JOY COMES IN THE MORNING --- AND IT DID

Good news today! They placed a tube down Dad's nose into his stomach (okay, so Dad didn't think this was such good news). The tube was connected to suction that pumped out a large amount of air that had accumulated and inflated Dad's stomach due to the pressure on the intestines from the fluid in the abdominal cavity. This exacerbated the problems he was already experiencing due to the incredibly large quantity of fluid. It was a really rough night, with breathing taking all the energy Dad had. It was scary to sit there, trying to help him breath by practicing lamaze, and failing miserably to do anything to help him. We held on to the thought that joy comes in the morning. And sure enough, it did. The stomach tube alleviated some of his breathing discomfort. Then at about 2:00 Dr. Kuhn drained the peritoneal fluid (5 1/2 liters of it). Unbelievable!! I even got to help him, since the procedure was performed in Dad's hospital room. Dad is the only man I know of who can relate what it feels like to be 9 months pregnant. Hopefully he gave birth to a vaccine today. He is breathing deeply and feeling sooo much better already. He kept down orange juice and water. We will try Ensure tonight and only use pain and nausea meds when he feels absolutely necessary. We need to assess his pain level without all this fluid. His digestive system has to kick back into gear and he still has fluid around his lungs, so these things can definitely be painful. Continue to pray. He has to clear his lungs in the next few days, so that will take some work. We have more ahead of us, but he has the strength for the task now. Praise God for his faithfulness to us today. Praise Him! The battle belongs to the Lord. That doesn't mean we don't have to fight. Deep breath .... give a shout of praise .... now back on your knees (pleeeeaaase).