Something Special for Easter

Everyone dresses up for Easter, so we dressed up Dad and took him "out" for dinner!

Actually, Lee prepared a fantastic meal in East Rutherford, loaded it into laundry baskets, packed it in the car and headed off for Whiting. We brought the works - ham, cheesey potatoes, asparagus, carrots - you name it! What a wonderful meal - and wonderful company.

Heather and Holly met us at Mom & Dad's apartment, and we all went together to retrieve Dad from Hamilton Place and bring him back to his apartment for the day. We had a grand time!

You can see from the photos that everyone was happy to be together. In a throwback to their youth, Heather & Holly gave Grandpa a set of squirt guns to keep him busy with the staff!

Today we went back down to meet with the Doctors, therapists and staff who are attending to Dad to get an appraisal of how he's doing. Good news! He's coming along well!

The therapist says he's progressing well, the doctor says he's right on schedule as far as recovering from the surgery, and everyone is pleased with his progress. According to them, he'll be there at least "a couple more weeks", but everyone sees him regaining the use of his legs and hip, and returning to the apartment with Mom.

In the mean time, please pray for patience and grace as he continues the physical therapy, and for continued recovery at his current rate.

Praise the Lord for his development so far, and for a wonderful staff at Hamilton Place, who, even though they're tired and often on their last "thread", they maintain a cheerful disposition and caring attitude.

If you have any questions, or if you'd like to make a comment, please feel free to click on the "comment" button and leave your thoughts.

We (Lee and Doug) are preparing this week to travel to Minneapolis this weekend (March 28-30) for a puppet festival with One Way Street. We'll be back later this week with more word on that.

In the mean time, thanks for stopping by and most of all for joining with us in prayer. God bless and keep you!!

Lee and Doug

BFF

That's what popular society today calls "Best Friends Forever"... and that's the best way to describe the friendship Dad has enjoyed with his friend and spirirutal brother, Henri Larrieu. They met when they were seven years old, and now they're eighty eight.. and still counting. When they were kids, they went to Deerfoot Lodge and that's where God took hold of their hearts, and together, they committed their lives to serving Him. After over 50 years of eldership and every kind of ministry leadership, their bond remains strong.

Yesterday (Saturday, March 15), Henri was able to visit Dad through the courtesy of his grandson, Matt Pizzulli. What a joy it was to watch to watch these BFF's fellowship! Thanks, Matt, for bringing your Grandpa down... sacrificing a whole day for your grandpa to see Walter again. That's a ministry unto the Lord!

They stayed for dinner, and you can see what a spread we all had! The food is wonderful, and Dad's eating better, now that he's in familiar territory. It was good to see him up and out of the room... in his own clothes! Hospital gowns are not befitting him!

We plan to spend some of Easter Sunday with Mom & Dad, so we'll report more on that later, but until then, we wanted to get these pictures to you of Dad & Henri. We know that many of you know both brothers, and these would be an encouragement.

Thanks for "tuning in". We'll have new "episodes" to come.

In the mean time, your prayers are still valued and always appreciated. Mom wants us to let you know how much she appreciates your prayers and interest. Who'd have thought that just checking out a website could be a ministry to someone?!

God bless & keep you - - and get pads for your knees - - we still need them knelt in prayer!

Doug and Lee

Peeking Through the Key Hole...

This is Hamilton Place at The Pines at Whiting. It's the convalescent center of the campus. We thought you'd all be interested in seeing the place from the inside out, so for those who can't get to Whiting, here it is. The dining room is designed to make you feel like you're home, so that when you're released, you'll be better adapted to your home environment. The hallway is so nice, you feel like you're home! If you look aaallllll the way down the hall, you'll see a door, and if you go through that door, turn left and you'll find  Mom & Dad's apartment just a few doors down on the left. As for the third photo, ... well.... sometimes a king just likes to stay in his room and hold court!

We wanted to share with you some good news that we got this morning from the social worker at Hamilton Place: as for Dad's physical infirmities, they anticipate a full recovery, and he should be as healthy and strong as he was before this whole journey began. He's responding well to the physical therapy, and he's cooperating nicely with the nurses. Unfortunately, the Altzheimer's will still run it's course, and the best we can do is pray and work with doctors who will help put off the more advanced stages as long as possible. You can pray for us about that.

We anticipate a visit this weekend, so we hope to have more good news for you. Thanks for checking back - and for the loving comments some of you have posted. It's at times like this that The Family (of God) comes together and upholds each other. Thank you for your cares and prayers!

'til we meet again, God be with you and keep you strong and healthy, y'hear?!

Doug and Lee

Home again...

Well, we're glad to report that Walter is back at the Pines! Hooray!!!

He was transported yesterday (Tuesday), and got settled early in the afternoon. Mom, Carol and Heather (three generations, there) were there to greet him when he got back. He also received several "old" friend visitors as well as a giant "get well" card from the Kingdom Kids (ages 4 thru 7) at Rutherford Bible Chapel (Lee oversaw the creation of the card). It's nice to be welcomed!

Today he settles into his rigors of rehab. Therapy in the mornings, visitors in the afternoon. 

Pray for the therapists and the medical staff at Hamilton Place. They need to get him up and walking and using the new hip as much as possible... trying to get him back to his "normal" schedule, or at least as close as he can get. He seems to be doing well - - he walked about 15 feet on his own yesterday.

We all thank you for your continued prayers and cares. The outpouring of concern for Dad has been comforting and encouraging. Thank you so much!

Keep checking back - we'll try to get some new pictures for you, so you can see the happy camper in his natural environment. ha ha!

