Here’s another update on my brother Daniel. My Dad says he continues to improve little by little. I actually got to skype with him a few days ago, which was really nice. He can’t talk too well because of the tracheotomy, but he could communicate pretty well all things considered. 

His new heart is doing well, praise the Lord. But his recovery is still coming along slowly due to several factors. The most serious is the pneumonia and infection in his chest. Both seem to be slowly improving but are still significant problems. He also has gout in his feet which is very painful and prevents him from even trying to stand and walk. So he can’t get much needed physical therapy that way. And finally, he still cannot swallow, which means he can’t eat or drink anything. He has a swallowing test scheduled today. If they are satisfied that he won’t end up with water down the wrong tube and into his lungs, then he can begin eating and drinking for the first time since January 1^st! He really wants to pass this test. So if you would pray for that, I know he would appreciate it.

My Dad asked me to pass along his thanks to everyone who has been praying for Daniel. The Lord has clearly been answering prayers.

_____________________________________________________

I just talked to my Dad in Baltimore and got the most recent on my brother, so here is another update on Daniel. Praise God there is good news on several things. He is no longer on the dialysis that he had been on for several weeks. Also, he has been able to extend the time each day that he breaths on his own without the help of the respirator (or ventilator – I don’t know which is correct. It is now being done through a tracheotomy rather than a tube down the throat.) Also, they said that his chest x-rays look better which is an indication the pneumonia is getting less. In that regard, however, they have increased the immune suppression drugs to help his heart, which of course means fighting off the pneumonia will likely take longer. There is still always a danger of heart rejection. They do regular heart biopsies to monitor this. He was actually scheduled to have another one done this morning (Feb 8).

So there is encouraging news on some of the really important stuff. My Dad says he just looks a whole lot better. He is, however, in a lot of pain. The sources of the pain include the huge incision where they did the heart transplant, but also the multiple other smaller incisions and holes for the many tubes that have been in and out of his body in the past five weeks, plus the multiple IV’s, plus the damaged throat from the respirator and the recently installed tracheotomy. He is unable to talk and still unable to swallow which means he can’t drink or eat. The best he can do is to have some ice chips. They try to get him to sit in a recliner for as long as he can each day, which usually is just a couple hours. So for all the improvement, thank the Lord, it is still a really rough experience. It has been more than five weeks since the transplant and he will likely be in the hospital another month – maybe more, only the Lord knows.

Hopefully that answers questions any of you had on his current status. Thanks again for your prayers and encouraging notes. Please continue to pray especially for the pneumonia, his pain level, and of course that there will be no rejection of the heart in the days ahead

__________________________________________________

I haven’t been doing daily updates on my brother, basically because there is not a lot new to report each day. But here is the current situation. He still fighting pneumonia and is still on a respirator which is very uncomfortable. He is very weak and just in a lot of pain, although they do have him sit in a chair for a couple hours at least some days. He is able to communicate some, even though he can’t speak. They are going to put in a tracheotomy on Monday. The reason for this is that his lungs have been so damaged that they anticipate him needing breathing assistance for a long time (although there is no way to know just how long, whether weeks or months). But they assure him that having the tracheotomy will make him much more comfortable.

Since he will have to go to the operating room for this, they are also going to remove a pace maker and defibrillator that are still in his chest from his old heart at the same time. So please pray that that goes well and there are no complications from that procedure.

One other issue he’s dealing with now is pain from gout that he has dealt with off and on for the past several years. So added to everything else, his gout has flared up!

But on the good news side, the results of his blood tests have been improving somewhat. So, Lord willing, that is a signal that the infections and pneumonia are getting better.

Thanks again to so many who have been praying. This Monday will mark four weeks since the transplant. But we are very thankful he has made it this far and that the heart itself seems to be doing well. With all the complications we realize there is still potential for things to take a turn for the worse. So please continue to pray for healing and for endurance for Daniel in this long recovery.

____________________________________________________________

Today they decided to put Daniel back on a respirator since he was having some difficulty in breathing. The real problem for him now the pneumonia that is difficult to treat because of his suppressed immune system. The plan for now is to put a tracheotomy in his throat in the next couple days. The advantage to this will be that he will then be able to have the assistance breathing without all the discomfort of the respirator, which then means he has to be sedated. If he could get past the pneumonia and infection it seems otherwise his heart is doing fairly well. But of course the pneumonia in itself is quite dangerous. Thanks again for your prayers.

