Pray For Mark...

Hey gang...

For some of you Bethel folks, this will hit home, but I'm asking any and all who stop by here to pray for my friend, Mark Tunnell and his wife, Kellie. I haven't known Mark and his family very long, but they are amazing examples of faith during a very hard time.

A few months back, Mark was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Mark went through all sorts of stuff...surgery, treatment options, etc. God was faithful to strengthen Mark and Kellie and to bless them during that journey. In December, it appeared as if Mark had come through the sickness and was on the way to a full recovery.

In mid-February, Mark started experiencing some seizures and intense pain and I just got word today that Mark is back in the hospital. At this point, the doctors are unsure of what's going on and Mark and Kellie are desperate for answers.

If you could, you please pray for Mark and Kellie Tunnell? I'm praying for wisdom and peace for Mark and Kellie. I'm also praying for agreement among the doctors. If you've ever spent anytime in a hospital, regardless of the illness, you know it's a scary, frustrating thing. Mark and Kellie are confident that God is in control. Mark has a great attitude, facing pain and the unknown like a champ.

I'd really appreciate it. If you'd like to drop a word of encouragement to the Tunnells, you can leave a message for them at their Facebook group. (Search "Praying for Mark Tunnell.) Or you can shoot me an email message and I'll be happy to forward it to them. (toddwrightband@gmail.com)

Thank you for praying, guys. It would mean so much to this family.

My Friday...

I had every intention of doing a real "my Friday" post, but that got changed around noon today.

Kristen and the kids and I were at my in-laws for a big Fourth of July lunch. Around 12:45pm, the phone rings.

Kristen answers...it's my mom, who's upset and asking to talk to me.

I take the phone to find out that my dad had been in a large motorcycle accident and was in the hospital in Jasper. The only info she had was that Dad was "okay," but had broken his leg. In addition, 2 fatalities were being reported as well.

She rushed over to my in-laws and I jumped in the driver's seat to get us there while she worked the phones trying to get more information.

We made to Jasper just in time to see my Dad headed back to get an x-ray.

Here's what happened:

My dad was on a big "group ride" with folks from his church. At around noon, my dad's group (around 20 bikers) passed another group of bikes headed the opposite direction. At about the halfway point, one of the motorcycles veered into the oncoming lane and struck another rider head on.

My dad remembers a huge explosion and smoke as all of the bikes tried to navigate through without getting hit.

My dad's bike hit the guardrail to his right (which broke the leg,) then shot over to hit the guardrail on the left side. He never fainted or fell off the bike, thanks to some folks passing by.

Emergency services were immediately on the scene tending to those injured. My dad broke his leg in two places, but very clean breaks. As it stands now, he will have surgery this evening to insert a metal plate into his leg.

He's in pain but the medicine is helping.

However, one of his good friends was killed in the accident. We weren't going to tell him anything until he was feeling a bit better, but he heard anyway from a hospital employee. The other fatality was a member of the other group passing my dad and his friends.

I'm asking you to pray for a few things:

#1. Please thank the Father that my Dad did not suffer any further damage. He could have easily been injured worse or killed. What's more, the accident occured as the riders drove over a very large dam. We're thanking God that no one was thrown over either side or injured more on the guardrails.

#2. Pray for the families of the men who were killed. My dad's friend was named Donald, and we had the unfortunate experience of being with them when they received the news today. It was a nightmare...please pray for them. I'm not aware of the other victim's name, only that he was a recently retired Galveston police officer. Pray for those close to him as they endure this.

#3. Pray for Dad's loss. Losing Donald is already taking its toll, even now. Ask God for peace for Dad.

#4. Pray for the surgeons and nurses who will be tending to Dad over the next few days. Pray that they would be wise (and caring!)

Thanks so much, guys...I love it when blogs can encourage us to lift each other up in prayer. It makes a difference!

(One big miracle is that my dad's new motorcycle would not start when he got ready for this trip. My mom knew already that my dad wasn't comfortable on the new bike and since it rode much lower to the ground, the potential for serious injury might have even been greater. My mom believes that God just touched the new bike as a measure of protection for my dad. I think that's probably excactly what happpened!)

Blessed Are Those...

Hospitals are no fun.

Really...there's nothing fun about them, is there?

But through Kristen's recent health woes, I realized something about myself.

I need to walk through hospitals.


