Journal entry by Annie Bilski —
"This is the day, that You have made - Whatever comes, I won't complain - For all my hope, is in Your name - And now Your joy, awaits my praise
I give thanks, for all You have done - And I will sing, of Your mercy and Your love - Your love is unfailing - Lord, I am grateful!" -Elevation Worship (if you've never listened to this song, google it - listen to it... soak in those lyrics!)
All of our hope is in God alone! We will praise Him!!
7 days... which feels like 7 months, but only 7 days ago I received the phone call to come and get Grant because he was ready for discharge. I am in absolute AWE of what God has done in the past month.
When Grant tested positive for COVID-19, there was panic in our house. There was immense anxiety. We did everything we could to prevent this... We followed all of the advice from the Mayo team, but here we were, standing over a positive test in our kitchen, praying deeply for wisdom and strength. In November 2020 when Grant was discharged from the hospital we were told by his team that getting COVID would most likely kill him. That positive test took me right back to the CCU hallway as I watched doctors and nurses shock him more times than I could count, provide CPR for over 90 minutes and get him placed on ECHMO on the floor of his room... I remembered the feelings, they flooded my body. I also remembered what I did in those moments of fear - I RAN to Jesus. In our kitchen on December 6th, 2021, I once again ran as fast as I could to Jesus in prayer. Boldly praying the promise - surrendering it all to HIM alone. God's got THIS.
In the past month I have watched how God once again moved a mountain. Miracles happen. I have witnessed them. I've been a part of them.
7 days ago when I picked up Grant from the hospital he barely was able to take deep breaths. Moving was a nightmare to him. He slept a lot. New medications lined our counters. We barely slept overnight as his oxygen machine was humming, alarming us, he was up and down, so I was up and down... Exhaustion.. physically, emotionally, mentally exhausted. We all hit an emotional 'wall' between Wednesday and Thursday. It is rough. It isn't pretty. People reached out asking how to help and I didn't have the mental capacity to even think about what we needed help with. Grant and I both admitted on Thursday afternoon that we each were operating at about 50%. People expect you to jump back and get back to typical... God has taught us over the last 2 weeks we cannot do that, we must slow down. We must acknowledge the trauma and we must start to heal from it. It's a process, one that I don't personally like. We want 'normal' back. So, 7 days later... I am in AWE! Grant has helped all weekend as we took Christmas down and got it put away. He's up and moving around. He's not needing the oxygen during the day and very little overnight. He's healing. Thank you Jesus!
On Friday we were off to the Mayo for bloodwork and an appointment with our favorite Nephrologist. Our biggest concerns were potassium, creatine, ANCA, BUN, Sodium levels... as we sat at lunch chatting about 2022 the test results started to roll in. After the last year and a half especially, we have become accustomed to knowing what each of the levels mean and what we need to be concerned about. The anxiety of what could be hung with us - until we saw the actual results. His kidneys and liver levels were trending in the RIGHT direction. THANK YOU JESUS!!!! Meeting with Dr. C he reiterated everything we read earlier. There is hope that Grant's kidneys and liver did not take the hit that they could have. Dr. C thanked God with us in that room as we looked over everything. He shares the anxiety with us. We will return to Mayo this week for more bloodwork. Dr. C wants to ensure that as some meds end and we restart other meds that Grant's body does what it is supposed to do and responds appropriately.
Lord, I am grateful!!!! Thank you God for another miracle.
We love each and every one of you. I cannot thank you enough for wrapping my family in your thoughts and prayers. Believe me when I say, I have felt them.... they are what have gotten us through the last month, and really, the last 15.5 months of our lives!
Annie, Grant & Collin
I give thanks, for all You have done - And I will sing, of Your mercy and Your love - Your love is unfailing - Lord, I am grateful!" -Elevation Worship (if you've never listened to this song, google it - listen to it... soak in those lyrics!)
All of our hope is in God alone! We will praise Him!!
7 days... which feels like 7 months, but only 7 days ago I received the phone call to come and get Grant because he was ready for discharge. I am in absolute AWE of what God has done in the past month.
When Grant tested positive for COVID-19, there was panic in our house. There was immense anxiety. We did everything we could to prevent this... We followed all of the advice from the Mayo team, but here we were, standing over a positive test in our kitchen, praying deeply for wisdom and strength. In November 2020 when Grant was discharged from the hospital we were told by his team that getting COVID would most likely kill him. That positive test took me right back to the CCU hallway as I watched doctors and nurses shock him more times than I could count, provide CPR for over 90 minutes and get him placed on ECHMO on the floor of his room... I remembered the feelings, they flooded my body. I also remembered what I did in those moments of fear - I RAN to Jesus. In our kitchen on December 6th, 2021, I once again ran as fast as I could to Jesus in prayer. Boldly praying the promise - surrendering it all to HIM alone. God's got THIS.
In the past month I have watched how God once again moved a mountain. Miracles happen. I have witnessed them. I've been a part of them.
7 days ago when I picked up Grant from the hospital he barely was able to take deep breaths. Moving was a nightmare to him. He slept a lot. New medications lined our counters. We barely slept overnight as his oxygen machine was humming, alarming us, he was up and down, so I was up and down... Exhaustion.. physically, emotionally, mentally exhausted. We all hit an emotional 'wall' between Wednesday and Thursday. It is rough. It isn't pretty. People reached out asking how to help and I didn't have the mental capacity to even think about what we needed help with. Grant and I both admitted on Thursday afternoon that we each were operating at about 50%. People expect you to jump back and get back to typical... God has taught us over the last 2 weeks we cannot do that, we must slow down. We must acknowledge the trauma and we must start to heal from it. It's a process, one that I don't personally like. We want 'normal' back. So, 7 days later... I am in AWE! Grant has helped all weekend as we took Christmas down and got it put away. He's up and moving around. He's not needing the oxygen during the day and very little overnight. He's healing. Thank you Jesus!
On Friday we were off to the Mayo for bloodwork and an appointment with our favorite Nephrologist. Our biggest concerns were potassium, creatine, ANCA, BUN, Sodium levels... as we sat at lunch chatting about 2022 the test results started to roll in. After the last year and a half especially, we have become accustomed to knowing what each of the levels mean and what we need to be concerned about. The anxiety of what could be hung with us - until we saw the actual results. His kidneys and liver levels were trending in the RIGHT direction. THANK YOU JESUS!!!! Meeting with Dr. C he reiterated everything we read earlier. There is hope that Grant's kidneys and liver did not take the hit that they could have. Dr. C thanked God with us in that room as we looked over everything. He shares the anxiety with us. We will return to Mayo this week for more bloodwork. Dr. C wants to ensure that as some meds end and we restart other meds that Grant's body does what it is supposed to do and responds appropriately.
Lord, I am grateful!!!! Thank you God for another miracle.
We love each and every one of you. I cannot thank you enough for wrapping my family in your thoughts and prayers. Believe me when I say, I have felt them.... they are what have gotten us through the last month, and really, the last 15.5 months of our lives!
Annie, Grant & Collin
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