Nathan's condition has not changed noticeably the past few days. He is still heavily medicated as he recovers from weeks of sedation. He continues to hallucinate on-and-off. At this point, Nathan's clarity of mind is our #1 concern, and the doctors' #1 concern (and the focus of our prayers).
It is not hard to understand Nathan's confusion. Likely he had never, before his accident, seen the sort of "fixator" that is attached to his left leg. He doesn't even remember the accident itself. So to wake up in an Austrian hospital with steel pins, bars, and bolts protruding from his leg must itself seem like a bad dream. When two shattered legs are combined with the effects of being in a chemically-induced coma for weeks, it is tough (literally and figuratively) to "put the pieces together." Nathan goes, from one minute to the next, from intelligently discussing music and literature with Hannah and me (and speaking some German with the nurses!) to seeing imaginary bugs and animals of all sorts hovering around that "fixator."
The surgeons who will do additional surgery on his head will not see him until he moves to intermediate care, but he can't leave the intensive-care unit for the intermediate-care unit until the hallucinations issue is resolved. So we are "on hold" for now.
As to the longer run, the leg surgeon told us yesterday that rehab on his legs will take some three months, once he achieves clarity of mind. The Austrian medical personnel are world-renowned for their expertise in treating accident victims, so we are thinking in terms of Nathan's staying on in Austria for rehab. We're looking into having Andrew and Stacey (Nathan's brother and sister) join us in Salzburg once school's out in December, and then having Hannah return to Manila with Stacey in January while I stay on with Nathan. This is shaping up to be a marathon.
A passage of Scripture that comes to mind when it comes to this marathon: Hebrews 10:35-36 and 12:1-2: "Do not throw away...confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens.... Patient endurance is what you need now.... Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, ...let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus.... ...so that you don't become discouraged..."
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4 comments:
May you all have the endurance you need through this. Hoping the holidays can still be a good time for you all. We'll continue to lift your whole family up in prayer daily.
Your family in Christ,
Eric, Tammy and Ellie Heerwagen
Dear Kuya Greg,
As I think about it, whatever happened and will happen to Nathan is a marathon of faith, not only for Nathan but also for you who deeply love him. As people who deeply care about you, we are here to support you. We will continue to remember Nathan and your whole family in prayer. Strength comes from the Lord.
Blessings,
Jaime
Dear Nathan and Family,
My daughter Jackie goes to UP with Nathan and now that I know of your blog (thanks to Mme Booth and daughter Jackie), we will keep watch and ask for more prayers for Nathan and family from a Catholic High School in Sacramento.
We are praying for you and keep you in our hearts.
Patti, Jackie and Maren Gallagher
We are offering up our prayers on behalf of Nathan and your family as well. My 7-year-old son, also named Nathan, has made it his regular evening routine to pray for his namesake. He regularly asks for updates so that he can pray more intelligently.
We are hopeful that Nathan is in God's hands, the best place to be, and that we will get to meet y'all again soon.
In Christ,
Frank and Betty (Anne, Joy and Nathan, too)
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