Hi all! Hope that you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We had Chad and Wendy's kids over on Saturday night and on Sunday and I realized I'm no Michelle Duggar!! 7 kids is wayyyy toooooo many for little ole me. Don't get me, they were all great and well-behaved, but I felt like I was going a zillion miles an hour. 15 minutes before church, I realized I still hadn't gotten dressed or done my hair. Oh well. I guess the fact that each kid had clean clothes on and each baby had clean diapers on their bottoms was enough! It was quite an experience! God bless each of you who have a bunch of kids. God must have blessed you with an extra ounce or two of patience!!
Today's report on Chad couldn't be better! They did another angiogram to check to make sure that there was still no more new bleeds or aneurysms that they needed to worry about. It came back clear. The doctors said that the chance of his having spasms in the next few days is greatly decreased by the fact that his angiogram ended up having such great results. What an answer to prayer! He will be moved soon from ICU to another room where they won't have to wake him up every hour to check on him like they have been doing.
He will still be in the hospital for a few more days but each day he keeps getting better and better. They are going to try and have him walk around a bit later this afternoon so he can work on regaining his strength. The doctors also said that the chances of him having a repeat of what happened last Monday were about 2%! In the minds of the drs, the news on him couldn't be better! The doctors might not realize it, but we all know we serve a great God who loves to extend grace and peace to His children. I am awed by His faithfulness to Chad and Wendy. I pray that this experience will change Chad and Wendy and their family forever. I pray that they will never be the same now that they have come face to face with God's love and protection.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. We know it will take a while for Chad to get back to normal and we still aren't sure if there will be any lingering effects. We hope and pray for a full and complete recovery. That's all I've got for now!
Side note: If you are someone who is interested in starting new ministries or looking for ways to serve those in need, I have an idea for you. I haven't spent a lot of time in hospitals so I haven't really thought about all of the families that are in turmoil being there. The waiting room on the floor that Chad was on was filled with families whose loved ones were in very critical condition. Some were in comas, some on life support, some who had become paraplegics etc. Some have been there for weeks. The people there just looked so sad and hurting. I thought what a great thing it would be if there was a ministry that could bring up a warm meal for those people. Just providing for people's basic needs can just show Christ's love like nothing else. If anyone starts up something like this, let me know! I would love to volunteer, I just know that at this point in my life, I can't spear head anything like this.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
MRI Results are in!
The Medical Stuff:
The MRI results are back and they showed no abnormalities! That is a huge answer to prayer as this means he definitely did not have a aneuyrsm that they would have to worry about in the near future. It did show that there is still some blood present on the brain but that some of it has already been absorbed by the body. According to the doctors, the chance of this (I can't even remember the name of it...all I can think is subatomic hemmorage, but I know that's not right!) occurring to Chad again is at no greater risk that it happenning to you or I. Praise the Lord!
We are not out of the woods yet as this weekend and a few days after will be key to his recovery. In a normal recovery from this, the brain has spasms at it recovers. These can be minor or they can cause a stroke. This would obviously be worst case scenario. The nurses said that they have some patients that do have the spasms but then others that do not have spasms at all. We pray that Chad will not have any severe spasms and is able to continue in his recovery.
Chad's state of mind:
I know I mentioned a few days ago that Chad would have to be flat on his back for about 7-10 days, but this isn't the case anymore. He is able to sit up and eat whenever he feels the need. He is still VERY tired and sleeps most of the time. When he talks, it is in a whisper. Time is passing very slowly for him which makes him frustrated. I think he is ready to get out of there! I asked him if he gets hungry and he said he really doesn't have much of an appetite at this point. I'm sure it doesn't help that the food at hospitals is NOT GREAT!
We did come up with some positives from this experience. I told him now when he's got a room full of rowdy high schoolers, all he has to do is put his hands up to his temples and start moaning and say "I feel a headache coming on......" and that should shut them up pretty quick!!
Tonight is going to be the first time that he will see the kids and he said he's excited even though he knows it's going to be tough. I'm sure they will just be glad to see their daddy even if he isn't able to run around and be as energetic as he usually is. Wendy and Chad have done a wonderful job raising children that are resilient.
