Home in the U.S.

I'm not sure how many of you know all that has been happening with my family back home. At the end of August, my dad had a pretty bad stroke. It has pretty much crippled the right side of his body and affected most of his speech. As a result I tried to time an unplanned visit home to help out my mom and brother as they care for my dad.

My dad was released out of the hospital about a month ago and my mom and brother have been caring for him pretty much 24 hours a day. He has improved a lot since he has arrived home. By the time I arrived here on Nov 5., he was in much better condition than before. I can't compare his condition now to before since I wasn't here and my mom chooses carefully what to share with me over the phone when any of my relatives is "sick". But I can say that I expected something much worse than what I found. To me, the biggest obstacle for us is the fact that he has to go to the bathroom often and often wets the bed because of lack of someone there to help him. He can't get out of bed without help so he just has to go where he is. Speech is obviously a problem as he struggles communicate his needs. I guess it's somewhat like having a baby in that he screams/cries for help, but then it's up to us to figure out what he needs. My mom and brother have figured that out for the most part and I think I'm learning quickly about his needs.

We have been working on exercises both physically and for speech to help him recover from his stroke. The other day I was doing speech therapy with him, just asking yes/no questions. He has good understanding of what we say to him; it's just difficult for us to understand his responses. So I asked him a question that was pretty obvious one way or the other and he just began laughing. The question..."Do you like the SF Giants?" It was funny to him because I love the Dodgers. Anyway, we have a long road in front of us, but by the grace of God, we will get through this.

For those supporting me, I will be home caring for my dad until Jan. I am mostly in Northern California near S.F. because it's where my family is. However, I plan to make some trips down south. Hopefully I get to see you while I'm here. Please pray for us as we help my dad and pray for the salvation of my family as the have yet come to know the love of Christ.