You see, this where pastors and preachers have a leg up on those of us who don't make it a habit to visit the sick. And I don't, by the way. I don't visit the sick.

I know it's something I should do. It's something that God wants me to do. But I don't. There are a lot of reasons why, but none of them are any good.

But as I recently walked that same stretch of hallway to the elevator on the way to Kristen's room, I noticed stuff. I noticed the bleary-eyed families in the ICU waiting area. I noticed the open room doors in the middle of the day, revealing people in the hospital, all alone, with no one beside them. I noticed the hundreds of hospital staff walking back and forth, some quickly, as if to help. And others slowly, as if it didn't matter.

I've been praying for these people as I pass them, and it's been good for me. It's been good to get out of myself and try to talk to God about people and situations I don't know. It's hard to pray those prayers, but I'm trying. I'm trying to listen to God as I pray, asking Him for the words; asking Him what it is that family or old lady or lab technician needs.

I'd like to start walking through these places more often. I need to walk through and interceding for these strangers because they need it and I can do it. I don't know that I really need any other reasons.

...Matthew 3:4

Where I Write An Imaginary Letter To A Fictional Character To Subjugate My Rage...

Dear Man-Who-Designed This Hospital,

Thank you so much for placing that motion-activated paper towel dispenser in the tiny little corner right beside the sink that sits right outside the door.

Thanks for that.Now, every time I tip-toe over to wash my hands or sneak to the bathroom, my passing shoulder prompts the machine to emit at least 80db of sound as it shoots out paper towels for whoever or whatever just crossed it's all-seeing eye.

I appreciate it, because I like being startled in the middle of the night, spinning my head around as fast as I can to make sure I didn't wake up my very sleepy and very miserable wife.

Thank God for the drugs.

For Kristen, I mean.

GRRRR...

Actually found wi-fi today at the hospital!

Shortly after Kristen's procedure this afternoon, I ran over to the lobby and shot an update, ready to fly it right into blogger so all the world could know what's up.

But that didn't happen.

Apparently the wi-fi isn't as consistent as it needs to be, so my little video will forever remain on the hard drive. But I did manage to grab this fantastic screen shot, though.

Kristen went into endoscopy around 1pm today. The doctors suspected that a gallstone had been lodged in Kristen's bile duct and that's what messed up her pancreas. All of the test so far have confirmed that, but today, no stone was found there. The doctor think she might have already passed the stone at some point during the week. The little guy did a bunch of damage and then left! Jerk.

Anyway, Kristen was in recovery for about an hour and then came back to the room. She seemed to be a lot better the whole afternoon. She was pretty loopy from the medicine, which made for a lot of fun, but it was obvious to all of us that she's feeling better.

She had a fever today, so the doctor ordered another set of cultures. He also lessened her intake restrictions. She can have clear liquids, now! She's still taking some pain medicine and is pretty sleepy, but they think she'll be ready to have her gallbladder removed on Monday.

Thank you all for praying. I hope you're using these posts to stay updated! That's what they're for!

...and don't worry. I've got lots of other ridiculous posts saved up to lighten the mood around here.

Thanks for reading!

Excitement!

And for those of you wondering if I'm working at an Italian restaurant or a hotel, the answer is no.

It's a new white shirt. And I look hot in it.

Kristen Recap...My Perspective

9:45pm - I arrive at the hospital for the night shift. Kristen's dad is with her. Kristen is a lot of pain. Talk with her for about 10 or 15 minutes. Nurse comes in and adds some medicine for nausea to her I.V.Krist asks for ice chips...the nurse says no.

10:30pm - I've got tons of stuff to tell Krist about our day at home, but she's just too tired. I watch "Will and Grace" while eating something delicious that was cooked up in the mind of two guys named Ben and Jerry.

10:45pm - Head out to the waiting room on our floor to search for wi-fi. Buy a Diet Coke and learn right quick that there's no wireless internet around here. I drink my soda while a dude named A.J. Hammer (yeah right) can't stop talking about Charlie Sheen-Alec Baldwin-Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee-Kid Rock and some woman who's suing Victoria Secret for a defective thong.

10:55pm - Get back into the room, start getting my bed ready. Look longingly at the DVD of "Rambo" that I brought. Should I pop it in? Fill my mind with senseless violence and an even more senseless storyline before going to bed?

