Dear Brethren and Fellow-Laborers,
First of all, Leon and I, and the whole family, want to thank you for your precious prayers. Please keep praying as we go through the next few days or more. . . We appreciate so very much the messages you have sent encouraging us.
The surgery for the brain shunt went well, but ICU didn’t go too well after that. I had stepped out with Leon’s knowledge to get some dinner before 8pm when the hospital canteen closes. So Leon said to hurry and get my dinner. Bronson was still there until 8:00, when ICU closed. I came back at about 8:15, when Leon needed me. When the nurses said I wasn’t there, he had an outburst of anger—and ICU didn’t know how to handle that. He tried to get out of bed with all tubes attached, and that’s when I arrived—and all finally calmed down. Leon still has short-term memory, so time is a difficult matter. In Thailand anger is not usually displayed publicly. So he was sent to a private room. Leon did apologize before leaving ICU.
Leon was not able to keep any liquids down, and had no appetite for 2 ½ days. His first night was pretty much without sleep, restless, and very uncomfortable. We are not sure if it was the anesthesia or some other medicine that caused this.
Leon has had cold sweats—totally drenched about 3 times a day! During the time of the cold sweats he has nausea, head pain and very much more pain across the top of his shoulders.
Although the next day seemed to be better and more restful, Leon tried a couple of tiny bites of KaoDom (rice soup) with ground chicken. It was quite strange, I had given him flax water with the ground seed—and all that stayed down along with drinking water. But the morning two bites came up whole—even the tiny piece of cilantro—in the late afternoon, with nothing else.
Day 3—Wednesday: He still has fever—38.3 +/- (101) depending on when the aspirin was working. His face became red and swollen because he was not urinating. So with water collecting, his blood pressure kept rising, and his sugar was rising. Both were normal for months before coming to the hospital. BP was 120’s/80’s and Sugar was 110-120’s. He had not been on insulin or pills for sugar since last October and has not been on any beta blockers since the beginning. He takes a blood thinner (Warfin) and Lanoxin for irregular heartbeat. The rest are supplements of minerals and vitamins.
Leon and I have a very dear friend who said: “when we send an update about Leon, don’t sugarcoat your update so that all can pray for the details.” So that is what I have done. We know God already knows every minuscule fact, but He loves us to come to him in His Son’s name, and ask and discuss the details—He is the Father of love, mercy, and grace, for which Jesus died and suffered so that we can be healed.
Thank you and in Christian Love!
Gloria and Leon (I just read this to him)
