Answered Prayers and One Step Back

Thank you so much for your prayers for Bryan this afternoon as he underwent the angiogram. I’m happy to report that God heard our prayers and granted Bryan peace as he lay still for more than four hours. He was slightly sedated during the procedure but still needed to be awake. Bryan was aware that there were a lot of people praying and he definitely felt it. He managed to lie still the entire time and was finally able to get up and move around at 6:30 pm this evening.

The result of the angiogram showed that there is some vasospasm present. (As explained in an earlier post, a vasospasm can occur after a patient has had a subarachnoid hemorrhage - which is what happened last Monday after the aneurysm ruptured - the brain artery over-contracts or spasms and causes it to become very narrow.) The artery in the brain is constricting too much and so Bryan needs to be closely monitored. So this afternoon he returned to the place we didn’t think we’d have to visit again – the ICU. If the vasospasm gets worse and a specific medication needs to be urgently administered, this can only be done in the ICU and not in the other unit where he was staying. To help prevent the vasospasm from getting worse, Bryan also needs to be continuously hydrated so he’s back on the IV.

As far as the other aneurysm goes, the neurosurgery team will meet to look closer at the imaging done today and make a decision on how to proceed.

Although Bryan is extremely disappointed with the move back to ICU, we know it’s the best place for him right now. He has one nurse taking care of just him 24/7 and they have the resources there to treat him better. It does seem like a bit of a step backwards, but we continue to trust God that he will completely heal Bryan in His perfect timing.

Immediate Prayer Request

Bryan needs to go for an angiogram this afternoon at 1:00 pm. The point of this test is to look at the aneurysm that was operated on last week to confirm the surgery was successful. And they are also going to look closer at the other aneurysm that is still there so that they can determine what the best procedure will be to deal with it.

Here's where the prayer request comes in: Bryan needs to lie still during the half hour procedure and then for four hours afterwards. This would probably be a challenge for anyone but because Bryan is still in so much pain, it will be extremely difficult for him. So we’re asking you to pray continuously this afternoon for this specific need. Although we know this will be tough, we know that all things are possible with God and that He can give Bryan the peace, comfort and relief from pain that he needs to get through it.

A little better . . .

Today was a bit of an uneventful day - but we'll take that over the other kind. Bryan had a hard time falling asleep last night and even when he did, it still wasn't the best. The pain in his legs was on and off all morning and then this afternoon it seemed to be a little bit better. He went for a long walk this morning with the physiotherapist and another one this evening. Although it takes a lot of effort, it helps him to move around and stretch his legs. He also seems to feel a little better when he lies on his side rather than his back - it takes the pressure off his tailbone. He was extremly tired when we left the hospital tonight so let's pray he has a good night's sleep.

Hope for the Pain

Bryan didn’t sleep as well as we had hoped last night so he was quite tired and in a lot of pain again this morning.

Another CT angiogram was done and it was fine. There is still some swelling but apparently that’s normal and the doctors were happy with the results. There was more testing done this morning too and everything was clear – they were looking particularly at his legs to see if there were any blood clots present to explain the pain. Today was particularly horrible for Bryan with respect to pain. He said tonight that today was "the worst day yet" because of the pain.

The good news is that the doctors think they know now what is causing all the pain in Bryan’s low back and legs. Another test also done this morning revealed that the blood around the brain (from the aneurysm that burst last week) is causing irritation in the spine and in turn causing the pain in Bryan’s low back and legs. This apparently isn’t uncommon but the reason they didn’t look into this earlier is because pain from this spinal irritation doesn’t usually radiate to the legs – but rather is just in the low back/tailbone area in most patients. That’s why they assumed the pain in his legs was muscle spasms from being immobile for so long.

So the treatment for this spinal irritation is a new medication – very potent – that Bryan needs to take every six hours for a 48 hour cycle. It will cause Bryan to be quite “out of it” and confused – worse than the side effects of morphine. In the meantime, they were trying to switch him off the morphine because they’d like to wean him off his IV. They were giving him pain medication in the form of a tablet earlier today but tonight they finally gave him more morphine because he wasn’t having any relief from the pain. He’s just now finally starting to relax and sleep a little. The nurses said that hopefully by the third dose of this new medication (which will be at midnight tonight), Bryan will start to feel the severe pain subside and then hopefully he won’t need the morphine or the other tablets for the pain. Please pray that this really is the cause of his severe pain, that the new medication will work quickly and that the side effects won't be too harsh.

I was listening to one my favourite songs today and wanted to share the chorus with you here:

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

It’s hard to remember and it's not always easy to praise and worship God when things aren’t going so well. But this past week, despite the storm, we’ve seen so many signs of God’s presence – some obvious and some more subtle. It’s been amazing and we know that God hasn’t left our side and He’s been right beside Bryan this whole time holding his hand and giving him strength to fight. So let’s remember to “praise Him in the storm”.

