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Hello Friends!
On Thursday, March 25th, Rachel had sudden, severe abdominal pain at 7 weeks into her pregnancy. After rushing to the hospital, the doctors realized that she was suffering from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. We got to see the baby and heartbeat via ultrasound and say goodbye just before Rachel was taken into emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and remove her left Fallopian tube.
Prior to surgery, Rachel was in the worst pain she's ever been in. She went into shock and lost a litre of blood internally. She is now on day two and still recovering in the ICU. Currently, she is receiving another blood transfusion and hopefully will be able to eat soft food soon. (She is going on almost 42 hours of no food or drink, and she is very weak). She is having similar pains to yesterday even while on heavy medication, so they need to ensure there is no more internal bleeding.
Our kids are in school right now during the day, and are being taken care of by close friends while we need to be at the hospital. Lena is very sensitive to these moments (likely reminded of the months we spent in hospital when she was young due to Rachel's cancer). She had a hard time when Brandon dropped her off at school this morning.
Considering all of this, we are both doing well mentally and spiritually. We really do have an incredible support network, and we are so thankful to have received word this morning that our emergency medical insurance kicked in (since our normal insurance is currently having issues at this hospital). Rachel has been receiving good medical care, and we hope to be out of hospital by the end of the weekend.
We will post updates through the weekend on our family's Facebook page (see the blue button above for link). Because we have such a huge and incredible support network (thank YOU!) we may not be able to reply to everyone's email or messages. Know that we are so thankful for each of you, and value your love, support, and friendship immensely, especially in difficult times. We have canceled all of our ministry through mid next week, and have access to counseling services as well to process the grief of loss as we may need.
Here's how you can pray specifically:
-For this to be final blood transfusion and that her blood levels would miraculously go back to normal
-For any remaining internal bleeding to be stopped immediately.
-For her to be able to eat food soon and regain her strength very quickly.
-For pain relief and protection of her kidney. She only has one lung and one kidney (in addition to one Fallopian tube . . .all of which remain on her right side! lol). This limits how much pain medication she can have.
-For us to fully process, in time, the grief associated with trauma and loss.
-For Lena and Jori to continue to do well through this brief transition.
-For Brandon as he takes on a heavier load and is needing to juggle lots of different things.
Thank you all very much!
Brandon and Rachel
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