I just got word that dad is doing well enough to get out of ICU tonight! What does that mean? His staph infection is successfully being fought off by antibiotics, the swelling in his neck has gone down far enough to be able to swallow liquids again (food is still to come) and his temperature has remained at or below normal.

Many of you have asked for me to say hello, which I am happy to do. However, if you’d like to send him some love, here are a couple links:

• Facebook
• Email

Of course, you can leave a comment on this post and I’ll be sure to send him your messages. He would be encouraged by your thoughts and prayers.

Too often, we take life for granted. We believe that we’re invincible—that nothing can or will touch us. Nobody would admit it, but that’s what we believe.

Often times, when “life” hits, we hear people say, “I had no idea _________.” It’s then that the idea of an accident, cancer, seizures, death and even birth, solidifies and we embrace empathy. Our perspective allows us to understand what someone is going through and we reach out knowing exactly what it means to live life in their shoes.

For those of us who are going through these life circumstances, we have a choice to make: how will we respond?

If you’re looking to place blame in answer to the question of “why,” welcome to being a victim.

If you’re looking to the face of hope, you’ll find that “life” has no power over you. It’s fleeting.

Today, my dad is in the hospital fighting a blood infection, recovering from surgery on his neck and fighting to kill the cancer that invades his body. Moreover, my sister is fighting to kill a cancerous brain tumor that earnestly desires to overtake her, while living with the “life” that results from such an intrusion. Furthermore, one year ago, my mom was recovering from a life saving surgery on her neck.

I refuse to give honor to the “life” my family is fighting through and with. It doesn’t deserve the attention. We choose to be thankful for each other and the time we have today.

Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.

Want to practice your emphathy? Randy Miller of the band, The Myriad, needs your help. Go here (YouTube.com) to learn how you can empathize with this family in deseperate need of a miracle.

Approximately 8:30am, Mom text messages me: Dad’s temperature has spiked; a new, resistant strain of bacteria has entered his body resulting in ICU isolation; suspect infection somewhere else in his body.

That…is not the way to start your day. Just when you think things are getting better, they took a turn for the worse…or so we thought.

For about an hour, our hopes were smashed only to learn that the isolation and new strain was a miscommunication between the nurse and doctor. While dad’s lung infection (pneumonia) had gotten slightly worse, the strain and isolation weren’t true. He was okay, and we were hopeful again.

The rest of the day saw dad becoming back to his old self. His sense of humor was back, his smiles were adorning his face again and he was ready to do the bills. THE BILLS? Yes, he wanted to do the bills.

His pain from the surgery and infection comes and goes but is made tolerable by the pain meds. He’s now on a number of strong antibiotics to fight the infection in his blood and will have to be on a heavy regiment of antibiotics, two times a day for the next six-to-eight weeks. Due to the neck surgery, he will be in a cervical collar for the next six weeks as well. Obviously, he’s not out of the weeds but he’s well on his way to recovery.

Thank you everybody for your love, prayers and support for our family during this time. I speak for us all when I say that we have felt your prayers. We couldn’t have made it without you. I will continue to post updates as new information becomes available.

Funny moment of the day: When dad was asked if his neck hurt, he said “I don’t know, prick my finger and I’ll let you know which one hurts more.”

For those of you who know my dad, he’s an extroverted, life-of-the-party kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy who makes an adventure out of anything, and everything. Best of all, he’s my dad.

A week ago, my mom called and said that dad was in a lot of unexplainable pain. The symptoms had gone beyond the typical headache, flu or common cold. This was downright uncomfortable, painful at every move and often times shrieking out because of something.This isn’t characteristic of my dad. I knew that something was wrong.

Tuesday (11/18/08), mom had had enough and they went to the ER to try and figure out what was going on. Through a series of tests, nothing showed up abnormal so they sent them home with some pain meds.

It didn’t work.

Thursday at 5am, mom and dad headed back to the hospital. Something was very wrong.