Thank you again. God bless & be with you!

Doug and Lee

Thanks for asking...

Well, there's good news, and there's... well, it's good news! Dad has been released to come home (back to the Pines) tomorrow morning. He's scheduled for a 10 - 10:30 run, but we're guessing that hospitals use clocks more as a suggestion than an actual time piece. Still, coming "home" is good news. He'll face a regimen of therapy for his hip, but he does so much better at the Pines.

The other good news is that the convalescent portion of the Pines, a.k.a. Hamilton Place, is on the same floor as their apartment. So, Mom won't be climbing stairs to visit him. All that's between them is a door with a combination lock - - and mom has the combo!

Thank you all for your prayers! Please continue to pray for Mom, Dad & the staff at Hamilton Place. God is good, but He's not done, yet!

Lee and Doug

Doctors and Nurses and beds, Oh My!

First, our thanks to everyone who has been praying for dad. Your prayers are deeply appreciated.

Dad got some good news today from the doctors: his gallbladder problem is chronic! Now, that sounds like a bad thing, but the way it translates to his current situation is this: no surgery needed at this point. Because the problem is chronic, and not life-threatening, it can be treated as an ongoing condition, using medications. The organ is working, it's just damaged. So, it's been decided to go back to plan A and get dad up and around, and get his hip moving, as they originally planned. They'll watch how his "innards" change once he gets back up on his feet and moving around again.

As for coming home, the original plan (previous to the gallbladder situation) was for dad to go back to the Pines for rehabilitation on or about Monday. Now that we're going back to that plan, it appears that Monday or Tuesday will see him return to the Pines (Hamilton Place), although we personally think that it's more Tuesday than Monday.

Until then, please pray for Mom and Dad, both. Dad's getting tired of being in a hospital - and seemingly of being in a bed all day. That means that Mom tries to keep him comfortable and not as irritated. Pray that the doctors will be attentive to him, so that his return home is not delayed.

Thank the Lord for the medical staff at SOCH, who have been so caring and watchful of him. We heard that at one point, they put him in a chair and wheeled him out to the nurse's station just so they could keep an eye on him.

We'll keep you updated on his latest condition as soon as we get word, ourselves. Once again, thank you for your fellowship and loving concern.

In His arms,
Lee & Doug

Long Time, No See

Through the years, Doug' parents, Helen and Walter Nearpass, have been a strong influence on his life. They encouraged him to learn God's Word in their home, and then to use his musical talents for God's glory through his college years and beyond.

This past year saw them sell the house in which Walter had lived for 80 years, and move to "The Pines at Whiting", a retirement community in Whiting, New Jersey. For those who did not hear, it was two weeks ago tonight that Walter, Doug's dad, began a medical roller coaster that has kept everyone who knows him in prayer. Fortunately, through it all, Walter has kept a joy in his heart and a smile on his face. When Lee saw him last night, she leaned in to him and whispered, "Don't forget - Jesus loves you, and keeps you in the palm of His hand," to which he looked back at her and replied, "I told you that years ago!"

Here's the chronology as Lee put it together:

On Saturday, Feb. 23rd, Walter fell in their walk-in closet at the Pines. He fell on his tail bone and bumped his head. He walked around some on that Saturday and the next day Sunday the 24th. He began to become disoriented later that day and by evening was hallucinating. Helen called the medical team and they took him by ambulance to Community Health Center in Toms River at 1 a.m. on the Monday the 25th where he was in the ER for 41 hours There he had a CAT scan and blood tests and it was determined that he had not had a stroke. They put a wrist band on him that said RISK FOR FALL. All day Monday, Doug and I and Helen stayed with Walter. He was hallucinating all day. We waited for a medical team to give us a diagnosis. At 10:30 p.m. on Monday the 25th, a crisis team dr. suggested we transfer him to St. Barnabas Behavioral Center in Toms River for further evaluation and tests. More waiting. On Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. Walter was tranferred to St. Barnabas. On that same day, Helen began taking antibiotics for bronchitis. Wednesday, the 27th, Heather, Doug and I visited Walter at St. Barnabas where they told us that the night before Walter had tried to get out of bed and fell on the floor. He claimed he was dizzy and just decided to lay on the floor! I think this is where he broke his hip. He had some pain in his left leg after that. As far as we know, this pain wasn't investigated. Walter was at St. Barnabas from that Tuesday, Wed., Thurs., Fri., Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Dimentia was the diagnosis. Monday evening, Holly, Doug and I visited Walter again. On Wednesday, March 5th, Doug and I successfully transferred Walter back to Hamilton Place at the Pines - the acute care facility, where he finally had a complete team of physicians and social workers examine him. On Thursday the 6th, he was complaining of leg pain. An x-ray was ordered and they found a fractured hip. Walter was transferred to Southern Ocean County Hospital and on Friday, March 7th he underwent a partial hip replacement successfully. Today, Saturday, the 8th of March, he was complaining of stomach pain. After an ultrasound, it has been determined that Walter has gall stones and a damaged gall bladder. We are presently in a holding pattern waiting for doctors to determine the next step. Carol, Doug's sister, and brother-in-law Dennis have arrived from Chicago. Helen is tired but back to good health We are all praising the Lord for his provision of excellent doctors and care teams now, and loving families everywhere praying.

The pictures above were taken on Wednesday, March 5, during Walter's brief stay at Hamilton Place at The Pines. Keep praying for Walter, then come back and check on his progress as we learn it ourselves. Thank you all for your continued care, interest and most of all, your prayers.

In His arms,

Lee & Doug