, but his dad was in Tanzania, Africa and couldn´t get an earlier flight. They will take Daniel back to Texas possibly as soon as Saturday or Sunday. Continue to pray for his rapid recovery. I will be staying in Ecuador until I am scheduled to leave, but probably will not be camping in any more yards any time soon.
We have had many visitors today ranging from the sister of Eduardo to representatives of the American consulate in Ecuador. Eduardo told me that his sister had a vision of Daniel and I surrounded in and emanating light. God is both protecting us and working through us in this. I had lunch with a girl that works here and one of the doctors (who paid for my lunch) and was able to share a lot about God´s work in Daniel and I. The opportunities for sharing the joy of the Lord and His goodness abound. I was able to encourage Eduardo who is new to knowing Christ and incredibly passionate. He leaves this weekend to look for work because there is no work here and he cannot provide for his family. In the meantime he is lavishing love upon Daniel and I.
I realize my thoughts are disjointed, but I never have long to write because I feel the need to get back to Daniel. I have many more things I could say, but need to go. I am trying to respond to as many emails as I can, but if I miss you, know your words of encouragement are much appreciated and I will be excited to share them with Daniel. May God´s peace and love rest on you all.
Just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that things are fine here. We really won´t have more news for another 3-4 days according to the doctor. The surgery went fine and we just wait and pray that no complications arise. Things to stand against right now:
Yesterday Daniel and I were on our way to Bahia de Caraquez where my friend´s in-laws live. We met a Christian at the bus terminal who was helping us get through the routing to go to Bahia. We talked with him on the bus ride and decided to go to church with him that night.
Church was great and we loved hanging out with the brothers and sisters there and had a great time with the kids. One of the ladies said we could camp in her yard, so we went home with her and pitched our tent and went to sleep.
About 2-3 in the morning, I woke up to the tent shaking. Daniel was sitting up yelling at whoever was shaking the tent. I don´t remember what he was saying, but it was something like ¨hey, hey, go away!!¨ I heard a loud pop in front of me. The shaking stopped and Daniel said, ¨I just got shot.¨
We spent the next several hours trying to get an ambulance, waiting at a public hospital where there were only interns and no doctors, then waiting for another ambulance. We ended up putting Daniel in the back of a police truck and taking him to the best clinic in town where he finally received the proper medical care.
After 5 hours of surgery, the doctors informed me that ¨he is very lucky¨ and I told him it wasn´t luck, but God. The bullet fragmented after entering Daniel´s abdomen and perforated 5 different places in his intestines, in the ascending and transverse colon and in the jejunum. The surgeon was very professional and competent.
Daniel is now in a private room with cable, AC and a private bathroom being taken care of very well. He is stitched up and has a breathing tube [CORRECTION: it was a nasogastric tube that was draining his stomach] that he hates and a drain in his abdomen to help keep the wound clean. He isn´t saying much because his throat is dry and he can´t drink water yet. Finally, some peace and quiet on this trip. =)
There is an extra bed there that I am sleeping on. We have had many visitors from the churches here and the American consulate has contacted us as well. God is taking care of us. Your prayers are appreciated for rapid recovery and no complications to the initial injury. The body of Christ here is very loving.
Daniel´s parents will arrive here on Friday night. Email is the best way to send greetings or questions. doctorbaldwin@gmail.com
I need to get back to the clinic because I told Daniel I wouldn´t be more than an hour. Grace and peace to you all. One of the brothers down here got to share his testimony with a guy working in the ER last night... God is always working.