________________________________________________________

The report on Daniel today is on the whole good.  The best news is that the results of the heart biopsy done on Friday show no sign of rejection. Praise the Lord! The second piece of good news is that Daniel’s lungs are working well enough to take him off the respirator. He’s been off the respirator since Saturday. He is on oxygen, but being off the respirator allows him to communicate more and be less sedated.

            He’s still on a slow dialysis machine. His kidney doctor does not think his kidney (he only has one – a transplant from 20 years ago) is failing or will fail, but they are keeping him on the dialysis for now.  The issues he had a week and a half ago with his heart racing have been resolved with medicine. I think he is still on that medicine, but he hasn’t had problems with that for a while. The doctors are satisfied that that condition is stabilized.

            The most immediately serious problem he is facing is still the infection in his incision and the pneumonia in his lungs. Apparently there is no indication that the infection is spreading, but it is still there. They have said repeatedly that it will take a long time to get rid of this infection. To my thinking, anyway, as long as the infection is there it is still a dangerous situation.

            After all the setbacks and complications a week ago, the doctors have told my parents to expect a long road to recovery. So what we are seeing here seems to fit with that prediction. Thank the Lord there haven’t been any new problems in the past 4 or 5 days, and the issues he was dealing with are either stabilized or getting better. A lot of you are praying and we really thank you for that. God is answering your prayers. Thanks for persevering in prayer with us as we enter the third week since the transplant.

______________________________________________________________

Daniel has continued in a pretty stable condition for the past few days, not a whole lot better, but thankfully not worse. There are still issues with his lungs due to another air pocket in his chest. This happened before and they were able to deal with that. We don’t really have new information of the extent of the infection in the lungs and chest. They did a heart biopsy on Friday and the initial results looked good, with the exception that the right side of his heart is not working as well as the left.  We should know more about possible heart rejection in the early parts of next week once the full results of the biopsy are back.  Hopefully we’ll get more clear information about the pneumonia and infection then too.

______________________________________________________

My parents were encouraged again on Wednesday, seeing some improvement in Daniel’s condition. He was doing most of the work for the respirator and they had lessened his sedation levels. They are talking about doing a biopsy on his heart in the next few days to see if there are signs of rejection. This is standard and would be done even if his recovery had not hit these complications. The infection in his chest and lungs is still the big issue, but it seems to be getting better. But again, they’ve warned that the affects of this serious infection will last for weeks at the least. Thanks for continuing to pray.

_____________________________________________________

Evening, January 17th

Thanks for your prayers and responses to the update I sent out yesterday regarding my brother. Today (Tuesday) was good in that no new complications or problems developed. That is an answer to prayer in itself. For the past four days or so there has been some new, negative complication each day. So at least today there was some stability in his situation. The prognosis is still uncertain, but hopeful. The key thing the doctors told my parents today was that Daniel may be in this state (on a respirator and dialysis) for weeks or even months. The infection in his lungs and chest is very powerful and his immune system is being suppressed because of the heart transplant. So if they lower the immune suppressant drugs it increases the risk of heart rejection, but obviously if he doesn’t have an immune system he is totally dependent on anti-biotics to kill off the infection. So it is obviously a delicate balancing act. They did not take him into the operating room to try to physically remove the infection as they had mentioned they might do. My Dad is not sure if they have ruled out doing that or not, but it did not happen today.

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Hello All,

I’d like to ask for your prayers once again for my brother Daniel who had a heart transplant on January 2^nd. He’s had a pretty rough recovery with a lot of ups and downs and complications. Right now his condition is quite serious with lung infections resulting in pneumonia. They may be opening up his chest again tomorrow in an attempt to fight the infection.

Thanks again for praying and trusting the Lord with us.

