That's a beautiful story....

Thanks for sharing. We've nothing in our world more powerful than prayer!
Suzi

Wow, Steph, that gave me chills. The power of prayer can do so much. Prayers for Bill.
Leslie

Our lives are definently planned for us by a power stronger than us!

That is really amazing. I can imagine how emotional it must have been. We had a similar situation with my step-dad. He rallyed near the end too, but the Dr. said it was just that, a "momentary" event, and it didn't mean he was recovering. I believe there is something powerful about a prayer.
Blessings to you and the family.

Very powerful story Steph. Sending more prayers for Bill.

I've seen things like that before....

I hope he comes through this...

It'll be interesting to hear what he has to say about it...

patti

I meant to ask Steph. Does Bill have a Physician's Directive or a Living Will that request he not be put on any form of life support? The reason I'm wondering is because of the hospital intubating him. I've heard sometimes a hospital will do that and I've always questioned why if someone has made their wishes known.

Again, good thoughts for Bill and the family.

Rhonda, for some reason there was no directive at the hospital specifying what his wishes were (obviously an oversight somewhere). His family knew but when he was taken to the hospital, the only people around were his wife and daughter (my husbands mom). His other son and wife and their adult daughter were 4 hours away at their beach house. Brent and his dad were 5 hours away, on their way home from doing a job down south and brents sister lives about an hour away from the hospital.

Bills wife made the decision to have him intubated so that the family could all get home and see him. Once he was intubated, it was just a matter of her deciding when to let him go...then this all happens so the doctor suggested waiting to see how he responds today and then go from there.

It's a tough situation to be in. Especially because nobody knows what he was trying to say when he woke up; was he saying, I'm fine, I can beat this or was he saying, I'm tired, I dont want anymore? Nobody knows...but since his vitals are all really good, his kidneys and other organs are functioning well, it's hard to tell. So they're waiting to see how he does this morning when his sedation wears off. They'll do some different tests to see how he responds and go from there.

Thanks for sharing that beautiful story, Steph. Hope all continues to go well.

Mammie

Hmmmm..God sure has been busy this week! *S* Miracles/Healings are wonderful things to witness!

We went through a similar scene with DH's grandmain 1990...she was 91 and on her death bed after a heart attack, but bounced back the next day. She swears she died and saw heaven, her daughter, (DH's mom) and her husband. She described colors and smells, and different levels as she called it on her journey to heaven. It was so inspiring to me. She never ever showed any signs on alzheimers, dementia or crazy talk. I want to believe what she saw because it helped me deal with death much better after hearing her tell her experience in heaven. She wasn't overly religious but did believe in God....She passed away 3 weeks later from another heart attack...we miss her.

So happy you got to witness this Steph, I call it one of life's little mircles! It makes me think twice about that
decision to remove the life support of a loved one.
God bless him...I hope he does well and enjoys some more time here!

Oh Steph.
I'm so happy for you and your family.
Miracles are, well, amazing, aren't they?
Watching tch a seemingly 'gone' man literally drag himself back to a life with his loved ones IS a blessing.

God loves you and yours dearie!

Lori

Thanks for the explanation Steph. I can see why your MIL wanted to intubate him to wait for the rest of the family to arrive. I wonder, if the hospital would have had his signed directive, if they would have gone by her wishes or his. Sure is a dilemma isn't it.

Sounds like he's rallying around today, that's great.

Wow Steph. Witnessing things like that can really touch your heart. Thinking good thoughts for Brent's Grandfather and his family.

Anne

What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing, Steph.

When we concentrate the spiritual energy of a number of loved ones, focused on their loved one, and add heartfelt prayers, often some surprising results develop.

If the old man has enough physical attributes remaining that he can enjoy some quality of life for even a short while, I pray that those capabilities may be enhanced enough that there may be some precious times to share with the family before his spirit goes to his reward.

ole joyful

I know how you are feeling Steph.

I witnessed the exact same thing,via the power of prayer with my own Mother over 10 years ago now

She was pretty much "gone"...our family minister friend came in,we joined hands around Moms bed,there was definitely a greater power at work...you could feel "Him" in the room.
Mom came around....and lasted over 2 years,after that experience.
Good luck to you and yours!

What a beautiful story. Be sure to let us know how he's doing today.

You witnessed a miracle. The Holy Spirit was there and moved per your prayers.

I hope he continues to do well.

Thank you so much for all your replies. We were at the hospital yesterday and Bill was 100% alert. He was trying very hard to communicate but still has the vent so he can't. It's obvious he gets frustrated...rightfully so. I dont blame him. He tries to talk with his hands but it's hard to figure out what he wants. The doctors said he is looking good. The fluid is draining from his lungs through medication and he is breathing somewhat on his own with help from the vent. All very good signs!!! Definitely not what we expected at all. We honestly thought he'd be gone by now.

Thanks for the update, Steph. I've been wondering how he's doing.

Shirley

Good to hear he's doing so well after his episode. It truly is a miracle!

What a WONDERFUL story! :) Thank you for sharing it. I hope that he only continues to do well from here.

Prayer is a miraculous thing!!!

God Bless Bill!!

Rita

Never say never. Can't they give him a pen and pad of paper? Poor guy, it must be so hard not to be understood. I'm very happy for him and his family.

They've tried a pen and paper but his righting is pretty illegible. His words make no sense.

Four or five years ago I read about a study done in a hospital wing. Doctors had heard so much from patients and their families about the positive results of prayer, that they decided to conduct an experiment to see if there was any basis to the stories or if it was just "talk."

The doctors had a group of anonymous people pray for all the patients on one side of the wing, but not the other side. The patients on both sides of the wing all had very similar conditions and were not known to the people doing the praying.

The doctors said the results were stunning because the recoveries of those people for whom the prayers had been offered was significantly better than the other patients. One of the doctors said that, if the results had been produced by a new medication, it would have been considered a major breakthrough in the field of medicine.

I'm so glad to hear that he has improved so dramatically! Your prayers were answered!

Take a legal pad or some sort of notebook to the hospital. Write out the alphabet in large letters, about 1 inch high. Then have him point to the letters and spell out what he wants to say. We did this with my MIL when she was very ill and had tubes in her throat. She couldn't speak and was too weak to write, but was desparately trying to communicate with us. My DH wrote out the alphabet, and we couldn't wait to see what she had been trying so hard to tell us, we just knew it must be something profound. She pointed to the letters, and informed us that her nose itched! LOL. But how miserable it must be to not even be able to scratch one's nose.

This is Stephanie, posting from mom's computer and too lazy to change the user name.

Another update: The removed the ventilator from Bill this morning. He's doing really well without it. They're even talking about draining the fluid from his lungs, which they previously said they couldn't do because he was too weak and has too many other health problems. He had a CT scan today but I'm not sure yet what it shows. So he's doing really well and is talking. That's making him very happy, but he's VERY stubborn so he's trying to do too much and it's been challenging. He needs to be babysat.

Steph, this is amazing! I heard a very similar story from a friend just a few months ago. When my friend's father was near death, he suddenly had a clear moment when he "woke up" from a coma and spoke to his wife and grown children. He passed several days later , but he clearly knew everyone was there with him during that short time of clarity.