I have prayed almost daily for quite some time for whatever was on my mind/heart at the moment.
I guess I had never *personally* felt the full power of prayer.
But this past week prayer took on a life of its own. Our sermon on Sunday, from what I have heard from a few friends, was about PRAYING BOLDLY. Coincidentally, I did just that while our daughter was in the hospital. I say coincidentally because we were not at church on Sunday so I had no idea about the message until after the fact.
I PRAYED BOLDLY numerous times while Kaylyn was in the PICU. One time in particular was the most BOLD and impacting.
Thursday mid morning after Kaylyn's first night in the PICU, she was still sedated and intubated. Her breathing was controlled by a machine since the evening before. All night I had watched her heart rate, her oxygen saturation levels like a hawk on the monitors. I don't recall barely closing my eyes. With each little beep, I could breathe. A couple times her oxygen levels would drop and I would start to pray again.
The Respiratory Therapist (RT) came in that morning to check for leakage around the tubes because if there was leakage that meant the swelling was going down in her throat around the tubes. Once the swelling got to a certain level they would be able to take all the tubes out and make an attempt to have her breath on her own. No such luck at that point. No leakage. They were going to have to keep her on the machines and sedated. The RT left and said he would come back to check again in a few hours.
I prayed.
I prayed BOLDLY.
I asked GOD, for exactly what was needed.
I laid one of my hands on her head and one on her chest.
"Dear Heavenly Father, please I beg of you to continue to watch over our daughter Kaylyn. To heal her swelling and allow her to breath on her own. I pray dear father that you continue to guide the doctors caring for her and give them the wisdom to make the right choices for her continued care. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."
It was literally about ten minutes later that I noticed her heart rate increasing on the monitor. This meant that her sedation was wearing off. She started blinking her eyes and moving around a little bit. She started coughing and trying to cry, which with the tubes, she really couldn't. The alarms started going off and all the doctors and nurses came in. As they tried to get her settled back down and resedated, the RT went to adjust her tubes and realized that she had unintubated herself. She was technically breathing on her own and her oxygen levels were still where they needed to be.
They didn't have to continue sedating her nor was she reintubated. From that point on, she was breathing on her own. Although we still remained in the PICU and then the Acute Ped Ward for another two days, she remained stable and we were able to go home Saturday afternoon.
It has been a week since this all began. She is still on steroids at home but seems to be responding to them well. We have to go in for a follow up appointment once she is off the steroids to make certain that the swelling is down.
I will continue praying for not only my own daughters healing, my family, my friends but also for others that need prayer, too.
The power of prayer is obvious.
Who can I pray for today? Please leave me a comment if you or someone you know needs prayer.
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