Tuesday Update

So if it's possible to have a worse day than any of the days last week, then this may have been that day. Bryan had a good sleep last night (thank you for praying) but was quite tired again this morning. His legs and back were giving him a lot of pain again too.

The main issue today was his breathing. He seemed short of breath and it just wasn't normal. One of Bryan's previous nurses happened to walk by this afternoon and mentioned that Bryan's breathing wasn't very good. It went from bad to worse and when the physiotherapist came to take Bryan for a walk, he barely made it out the door. He had to lie back down on the bed and his breathing just got worse and worse. He got to the point where he was hyperventilating and was very confused when they asked him his name and where he was. He was panicking and not sure what was going on - he was getting really scared (and so were we.) It ended up that a whole bunch of nurses and doctors (a resident, two of the surgeons that did Bryan's surgery last week, a heart specialist and maybe others) were in the room working on him. They gave him oxygen and it finally seemed to calm him down. They did some blood work and ordered an urgent CT scan. When the one doctor spoke to us, he said they were concerned about the possibility of either blood or water on the brain but more likely a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs). As we waited for the results of the CT scan, we prayed, pleading with God for everything to be okay. Well, God answered our prayers and the CT scan was clear. The brain looked fine, the other aneurysm was still intact and there was no pulmonary embolism visible.

By the time Bryan was back to his room (his original bed back in the ICU), he was doing quite well. It almost seemed as though nothing had even happened - except that he was exhausted. They have done some more tests (ECG's and more blood work) and I think tomorrow they will be doing a CT angiogram to look at things a little better. They've put him on IV Heparin just in case there is a blood clot they missed. I did hear a nurse say that perhaps there was a small blood clot causing the problem, and if it was small enough, his body may have just absorbed it.

When we left the hospital tonight, Bryan was resting and hopefully he's exhausted enough that he'll have a nice deep sleep. There's no one in the bed beside him so hopefully it will be quiet enough for that to happen.

Obviously we need you to continue praying for Bryan's physical healing but please also pray for Michelle. She's such a trooper and God's giving her strength exactly when she needs it but she's exhausted - physically and emotionally.

Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers.

One week later . . .

Raise your hand if this has been one of the longest weeks of your life. I can guarantee Bryan and Michelle and both of their families are raising both hands! BUT we've gotten through each minute, hour, day with the support of so many family, friends, complete strangers and most important of all the love of our Father in Heaven. Thank you Lord for giving us strength!

Today started out with Bryan feeling extremely tired. He slept pretty good again last night (keep praying for his sleep) - being woken up at 2:00 am for meds and staying awake for about an hour and a half and then slept again until about 6:30 am. He still felt really fatigued and dozed on and off for the first part of the morning. He was dealing with some nausea again today so he's been put back on the anti-nausea medication. The leg spasms were pretty severe again today too - another specific item for prayer.

The highlight of the day was that Bryan was able to go for a little bit of a longer walk down the hall. Up until now, it's been only a few steps to the bathroom and that's been a huge challenge. But today the physiotherapist helped him walk down the hall and he made it to the next doorway. And then later he was able to take another walk all the way to the end of the hall! Hooray!!! So thankful for signs of improvement.

Thank you again for your continued love and support. It means so much to Bryan, Michelle and the rest of the family.

Sunday Night

Today wasn't a very good day for Bryan unfortunately. As mentioned in the previous post, his legs and back were quite sore and the pain medication didn't seem to help as it usually does. That makes him quite restless and uncomfortable . . . plus his stomach was a little upset today too.

Then around mid afternoon, Michelle was helping Bryan in the shower when he suddenly didn't feel too well. Thankfully at that exact moment, the nurse came to see if everything was going okay, which it wasn't. Bryan experienced a seizure like episode. Some more nurses came rushing in and they got him out of the shower and into bed. The doctor came to see him shortly after and explained that it could have been one of two things - a partial seizure or a vasospasm. A vasospasm can occur after a patient has had a subarachnoid hemorrhage – which is what happened last Monday when the aneurysm ruptured. The brain artery over-contracts or spasms and causes it to become very narrow. When Bryan came out of surgery last week, we were told about the possibility of these happening and the next two weeks are when they are most likely to occur. But despite hearing about them, it’s still really hard when there’s this kind of setback. Everyday we’ve seen signs of improvement and so this afternoon was rather upsetting. A little later, Bryan was able to have a bit of a nap and he definitely felt better again after that.

So please continue to pray for the following:

• that Bryan won’t have any more of these episodes
• that his legs and back won’t be painful anymore
• that Michelle and the rest of the family will have the strength to be a support and comfort to Bryan
• that Bryan will have another good sleep tonight
• that Bryan and everyone else will continue to see signs of God’s hand in this situation