 ______________________________________________________

Friday evening, January 13 

Most of the week this week Daniel made good progress, but the last few days have been a setback. His heart has been beating fast. On Thursday his heart started racing and they were able to shock it back into rhythm pretty quickly. But on Friday he had trouble all day and they couldn’t resolve it. So they had to put him back on a medicine to slow the heart beat and sedate him again which seemed to help. Apparently this is caused because nerves were probably damaged in the heart during the transplant. It is not totally unusual, but obviously not wanted. He also was having problems with one lung, so he is back on the respirator. The way my dad put it, it seems like a week of progress has been erased.

Thank the Lord it has been almost two weeks since the transplant. Please continue to pray though that the Lord would continue to heal and resolve this new development with the heart and lung.

____________________________________________________________

From Monday evening:  Daniel continues to make progress in his recovery. On Sunday he was removed from the respirator (in time to watch the Broncos game – I don’t know that that was a good thing for a new heart!). So praise the Lord – the new heart is performing well on its own and he is breathing completely on his own. He is still on feeding tubes since his esophagus was injured by the respirator. So he is not able to swallow. That should heal on its own shortly. Today he was out of the bed and seated in a chair for several hours.

So, once again, thank you to those of you who have prayed for Daniel. We are all so grateful for God’s grace in bringing him through this. Obviously there is a long way to go, but his recovery is now coming along nicely after a few scary days at the first. Praise the Lord.

______________________________________________________________

Saturday was another good day for my brother Daniel. They continue to slowly lower his sedation which allows him to be more alert. He has been trying to communicate, but since he’s still on a respirator that’s very difficult. They did take out two of the four drainage tubes from the ECMO machine out of his chest and stopped putting nitric oxide in his blood that was to help make his veins more efficient. My Dad says he still looks pretty rough but that he continues to make steps in the right direction.

Again, thank you for praying.

__________________________________________________

Friday evening, January 6 

Here is a summary of what I’ve heard regarding my brother today. His heart is continuing to beat on its own without the help of the heart machine (ECMO to those of you to whom that means anything). His chest has been closed up but they have left the tubes used for the ECMO machine in his chest until they are sure he won’t have to go back on it. He is still on a respirator and is heavily sedated. But they hope to slowly take him off the respirator within the next couple days. After the big tubes from the respirator are taken off his throat he can then be taken off sedation.

There is still a problem of bleeding into his abdomen. They still hope that problem will resolve itself, but if not he many need another surgery to fix that problem. But at the moment they are still waiting on that decision.

Praise the Lord for the good progress. Please keep praying about the bleeding issue and of course about the continued strengthening of his heart and body.

____________________________________________________________

Here is the latest news on my brother, Daniel, who received a heart transplant Monday in Baltimore. This news is from Thursday evening. Thanks so much for your prayers up to this point.

Today they took Daniel off the heart machine that had been doing the work of the new heart. Praise the Lord that his new heart is now beating on its own! Obviously this is great news. He is still in critical condition, although he certainly has improved since two days ago.

_____________________________________________________________

Evening, January 4th.

The news to report today is better. After observing the CAT scan the doctors decided not to do anything immediately about the bleeding, hoping it would heal itself up. They took him off sedation a little bit to see how he would respond to commands and he did well, then they put him back under. He is hooked up to many machines and a respirator. So it is better if he is completely sedated. Tomorrow they will try to start taking him off the heart machine to see if the new heart will take over. That is the big test of course. So please pray that the new heart will perform well.

______________________________________________________

The most recent news - evening of Tuesday 1/3 - is that Daniel has excessive bleeding. They are going to try to do a CAT scan to find out the cause of the bleeding.

He is also on a machine that is doing all the work for his heart. The purpose is to strengthen the heart. They will try to wean him off that machine in a few days. But apparently the first problem to sovle is the bleeding.

So there are some complications and his condition is critical. We don't know how out of the ordinary these types of things are for a heart transplant. But we do know that Daniel stil needs your prayers and God's healing. We're trusting God. He is able to pull him through and we are praying that He will.

Those of you who have been receiving our updates for several years will probably remember that on occasion I have asked prayer for my brother, Daniel, who has serious heart problems. He has been on a heart transplant waiting list for about two years. Monday morning he got a call that a heart was available for him. He went into surgery about 8:30am and was out of surgery 6 or 7 hours later.

