December 22, 2004

Subject: Fw: Matt update


Here's Natalie's latest update. It is quite encouraging.  I have been asked to remind you that the emails are very appreciated, but should be kept brief as they are receiving so many and don't want to tie up the computer for so long. Thanks again for your prayers--don't stop. There is improvement but a long way to go. Our God is still in
the miracle business!!

Love in our Lord, Bonnie

--------- Forwarded message ----------

Thank you all again and again for your outpouring of love and support.
It continues to overwhelm and lift us up to receive encouragement from
each one of you. Since I have to do email at the Peace's house and want
to limit the amount of time I am away from the hospital, I am unable to
respond to each email individually right now. But please know that I
print each one and then take them all to read to Matt. Every one has
been such a blessing to us and has meant more than you can imagine.

Please forgive the long gap in updates. I wrote a lengthy update on
Monday only to lose it at the end and at that point I was so exhausted
that I didn't think I could write another coherent email.

We have been trying to take in all that has happened-"pregnant wife gets
news of dying husband in India". Undoubtedly, it sounds more like a
movie theme than the reality right now. And we know that if we did not
have God faithfully walking beside us, even carrying us, and the loving
support of the body of Christ, we surely would be crushed under the
weight of the circumstances. I think along those lines I would probably
have had a nervous breakdown long ago. But, by His faithfulness and by
the prayers of His people, the Lord continues to sustain and strengthen
us in unbelievable ways. We thank God and praise Him for what He has
done and continues to do daily.

As for Matt, most of you know by now of the miraculous improvement he has
made, enough so that the doctors, who have been extremely cautious, gave
orders to move him to a private room on Monday with a private nurse
assigned to continue constant monitoring of his condition. We have
talked with others here who currently have family members who have been
in the neuro ICU for a month or even much longer and even the nurses
spoke of patients being there normally for one to three months. So to
see Matt moved out so soon has been a great confirmation to us of the
work of the Lord. Also, the nurses on the floor he is on are supposed to
be the top ones of the hospital and we are finding that they are much
more attentive and professional. We are also finding that, though
language is still an issue, these nurses seem to have a better command of
English. At any rate, I'm sure we will one day look back and find it
comical to consider what a struggle it has been to communicate, including
most recently trying to get one nurse to give Matt yogurt. I finally
said, 'yo--gurt', enunciating it very slowly and quite loudly to no
avail. The blank stare was still there. We have since learned to say
'curds' instead. And perhaps I already mentioned another point when Matt
wanted to give candy to the nurse going off shift and he asked her to
take a piece off the table beside him. She responded by lowering his bed
instead.

Matt had another CT scan on Monday which showed that the hemorrhage,
initially the size of one's fist, is indeed beginning to dissolve. While
it is dissolving, it is still about the same size as last week, but
showing signs of liquefying on the outer edges. Apparently, once it
moves from a solid state to a liquid one, the rate at which it dissolves
will be much faster as will Matt's improvement. Also, the neurosurgeon
said there are no signs of vascular malformation, which is good. The
cardiologist also did another echogram yesterday which showed that the
infection on Matt's heart is responding to the antibiotics. The doctors
are still amazed that Matt has never had any symptoms of heart problems
that would have led to an earlier detection of the mitrovalve prolapse.
The fact that he has been so healthy until now has only acted as further
confirmation that these circumstances have all happened for a purpose.

Matt daily shows improvement in strength and is beginning to sit up in
bed with assistance. They intend to make him start standing soon which
should be quite incredible to see as he has no use of the right side of
his body. Though he cannot move his arm or leg, he can feel someone
touching his limbs as well as bending or moving them. He still has
headaches from time to time, which can be severe, and occasionally he
feels a bit disoriented. Also, he never had time to adjust to the time
change since he collapsed the morning after arriving in Delhi, so he has
been wanting to sleep during the day when the nurses are constantly
coming in the room, only to find he is wide awake at night. Monday and
Tuesday were rough days because of exhaustion, but he did actually manage
to get some rest Tuesday night, as did Mark and I.

I continue to be amazed at the way Matt has been handling everything.
Certainly we all have our moments, but for someone who is used to being
so active, he is managing the situation quite well. Many have been
touched to see him thinking of others. At one point he saw a scared
little boy screaming when it was his turn for a CT scan. Matt had me
hunt down some candy to give to the boy and when I came back he wanted to
know if the candy made the boy feel better. He also often asks if I am
eating (even asking for a detailed list of what I ate to be sure!) and
this morning laid quietly in his bed to let me sleep more on the couch
nearby even though he was feeling a bit bored and restless.

At this point, we need much prayer concerning patience and endurance as
recovery of Matt's arm and leg will take time as will the ability to find
words to express himself. We have talked much of taking it day by day,
and indeed we can point to each day being a little better than the day
before. We are also beginning to look at the details involved with
taking care of him once we get back to the States. That too seems
overwhelming, but we have confidence that we can rest in the Lord and
trust him to give us wisdom as to what decisions need to be made.

The doctors think that, if Matt continues to steadily improve, we should
be able to return to the U.S. around the first week of January. In the
meantime, I'm sure he would continue to appreciate any words of
encouragement and even sharing of news of things back home. I am
including the mailing address here as well as the phone number for those
who do not have it. It typically takes about 10 days for mail to arrive,
so any mail sent this week should arrive before we return to the U.S.
The mailing address is for the Peace's house. Also, if you want to call,
you can contact Alpesh and Urvi Patel in Raleigh about going in with
others to getting a calling card for India with a very good rate. Their
email address is gujus@earthlink.net We are 10 hours ahead so you can
call our cell phone before 12 noon or after 9:30pm eastern standard time.

Mailing address:
A1/89 Panchsheel Enclave
New Delhi 110017

Tel: International calling code + 98 18 761 780

We again want to let you know that we love each one of you and will never
be able to express in words our indebtedness to you for all you have done
for us.

God bless and keep you,
Natalie