Family Matters

I just thought that since I am using this blog as my journal, it would be good to include all important events that I will want to remember later on. So, good or bad, they are still part of life!

My brother-in-law, David, went on a fishing trip for Spring Break last week and never came home. My sister got really worried and filed a missing persons report with the police. Then, we waited and prayed. Finally on Monday we got a call that he had been found by the park rangers at Lake Texoma. He was unresponsive and taken to the hospital. I thought he was dead and just could not tell us that over the phone, so I started to really worry.

When my sister and parents got to the hospital, they were told that a neighboring camper called the park rangers and told them that they had not seen David leave his tent for a few days. The rangers went to check on things and thought David was acting "drunk" and just needed to sleep it off. The next day they went back and he was even more unresponsive (never said anything). They ran his tags and found that he was a missing person, so they rushed him to the hospital. There they found out that his kidney's were failing and had to transfer him to a bigger hospital to start dialysis. He had blood tests, CAT scans, etc. but nothing gave any clue to why his kidney's were failing. After two rounds of dialysis, he was stable enough to be transferred to the city. The dialysis makes him very weak and has still only said a few words. He has scrapes on his elbow and chin and was found with blood in his nose and throat. He had also thrown up ALL over his tent. They will not be able to fully "unfold" the cause until the Dr. do a kidney biopsy. For this, David will have to be strong enough to hold his breath for several seconds while the Dr. sticks a needle in his back and retrieves a specimen of kidney. If David breathes, his diaphragm will lower causing the Dr. to slice the kidney, resulting in surgical repairs. So, he has a long road ahead of him and many questions for his body to answer. For now, he is surrounded by family and friends who are all praying and hoping his has a speedy recovery.

Tonight, he was conscious enough to stick out his finger to have his little girl hold his hand and the other finger for my sister to hold. Hang in there David!! We love you!!

for further updates please visit:
www.finddavidhoward.blogspot.com