16 Oct Oct 15 Update on Hermmy

Right: By the time she met her surgeon, Hermmy’s smile had returned. Dr. Honjo was surprised, too, that she was going home. Left: Hermmy back at Joan’s place, on the couch with one of her prayer blankets.

Joan Sider (right), New Hope church (Toronto, Ontario)

Hermmy, a girl from Haiti, was brought to Canada by UBs there to have surgery to repair a hole in her heart. Here’s the original post. She is staying with Joan Sider. Here is an October 15 update from Joan.

Hermmy is home at my house! That has to be some kind of miracle in itself, eh?.

When I arrived at the hospital this morning, expecting to do the day and overnight shifts, I was greeted with the news that Hermmy was being discharged. She required an “echo” and the two remaining drainage tubes removed. Hermmy was pretty happy–until the tube removal time–then she was traumatized. It only took 5 minutes to do, but she needed about 30-40 minutes to recover, so upset was she. It took a while for that winning smile to appear–but it came.

Hermmy has had her first meds at home, and I have my alarm set for the 4-hour and 6-hour doses. This will happen for a couple days, and then we’ll be able to slacken off. I know she is not going to be happy when I remove one of the bandages over a drainage spot tomorrow and then the last two on Wednesday–but we’ll manage, and she’ll be okay and glad to have them off. It is the anticipated pain that starts the ball rolling.

Poor kid–she had no idea what was involved in having her heart fixed! But she already has noticed that she isn’t tired while walking or having to stop and rest while eating.

Her first post-op appointment back at Sick Kids is Monday, October 22–1 week from today.

15 Oct Ethan Conley Conquers the “Monster Inside Me”

In January 2010, we reported about Ethan Conley, an eight-year-old who came very close to dying. Ethan, the grandson of Chet Conley (right), associate pastor of First UB (Findlay, Ohio), Ethan, had developed Viral Myositis with Rhabdomyolysis, a virus that attacks the muscles.

Darwin Dunten, pastor of First UB, gave this update on October 15, 2012:

“We called the churches to pray for Ethan. God healed him. He is the only person in the world to have been healed of this disease after it had reached this severity.

Ethan Conley (left) with his uncle, Seth.

“Today, Ethan is playing football. He has been featured in the Journal of American Medicine. And now, on Friday, October 26, my associate pastor’s grandson will be featured on the Animal Planet’s  “Monster Inside Me.”

“He is a walking miracle. The prayers of our church and many others were part of this miracle. The Conley family only agreed to this show if they could give honor and glory to the Lord. I share this with you to let you know that miracles happen today.”

You can view a preview of the Discovery network show.

15 Oct A Challenge, 100+ People, and Two Pies

Pastor Dan VanArsdalen takes a pie in the face from a young parishioner.

That appears to have been fun.

Dan VanArsdalen, pastor, Alvordton UB church (Alvordton, Ohio)

Our Fall tradition has been reawakened. Last year we offered some special music from a men’s quartet, and we were able to have 54 people in attendance. For us at Alvordton, this was a great accomplishment. So this year I challenged the church to Pack A Pew. Invite enough folks to fill your pew or two.

We invited the Buehrer Family Singers, who were fantastic in their singing and meaningful worship. And then I said if 54 people were there, I would take a pie to the face. And, If 64 or more would be there, we would make it two.

The Church came alive. Every week, people were telling me of people they had invited. Let me simply say that when people put their minds together and pray, God does move.

We ended up with 103 people with us on Sunday, October 14, and then celebrated with a wonderful carry-in dinner. God is so good, folks. All the time. And yes, I took the 2 pies to the face.

11 Oct October 11 Update on Dan Paternoster

Dan Paternoster, serving as a greeter at the 2011 US National Conference.

We’ve not updated you on Dan Paternoster in a while. Dan, a veterinarian from Fowlerville, Mich., was hit by a car on August 28 while he was riding his bike. He has been a member of the Executive Leadership Team since 2001. The ELT met earlier this week, and missed his presence and valued input.

Here are a few updates from this week from Dan’s wife, Nancy. They include the troubling news that Dan, on top of his serious physical injuries, may also have cancer.

Monday, October 8. Dan continues to amaze the therapists with how well he is doing with walking. Today’s challenge was to walk toe-heel, which really tests your balance, especially when you can’t look down due to your neck brace. Speech is coming along too, but still much slower than the physical progress.

Wednesday, October 10. Just talked to the surgeon who removed a tumor from the lining of Dan’s bladder. It hadn’t spread to any other part of his body yet, for which we are grateful. Dan says he hopes the doctor got all of it. He’s in a lot of pain right now after surgery.

Thursday, October 11. Dan’s feeling better today–not as much pain as yesterday. Thanks for your prayers. I’ll attempt to fill in some of the blanks that I created yesterday with my message.

The surgeon doesn’t know how long the tumor was there, but didn’t think it was there more than a few months. Was it a result of the accident? Only God knows. He also said that he was 85% sure that it was cancerous, so Dan was given a chemotherapy treatment right after the surgery. Evidently that is what caused much of the pain yesterday. We were told that Dan would feel more pain today, but that is not the case. He’s feeling tired, but good other than that.

We’re to the point now where Dan is realizing what is going on and how far he still has to go. What he doesn’t realize is how far he’s come already! We were informed today that his medical team feels he could benefit from 3-4 more weeks of rehabilitation here. That will take us to the end of October/beginning of November.

It’s hard to live apart like this. Dan asks me every night who is at the house where I’m staying and offers to come home with me. He’s also concerned about getting to the point where he can work at a job so that we can go out to eat and he can pay for it. These are all signs of Dan returning to normal.

11 Oct Hermmy’s Surgery is a Success

A smile for Mommy Joan as Hermmy is prepped for surgery on October 10.

Hermmy on her way to the ER–still smiling.

We reported earlier about Hermmy Alexis, a 12-year-old Haitian girl who needed surgery to repair a hole i her heart. The UBs of Canada brought her to Canada for the procedure. She is staying with Joan Sider, who has made numerous trips to Haiti as part of work teams. The surgery occurred on Wednesday afternoon, October 10.

Six-hour surgery is complete. A great success! PTL!

We saw Hermmy for a few minutes, and she looks just like what you would expect. She is ventilated, has three chest drainage tubes. We could see they were doing their work. Obviously, she didn’t know we were there.

Her night nurse is a French-speaking Christian, and we’ve been most impressed with the care she is receiving–not only from Beth tonight, but each one who has been in the Cardiac Care Unit.

They will remove the breathing tube Thursday morning sometime. I’ve indicated to them that I want to be present when she is coming around so that when she opens her eyes she sees familiar faces.

How long will Hermmy be in the hospital? Good question. We’re not sure, but it will likely be two weeks.

It really helped as we were waiting to go see Hermmy, to watch several Youtubes to find out what the doctor had done. When he came out to speak with us, we had a picture up on the screen so he could point out what had taken place.

Hermmy’s fingernails are pink for the first time in her 13 years. Her oxygen level is 100–first time in life. She has been living with this level anywhere from 30 to 70 most likely.

Before her surgery, I told Hermmy that after she was well, she would play–run and skip–and her face lit up like a lightbulb. It was fun to see.

Keep praying for a good recovery.