11:00pm - Nurse comes in to give Krist pain medicine. Kristen is asleep with five or six minutes. I brush teeth and climb into bed. I decide to give "Rambo" a try, but I have the iPod cued up w/ some Lemonheads to put me to sleep. Why does Evan Dando's music put me to sleep? I guess he's smoked so much weed it comes through the mics and up into my ear buds.

12:00am - Turn off "Rambo" and immediately fall asleep.

1:30am - Kristen accidentally knocks off her TV remote/call button and it wakes us both up. I get it for her, help her get fixed in bed again.

1:30am-7:00am - Sleep like a rock. Hear a few nurses come in and some discussion about Kristen's heart monitor showing a green light, which means a patient is dead. Yeah, I slept through that. (Thankfully, Krist and the nurse were justmaking a little early-morning witty banter.)

7:30am - Wake up when Krist's parents show up for their shift.
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For those of you praying, thank you! Here's what we're asking: Pray that Kristen's enzyme levels will continue to drop. We've still got a way to go before we can proceed with surgery. Right now, the doctors are predicted that we'll do the preliminary "scope" on Monday. We'd love it if things were moving faster, but we understand that Kristen's body just needs time to rest.

Pray that she'll sleep soundly and that her visitors will be minimal. She likes people seeing her, but she's also trying to sleep through her pain and anytime she's awakened, it's hard to rest again.

Pray for the rest of the family (us and the extended crew.) This is starting to take its toll on us. Pray that we'll have great attitudes and that God will bless our resting!

Midnight Update!

Video Update..

Update On Kristen...

For those of you who don't know, Kristen is in the hospital.

(And yes, it's very lame that I found a jpeg of the hospital to use in this post. There's something wrong with me, I know...)

A couple of days ago, Krist started having some pretty intense stomach pain and nausea. She went to the doctor on Monday, got some medicine and came on home. Monday night, she got even more sick.

Tuesday, I had to go check out a camp for a gig next week, so Kristen and the kids went to her Mom's house. I got back about 2pm and went to pick them up. We decided to let Kristen stay at her mom's while I took care of the kids. I brought the kids home and hung out for awhile.

Around 3:45pm, Kristen's mom called and told me that they were at the emergency room. Kristen couldn't really get into the doctor's office and our "urgent care clinics" aren't necessarily the sharpest places for medical care. Since her phone wouldn't work very well, Kristen's mom would call me every hour or so to let me know what was up.

Eventually, the got into a room. More waiting. Finally, a doctor came back and started doing some bloodwork, xrays, etc. They gave her something for pain and send off the tests.

Around 8, Kristen's cousin, Stephanie, called me and said, "You need to come up here. She's freaking out"

Apparently, a doctors came back and told Kristen that she had hepatitus and pancreatitus. Kristen's mom and cousin tried to get more info, but the doctor wasn't much help. They really should have classes in "tact" or "bedside manner" in medical school. If they already do, they need some new curriculum. Not digging that doctor.

I get there, Krist is pretty upset. Mom and Cousin don't really know what's going on and the doctor is admitting Kristen to a room. We get to the room, get settled in. Krist is still in tons of pain and feeling really sick.

The ER doc did have the foresight to call in a gastro. specialist, who happens to be very good. After Krist in in bed and all hooked up, the nurse calls the specialist to see about changing up the meds to something that Krist can get more often.

The new doctor looks over the stuff and immediately orders different pain medicine and more bloodwork. After about an hour of being really stressed out, we find out that it isn't hepatitus. Kristen spent most of the night pretty miserable, although the pain medicine made a big difference.

We had lots of family show up, my mom watched the kids and by 11:30 or so, Krist and I went to sleep.

It was a hard night. But then again, most nights in the hospital always are. Kristen was sick some more, her blood pressure got pretty high, and at one point, a dude came in and strapped a heart monitor on her.

I woke up about 7, scared I had missed early rounds, but the specialist came in around 7:40. Turns out that Kristen has gallstones which caused the pancreatitus. As it stands, the procedure is to treat the pancreas first - to get the inflammation cleared up before proceding with gallstone surgery. The doctor thinks one stone might have dropped into Kristen's bile duct, which means a more invasive surgery (rather than a quicker laproscopic one...)

I'm at home now with the kids. Kristen's parents are with her at the hospital.

Pray that God will bring healing to the pancreas so that Kristen's nausea will subside and we can proceed with the gallstone surgery. Pray for her blood pressure and stress and our family as we try to figure out how to survive without Mommy!