For the past 2 days Mum has been cared for at Landour Community Hospital in Mussoorie. We are in a big sunny room (when the sun shines – it thundered and hailed last night) and are blessed by the small army of nurse angels in their green gowns and masks. The staff are all of them a blessing – and we invite a quick prayer for God to bless this amazing hospital to become known as a healing home for many new families. We were amazed when Sunita, one of the nurses, asked if we had been at Nav Jivan Hospital in Jharkhand. It turns out that she was one of our Sunday School students from the first year of our marriage!
Mum continues to be very sick. She has impaired consciousness continues to be on oxygen support. Over the past day we have realized that Mum has probably suffered a stroke in the past 48 hours as she seems unable to move her right leg and arm, and the right side of her face has a slight ‘droop’ to it. As recently as Wednesday morning she had been able to drink a whole cup of water on her own, so it is not a happy discovery.
But we really want to thank the Lord that Mum’s vital signs are now stable. Her fever has stopped and her kidney functions have improved. We were thus able to have a naso-gastric tube inserted which means that her feeding of a liquid diet is do much easier.
Since we are now aware of Mum’s stroke, we were suggested going for another CT scan to see if there is a subdural bleed in the brain since the last CT scan. Because of Mum’s frail condition, we are hesitant to do so. Getting a CT scan means a 1.5 hour trip down the mountain to Dehra Dun and harrowing thought of having her disappear into an ICU where she will be tied to her bed as they will not allow us to care for her as we are doing now at Landour Community Hospital.
Thankfully, Mum has not deteriorated even further neurologically. In fact, we saw a ray of light at the end of the day. Mum had over the past few days said things that we could not understand because of the slurred speech. But late afternoon we understood that she was saying “Yeshu Naam ki jai, jai ho” (Jesus’ name in Hindi) and that she was actually singing! When we sang along with her, she was able to carry on the lyrics of a number of worship songs. The words are slurred and limited to us, but we can see that her mind is sharp and she can hear and process what we are saying. The song that we first ‘recognised’ is especially significant as it says that “iske maar khane se mai changai hua” which means that “through Him being beaten I have been healed” (by His stripes we are healed Isa. 53.5).
In this same time, Mum yawned, and we said that she was yawning like a cat. And then she said “meow!” and repeated her “meows.” We talked with her about how she used to look after the many pet cats we had over the years and she was able to give one word answers that showed how much she was understanding our conversation.
We are of course still a long way off from where we would like to be. Mum continues to be very sick and we are glad for the Landour Community Hospital which is hosting us in this crucial time. We know she has a heart condition that could at any time be the way she is called home for good. Her stroke means that any recovery is unlikely to be soon. She drifts in and out. Her eyes are still not focusing and she does not seem to recognize us yet. Our gradual new normal is that we move her in her bed every 2 hours so that she does not develop bed sores.
And so a new set of possibilities are opening up. If Mum survives this bit – we will be looking to a new ways of caring for her. We are committed to care for Mum in the family and the Lord needs to guide and open doors for us.
Thank you – every one of you – for standing in prayer for us at this time. We are blessed to be able to play voice messages from Rudy and Premi to Mum. And for the fervent prayers and enouragements from so many. It is a privilege to be here with Mum at this time – along with Stefan and Vikram.
Even as I write this at 2 AM while keeping the night watch – Mum has been saying with surprising clarity “His grace and His love endures forever. Thank you Lord.” This is the most lucid she has been for days. “His love… forever. His grace… forever.” As she drifts in and out. We thank God for every moment He has given us so far. And forever. Blessed be His name.
- Andi and Sheba (on behalf of the extended Eicher family)
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