The best thing is that Chad is still the same old Chad. He was "singing" Wendy and I a song he learned in Sunday school and the nurse came in and said "Okay, if another nurse walks in while you're doing that, you better explain yourself because that's how our crazy patients act!!"
Wendy's state of mind:
I know many of you are also wondering how Wendy is doing. She is getting more rest than earlier this week thanks to all of the people who have generously paid for her and Chads' parents to stay in a hotel connected to the hospital. She is in good spirits but is remaining cautiously optimistic about Chad's condition. She said she doesn't want to get too comfortable being at the hospital, because the more comfortable she gets the less she thinks to rely on God. She is feeling completely covered by your love and prayers and support. She is also really excited to see how God is going to use this situation to help others! She wanted me to thank each and everyone of you who have prayed, made a meal, given a ride, made phone calls and given money. You are all truly angels minstering to Chad and Wendy and the rest of us!!
I will keep you updated as the weekend progresses! Hope everyone has a fun and safe Labor Day weekend.
The MRI results are back and they showed no abnormalities! That is a huge answer to prayer as this means he definitely did not have a aneuyrsm that they would have to worry about in the near future. It did show that there is still some blood present on the brain but that some of it has already been absorbed by the body. According to the doctors, the chance of this (I can't even remember the name of it...all I can think is subatomic hemmorage, but I know that's not right!) occurring to Chad again is at no greater risk that it happenning to you or I. Praise the Lord!
We are not out of the woods yet as this weekend and a few days after will be key to his recovery. In a normal recovery from this, the brain has spasms at it recovers. These can be minor or they can cause a stroke. This would obviously be worst case scenario. The nurses said that they have some patients that do have the spasms but then others that do not have spasms at all. We pray that Chad will not have any severe spasms and is able to continue in his recovery.
Chad's state of mind:
I know I mentioned a few days ago that Chad would have to be flat on his back for about 7-10 days, but this isn't the case anymore. He is able to sit up and eat whenever he feels the need. He is still VERY tired and sleeps most of the time. When he talks, it is in a whisper. Time is passing very slowly for him which makes him frustrated. I think he is ready to get out of there! I asked him if he gets hungry and he said he really doesn't have much of an appetite at this point. I'm sure it doesn't help that the food at hospitals is NOT GREAT!
We did come up with some positives from this experience. I told him now when he's got a room full of rowdy high schoolers, all he has to do is put his hands up to his temples and start moaning and say "I feel a headache coming on......" and that should shut them up pretty quick!!
Tonight is going to be the first time that he will see the kids and he said he's excited even though he knows it's going to be tough. I'm sure they will just be glad to see their daddy even if he isn't able to run around and be as energetic as he usually is. Wendy and Chad have done a wonderful job raising children that are resilient.
The best thing is that Chad is still the same old Chad. He was "singing" Wendy and I a song he learned in Sunday school and the nurse came in and said "Okay, if another nurse walks in while you're doing that, you better explain yourself because that's how our crazy patients act!!"
Wendy's state of mind:
I know many of you are also wondering how Wendy is doing. She is getting more rest than earlier this week thanks to all of the people who have generously paid for her and Chads' parents to stay in a hotel connected to the hospital. She is in good spirits but is remaining cautiously optimistic about Chad's condition. She said she doesn't want to get too comfortable being at the hospital, because the more comfortable she gets the less she thinks to rely on God. She is feeling completely covered by your love and prayers and support. She is also really excited to see how God is going to use this situation to help others! She wanted me to thank each and everyone of you who have prayed, made a meal, given a ride, made phone calls and given money. You are all truly angels minstering to Chad and Wendy and the rest of us!!
I will keep you updated as the weekend progresses! Hope everyone has a fun and safe Labor Day weekend.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Update from the hospital
Hi all. First off, did you know that a horse in the middle of the highway can really snag up traffic? Thankfully I was on the other side of the highway, but the poor horse had found it's way out the the highway. There were about 5 cop cars surrounding him and everyone seemed to be scratching there heads wondering what they were going to do with him!
I just got back from seeing Chad. He had his MRI last night at 4am but as of 11:30 am, they still hadn't received the results. They also removed his catheter so that now he is able to go the bathroom on his own. He is ordering meals now and is beginning to get a bit of an appetite back.
