Thursday & Friday updates showed trends going in the wrong direction. By evening on Friday, Dick’s abdomen was huge & his doctor made the decision to call in a bariatric surgeon. The decision was made to open up Dick & look for a problem. Thankfully, the surgery revealed a very expanded, ruptured large intestine which the surgeon removed. Since the small intestine does 90% of the work, we are thankful that it is working well! Liver in trauma is being worked on in a variety of

We ask for urgent prayers for Dick this evening. Specifically, we pray for an accurate diagnosis and successful surgery tonight. Dick is in very serious condition with his stomach severely distended and his liver is not working. We also pray for Phyllis and family to have peace through this time.

From Elizabeth Cram Morris: Pulmonary care team just came by. He is about the same. Main concern is the liver, the numbers are very high. I told them we would ask the prayer teams to specially pray for the liver to wake up. They think that is the main cause for him not responding or waking up very much. Thank you!

Dick continues to breathe on his own with intubation backup if needed. He is still not awake, but does react some to being touched. Doctors are content with slow progress, and blood draws, IVs, scans and X-rays continue to give information for treatment changes. He is still critically ill, but unbelievably better than last week. Thank you for your continuing prayers!

Dick continues to breathe on his own with the intubation giving him a breath when needed. He is still not awake, but staff is balancing lots of things and content with his progress. Machine continues to eliminate fluids at the rate of 100 ml/ hour. He is tolerating sustenance through a nasal tube. Dick’s regular hematologist who monitors his blood with his RA doctor is now involved, too. This is great since she knows his history. Kidneys and liver are getting much attention.