Steve's dad

Many of you know that Steve’s dad, Ray, had a bicycle accident in Florida in February. When he fell he hit his head on the pavement and was in a coma for 12 days. When we received the call from Steve’s mom, Chery, we didn’t know if Ray would still be alive when Steve got to Florida. God is still in the business of doing miraculous things and Ray is still recovering as this update is being written (July 25, 2008).

His recovery has spanned a hospital, 2 rehabilitation hospitals, and a nursing home in Florida and a hospital and nursing home in Indiana. To say this has been a difficult year so far for Steve’s parents, especially Ray, is an understatement. While Ray is recovering pretty well physically, he is still struggling with short term memory loss.

During February, March, and April Steve’s dad was receiving rehabilitation care in facilities in Florida and everyone was amazed at how well he was doing. He came home in early May but shortly after getting home his memory deteriorated and confusion set in. In the middle of May we discovered that he had suffered from a bleed in his brain just before or at the time he came home. This was another miracle in his life. Ray was on blood thinners at the time yet God stopped the bleed before it took his life. Fortunately he did not have to be hospitalized since it was discovered after the fact but he did have to stop taking his blood thinner. When he was given permission to travel, Steve’s brother, Scott, flew to Florida and drove Ray & Chery to Indiana where family there could help Chery care for Ray.

Being off the blood thinner then created another complication. Blood clots formed in Ray’s legs and abdomen and he had to be hospitalized in Indianapolis. Again, God had already made provision to allow Ray to survive yet another serious condition. While in one of the rehabilitation hospitals in Florida, a filter was installed in Ray’s abdomen in the primary vein returning blood to the lungs. This filter kept the blood clots from reaching the lungs and again preventing his death. The hematologist told Chery that if he had not had the filter she would have been planning his funeral.

Ray is now home with Chery in their apartment in New Castle after 3 weeks in the hospital in Indianapolis and 2 weeks in a nursing home. His strength is returning slowly and he is doing as much walking as he can to help keep the formation of blood clots from recurring. His short term memory loss is still quite evident and we would ask you to join us in prayer for a full recovery over time.