Yeah God! Again.
Today was Rick’s first full day of therapy and he has surpassed all expectations. The therapist was hoping that he would be able to walk five feet, but he walked 150 feet! While he would not have passed a field sobriety test, they are amazed at his progress. We continue to be overwhelmed by God’s grace and healing, as well as your amazing love, support and prayers for Rick and our family.
The meeting with Rick’s team, that was scheduled for today, has been moved to next Wednesday (September 26) to give the team more time with Rick. This will allow them to make a more accurate assessment and give us a better idea of his prognosis and long term treatment plan.
Rick continues to improve medically (both chest tubes are out) and cognitively (doing simple math problems in his head) and we are very encouraged by his progress. However, he is still very weak, sore and at times confused. Continue to pray for his strength, attitude, motivation and continued progress. Pray also for rest for Terry, as she is staying with him at night.
The plan is for all of our family to join them in Atlanta this weekend and then the other kids and I will return Saturday night to worship with our Cedar Creek family on Sunday (can’t wait). Please pray for safe travel to and from Atlanta.
While we are excited about Rick’s progress, we still have a long way to go, but we know that we are not alone in this journey.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” Ps. 115:1
God Bless and Thumbs Up!
Phillip
Good First Day
Today was Rick’s first full day of therapy. We are pleased to report that he is having a good day and is working hard!
On the medical side, the right side chest tube is out, praise Jesus! We are still praying that the left side chest tube will follow shortly. Rick’s white blood count is a little elevated today so please pray that there’s no infection in his bloodstream. Please be in prayer too that Rick stays encouraged through this process. It is easy to get discouraged when you are used to doing what you want, when you want. Pray for mental, physical and spiritual strength for Rick and Terry as she is with him.
Pray also for Rick’s rooming situation. He currently has a roommate which prevents his mom from spending the night. Pray that he is able to move into a private room.
Thanks so much for your faithfulness in praying for Rick and his family. Your faith is making a difference!
God bless and “Thumbs up!”
Two Sides of The Coin
I told Terry last night that I feel like a coin.
On one side is hope and joy, on the other is fear and dispair. The coin has been flipped and I spin between both sides wondering which side I’ll land on. While we continue to be amazed at all that God is doing for Rick and for our family over the last eleven days, we just don’t know what the future will bring. Rick is slowly getting better medically (he will probably be moved to a regular room tomorrow) but he is very confused, agitated and has little to no short term memory. Everytime he wakes up, we have to remind him that he is in the hospital in Atlanta. He is so ready to get some of the many tubes out and start getting out of bed.
I hope and pray that that will start happening soon.
I have always known that we have a strong faith and a strong family, but both are being tested. It was hard for the other kids and me to leave Atlanta today and try to return to some level of a normal life. Terry is staying with Rick this week and needs your prayers more than ever.
We will have a meeting Wednesday afternoon with Rick’s entire medical and therapy team to discuss prognosis and plan for his recovery. We are anxious to hear from them, but a little scared too. Pray for that meeting and for us to be able to hear clearly, know what questions to ask and be ready for whatever path God chooses for us.
We don’t know what tomorrow will bring or when and if Rick will completely recover, but what we do know, what we are clinging to, is that our God is faithful and that all He does is an expression of His love for us. Please continue to pray for Rick and our family that we would truly “mount up with wings like eagles, that we would run and not grow weary” and that we would continue to give all the glory and honor to God!
We love and appreciate you all.
God Bless and Thumbs Up!
Phillip
Mountain Dew?
We just wanted to give you a quick update on Rick and our family. He continues to improve every day. He remains in the ICU to keep a close watch on his lungs, but has had regular physical, occupational and speech therapy and he spent several hours sitting in a bed-side chair today. He is off the ventilator, but still has a trach with a special valve to allow him to speak. He was able to eat ice chips, but wants a 20 oz. Mountain Dew.
We hope he’ll be in a regular room by Monday and can begin having more aggressive therapy. Please continue to pray for strength and patience for Rick and for our family. Also, pray for our son, Ben, who will be traveling to Atlanta from Anderson University tomorrow morning.
If you’d like to send a note or card to Rick, address it to
Preston “Rick” Lee
Shepherd ICU #1
Again we appreciate you guys more than you’ll ever know.
God Bless and Thumbs Up!
Phillip and Terry
Moving Day
After a lot of phone calls, faxes and prayers, Rick was transported to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and arrived about 12 noon today. He was immediatley seen by an amazing team of doctors, therapist and other specialist. By the way, one of the ambulances that he rode in today had a large gold cross on the side (we hear you loud and clear Jesus). We are so thankful to have him here, but a little overwhelmed by the move and trying to get acclimated to a new hospital, new doctors and a new city. The people here are amazing, but we are all very tired and continue to need your prayers.
They have provided us with a small apartment on the hospital grounds that is more than adaquate for the family members who are here with us. As I type this, Rick is resting comfortably and we are trying to learn our way around. Chick-fil-a right across the street (yeah God).
