And now for the rest of the story

I arrived at the hospital last night at around 8:00. I was met in the entry area by Scott who has been here with his daughter since last August and we chatted for a bit and talked of the events of the last days. As I entered the ICS unit I was greeted by a familiar face and again the same scenario. Then finally proceeded to his coveted quiet corner room with a view. I visited with his nurse outside of his room. I have come to the conclusion that he has gained a bit of a following with the staff and other families here. I attended church services here, as usual today and the topic was of the music and speaker was Faith. With this in mind I want to share some thoughts, both personal and those which have been shared with me over the last few days. Late Thursday morning I received a call from Kristi indicating that she needed me to come to the hospital asap. I didn't ask for details just basics. I took care of the matter at hand and arrived 3 hours later. Due to the fact that Tanner had been on increasing doses of pain meds due to Mucositis (mouth sores), it was beginning to cause unintended issues. The critical matter at hand was that he was beginning to build up fluid in his lungs. This seldom has a good resolution. That morning it was anticipated he would be transferred to ICU. When I arrived his doctor was in his room and informed me he had made huge improvements in the few hours since giving him meds to force his kidneys to work to force excess fluids from his body. So for the time being he was not moved to ICU. But the other concerning thing to us was the fact he was hallucinating, was agitated and not wanting to leave his oxygen on. One observation I had was that he looked far better than when I last saw him Monday night. He had had his pain meds removed in the morning and indicated that he didn't have any pain. But his mental status was reminiscent of my mom who had suffered a stroke 6 years ago. His speech was not coherent and talked of things that were not real. But did know what was happening and who was here. Shawn and Shayna also came down and Shawn assisted me in administering to him. I felt an amazing presence in his room and the words that were said were not mine. When I finished I questioned in my mind the words I spoke, but since they were not my words, I felt a calm assurance that things would be OK. I soon left to drive back home as Kaley was still in Logan due to a Field trip she had gone on. The next morning Kristi call me and shared the events of a dream she had had. This had confirmed the words spoken in his blessing the day before. When she arrived at the hospital that morning, she found Tanner to be nearly 100 per cent normal mental status. Lets just say I don't think this was a coincidence. In thinking about the events of the last week and talking with numerous staff members I have come to the following conclusion. He was being attended to by My mother and his mental status was her way of letting me know she was present. Almost his every action from pulling and picking at his fingers and removing his oxygen to the speech were an exact memory I have of her condition. Also Kristi had told me of an incident of he was trying to reach for something on his tray table. It was out of reach so he used his foot to get it. When the nurse complimented him on his ingenuity he simply responded "It was good enough for who it is for". This was a phrase used by my Dad who passed away 5 years ago. This comment is not something he would say on his own. So as I talked about last week, The patients here are indeed watched over by angels and he did have some help to recover as he did. It was said to me at least 5 times last night and this morning that his recovery was nothing short of a miracle!!!!!!!! As I said earlier the theme of meeting this morning was Faith. when I got back to his room I went to the church website and searched for the Address of elder Oaks address last year of healing of the sick and the power of faith when administering to the sick. He talked of the fact that it doesn't matter the words spoken simply the fact that the person have "Faith". It is such a simple thing, and also the first principle of the gospel.



I will finish with this statement from Pres. Monson as it was quoted this morning. "Fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith"


I hope these thoughts make a bit of sense, as I am not a writer. Thanks for all yours concern, thoughts, prayers and FAITH. Love to all Robert