Update

Hello all,

We just wanted to give a brief update on Oscar. He is currently still at Wesley Long, but was moved last week to ICU. Due to the fact that he does have pneumonia, his breathing has been restricted and had to be put back on the ventilator. He is stable now, but they are considering moving him back to Kindred Hospital. Kindred does have a pretty good rate of weening patients from the ventilator, so we are hoping this will be the case once again. We had a family consultation with the doctor last week as we often learn of different changes going on from day to day, so please continue to keep Oscar and the family in your prayers. Much love to you all.  

Follow-up

Oscar remains at Wesley Long Hospital, but has been moved to the fourth floor. We did find out that he has MRSA. This is a bacteria that lives on the surface of people's skin and inside the nose. It is easily spread from person to person, but most healthy people are able to fight it off and often times are not even aware that they have it. For those like Oscar, who have a weakened immune system, it is more difficult for this to happen. As much as we love Oscar having visitors, we now have to urge everyone to take extra precautions when visiting. It is already required that visitors cover up with robe & gloves provided at the hospital, but we also ask that you wait a while before visiting if you yourself are ill. It's that time of year when common illnesses are going around, such as colds, the flu, and viruses, so all visitors, including the hospital staff, have to make sure that we don't compromise the health of the patients.

Thank God Oscar's vitals are stable, and are now just about where they were before he was admitted last week. His new room number is 1416, and thank you so much for keeping him in your prayers. God bless!

Long Night

Hello all,

Yesterday Oscar wasn't doing so well. His temperature went up to around 103 and his heart rate was around 122. Normal heart rate should be about 60 to 80. Family and friends quickly rushed to be with Tarsha as they worked on him for a while trying to get things regulated. Soon they realized they needed to get him to the hospital. He was taken to Wesley Long around 6:30pm, about an hour later, the doctors said they believed Oscar has pneumonia.Throughout the night it was mostly praying and waiting. A few hours later all his vitals were stabilized, but the doctors now think it may possibly be some type of infection, and not pneumonia. Around 1:00am, everyone went home to try and get some rest. Today they will continue to do testing as they try to rule things out. They will then be able to make a better diagnosis of whats going on. He also has some type of skin irritation going on round his scalp area that they will be looking at as well. Please keep Oscar in your prayers   

New Location

We wanted to let you know, as mentioned before, we've been experiencing some restrictions with Oscar's health insurance. The insurance company will no longer cover his care at Kindred Hospital, so we've had to consider other options. At one point the few nursing home options that were available to take him were out of town, which would limit his visits from family and friends. Now that Oscar is breathing on his own, and is no longer on the ventilator, another option opened up right here in Greensboro.

Oscar has now been moved to Guilford Health Care Center, located at 2041 Willow Road. and he is in room 128. Visiting hours are from 10:00am until 8:00pm. Two great things about the location of this facility, is Griffin now is not limited on how often he can visit his Dad, plus the location is right next to Mt. Zion Baptist Church where Oscar and his family worships. This most likely will make things even easier for member's of his church home to drop by for visits.

We learned the other day that Oscar had his eyes opened for about 5 minutes. He wasn't blinking, it was more of a blank stare, but we thank God for any activity he shows. There was another EEG done last week, so we should get test results in sometime soon. Monday was Tarsha's first day back to work, and things went pretty well. The kids were very happy to see Mrs. Williams back, and she had lots of hugs to pass out : )       

Happy Birthday Oscar!!

It was great spending the evening with Oscar on his birthday. Family and some friends dropped by to visit and to share some love. We all gathered in the cafeteria for ice cream and cake, and we sang the happy birthday song to Oscar using a cell phone that was held to his ear. Each of us went up to his room by two's to be with him, pray, and to give thanks to God for all He's doing in Oscar's life. Oscar was off the vent for about 5-6 hours on Wednesday, and as of Thursday, they have completely moved the ventilating machine out of his room. We are so very thankful, and he looks great. He's a little smaller, and now has a mustache and a goatee. Can you imagine "Smooth Oscar" with a goatee? Thank you all for your love and support                 

Huge Step Forward

We wanted to share some good news. Before when the nurses at the hospital have tried weening Oscar off the vent, there were complications with his heart rate, and due to the fact that his breathing was too fast, the weening process was not successful. Yesterday they tried and there was some improvement, so they wanted to make more attempts sometime next week. Today when Tarsha arrived at the hospital, Oscar was breathing own his own. It was explained to her that they tried again since he did well yesterday, and he had been breathing on his own for 2 hours, PRAISE JESUS!! They will reconnect him shortly, and do this again in the morning, and each day hereafter as they try to extend the length of time that he is breathing on his own. This is a huge milestone in the process of his recovery. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.   

Keep Praying

We've been continuing to pray for Oscar's healing, and we thank all of you who have been joining us. His condition has not changed yet, but he is completely in the hands of the Lord. At times, there is movement with his head and his eyes when he is spoken to, and this is encouragement to us that he can hear what's been said. One of the nurses encouraged Tarsha and a good friend while they were visiting to keep talking to him. She explained that cells regenerate while he is resting, so talking to him should continue to be part of his recovery. Once again, Oscar has been moved to another room. His new room is number 206. This is only due to it being a better fit for staffing at the hospital. Oscar's birthday is Thursday, Jan. 27, so some family & friends will be at the hospital to love on him that evening. Thank God for family & friends!!  

 

A few things you can be praying with us about is a quick recovery of an infection Oscar has in his tracheotomy right now. He has been given meds to help clear it up, so hopefully it will all be gone soon. Visitor's will need to make sure they robe up, and wash hands before and after all visits. Another thing to pray about is the fact that we are in search of another health care facility for Oscar. Based on his diagnosis, the insurance company has stated that they will no longer cover the cost for his care at the hospital. This means he would need to be moved to another level of long term care, and options available to cover the cost are either to pay out of pocket or to apply for Medicaid. Lastly, many of you know that American Express in Greensboro will soon be closing down. This is where Oscar is employed, and right now we don't know exactly how this will affect him. In all of these things we just continue to trust God, lay all this in his lap and depend on Him. Some days are really hard, but when they are we can stand on Psalms 61; 1-2. Hear my cry oh God, attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.