While I was there though, he did start to try and get up out of bed. After the nurse rushed in, she asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm trying to stand up." Then he asked what he was attached to. This was the first time that any of us had seen him a little bit fuzzy. We aren't really sure to make of the situation, but we continue to pray. If anything, it's a reminder that we need to keep praying as hard as when he first got sick knowing that at this point, there can be a number of complications that can occur.
Please join me in lifting up Chad up in your prayers once again. Your outpouring of love and support still continues to be felt!! If you are making a trip up to the hospital to see Wendy or Lynn and Ragena, call Wendy's cellphone and ask them if they could use any food. They are having a hard time remembering to eat so anything that we could provide to them would be much appreciated!
I just got back from seeing Chad. He had his MRI last night at 4am but as of 11:30 am, they still hadn't received the results. They also removed his catheter so that now he is able to go the bathroom on his own. He is ordering meals now and is beginning to get a bit of an appetite back.
While I was there though, he did start to try and get up out of bed. After the nurse rushed in, she asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm trying to stand up." Then he asked what he was attached to. This was the first time that any of us had seen him a little bit fuzzy. We aren't really sure to make of the situation, but we continue to pray. If anything, it's a reminder that we need to keep praying as hard as when he first got sick knowing that at this point, there can be a number of complications that can occur.
Please join me in lifting up Chad up in your prayers once again. Your outpouring of love and support still continues to be felt!! If you are making a trip up to the hospital to see Wendy or Lynn and Ragena, call Wendy's cellphone and ask them if they could use any food. They are having a hard time remembering to eat so anything that we could provide to them would be much appreciated!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I am Batman.
Chad is continuing to show great progress. He was able to eat some crackers and drink a bit of water. When the nurse asked him what his name was, he replied "Batman!" It makes me laugh that even through all that he's been through, he still has his typical humor intact.
The kids are aware that their daddy isn't feeling too good and that something happened inside his head. Both Avery and Canon weren't too concerned but Zion is older and could tell that it was more serious. When Wendy told Zion what had happened he said "Mom, I need you to do something for me. I need you to stay at the hospital and be with Daddy. He needs you. Don't worry about the other three kids, I will take care of them....!" I just love children and their thought processes. So pure and innocent!
That's all the update I have for now. The next week or so, it sounds like they are going to wait for the blood in his head to absorb enough so they can do an MRI. They will also be monitoring him closely to make sure that he doesn't have a spasm in his head which could cause some issues.
New update as of 7:30am Thursday: Wes was able to visit the hospital last night and he had a wonderful time visiting with Chad. He sat by his bedside for about 45 minutes and read Chad all of his Facebook and other well wishes from everyone. He is eating now. He is still on some pretty heavy pain medication that knocks him out about a minute after he gets it. They are hoping to be able to do an MRI this morning and see where the bleeding came from. I'll let you know what I hear. One of my wonderful friends is coming over this morning so that I can head up to the hospital for a while.
Please keep the prayers coming and ask God that it would be His will to give Chad a full recovery.
If you want to help out the family with meals or sack lunches, click here.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
How you can help!
I just wanted to say on behalf of Chad and Wendy and the rest of the family how touched we are by the outpouring of love in the past day and a half! We have had so many prayers going up that I am reminded how wonderful it is to be part of a Christian community.
So many of you have asked how you can help. The kids are currently being taken care of by Wendy's dear friend Cassie. They are going to be staying there for the duration of Chad's stay in the hospital. One way that I think we can lift the load for Cassie is through meals. I have set up a meal sign up starting Monday, September 5. I have set it up for 2 different people to bring things each day because there will be 10 people to cook for! I don't know about you but when I make mass quantities of things, it usually ends up in mass disaster!! So, one person will be in charge of the main dish and the other person will be in charge of everything else (sides, veggies, desserts, etc).
You will sign up online and then deliver the meal to Cassie's home in Anderson. Once Chad gets home, then we will shift to bringing meals to the Cook's house.
How to sign up:
1. Go to www.takethemameal.com
2. Under Find a meal schedule, enter Cook for last name and chad as the password.
3. Sign up on a date (or two!) that is convenient for you to bring a meal.
***What if you can't cook you might ask??*** You can bless the family by providing sack lunches for the kids. They will need 3 lunches per day that school is in session. They enjoy lunchables, peanut butter and ham and cheese. They loves all types of chips and drinks as well!