To make a long story short, my dad has had a PICC line in his body to help fight the prostate cancer he was diagnosed with back in April. That line introduced bacteria into his body that ended up in a full-on staph infection. Moreover, his neck had swollen to such a state that it was impossible to move his head without immense pain. Come to find out that the bacteria went to the weakest part of his body; a buldging disc in his neck that he’s apparently had for quite some time.

Saturday morning at 7am, dad went into surgery to remove the foreign abssesses and fluids that inflamed his neck and face. They also removed the disc that was causing the neck pain and bacteria attack, replaced it with a plastic spacer and titanium plates to hold it all together. We were told that if we didn’t do this surgery, dad could be paralyzed within 24-48 hours. Yikes.

Now that the neck had been taken care of, the next concern was if the bacteria had affected his heart. What we know today, is that so far, his heart seems to be doing just fine. We are thankful. Very thankful.

By Saturday night, dad pain was finally under control…after a week of pain so intense you couldn’t help but see it screaming in his eyes. Moreover, his temp had dropped from 102.7 at worst, to right around 100. While the fever is a good indicator of his body fighting, what we’ve been concerned with is whether or not the three different antibiotics would begin to fight off the bacteria that’s invaded his blood. The drop in temperature is the indicator that the drugs are indeed, working. Moreover, the blood cultures that were positive on Thursday are coming back negative. We are thankful. Very thankful.

This mornings report: his temp is 99 and while he’s super sleepy from the surgery yesterday and the pain meds, he seems to be on his way to recovery.

Staph infection isn’t something to mess around with. Had my parents not done something about this when they did, dad could have been paralyzed within days and at worst-case, dead.

Today, I am very grateful for God’s hand of protection over my dad. The road ahead is going to leave him in the hospital for about another week. Because of the severity of the infection, he will also undergo 4-8 weeks of strong antibiotic treatments. But, my dad is alive and well and one day closer to becoming the life of the party again.

Today, I celebrate my dads life. I’m glad that we get to keep living it together.

Kristy and I ventured off to the doctors today for another appointment. On the way, we had what’s become a familiar and frequent conversation; the “what do you think it’s going to be?” one. Then inevitably, the question of name comes up. I’m stuck. I can think of a bunch of girl names I like but not so much with the boy. I often chose to opt-out of the conversation. Since the gender is unknown, the conversation is pointless…until today.

In case your wondering what you’re looking at, just look in the middle. Those are two legs and a…yup. You guessed it. No shame in his game.

While it’s fun to think about having another baby, when I found out that it was a boy, it immediately felt different than with Savannah. Here’s why:

• He’ll learn what being a man means from me, and sometimes it won’t be by what I say
• He’ll watch and learn of my weaknesses; which will give him the desire to be different and better, but not in a “dad you suck” kind of way
• His perspective of God, the ultimate “Father” will be molded by me, his earthly father
• His drive and ambition will be directed by what he sees in me…even when I work late into the evening
• His love and respect for women will be developed by how I respect, love and cherish both Kristy and Savannah; nobody else will have more influence regarding this, than me
• What’s important to me, will be important to him … even I don’t see it until he’s 32
• Finally, my branch of the Chowning name will live on another generation

January 17, 2009, here we come!

They say, that behind every good man, is an even better woman. For as much as I strive to be the best man I can be, the truth is, I wouldn’t be half of what I am today if I didn’t have Kristy. She is my best friend, confidant, biggest fan, mother of my children and most importantly, my wife.

While today’s culture strives to find strength in the uncommitted lover, nothing will ever replace the wealth and depth of love that comes from someone whose committed to you forever; where a vow isn’t something you say today and let go of tomorrow; where you live in and out of the feelings of forevermore. It’s there that your joy is full, complete, and overflowing.

My wife is the best gift I’ve ever been given.

