August 25 update

Dear friends and family,

I’m sorry that I haven’t kept everyone up on what has been happening with Randel. As some of you know from the blog he began to run a low grade fever the last 7 days of our trip. When we arrived back at Minneapolis we went for our regular Mayo appointments but no reason could be found. The fevers increased in intensity and for over 2 more weeks were continual and high. We went to the emergency room here three times and to our doctor twice. The best guess was that some of his liver tumors had outgrown their blood supply and had died. His fever was his body’s response to the dead material. I gave more detail on this part on our blog-AndersonsvsEurope.blogspot.com. You can read it if you are interested. In addition he was finding it more and more difficult to eat and was losing weight. When I came home from school for lunch, last Wednesdy, the 17th, I could see that he was fading so took him to the emergency room. That trip showed he had a parasite so we elatedly thought we’d found the answer to his now three week long illness. But the magic pills didn’t seem to be doing anything and he was worse on Thursday and Friday. We had a followup appointment with our family doctor on Friday afternoon. Randel couldn’t even sit up on the exam table. As the doctor looked at me and said I think we need to put him into the hospital for observation, at least, I was nodding my head and saying thank you. So we went to the hospital on the evening of the 18th.
By morning he was very critical with a massive loss of blood. Normally a healthy male has a hemoglobin count of 15-17. His was 4.0. His INR level (thinness of blood to prevent blood clots) was 16 when it should be between 2 and 3. He could hardly respond verbally. The surgeon on call and the gastroenterologist did not paint a very hopeful picture so I called the kids to come home. The surgeon really got things moving thankfully and got him into ICU quickly so a pick line could be put in his neck for the 6 different fluids they were trying to pump into him. At least 5 doctors interviewed me trying to figure out what was going on that morning. By late morning he was in surgery to have a scope down his throat and a bleeding ulcer was discovered at the top of his small intestine. The gi doctor was able to successfully cauterize it(with a new to Norfolk method) and was very surprised that he found just one. He told us several times that Randel’s athleticism and divine intervention saved his life. At a hemoglobin of 4.0 his heart rate should have been 140-160 and the doctor said he could not have touched him without putting him into cardiac arrest. But Randel’s rate was only 80 thanks to years of sweating it out in the gym and on the track!!
Brett and Elise arrived in the early afternoon as did my mom. No matter how old you are it is good to see your mommy when things are tough! My cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Dennis, were planning to visit Mom that day so they brought her down and were a wonderful support and help with the kids. We hadn’t seen Mom or Grant and Sarah and the grand kids since we got back from Europe because Randel’s been too sick. Grant and Sarah arrived a bit later so everyone got to see Randel. He didn’t get to see Rose and Calvin but they sure brightened my day. The late afternoon brought new concerns as Randel’s fever when up and he began to shake violently and was breathing so hard. At this point the medical staff considered putting him on a ventilator but I explained that he’d been doing this for 2-3 weeks with his high fevers so they waited awhile and it subsided. I just held him and sang or talked in his ear. He felt absolutely miserable during and after this and really thought he wasn’t going to make it. I kept telling him otherwise but we were all wondering. He described it later as being in agony. We’ve learned this misery was probably due to all the blood in his stomach. By Saturday night he was improving and has continued to do so. He was in ICU until Monday afternoon and he got to come home yesterday, Wednesday. All totaled he’s had 9 units of plasma and 7 units of blood. He lost over half of his blood supply. Hemoglobin is up to 10 now and will take some time to get back to normal. The ulcer probably developed because of his cancer-he always has a very high gastrin level-and the fever reducers Mayo said he could take to try to get that down. We still aren’t sure why he’s had such high fevers but it could be the tumors dying or the parasite. He also developed C-diff, another intestinal infection, while we were in the hospital so he’s on quite a regimen of drugs now. As one of the doctors said he just has numerous rare medical issues. I’ve told him before he doesn’t have to go to these lengths to prove how special he is.
Reflections-Our overall feeling is one of extreme thankfulness. So thankful he is still with us!! We’ve had an army praying for him and if we didn’t get you contacted it’s because it was a flurry of activity and we are still processing all that’s happened. We’ll take your prayers now as he has a long way to total recovery. Our kids were amazing-such a wonderful support for both of us. We are truly blessed to have such great children. Our friends and church family have stepped in to help with mowing, food, errands, cleaning, and anything we need. I have a wonderful coworker who could and did step in and do my job for me as I haven’t been back to work yet. We’ve had many phone calls, emails, and visits and appreciate them all. We experienced so many God-incidents where He gave us just what we needed at the time we needed it. We felt his peace and presence in so many ways. We had many tender times together-just the two of us and also with the family. One came on Saturday night as we gathered around his bed before the kids went back to the house to sleep. We prayed together and then Brett began and we all joined in singing “Great Is thy Faithfulness”. He didn’t know that’s what I’d been singing in Randel’s ear during the afternoon. It was a moment I will cherish forever. God has been so very faithful in so many circumstances for so many years! We are still wondering how he’s going to use this new experience in our lives and in the lives of others but we know he will. Randel has been an inspiration to so many and is totally amazing in his acceptance of suffering and uncertain circumstances. He lives out his favorite verse (2 Thessalonians 5:16-18-Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.) and inspires us to do the same.

Thankful for you and your caring also!

Betty