Tommorow the work begins! Please pray for Rick to be filled with God’s power and strength so that he can truly be “strong and courageous.” That he and our family will not become discouraged as we walk this road with him. Pray also for God’s protection as we travel back and forth from Aiken and Atlanta. It’s hard to let any of our kids ride off in a car.
For those of you who have prayed for us, encouraged us, joined the “Wake up Rick” facebook event, worn the bracelets, wrote notes or any of the hundreds of ways that you have reached out to show us love…we will never be able to say thank you enough.
Till next time! We love you all!
God Bless and Thumbs Up,
Phillip and Terry
One Week Ago
One week ago today, we came to Palmetto Richland Hospital not sure what condition our son Rick was in or even if he was alive. In the last several days, we’ve seen some dark and discouraging moments and some moments of sheer joy. In fact, today has been the most amazing day yet. As I write this, Rick is sitting up in a special therapy chair and using his hands to let us know that he is ready to get out! And that’s just what we are planning to do. The next step for him and for us is to go to The Shepherd (interesting name) Center in Atlanta to start rehab. If all goes as expected, he will travel via special medical transport tomorrow (Thursday) a.m. We have been told that this is one of the best facilities in the country. Another God thing, as beds there are hard to come by.
Our family cannot even begin to express how much your prayers, love, support and practical gifts have meant to us. We wish we could personally thank each one of you, but our main focus right now is on Rick. We look forward to being with you guys soon and sharing all the amazing ways we’ve seen God’s love and protection this past week.
The best thing you can do for us is to keep living out the mission and vision of CCC. Stay unified as a church by supporting the leaders in my absence and reach as many people as possible with the amazing love of God so they’ll have what they need in their times of crisis. That’s the heart of our family and what Rick has committed his life to.
Keep the prayers coming…lots of work ahead…thumbs up!
Phillip and Terry
Specific prayer request:
- for a smooth transfer to Shepherd
- safe travel for our family
- that Rick will be infection free
- now that Rick is alert, that he will not get discouraged with all the hard work ahead
What A Difference A Few Hours Makes
This afternoon we got not only good news about Rick’s test results, but even better results from Rick himself. He is more awake than we’ve ever seen. His ventilator setting was changed from the highest to the lowest, skipping all stages in between.
Though he cannot speak out loud (due to the ventilator) he moves his mouth and we try to read his lips. So far he has asked about his dog “Chipper” and for a coke.
We are so thankful for your prayers and for walking this journey with us.
Thank you Jesus,
Phillip and Terry
The Great Physician
We have been waiting for test results since yesterday.
Waiting and waiting and waiting.
But in the meantime, our son Rick, has been giving us his own progress report!
Getting Rick to wake up this morning was hard, but that’s typical for Rick. He loves to sleep in. Once the therapist finally got his eyes opened, she was able to coax him to follow simple commands like “stick out your tongue, turn your head” and of course “thumbs up.” Then we we’re truly amazed at what happened next…the two therapists told Rick they were going to swing his legs around and sit him up on the side of the bed. So, with much support and help, plus screaming and hollering from a crazy mother at the foot of the bed, they swung Rick up into a sitting position. He was able to hold his head up by himself for about a minute and, believe it or not, very weakly attempted to pet a yellow lab therapy dog who was brought in to see Rick.
For those of you who know Rick personally, I know you are grinning from ear to ear over that.
After getting Rick settled back down, he was quickly back to sleep. We will stay by his bed, still waiting on the doctor’s to give us test results. But truly, right now, for this moment, I don’t care what they say. The one true great physician created Rick and knows his inmost parts. We believe now more than ever that He can and is healing our son.
So to Him be every bit of the glory and honor for all that we are seeing unfold because of this accident. All of that IS NO ACCIDENT!!!
Believing,
Phillip and Terry
PS: This afternoon, after Rick was settled back down, Terry quietly whispered in Rick’s ear, “I love you.” Rick mouthed, ” I love you too.”.
Thank you God for every miracle!
Specific prayer request:
- continued progress with therapist
- Test results (MRI and Doppler)
- a restful night for him and for us
- focus for his siblings at work and school
MRI & Doppler
The STICU staff will be conducting two tests on Rick this afternoon. One is an MRI looking at areas the CAT scan can’t see. Please pray this MRI is negative. Also, they are conducting a Doppler test on Rick’s left arm to determine the cause of swelling there. Please pray no blood clots are present.
Thanks in advance for your faithful intercession!
Rick Woke Up!
Hey folks, GREAT NEWS! At about 7:00 pm tonight, Rick Lee woke up. Rick opened his eyes, stuck out his tongue and indicated that he could see his mom! Praise God! He also let the nurses know that he needed something for pain, which they gave him. The Lee family wants you all to know how important your prayers are and continue to be. Please keep praying for Rick as he progresses. They will follow up with another CT tomorrow and some additional testing.
Praising God for who He is and all that He has done and continues to do!