Her humor brings me delight. Her smile brings me joy. Her beauty draws me closer. Her heart brings inspiration. Her intelligence spurs me on to greater depths. Her perspective changes mine. Her wittiness keeps me on my toes. Her presence brings me peace. Her smell stops me in my tracks. Her touch gives me goose bumps. Her laughter begs me to laugh with her. Her desire to be the best, motivates me to go the extra mile. Her eyes lure me in. Her kiss heightens my senses. Her life is my destiny. For all of these things, any many, many more, I will be her man, her husband, her best friend, the father of her children and her sweet old lover.

I love you baby.

If you’ve read this blog over the years, no doubt that you’ve shared the highs and low of the process that Kristy and I have gone through to start our family. After six infertility treatments (five artificial insemination and one round of IVF), two miscarriages and a whirlwind of emotions, last year on July 17, Savannah Grace was celebrated in ridiculous fashion as she made her way into the world. Needless to say, we were one of the lucky ones to have had our girl after going through so much.

You might be wondering why we had to go through all of those procedures? We were too. I’m not talking about why God made us go through all of that, rather what was going on with either of our bodies to purpose us with this process. While we never figured it out, we had always concluded that our future attempts would take the same road.

We were wrong.

March 2008, we found out that we were pregnant. Much to our surprise, we headed to the doctor to confirm what five, yes 1-2-3-4-5 pregnancy sticks had already told us. It was true, but so were the signs of miscarriage. Days later we lost our third baby.

Normally, this would have devastated us but something remarkable had happened; we got pregnant on our own. That’s never, repeat NEVER, happened before. We hesitated to claim our healing, our miracle, but we did. Remarkably, the joy of the miracle cast a shadow on our grief.

The very next month, it happened. Pregnant again!

As of today, we’re rounding the bend towards 11 weeks. The baby is healthy and growing.

Over the past five years, we celebrated, laughed, cried, been angry, demanded answers, agreed to disagree with God, and wondered if we’d ever be a family. Today, we’re a family of three with another on the way.

Miracles do happen.

My brother-in-law, Jacob Sprouls, recently entered a radio contest to win free college tuition (vote). It is a contest specifically for men and women of our Armed Forces, Police, Fire, EMS, and service organizations to have the opportunity for free college tuition (vote) from King College (vote).

As a former National Guard soldier and a current police officer, Jacob is the perfect candidate (vote) and among the top five finalists (vote)! Last week all finalists participated in an on-air interview…this week, the winner (vote) is chosen through online voting (vote). The amazing thing is that YOU CAN HELP (vote) !!!

It is simple (vote) … go to WCQR.org and vote for Jacob Sprouls to win the “College Hero” contest. As you know, this is an amazing (vote) opportunity for him and would a significant help financially. Jacob has always desired to complete his degree. This degree completion program would allow him to complete a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in two years. So, again, I ask you to vote.

I’d also like you to pass this along to people you know. Here’s a copy of the link:
http://www.wcqr.org/pages/studio/contests/college-hero-voting.shtml

Voting (vote) will be open until this Friday (May 30) so, please vote now…and if you don’t mind, help spread the word. (vote)

For a full story behind the contest, check out his wife, Tara Sprouls’ blog post here.

(vote)

Well, it’s been about 28 hours since Charysse’s surgery and I finally got to spend some time with her this afternoon. UCLA Hospital is huge which makes finding your way, post-op, to a room even harder, but Charysse finally got settled into her new diggs around 3pm today. Mom, dad and I arrived around 4pm to say hello. Here’s a picture of her as of today.

For having brain surgery the day before, she’s looking and responding great! The turban around her head is causing a lot of pain, but that’s mainly due to the swelling from the surgery. Obviously, that’s to be expected.

We left around 7pm tonight so Charysse could get some much-needed rest. We’re hoping that by the time we see her tomorrow, she will have been able to catch up on her rest. Speaking of…

Mom just posted an update at Charysse’s blog about the surgery. You can read it here.