God answers prayer!

Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV) Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show thee great and mighty things, which you know not.

Today I am relaxing at National Jewish Medical Center - thankful to be here and for God answering prayer concerning 
my sinus surgery yesterday. There was concern about my being able to breathe on my own once the breathing tube, 
inserted for surgery, was taken out. Therefore, when I awoke in recovery minus the breathing tube, I was thanking the 
Lord for answering our prayer. Had that not been the case, I would have been in ICU for the night until they felt it safe 
to take the breathing tube out.

In addition, the surgery went well. Yea, Dr. Kingdom had to break my nose to straighten out my deviated septum, which 
was necessary to get to a pocket of infection in my sinus cavity, but he was able to do minimal damage to my nose and 
felt very good about the surgery. We are thankful for Dr. Todd Kingdom and have felt like the circumstances which led 
us to Him were a "God-send" or as Jan said, "Thy Kingdom Come."

Dr. Todd Kingdom and Bob in Recovery after Bob’s sinus surgery.

As bad as I look in recovery - THERE IS NO BREATHING TUBE = answer to prayer.

It was late when we returned to the room at NJMC from University Hospital where the surgery took place and we 
were exhausted. Being full of pain medication and attached to oxygen with a full mask as well as the dressing on 
my nose kept us from writing and uplinking an update last night. (We appreciated hearing from those who emailed 
to let us know they missed the update and were wondering how things went. – Thanks for praying and for following 
the updates.)

Today is a day of recovery. We are just hanging out here at NJMC, although it’s a beautiful day in Denver and 
we’d sure like to get out in the sunshine. I am still under an increase in oxygen and taking some pain medication 
as I recover from the sinus surgery.

As I am now a permanent resident of NJMC for the duration, Jan has checked out of Homestead Suites and is 
residing (when not at NJMC with me) with Geoff and Judy Godard.

Two very special people - Geoff and Judy Godard

The Godards are truly an answer to prayer and opening their home to total strangers is not unusual for them as 
they often show such hospitality to missionaries and others but it was quite heartwarming to us. They really 
demonstrate the love of Christ and have made us feel very special. As you pray for us thank God with us for the 
Godards as we pray God will bless them as they have blessed us.

Jan is feeling much better today, for which we are thankful. So as we head into a weekend of recovery, we are 
thankful for God answering prayer.

Thank you for praying.

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April 3, 2005 – "FORCED REST"

Today was a day of rest for Jan and me, kind of forced upon us but much needed. Ever since the sinus surgery 
on Friday, I have just been "out of it." Maybe the leftovers from the surgery, the pain medication, or further 
complications from stirring up things in my respiratory system. Although the sun has been shining and the 
temperature is above sixty, I have not been out of my room and been sleeping more today than I have been in 
a long time. We were thankful that Jan was able to enjoy a relaxed morning at the Godard’s before coming 
here to the hospital.

We are thankful for encouragement via email, cards, calls, and help from a good number of people. 
Thank you for praying.

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April 4, 2005 – "SICK MONDAY"

The journey to the bottom has begun and we seem to be getting bombarded on all sides today. There are 
physical elements that have shown up as shortness of breath and feeling like a bad case of the flu. There are 
the emotional elements in the frustration of being sick – not being able to tie my shoes or walk across the room 
without being out of breath and that with six to eight liters of oxygen. (I have really continued on a downhill skid.) 
We are both just tired of sickness. Looking back on how long this has been part of our lives and the fast journey 
downward – it’s really been frightening. The prospects of things getting worse and the lung surgery is reaping 
havoc on our emotions too. We are trying to be strong but in all honesty we have our moments of weakness and 
doubt too. There’s the loneliness too that we are both experiencing. Even though we have made many friends 
here in Denver and there have been so many acts of kindness, today has been a day when we really wish we 
were home and able to be with our friends there. Jan has been weepy all day. She misses her friends, flowers, 
house and butterfly garden and is anxious to return home with her healthy husband.

Bob and Jan by their bouganveillia at home!  (Photo compliments of Mary Anne Hutcheson)

So what do we do? 
We are calling upon the Lord for strength and doing our best to rely upon the promises of His Word.

Psalm 41:3 (New Living Translation) The Lord nurses them when they are sick and eases their pain 
and discomfort.

Bob trying to carry on at his laptop with his updates, PowerBreaks, and email – all of which has been a source 
of "carrying on" during this time of sickness. You can only imagine what it is like now being tied to an oxygen 
mask and higher oxygen levels just to breath along with IV treatments to fight infections.

And we are trying our best today but today is a rather "wearisome" day for us. Dr. Huitt said my breathing is 
bad enough that they will not take me down anymore on the prednisone before they do the surgery. In fact, they 
are have scheduled the surgical lung biopsy for Friday (4/8) of this week, rather than Tuesday of next week (4/12). 
It looks like the timetable will be for surgery on Friday, in ICU Saturday and Sunday at University Hospital while 
they try to re-inflate my lung and drain the excess fluid via a tube in my chest, hopefully come back here to 
NJMC on Monday (4/11 – Jan’s birthday) and try to restore my breathing via medications while the pathologists 
of both University Hospital and NJMC check out the lung biopsy for conclusions, Tuesday (4/12) begin additional 
treatment based upon findings in the lung biopsy, and hopefully to be followed by improvement and a return to 
Orlando that week. (Whooahh!!) Of course, that’s our wishful thinking – a return to Orlando that week – Dr. Huitt 
hasn’t said a word yet about when we may be able to return home.