Daniel lives in Baltimore and the rest of my family is in Denver. A good friend of his is keeping my parents informed. The report is that the surgeon was happy with the surgery and the new heart is working. He is now in ICU and so far nothing out of the ordinary has happened. My Dad will be flying to Baltimore at 6am on Tuesday and my Mom following a day later.

So we thank God for the good news so far. Thank you for praying especially over these next few days. I will try to keep the “prayer request” page of our ministry website www.scottsinthailand.org updated with new information.

It's been a while since I added to the prayer request section! If you don't see recent prayer requests listed here, you can always find them on the "recent prayer letter" page, which I usually do better at updating.

But since you are here - here are a few prayer requests I am praying for at the moment.

1. Please pray for the discipleship of the young believers in our church. Several are very busy and it is hard to schedule regular meetings with them. So pray that we can do our part, but also (and more importantly) that the Holy Spirit would be moving in their hearts a desire to grow and follow the Lord. We have seen some of that desire in a lady named Hong who recently made a profession of faith. Here are the names of a few others, Nack, Pu, Sharp, Tdo and Paul.

2. Most of those who attend our church, whether believers or not yet believers, or those who come to our English classes and hear the gospel are women. Of course we are thankful for each of them. But would you join with us in praying for men to be saved and discipled?

3. Please pray for Hannah's pregnancy. No problems so far. Please pray that it would stay that way.

Here are a few prayer requests to go along with the March/April update.

1. Salvation of two regular adult church attendees – Nek and Paul.
2. Amphan is the name of a lady whom Hannah teaches English.  She shows some interest in the Bible and in Christianity.  She’s obviously thought about thinks.  She won’t come to church.  But enjoys studying Bible stories with Hannah during her English lessons.  I’ve mentioned her before.
3. A young lady named Mai who was recently released from prison.  She made a profession of faith before being released.  She now lives several hours away with her sister.  Pray we would still have contact and influence with her.
4. My brother Daniel, whom I’ve mentioned before, has been put on a heart transplant list.  We don’t expect anything immanently, but it could be within the year.

Update on other previous prayer requests below:

1. We’ve started meeting with several of the regular attendees on a weekly basis during the week.
2. Toei has been in contact with Maam Beckman a bit.  But as of yet not shown any signs of coming back to the Lord.
3. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen or heard from Neng in several months.
4. We’ve closed down our adult English program for March and April.  We hope to start up again in May.
5. For various reasons we’ve not continued our weekly study.  But Paul is still faithful at church.  Nate Beckman had a real good talk with him last Sunday.  He’s still not quite ready to commit to Christ alone.
6. See #1
7. “Gote” came back with his friend one time, but we haven’t seen him since then though.
8. The meeting in Chiang Mai was a refreshing and enjoyable time for sure.

It's been a while since putting any updates about my brother Daniel.  He is doing better since the ordeal in September referenced below.  He was able to go back to Denver over the Christmas holidays.  But his condition is still serious and a matter of ongoing prayer.  He is being put on a heart transplant lists.  It seems his heart is not doing as well as they had hoped, so he will probably be moved up to the urgent category of the transplant list soon.  So a transplant may be sooner rather than later.

For other ministry related prayer requests, you here is a summary of our most recent, Jan 26, 2010 prayer letter update, plus a few others:

1. Personal Discipleship and / or Evangelism with the regular church attendees.

2. The young lady name Toei who has decided to reject her former claims to be a Christian.

3.  Please pray that we could get back in contact with Neng.

4.  Our adult English program really lacks students at the moment.

5.  Duane's Bible studies with Paul who seems confused about the gospel.

6.  The new weekly Bible study, prayer meeting in the home of some of our church attendees.

7.  A young man named "Gote" visited us a week ago for the first time.  His friend who brought him is a Christian who lives quite a long way away.  He friend told us Gote had recently become a Christian.  He wanted to introduce him to our church because Gote lives not too far away from us.  So pray that we could get reconnected with him and be used by the Lord in his life.

8.  We will be attending a conference for at the Asian Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries in Chiang Mai, Thailand on the first week of February.

