38 days. 

After 18 days in the ICU, 10 days on the cardio-pulmonary floor, and 10 days of inpatient rehab, Dad is home.

When we started out on this journey 38 days ago, my mom, siblings, and I gathered in a little tiny consult room on the ICU floor at 4 AM. Mom looked at us and said, "I think we need to make a post on Facebook and ask people to pray for Dad." At that time, we didn't know if we needed a CaringBridge site because we didn't know how long of a journey we would have ahead of us. After all, the doctors told us there was nothing they could do- why start a site if we didn't have much time left?

Our first day in the ICU was eye opening to me in how little my faith actually was. I was desperate for something earthly to help my dad- vitamins, steroids, a different doctor. Literally anything. But instead we posted our prayer requests and knew our only hope was to rely on God and his sovereign plan. 

The doctors and nurses told us to prepare for a roller coaster ride in the ICU- 2 steps forward, 1 step back. But every day, we posted a specific prayer request with what Dad needed and every day the doctors and nurses were amazed at Dad's progress. I looked back at the prayer requests we shared, and I can honestly tie a direct answer to every request we posted. Here are a few:

1. Pray that Dad's O2 stats get to 90- 8 hours later, after being stuck at 80 for 15 hours, his stats hit 95.

2. Pray for the right medical professionals to be assigned to dad's care- Dr. Taylor was Dad's ICU doctor for the majority of his ICU stay, and is a fellow believer. He walked with us every step of the way, fully acknowledging that he couldn't heal Dad, only God.

3. Pray for all other organs to stay healthy while his lungs heal- Dad's kidneys, liver and heart are completely healthy and have zero damage.

4. Pray for more fluid output- over the next 24 hours, Dad had over 6L of fluid output, and the doctors wanted at least 2L.

5. For deep breaths–so Dad can prove to the Respiratory Therapist that he can be extubated- the following day, Dad was extubated. 

God never showed up small- even on the challenging days, we felt those prayers being lifted up. And little by little, Dad's health has been completely restored. 

Today, Dad starts his journey back to normal life at home. He will continue to do therapy (both at home and in Sibley). Therefore, this is our final daily update. It is completely humbling to us that this site has had over 25,000 visits in a little over a month. I imagined each visit as one of the prayers that was lifted up for Dad. 

You all have done so much for our family in the past month- from your prayers, gas cards, several meals, and helping take care of our kids so we could be with Dad. But I have one last request. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus, please pursue one. Reach out to any of us, a friend, or a local pastor. Throughout this entire process, our family had peace knowing that if we didn't get the outcome we were praying for, Dad would be rewarded with a heavenly home. But Dad is living proof that God is real, and He cares deeply for us. He hears our prayers and answers them. 

"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him." 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for praying our family through this.  

PS- Our cousin (Jenna) designed shirts dedicated to Dad. The deadline to order a shirt "Tell Your Mountain About Your God" is this coming Monday. If you would like one, you may order it here: Shirt Order.