Month: April 2012

Every week our Mole staff meets together for a time of prayer, songs, and devotions. Each month I surprise them with a “Game Day” where they can earn small prizes if they participate –  and even more if they win! They never know which week it will be which adds to the fun!

At 6am this morning our staff met for a special prayer time before they passed out hundreds of solar lights to surprised Haitian families! I have a lot of great stories and pictures to share! I’ll be posting about that later this weekend! 🙂

Since I knew they worked so hard this morning – I decided to surprise them today with a game day! We literally laughed until we cried! I always try to think of new games each time we play – just to make it more interesting!

We often don’t realize that most Haitian adults never got to really be kids. They never went to carnivals or birthday parties. They never got the chance to play children’s games! There was never really a time – neither as kids or adults  – where they were able to just be silly! Luckily I specialize in silliness!

So I decided several months ago that we not only should serve together – but laugh together! We need to pray together and play together! These game days bring us all closer together as a family! It allows us for just a moment to be a bunch of silly kids! (You can learn a lot about people during friendly competitions).

Today’s games consisted of:

1) Gorilla/Man/Gun – (a form of rock/paper/scissors) Where they stand back to back and have to turn around acting out something from the list! Mme Certisse won – our dish washer!

2) Sheet/Name Game – We divided the staff into 2 groups. You place a sheet between the teams so they can’t see who’s on the other side. You drop the sheet on the count of 3 and whoever is in the front of the line on both sides has to yell out who they see. Celavie won – our trash/grounds keeper!

3) Balloon Pop – They each had to blow up a balloon, tie it, then sit on it and pop it. Tizzie won – our orphanage manager!

4) Ankle Balloon Pop – They each had to tie a balloon to their ankle. They had to try to pop each other’s balloon. They can protect their own balloon by hopping on one foot so that the ankle with the balloon on it is too high to pop by stomping on it. This was HILARIOUS! Bena won for the boys – our fix-it guy! Marlene won for the girls – our cook!

5) Four Square – I must say that no one really understood this game – which made it even funnier!! Jocelyn & Marlene won!

6) Sack Race – We laughed and laughed over this game! I knew they might be a little embarrassed to play on the street! We ended up with quite a little crowd watching on house porches and on the street corner.  So EVERYONE who played got a special prize for participating! No one was hurt  – but Mme Nene, Momma Gigi, & Miss Beth took a little tumble! Momma Gigi told me tonight that the staff was STILL laughing about today’s race! Tizzie told me this afternoon – for just a moment – she forgot about all the burdens she carries. 

I posted a video below of our staff sack race! I hope it gives you just a glimpse of how much-needed silliness –  can be so freeing – even in a 3rd World Country! 🙂

I’m happy to report my papa is doing well! Praise the Lord! I think UK winning the NCAA gave him just the push he needed to get well! 🙂

I must say that I certainly wasn’t ready for anything but a full recovery! I prayed at the hospital that daddy would be able to sit on his front porch again! Today he was able to do that! It was a scary week here – but it was also a week that brought the family all together. We are all in the ministry and it’s just not easy for us to break away at the same time. We were talking that it was last year at this exact same time that we came together for dad’s bypass surgery. We told dad he needs to find another way to bring the family together!

He’s home now and able to walk short distances. He’s still pretty weak though. I told him it will just take time. It’s so hard to wait for our physical bodies to catch-up  – when mentally we are ready to go back to work. I know Haiti is always in his heart and on his mind.

The surgeon said during his heart cath (while daddy was drugged) all he kept saying was  – “I have to go back to Haiti in May”. They ended up giving him more meds to make him stop talking! I’m sure at times you wish you could give our entire family meds so we would stop talking about Haiti for just a few minutes! All I can say is – it’s in our blood  – and medication won’t tame it!

God has given me several special days here with dad. I know my presence has provided him comfort, encouragement, and security. I always say that God made me a nurse just for my family! Knowing that daddy is getting stronger each day – Jose, Asher, and I are headed back home to Haiti this Tuesday!  I am so thankful that I was able to fly out  and be with the family during this stressful time.

My dad is 1 of 6 kids. He and his sister Joyce are the only 2 left. Joyce is headed this way tomorrow to spend a few weeks here with daddy. I know this will be a great time of family bonding. Janeil and his family will be here all of next week too. I have peace leaving – knowing he will be surrounded by family!