Just to show how far down I have come, I tried to do some physical therapy today by riding the stationary bike 
while cranking up the oxygen to nine liters. I was thankful to get fifteen minutes on the bike but my level of 
exertion was almost nil.

Please pray for us. We know this week will be difficult, or at least we have resigned to that but it’s proving to be 
a little more than we had expected.

It’s been interesting how all the doctors have told me that had I not been in the physical condition I was prior to 
getting sick and had I not been accustomed to pushing myself like I had in Ironman competitions, I’d be much 
worse than I am.

One of my highlight memories has been coaching the five and dime program via the Track Shack 
Foundation. Johnny Simpkins (www.jonnyjpeg.com) took this one of Chris Lipscomb and me coaching. 
(I’m the more animated one – teehee)

Thanks for praying for us and for your encouragement via email and other means. It really means a 
lot to us.

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April 5, 2005 – "To Breathe Or Not To Breathe"

Today it takes everything within me just to breathe, and that’s only for a little breath, which is all I can get in my 
inflamed lungs. The oxygen intake level has been raised to 7 liters to hold my blood oxygen saturation level at 
an "acceptable" (safe) level. For some reason I am experiencing more "shortness of breath" than yesterday 
which has Dr. Huitt and others quite concerned today. They ordered an additional chest X-ray, blood work, blood 
gas test, and multiple exams. There is a possibility of getting in surgery today because I am very sick. We’ll 
know more later today. If it happens, it’ll mean heading to the hospital (University Hospital) which is just down 
the street and it will mean being "off line" for the next few days due to the fact I’ll be in ICU for 2- 3 days when 
I come out of surgery.

Although the struggle just to breathe is an event with each breath, and I am growing weary, as I was writing the 
Daily PowerBreak for May 30, I came across this scripture:

Hebrews 10:35-36 (NLT) Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember 
the great reward it brings you! [36] Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God's will. 
Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Thank you for praying. No news later today will mean I have gone for surgery. Otherwise, we’ll try to update 
again tomorrow and the surgery will be Friday as outlined yesterday.

Jan will keep Lucy Driskill (Florida) & Christina Greenawalt (RTS) updated and members of Winter Park Church 
can call Lucy for the news. Please feel free to call Jan on her cell phone at 407-739-1974 for an update. She doesn’t 
know how to do the update or email on this "dial up" service without Bob!

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April 7, 2005 – Message from Jan 
(put on the website by their friends, Dave & Peggy Hall)

 “The open lung surgical biopsy went great on April 1. We saw many miracles… will share those later! 
However, on Wednesday evening, all of a sudden, a staple or something must have come loose from the 
lung area and when Bob coughed, his lung deflated causing his body to fill with air… he ballooned to 
about 5 times his size! They did an emergency procedure without anesthesia! It will take several days 
for the swelling to dissipate. He is in tremendous pain. His lung has almost refilled, but there is not a 
whole lot of room for it to refill completely yet. He still has the drain tube and 4 other holes in his side. 
They are still considering a respirator, but will only do that as a last ditch effort if he feels like he’s 
laboring too hard for breath. Our prayers are that the swelling would dissipate quickly and that the lung 
would continue to fill and heal, and that he would be filled with hope – this is just another mountain that 
he needs to climb. Another prayer is that the biopsy will come back okay. 
Thank you for your continued prayers – Thank you for the phone calls on my cell phone… I don’t have 
very many minutes left, so I probably won’t be calling many people back, but thank you for the messages. 
They are SO encouraging!

Love, Jan”

Please continue to pray for both Bob AND Jan. Jan needs to stay healthy to be with him… but is having 
difficulty resting! Her father is flying in to Denver today to be with them. Hopefully, he will be able to 
relieve her of some time at the hospital so she can get some much-needed rest. They are still at the 
University Hospital and will probably be there until sometime next week. Their address at the Jewish 
Hospital is still good… Jan is stopping in there every day or so to check for mail, etc.

We will be attempting to update the website at least every other day to keep you all abreast of 
their situation.

 PS: Jan's Birthday is April 11th

Love and Prayers,
Dave and Peggy Hall

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April 8, 2005 – Update from Jan

 We’re thankful for tiny bits of improvement! Bob’s spirits are good… he even asked for the computer to 
be brought to the hospital! (I told him I didn’t bring it today because he needed to rest) He hopes to have an 
update later on in the weekend with some pictures. He was actually able to open his eyes today. They 
lowered his oxygen from 15 to 6 liters… And is on the nasal cannula, instead of the full mask. That’s a 
good thing!

 Please continue to pray that the swelling would dissipate and that his lung would continue to re-inflate on 
its own and that his pain would subside and that he would rest easily. He slept well last night, as did I… 
my Daddy stayed the night with him (and did not sleep).

 Today was a good day… keep the prayers coming!

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April 9, 2005 – Update from Jan

Today is hard.  This is very tough.  Bob's in a lot of pain and is still in ICU - probably here until Monday or 
Tuesday. Please pray that the swelling continues to go down and that the lung heals.  Bob is sitting in a chair 
this morning, but it's exhausting.  Thank you for your emails & calls - thank you for understanding that I 
cannot answer them all.  We're both exhausted.   Please pray the snow AWAY that is supposed to cover 
Denver tonite -- expecting 3 feet.  I'll be prepared with plenty of clean things so I can stay at the hospital.  
Please pray that we rest well.  Thankful that my Daddy is here and my friend Lisa K is coming in tonite.  
Pray for their safety as well as they both plan to return to Orlando on Tuesday.

With Love and thanksgiving for YOU in our lives,

Jan & Bob 

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