Dubbie Rests In The Father’s Arms

This gentle giant’s spirit peacefully left his body yesterday and went to begin eternity with the Father. Thank you, readers, for your prayers for him and his family.  Please continue to pray for his family through weekend and on into next week as they bury and have the memorial service for their precious Dubbie.

Precious Lord, Take His Hand

I have written about Dubbie in previous posts. He is part of my family by marriage and by love. His only daughter is married to my husband’s cousin, and he is one of the kindest gentlest people I have ever known. Just after the wedding of one of his granddaughters last July, he became ill and has never recovered. He has been in a nursing home since then.

On May 31, Dubbie went to sleep and has not awakened. His lungs have been filling with fluid and his temperature has risen. He has had nothing to eat or drink since then and is gradually losing his grip on this life so that he can walk victoriously into the next.

His daughter, Joyce has written beautifully about this season in their lives and in the life of her father, Dubbie in her blog, http://stringsunlimited.blogspot.com/

Because I feel in my heart that some of you, my readers, may also be facing the loss of a dearly loved family member, I want to copy into this post something that she has written. It is a prayer that in some form many of us have prayed as we have stood by the bed of someone we love, opening our hands and releasing them to go join our Heavenly Father.

Precious Lord, take his hand. Lead him on. Let him stand.
He is tired. He is weak. He is worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead him on to the light.
Precious Lord, take his hand, lead him home.

When his way grows drear, precious Lord linger near.
When his life is almost gone, Hear his cry, hear his call, Hold his hand lest he fall:
Precious Lord, take his hand, lead him home.
When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river he stands,
Guide his feet, hold his hand, precious Lord, take his hand, lead him home

Another Dubbie – Update

Dubbie’s condition remains basically unchanged. He is still eating and drinking, when he is fed and given something to drink. He is not talking much, if any, and is slow to respond to conversation.

Please pray for his wife. She is having a very difficult time emotionally and physically. She is very tired, but feels guilty when she takes time to rest. Then the guilty feelings cause her to be upset which can add to the fatigue. This kind of physical/emotional cycle is common in this type of situation, and is very difficult to break.

Please pray for, Joyce, their daughter, the only child. As such she is bearing the weight and responsibility for her parents. She needs strength and wisdom to carry on day after day, caring for her parents.

Dubbie – Update

 I just received this email from Joyce, Dubbie’s daughter.  Please continue to pray for him and the family.

Last night Dubbie was quiet.  He didn’t open his eyes much, but squeezed my hand a couple of times.  He has periods of restlessness, observed mostly by nurses and Nannie.  When I’m there, he is usually quiet—same for Dad.  But, anyway, the status at this time is that his vitals are all good, except for a slight fever, he is receiving the remainder of the antibiotic by mouth, crushed in diabetic jelly, and is only on oxygen.  The IV has been removed because he is swallowing liquids, although infrequently.  They are watching closely for catheter irritations, for bed sores or pressure irritations, and other signs of needing to be changed or moved frequently.  His hands are still strong and he follows instructions sometimes when nurses ask him to open his mouth, or try to turn over by grabbing the railing.  He can at least help accomplish those things. 

Another Dubby Update

He stayed 3 days in the hospital and the tests showed that he had at least one stroke, probably more. After a few days of resting, he started to perk up and now is working hard at therapy. He is walking a bit with assistance, sitting up much more, feeding himself at most meals, trying so hard to talk or communicate in other ways. His speech center was damaged, and his field of perception to the left and also slightly upward. For example, he reads, but cannot always find the appropriate words if just conversing. When reading, if the material is presented too high, he will begin reading on the third line, skipping the first and second. However, his attitude is classic Dubby. He was in therapy on Tuesday and Mother walked in as the speech therapist presented a sentence to him “My wife’s name is _________. ‘ He couldn’t’ form the word, therapist asked Mother her name, and she said it. Therapist filled in the blank as “My wife’s name is Evelyn”. He read, My wife’s name is Evlyn and you have misspelled it. He just continues to try to speak and if it doesn’t come out well, he will grin and say “I forgot”.

He has a doctor’s appointment on Monday and we’ll go from there. He is off the Namenda and on a new form of insulin twice a day that holds his blood sugar steady even when he eats. We are praying for no more falling, no pneumonia, and no other infection. And when the time comes that he will fly to Jesus.

Dubbie – Update

Dubbie has been returned to the hospital for ‘a few days for observation and a change of medication’.  It seems that one of his meds may be responsible for his loss of speech.  Continue to pray for wisdom and understanding for his doctors and his family.

The latest on Dubbie

One of the things the doctor said needed to be avoided has happened.  Apparently he has an urinary tract infection, probably caused by the catheter.  He is now taking antibiotics, and his fever is coming down.  He is not speaking, and his nurse seems to think it my because of the infection.   Following are excerpts from his daughter’s email.

I explained to him that he has a urinary tract infection and had high fever but it was now down considerably and Monte was staying the night with him.  He reached both hands out to pray.  When we prayed with him, he grabbed us both and squeezed really hard, then settled down under the sheet and folded his hands and went into a deep sleep.  It is just a truly amazing thing to see how he lays back into God’s hands every time we pray for him.

Pray that he will have complete recovery and restoration from this and the shingles and abundant life, including freedom to communicate, will be his.

Dubbie – Update

I received this email today from Dubby’s daughter. Thanks to each of you for your prayers for this precious man. Please continue to pray.

He was really tired today. He had a shower and about 5 hours of physical therapy and just completely let Mother feed him tonight. Kathleen is still in town and we were all there at the same time. He was so ready to sleep that we didn’t stay long. However, the nurse says she sees cognitive improvement and he seems willing to do the work at rehab also. Dr. Shudde says three things must be avoided: additional falling, pneumonia, and infections. The shingles pain is still an issue too. Mother is tired, but holding up well.

Thanks for continuing to pray. We have hope that he will improve enough to go home.

Dubbie – Update

As of Wednesday evening Dubby was doing wonderful. When his daughter went to see him, she found him to awake and alert. He is still complaining of nausea and pain in his legs when he tries to walk. He seemed to be oriented in time and space and has plans to ask the doctor about the nausea at his next appointment.

Thank you for your prayers! God is good.

Dubbie – Update

This was emailed to me today by Dubby’s daughter. David is her pastor. She is commenting his sermon today and how is reflects on the new life that her father will soon have. It is clear that his love of music is going to smoother his transition into that new life.

David’s sermon today was timely. He read from Ex. 15 where the Israelites were stopped at the bitter water. The water was a cleansing, a laxative, to purge what was left of Egypt from them before they could enter into new promises. The new promise was accomplished by a tree being thrown into the water to sweeten it—the cross of salvation thrown on the bitterness of our past. We enter into the new promise—none of the diseases of Egypt —by way of the Living Water. Dubby is crossing into new territory: He has long been a warrior, provider, and leader as well as servant for his family, his church, and for many, many others in the community. He doesn’t know exactly where he is right now. He has rarely been served, rarely had to rely on anyone to fight a battle for him having always been the protector, and perhaps has not bee a follower since he was in the Army, except in playing music. I feel strongly that music is the bridge between the earth and the Kingdom of God for him. He understands that. It is the river of peace and the vehicle of praise and worship. He can learn his place of sonship and his place as a bride through music. He can also learn to lay down the weapons of warfare and accept the Good Shepherd’s rod and staff through music. Please pray that we will make the correct choices for him as he listens.