11.10.2006 - 9PM
A few notes for you on Dustin’s condition.
- Dustin spent most of the day today breathing on his own. The ventilator was still in, but turned down low, just in case he needed it to assist him.
- this was, what seemed like a good sign
- however, the doctors ordered some tests to be run this evening since we are at the 48 hr mark. Those tests indicate that Dustin’s brain, though certainly not getting worse, is neither improving. There is a numeric scale that measures brain activity, maybe something like an Apgar score for newborns. Normal adults, while carrying on conversation are at a 15. When Dustin came into the hospital, his brain was at a 3. After the surgery, his brain was at a 4. This evening, 48 hrs after the accident, his brain is still at a 4.
- what that means … The surgeon has said that Dustin’s injury is not a lethal injury. However, given the lack of improvement in brain activity and the difficulty he continues to have in self-regulating the pressure in his head, the doctor’s have said there is great potential for serious brain damage. They have essentially said that Dustin is not likely to get worse. However, he is not (at this point) very likely to improve.
This is heavy news that certainly weighs on us. These doctors are good. They know what they are talking about. This is no insignificant news. However, we trust in a God who is weightier than this news. The hands that made 5 little loaves and 2 little fish feed over 5,000 people is not subject to probabilities and brain activity scales. God is able, at any point, to intervene and disrupt the ‘normal’ course of events. It is this that we must now pray for.
Be still, my soul: thy God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
For Jesus’ sake,
grant