Thank you so much for thinking about helping out. We can truly be Jesus' hands and feet to a family that means so much to all of us!! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll answer it or email me at stacylcook@gmail.com.
Update: 8:45 am
Hi everyone,
I just got the latest update and it looks to be good news. The drs. were unable to find that Chad had a brain aneurysm, but instead think that he had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. For those of us who have no clue what that means, here's a link I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarachnoid_hematoma
So, it sounds like the bleeding has stopped in his brain so now they will need to wait for the body to absorb the blood and then they will be able to find out what the cause of this was. They are hoping to do an MRI today to get more of a clue.
As of right now, they are saying he will have to stay, lying flat, in the hospital for 7-10 days! If you know Chad at all, you know that he can't lay flat for more than 5 minutes unless he's sleeping, let alone for 7-10 days!!
The good news is that they will not have to do surgery as of now. The things they have to watch for now are swelling and infection. He is not out of the woods yet, but I would definitely say his condition seems a little less serious which is an answer to prayer!!
Wes said he's going to head home in a few hours. Thank you so much for all the prayers and words of encouragement. If you are interested in helping out Wendy as she figures out schedules, meals and other things while Chad's in the hospital, send me a message with your phone number and I will start a list and try to work on coordinating help for the family.
As with all posts of this nature, I have done my best to try and get the information right but sometimes it seems like it's the game of telephone!! :) So, forgive me if I get some details wrong!
I just got the latest update and it looks to be good news. The drs. were unable to find that Chad had a brain aneurysm, but instead think that he had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. For those of us who have no clue what that means, here's a link I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarachnoid_hematoma
So, it sounds like the bleeding has stopped in his brain so now they will need to wait for the body to absorb the blood and then they will be able to find out what the cause of this was. They are hoping to do an MRI today to get more of a clue.
As of right now, they are saying he will have to stay, lying flat, in the hospital for 7-10 days! If you know Chad at all, you know that he can't lay flat for more than 5 minutes unless he's sleeping, let alone for 7-10 days!!
The good news is that they will not have to do surgery as of now. The things they have to watch for now are swelling and infection. He is not out of the woods yet, but I would definitely say his condition seems a little less serious which is an answer to prayer!!
Wes said he's going to head home in a few hours. Thank you so much for all the prayers and words of encouragement. If you are interested in helping out Wendy as she figures out schedules, meals and other things while Chad's in the hospital, send me a message with your phone number and I will start a list and try to work on coordinating help for the family.
As with all posts of this nature, I have done my best to try and get the information right but sometimes it seems like it's the game of telephone!! :) So, forgive me if I get some details wrong!
Prayers for Chad Cook
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
As most of you probably know, Wes' older brother Chad went to the hospital with what they believed to be a brain aneurysm. He came home from his teaching job yesterday complaining of a severe headache and back ache and then began vomiting. Wendy could tell from the second she got home that something wasn't right. She took him to the ER where they told them that they had picked up a brain aneurysm and bleeding on the brain. He was taken from Anderson by ambulance to Methodist hospital in downtown Indianapolis.
When he arrived they did a CAT scan but then they didn't read it until morning. From what I have gleaned from different reports, the brain aneurysm is not showing up but there is still bleeding on the the brain. Chad is still in intense pain. They are going to be taking him to get an angioplasty this morning and then to get corrective surgery. That is all we know at this point.
For as much as Facebook can be a time-waster, I am humbled today by how quickly they were able to get the word out and for believers to start sending prayers up to God. Chad and Wendy are part of an incredible church family in Anderson that I know they will rally around them with all of the support and love they could ever want. Chad and Wendy have 4 kids so I'm pretty sure they are going to need all the support they can get!
Chad is also a part of a loving family who, I'm pretty sure, would give their lives for him. I don't know what Chad's future holds but I do know that God is faithful as the verse above says. He has shown his love to the Cook family in the past and I know He is with them right now. Wes has been there all night as has his sister Amy, brother Adrian, parents Lynn and Ragena and multiple friends and relatives. Wendy was holding was together remarkably well last night when I went up to the hospital.
Please keep them in your prayers by name: Chad, his wife Wendy, Zion, Avery, Canon, and Gisele. I will keep this blog updated with whatever I hear!
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