Six Weeks and Counting

May 15, 2011

Hello All, this is a message from Kriss (Robin's wife) and Hanna (his daughter). It has been a long time since Robin has written and we know this has been hard on his readers. Hopefully this blog entry will give some explanation and let you know how things are going with him. It is our fervent hope that he will improve quickly and be up to writing again soon.

Yesterday was the beginning of week six of Robin's most recent bout in the hospital. He was admitted to the University of Washington Medical Center from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance infusion floor on Friday, April 8th, with a lung infection from the para-influenza 3 virus and severe gut issues from resurfacing GVHD/CMV and the Noro virus. Late afternoon on Thursday, April 28, he became very agitated and short of breath after they did an upper and lower GI trying to determine what was the cause of his continued diarrhea. He continued to have escalating problems with breathing, pain in his left side, and some confusion that he needed constant nursing care and observation. A variety of doctors, nurses, pulmonary and respiratory technicians cycled in and out of his room all night long working to get him stabilized. On Friday, April 29, when they had a bed available, they moved him into the transplant ICU unit. He was very sleepy most of the time in ICU. The pneumonia is concentrated in his left lung but is very severe. It isn't getting better or worse; which is good that it isn't continuing to decline. He is working very hard at breathing with an average of 69% oxygen supplement. This puts stress on his heart and he has some arrhythmia. This seems to have cleared up slightly.

As his own private Cinco de Mayo celebration, he was transferred to a regular transplant room and out of ICU protocols on Thursday, May 5th. It is encouraging to have him out of ICU, but even if he improves significantly, he is still looking at several more weeks in the hospital. He is very weak. He is more awake and alert, but doesn’t have the strength to walk and barely gets out of bed to the chair. Late Friday night he had an MRI and Saturday morning they did a bronchoscopy to try and find the culprit causing the pneumonia. On the chest CT Thursday, they saw a new development in the right lung as well as the left lung’s ongoing problems. He occasionally has a coughing episode when he tries to talk very much so phone calls are sometimes tricky. We all feel a bit like the turtle in the race, but hopefully progress is slow and steady. Robin is eating a bit more, but not much of anything. He seems fairly comfortable, but we can only imagine how it feels to be constantly force-fed pills, poked and prodded and surrounded by mask-clad beings. We hope he'll get back more of an appetite soon. That seems to be the best indication that progress is being achieved.

All the kids have been here to visit recently which is always a boost. Daughter Ella and son-in-law Chris were here over the Mother’s Day weekend. Son Amos came for a visit May 9th through 11th. Daughter Hanna comes up for a couple of days whenever she can and daughter Cleo pops in from time to time after classes at Seattle University. Kriss is able to print off emails and bring cards in as they arrive which is a welcome connection to the outside world. We can tell he is feeling better as he is more interested in what is going on in the world of sports. Between that and the History channel he is passing the time. We had never imagined he would have this long-term hospital stay, but there you have it. Your emails and prayers are a great comfort to him. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.

As a pastor, Robin is normally the one giving love and support and prayers for others. It is an interesting challenge to be on the receiving end of all that now. The congregation at College Place Presbyterian Church has been such a blessing to all of us through this difficult season. They have raised funds and support and given sacrificially of their time to make our house a clean, safe environment for Robin to come home to. We hope that day is soon coming. They have sent letters and cards and calls in order to share their love and prayers with us. For the most part, we have lived by the proverb, “It is better to give than to receive” and so it is an act of grace to receive the gifts so graciously given. This is often the most difficult and humbling thing to do. And yet, this is exactly the response one must have in order to receive the wonderful gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. You can’t achieve it. You don’t deserve it. And yet there it is, freely given, ready to be humbly received. All we can do is say, “Yes, Lord, I believe You are God. And I am ready to give You my life and receive the gift of eternal life from You.” But so often, we run around trying to earn the right to receive the gift of relationship with God. It is an exercise in futility. No matter how “good” you are, you will never be perfect enough to be in relationship with God. And, thanks be to God, no matter how “bad” you are, you are never disqualified from relationship either, because frankly, it isn’t about you. It’s about Jesus.

The miracle of the incarnation is that God comes to our level and meets us where we are and changes the rules of the game. He took our place and bore our sins on that cross. And we celebrate the promise of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The good news is that because Jesus is Risen, we no longer have to fear sin and death. Easter is about forgiveness. Easter is about new life. And as Resurrection People, we know that Robin is in God’s loving and capable hands. Whether he comes through this hospitalization with an incredible testimony of God’s miraculous healing in his body, or he is ushered into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father and joins the Saints in glory, we know that God is good. And we strive, each and every day, as Jesus’ faithful disciples, to make it not about us, but about Jesus.

Warmly in Christ,

Kriss & Hanna Peterson