Prayers and Praises

Clearly, my job is giving me much opportunity for improving my prayer life! And also for recognizing God's hand in circumstance...

The patient that I blogged about last time was sent home Saturday. After two days off from work, I wasn't sure what/who I would find in "her" room. She was still there and she looked remarkable. There had been a great deal of healing to her burns and her color was great! Her eyes were bright and clear and she was much more alert and aware of what was going on around her. What a miracle! However, without another miracle, her story will not have a happy ending (at least not here on Earth). She has gone home with hospice in place and I imagine will be worshiping Jesus face to face in the next month or two. Her cancer is very advanced. I am just thrilled that she knows Jesus!

Another patient of ours came in with exacerbated COPD. She requested a breathing treatment, it was ordered and within a half hour of finishing the treatment, she was placed in ICU. Even during the treatment, she couldn't breathe. Upon returning from my "weekend" I recognized a name on the patient list and it suddenly donned on me...It was the same patient that had been on the floor the previous week. It was clear that she was on the floor only for "comfort care". She was passing away. I asked the nurse about the situation, wanting to be fully aware so I didn't make some hurtful blunder in front of her gathered family. She told me that the mask she was breathing through was all that was keeping her alive at that point and that her family had made the decision to remove it the following day. She passed away yesterday. It was very touching to me. She was such a quiet and gentle woman and I was saddened to realize just how sick she really was. Her family is equally kind and my prayers and heart go out to them at this time. I believe, by there actions, that they too know the Lord.

There are of course, the success stories. The young man who was in because of, as he put it, "genetically bad blood" who has been released and will likely continue to do well; The little lady who had a partial hip replacement after falling and will make a full recovery with some therapy; the woman who was in so ill with a kidney infection that she was in ICU and with us on the floor for over a week who has been sent home with a resolution to her health problems. Though these people may or may not know the Lord, I still see His hand at work in their lives. He is so good!

Thanks for "listening" to my thoughts...Heather