It's now Monday morning the 21st.  I just got off the phone with Daniel.  Being able to talk with him finally was a very good thing!  He was in good spirits.  He is now beginning to eat a little regular food and trying to regain strength.  He'll probably be able to move out of the Cardiac Care Unit in a day or two and into a normal room.  Hopefully he'll regain strength quickly and be able to go home before too many more days.

We're so thankful for so many who have joined in prayer for Daniel, and that the Lord has seen fit to pull him through this crisis.  The ongoing prayer request remains that this would not happen again.  They still do not understand exactly why he has been having the problem with blood in his lungs, especially to the extent that it happened this time.  They also still are uncertain about how this issue might affect a heart transplant.  He is not yet "on a transplant list," but they are talking about it.  So please continue to pray for wisdom and God's direction as those decisions are made.

Regarding Lisa Caynor:  We were able to visit with her family last Friday and today (Monday.)  They were very encouraged Friday, and still so today, at some real progress.  She now opens here eyes regularly and seems to understand things and recognize voices.  Occasionally she will look at people while they talk to her.  There is still a long way to go.  Progress seems very slow.  But there is progress being made.  She has still not woken up - it's been more than three weeks since the accident.  So there is still plenty of room for prayer!  Her husband Rick, her children Kristen and Ricky and her parents Dale and Sue I know need the Lord's sustaining grace during this time as well.

Just a reminder.  You can get the "official" word from her family on this website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisacaynor%20

I just talked to my Dad.  It’s Thursday evening the 17^th.  The same general trend is still going.  He is improving, but very slowly.  The tube is now out of his throat.  But he still has to breathe through an oxygen mask because his lungs are not strong enough to be totally unassisted.  He can speak some, but apparently is not able to be understood.  He really isn’t able to write legibly either.  So that has been quite frustrating to him.

He is improving, although he is still quite weak.  He hasn’t eaten any food for almost two weeks now.  So, it’s a long road ahead before he will be able to get out of the hospital.

Just a quick follow up on the last update:  The bleeding in his lungs they attribute to blood thinning medicine he is on.  His blood was way too thin and that contributed to blood getting into his lungs.  I don't know too much beyond that.

As of Wednesday morning the 16^th, there are still continued improvements. Daniel is now breathing mostly on his own and he is no longer sedated. But he still has the tube down his throat which makes it impossible to talk and apparently the tube in the throat is quite uncomfortable. (I haven’t heard this directly, but I’m sure they are keeping the tube in his throat until they are sure he will be able to maintain breathing on his own.) Apparently he still has a bit of a fever but that doesn’t seem a huge concern to the doctors.

So the good news is that he is no longer sedated. He is getting stronger and closer to be completely free of the ventilator and being able to communicate. But they still do not know the cause of why his lungs were filling with blood in the first place. His lungs filling with blood is what caused this whole ordeal. So that is still a major concern and matter of prayer.

Although Daniel still has a ways to go, and some of the most basic questions are still unanswered, we all are feeling relief and encouragement at his progress. Praise the Lord for his answers to so many prayers!

Concerning Lisa Caynor, our friend whom I mentioned in our latest prayer letter, there has been little new to report. We visited her family at the hospital on Monday. While they have had the encouraging signs of her opening her eyes some, they long for so much more and it has not been coming. They could all really use your prayers from strenght and encouragement. If you want to follow their case better you can do so at this website:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisacaynor%20

It seems that things are improving with Daniel, although quite slowly.  But we thank God that the trend is up rather than down.

I just talked with my mom, who had just spoken with my Dad.  So, as of Monday evening Daniel was still sedated and on the ventilator.  However, on Monday his fever went down.  He still has a small fever but it is much better.  They finally were able to do some tests that they have been hoping to do for several days now.  So while there is still no certainty as to why the fever or lung issues, they think they are getting closer to figure it out.

Please pray that the doctors would be able to figure out the correct source of the bleeding into his lungs.  Also, please pray that he would be able to breathe on his own and be taken off the drugs keeping him sedated.  It would be great to be able to talk to him!

Thanks again!

