This morning we found out that last night they moved Ana Karen out of Intensive Care into a “Middle Care”… The bright side is that this means that Ana Karen is getting better… the down side is that there isn’t as high of ratio of nurses and doctors to patients so there might be gaps in Ana Karen’s care… especially because she is just recently breathing on her own, she can’t move on her own (not even enough to push a buzzer if she needs help)… and with her tracheotomy she can’t even call out on her own…
The nurses from Intensive Care told Gabriel that a family member really needs to stay with Ana Karen to help feed, move and change her… The problem is who can do that? Leyla (Ana Karen and Gabriel’s one-year old daughter) is soon going to go into the hospital herself to be operated on… and then Gabriel will have to stay 24 hours a day with her… Brenda (Ana Karen´s mom) is soon going to have a baby… so she will be unable to help too much…
Gabriel (Ana Karen´s husband) called me a little bit ago to say that in “Middle Care” they are wanting to send Ana Karen to a regular room (where there will be even less care!)… They are saying because of the extent of Ana Karen´s damage, they would like to give her 3 days of the expensive treatment every month for a year… They have said that if there isn’t money for the treatment, they will discharge her from the hospital until she can come back for the treatment… If Ana Karen receives the treatment, she will be in the hospital for 3 more days and then be discharged…
The original neurologist is out of town right now… and I am trying to communicate with him to see what he suggests…
PLEASE PRAY!!!!
I don’t believe that Ana Karen is in physical condition to go home yet! …and “home” is one room for the whole family… They don’t have the physical conditions to have her at home in the immobile state she is in… and she is just BARELY breathing on her own… and she will need around the clock help at home…
Right now Gabriel is trying to talk to the doctors to figure out what is happening… to ask about the tracheotomy and all of these changes in plans… PRAY THAT ANA KAREN WILL RECEIVE THE CARE SHE NEEDS! …and that Gabriel and Ana Karen will feel God’s presence in this time…
(Money wise, we still donations that you have given to help Ana Karen… we will let you know if and when those are running low. What we need is wisdom in knowing how best to administer those funds…)
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In the last month at El Jordan we have been seeing fruits of seeds planted at El Jordán… we had a beautiful graduation where we honored 24 girls who have made sacrifices and effort this year to learn more about God and allow Him to work in their lives… Days before graduation, in one of the churches where some of our families attend, 4 of our moms and two of our teenagers were baptized in testimony to their new life in Christ.
In the last two days we have been working hard at a year end evaluation of our students, to prepare ourselves for the selection process of who can study at El Jordan next year… As we complete the evaluations, we are overjoyed by the “fruits of repentance” that some of our girls are showing… at the same time, saddened by others who, by their fruits, show that they have no desire for a new life (right now)…
It seems at the same time we see God´s hand working in our midst, we also feel the enemy doubly trying to destroy and discourage… Once again, the government is requiring employers to pay a double Christmas bonus (each bonus is one month’s wage) which needs to be paid by December 20th… Some donations have already come in to help cover this, but it still is a weight on our shoulders as we are also close to our Christmas activities…
Personally, we have felt the weight of our property this past month… with the family who worked there leaving (and having to pay their severance pay… and the percentage of the Christmas bonuses… and looking for new people). Our property is personal… a place where we can go to relax and enjoy quietness… but we also use it to bless many others (workers from other homes that go for a respite day… this Friday 60 children from the cancer hospital are going with their moms… and these last two days the boys from workshops have been there for their end of the year outing… Last night, one of the boys turned off a switch that he shouldn’t have… and our underground pump ended up burning out…
We had planned to start killing pigs for our student´s Christmas tomorrow morning (on Christmas day they are given frozen pork and giant frozen chickens for them to prepare as a family)… …but we need water…
Marco is so discouraged right now… and I want to ask you to PLEASE PRAY for him… It seems like things are so uphill for him right now… and he is tired and need of God´s hand and encouragement right now… Please pray!!
I have to run… but I wanted to send this off so you can be praying for US, for EL JORDAN and for ANA KAREN and FAMILY…
Thank you all…
God IS Faithful!
Corina for us all…