For those of you who know my papa – I know he could really use some encouragement. I worry about him being depressed as he waits for the doctor to release him back to Haiti. Hopefully he’ll be allowed to go back in June/July. I would really appreciate an outpouring of love towards my papa while I’m gone. My dad is old school and loves cards. He tapes them on his wall. I would love to fill his wall with cards so that he knows how much we love and appreciate him. He is a good and faithful servant.

If you would like to send my papa a note of encouragement please send it to:

Larry Owen
PO Box 516
Versailles, KY 40383

HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!

Update On Daddy…

First of all I cannot tell you how incredibly moved I have been over the last several days by the outpouring of prayers, emails, texts, and notes of encouragements.  In fact as I think about it right now – it makes me teary-eyed. I’ve been reading them ALL to my parents over the last several days.

The days have all merged together. I can’t believe it’s only been 5 days. It feels more like weeks.  Here is a run down:

Wednesday:

Dad had a heart attack, heart cath, & stents placed. He was moved to ICU. Jose and I began our journey out of Haiti.

Thursday:

Dad went from ICU to a regular room.

Friday Morning:

Jose and I arrived in KY at 1am. We immediately went to the hospital

They had him on many different medications including blood thinners because he still has several clots in his heart.

I thought dad looked better than what I expected but he was still pale, weak, and anxious.

They told him 4 stents in one place is a lot and that he needs to really watch what he’s doing. They said if the stents hold well – then in a few weeks he should be able to start therapy again and try to get back to normal activity.

They said they could keep him for a few days and wait and see what happens or if he wanted – he could go home. It’s basically a watch and wait game.

Since Jose and I were there – he said he wanted to go home to his own bed.

Friday Afternoon:

As soon as we walked through the door of his house- Jose and I had to run and grab him before he passed out. He had no strength. His chest was hurting and he thought he was having another heart attack. He broke into a cold sweat. He began vomiting while Jose and I were holding him from falling.

We called the hospital and they said to bring him right back. He said he’s too weak to go. They told us to give him some medicine and then have him lay down.

Friday Evening:

After dad rested a while  – he began to pass out again. Jose and I nearly carried him to the car. He was too weak to hold up his body. As I drove him to the ER I just knew we were going to say good-bye. He was trying so hard to talk but he was in so much pain – so weak – so dizzy – he couldn’t speak. I honestly thought he wouldn’t even make it to the hospital.

We arrived at the ER. His blood pressure nearly bottomed out. He was unable to sit or stand and he was incredibly pale. His initial tests were all indicative that he was having heart failure. The problem was since he just had a heart-attack, they couldn’t really tell if his tests were the results of the one he just had 2 days ago – – or of another one he was having in that moment.

Regardless they began pumping him full of fluids and medicine and ran several more tests. The longer we were there – the more his color began to come back. All his vital signs but his blood pressure began to return to normal. He was able to speak and by the end of the evening he was even able to laugh.

Tests revealed that his heart looked good. The stents were still in place. But he now has acute renal failure. They believe the dye from the surgery caused the kidneys to slow down. They said he should have never been discharged today.

They re-admitted him for renal failure and low blood pressure.  He was stable and seemed to be doing fine.

Saturday Early Morning:

Saturday morning at 3am my dad flat-lined. He continued to have a blood pressure of 40/40 and heart rate of 30. He was rushed to ICU where they hooked up an IV in his neck. This larger artery would allow him to have multiple IV’s going more rapidly.

He had renal failure, internal bleeding, low blood pressure, and an infection. The family was being called in.

My mom was completely spent – – nearly ready to fall down herself. The chaplain was with her for over an hour.  Our hearts were heavy as we began to realize this was it. He was leaving us.

Rest of Saturday:

They had given him a ton of medications & antibiotics. He had CT scans trying to find out where he was bleeding. They were pumping fluids in him as fast as they could.

The only thing we know – there is power in prayer.

 

Around 8 am the bleeding stopped and his blood count slowly began to rise.

Around 10am his kidney functioning tests were slowly improving.

Around noon his blood pressure slowly began to rise.

Around 2pm his numbers were back down.

By 4pm he was back on track.

***

Dad is still in ICU but he is stable.  He is incredibly weak but his color is back.  We believe he’s going to pull through this with little damage.  (It’s a miracle)

So much goes through your mind during a crisis. As the family sat together we begin reminiscing about daddy and funny parts of our childhood. There were moments we laughed until we cried – – and moments we cried until we had no more tears. We tried to process – to rally together. I think I’m still processing.

The last few days have been a rollercoaster. Things were up and then down – then left and then right. Our bodies have felt the ride. We are all exhausted on every level.

Please continue to pray for strength for my papa – –  and that this rollercoaster ride will finally come to a complete stop.