I just got off the phone with my Dad who is with my brother in Baltimore (Sunday night American time.) My brother’s condition has not changed significantly, but my Dad thinks he is looking better and making improvements. He has not been able to breathe on his own, although each day they have him breathing mostly on his own for several hours before he needs to be put on the ventilator. The reason he has been sedated is because the ventilator is so uncomfortable. When they ease the ventilator strength, they have also have lowered the dosage of drugs keeping him sedated. During those times he is able to communicate a little by moving his arms a bit. Other than that, he remains “out.” He has a fever which has now lasted for nearly a week. There is residue blood in his lungs and they thing there may be some bacteria there causing the fevor. On Monday they hope to do some sort of test to determine why he is getting blood in his lungs. At the moment there is no more bleeding into his lungs. But they have not yet determined the cause.

My Dad said that he is confident Daniel is going to pull through and make a recovery. That of course in an encouragement to me.  Our health, life and safety comes from the Lord! We know God's will is best and will trust him.  Thanks so much for you continued prayers.

Concerning the prayer requests I mentioned in our recent prayer letter, I'll try to keep this webpage updated with the latest news.

Concerning my brother Daniel - here is what I have heard.  As of Friday evening not a lot had changed in his situation.  But whatever changes there were, were slight improvements.  They had him in isolation until they ruled out that he did not have TB.  Now that they have done that, he has been moved out of isolation into the cardiac care area- from what I understand.  The medicine sedating him has been lightened, but he is still being kept unconcious.  The ventilator was also turned down again and he breathed better on Friday than he had on Thursday.  He still has a fevor.  They don't know why he has a fevor and they still do not know why he has been getting blood in his lungs.  He has been getting blood in his lungs off and on for a couple months now.  Obvioulsy this time it turned into something quite serious.

Some of you know that my family, other than Daniel, all live in Denver.  My Dad has gone out to Baltimore to be with Daniel, in case you were wondering if anyone was there with him.

Concerning Lisa Caynor:  There was good news on Friday.  She opened her eyes on a couple occassions when her family and friends asked her to do so.  So her family is encouraged at some progress being made there.

Thanks to all for your prayers.

1. Pray for our boldness, ability and wisdom in speaking to our English students and friends about Jesus.

2. Pray that people would visit the church as a result of the church brochures we pass out.  So far we have had visitors only one time - some Christians who lived in the area and were a part of another church.  They wanted to check us out but, understandably, remain with their other church connections.

3. Pray that we will be faithful and work hard.

4. Pray for several in the Prison in Nakhon Pathom (thats the name of the town) where we have Bilbe studies after we teach English.  Some have professed faith in Jesus.  Others show some genuine interest.  Pray for fruit that remains.

5. We both still have much room for improvement in Thai.  Duane especially needs you prayers.  Communicating effectively is essential!

6. Pray for our personal and family's spiritual growth.

As we get settled into the new area here in the Pin Klao area of Bangkok, please pray for:

1. For us to find many ways to form relationships with people; that in these relationships God would open up hearts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that we would have the boldness and diligence to proclaim Christ; and that ultimately these people would become believers and members of Pin Klao Baptist Church (the name for the new church.)

2. For the remaining supplies and finances needed for the building.  (I have not said much about this in prayer letters, but the renovations on the building were way more than we had anticipated.  We had tried to be careful in figuring it all out, but our estimates proved to be extremely low.  The result is that the Beckman's have not been able to finish their house.  They lack dressers and closets.  Their bathroom remains without tile and they have no kitchen to speak of yet.  There is simply not enough money to finish the church part of the building and their home at this time.)  We know times are difficult, but God is not limited by economies!  If God wants us to have the finances to do these things, he will provide.

3. We need to make a decision soon about whether or not we will put Elaine into a Thai school.  The school year here starts in the Spring.  She has not learned Thai yet, even with a Thai nanny for a year and a half.  She really needs to learn Thai, and we think sending her to a school may be the best way to do it.  There are other reasons too, but that is the major one right now.  Currently Hannah is home schooling her in reading and math.

4. Both Hannah and I need to progress in our Thai skills.

5. We are working on a church brochure to get our name out into the community.  We will include and advertisement for the free English classes as we distribute the brochures.  We hope to start classes the first week of March.  Please pray that our English classes would be successful for their purpose.  If we are going to teach English, we want to do it well.  But that is not the end goal.  We want to use it as a tool to give out the gospel and see a church planted in the Pin Klao area!