It has now been nearly two weeks since Gene had a pacemaker implanted. The pain from surgery is gone now. He still has to be careful for at least a couple of weeks yet to not raise the arm on that side above shoulder level.
His heart rate has been running much faster than the cardiologist would like, although it apparently did want to go very slowly for a day. But, the pacemaker kicked in and kept it from going below 60. Gene is on the third medicine the cardiologist has had him try in order to lower his heart rate. The first two didn’t help at all. It is a bit soon to tell if the third one will work. Please PRAY that it will work, but if not, a solution will be found.
We asked for prayer for the raise of his blood anti-coagulation level via warfarin, and it is now at therapeutic level which will help in preventing another stroke. Thanks for praying.
He still has pretty frequent spells of dizziness and weakness and has to lie down for awhile. Sometimes he can go for 4 or 5 hours of sitting or standing without a spell, sometimes just an hour. Sometimes he feels so very weak that he says it is like “all systems are closing down.” There does seem to be some progress though as he now sometimes has days or half days where they aren’t much of a problem. These spells are probably after affects of the stroke combined with malaria relapse. It seems that because of overall weakness of his system the malaria that lives in his body is more persistent. So getting back to normal is another item for PRAYER.
Please PRAY also for Carol. It is not easy being a caregiver especially with the spells Gene sometimes has where “all systems are closing down.” When it happens at night she has to stay awake and alert.
When God allows some special circumstance in our lives we always pray that He will work through us in the lives of others through that circumstance. One of the purposes we have seen because of our present circumstance is opportunities to witness. One day we sat in Dr Rocha’s waiting room for about three hours waiting Gene’s turn with him. It is a small room. Everyone within six feet of everyone else. In the waiting room with us was a Canadian man with a Filipina wife. Also there was an elderly Filipino man accompanied by a younger man. Also there was an elderly woman, the doctor’s secretary, and a representative from a pacemaker distributor. As usually happens, we were asked how long we’ve been in the Philippines and what our purpose is here. Now that is more than a wide open door of opportunity. It is like the door has been torn off from it’s hinges!
When asked those questions Gene explains that we are missionaries to tribal people and goes on to tell them what we teach them about eternal salvation starting at Genesis including Adam’s fall and the promise of a redeemer. And then types of the redeemer in the OT and on through NT to the ascension of Christ. How much detail we can go into depends on how much time with have with those listening. We have also had opportunity to witness to two of Gene’s cardiologists, a taxi driver, and a friend who is the foreman of a shop that sometimes does repairs on our off-road truck. A male nurse that Gene witnessed to turned out to be a believer and also addicted to photography which was Gene’s occupation in the past so they had a lot to talk about.
We were going to return to our home in the tribe this week, but leadership asked us to stay here at the NTM guesthouse where Gene can rest until after his next cardiologists appointments which are on August 7.
We praise the Lord for the opportunities He gives. We can’t express in words how much we appreciate all you in our family in the Lord who have been praying and encouraging during this time.