PartC-Scotts emails re wifes 2nd brush w/death on09

From: Scott Ruppert
Sent: Mon 10/08/2009 9:30 PM
Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Good evening,

Another day in our lives has almost passed. Eliz was moved from acute care on flr 5 to regular care on flr 5. This is good, a sign of progress. This morning they removed a drainage bag and did a precautionary ultrasound for blood clots. The ultrasound came back negative. My girl has been walking and at one point today was free of all apparatuses. Tonight she was back on antibiotics by intervenes. This is not because things worsened, just simply part of the plan. She is still on antibiotics for shingles. Her mood is good, but we would appreciate prayer as we are all (kids too) weary. We feel very blessed to have experienced God's healing and continue to desire to be good stewards no matter what lay ahead. We would also appreciate prayer for the timely administration of vaccinations and various specialist visits (nose, throat and mouth, immune system, infectious disease) that my girl will require.

You have all been so kind and we continue to rest in the palm of God's hand knowing that we are part of the bigger picture. It has been great to experience each part of the body (family of God) at work.

Re; visiting

Since Eliz has shingles and they are contagious, we completely understand a hesitation to visit. That being said the medical staff is allowing visitation. You simply have to gown up before you enter the room and then put lots of shmutz (sanitizer) on before entering and when exiting. Her rm is 5DS8 (floor 5, wing D south rm 8). Visiting hrs in this wing are 1pm to 8:30 pm. The mornings are long for her. She has a phone and can be reached by dialling (519) 742-3611, when prompted say patient information and then ask the operator to put you thru to Elizabeth Ruppert.

Have a good evening,

Scott

From: Scott Ruppert

Sent: Tue 11/08/2009 9:11 PM
Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Hi friends,

It has been an eventful day. After we worked our way thru some miscommunications that had left us with the impression that there was a bump in the road this morning, it now looks like Eliz may be released from hospital tomorrow. We are so grateful for all your prayers and acts of kindness and would appreciate your continued prayers as Eliz recovers, mom adjusts to not having the kids, we find normal and the medical minds try to figure out how to keep this from happening again.

We are in God's hands. To him be the honour and Glory,

From Scott, Elizabeth, Colson & Kamryn

From: Scott Ruppert
Sent: August 12, 2009 10:02 PM
Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Good evening all,

Elizabeth was discharged from the hospital this afternoon and is very happy to be home, in her own bed and away from the hospital sounds and smells. She will continue her recovery here which will include several specialist visits to try and get to the bottom of why she responds so drastically to infection. We value your continued prayers and appreciate all your acts of kindness. God has chosen to bless us in this way and we continue to desire that it would be to his honour and glory. I am always reminded that we deserve no better than hell. It puts things into perspective. God is great. May we be good stewards of all situations we find ourselves in.

Thanks so much and we will keep in touch, but not so regularly

From: Scott Ruppert
Sent: August 20, 2009 8:31 PM
Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Hi friends,

It’s hard to believe that over a week has passed since Eliz’s hospital release, but here we are at home adjusting and finding our normal, hard to know what that is sometimes though. The kids came home with us last week, prior to that they were at my Mom’s. They are adjusting well and have been giving Eliz her space. Both kids have shown their emotion over their separation from their mom in their own ways. They have been a very bright spot in our days as they show their support to mommy with their gentle touch’s, questions and prayers. I took off from work the latter part of last week. My gracious employer’s support has been a real blessing. This week I am working early mornings at home and then in the office till 2ish at which time I come home & spell whichever mom is helping at our house that day. The mom’s have been very helpful once again. Eliz’s main struggles over the last week have been with the shingles she started experiencing Aug 1. They are extremely painful, very hot and prickly so that has limited her desire to be up and around. She sees a nurse multiple times a week for her stomach area incision which is healing nicely but is still tender. Nether of us feel angry or bitter, just scared and still like we are having a bad dream. Since her release she has experienced chills and a mild fever off and on. This is not abnormal for a body that has gone thru as much as hers has but you can imagine the anxiety when you know these are the early signs you have experienced that eventually led to 2 previous major bacterial infections. We rest in the fact that we have a God who loves us, we are part of his plan and we know that he is all powerful. We are given to him in whatever lay ahead and desire that our lives will be lived for his honor and glory. This of course is only possible when we are given to him and allow him to live thru us. God is so gracious and we have certainly been blessed to experience him in so many ways. When we consider how our fellow believers have come around us and assisted in so many different ways such as Tim’s certificates., monetary gifts, meals, prayers, talks, emailed notes, cards, flowers, lawn mowing, etc., we are reminded of what a privilege it is to be part of the family. It truly is beautiful when believers unite to serve Christ with their unique giftedness. We are so grateful to all of you and would appreciate your continued prayers for:

That we would be good stewards of the situations we find ourselves in

Elizabeth’s recovery

Aug 24 family doc app to determine appropriate vaccinations for Elizabeth

Sept 1 wk appointments for incision review and ear, nose throat. The latter is an app to determine if there is an abnormal location within her ear, nose throat area that bacteria can settle in and release

Nov 10 immune system app

Our state of mind

Kids, as our son will start grade one and daughter will start JK

Thanks again friends, praising God for all his wondrous works

The Rupperts

From: Scott Ruppert
Sent: September 8, 2009 8:25 AM
Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Good day all,

Your prayers have been so appreciated during Elizabeth’s recent illness and recovery. We want to keep you updated on our journey. Elizabeth’s health has been steadily improving to the point that she has been out and about a bit doing school prep. shopping etc. These excursions are short since she still is quite weak, her incision is still healing and the shingles still linger. She was to see an immune system specialist in November. God moved that up to last week so we ended up having 2 appointments last Thursday.

The first was to see an ear nose throat specialist. She did a throat swab for strep and unless it is positive will not see us again till Dec 2 at which time she will do another. If the 1st is positive she will see us sooner and the tonsils will likely be removed, otherwise it is Eliz’s option. The thinking here is that the tonsil location is an area where strep can reside and removing them would be one less option for the bacteria.

The second was to see the immune system specialist. He had the following to say regarding her experiences with strep A and strep Pneumo:
Re vaccinations; will refer her to St Mikes for an app. this Friday at which time they will conduct the req’d tests, do the vaccinations, etc. Another app will be reqd to do follow up tests. That will determine whether or not monthly infusions of antibody are reqd.
Spleen; likely root reason for last sepsis
Precautions; teeters (immune) testing
Risk to kids; suggested ultra sounds to confirm size of spleen
Removing tonsils; not necessary unless swab shows strep or Eliz is strep carrier
Re tooth ache that has been at root of all this; he recommended she revisit her dentist but after Toronto visit. He did not encourage antibiotics prior to dentist visits

We are so grateful for God’s hand at work as we can see it with things like appointments being moved up, God sustaining us, etc. We look forward to what God continues to teach us thru this. We have our down moments but God is good. On Sunday Elizabeth prayed that if God was with her that the song Amazing Grace would be part of the worship service. It was! God is so good, he knows our every need, when we are weak, he is strong. Amazing Grace and the song I Will Never Be The Same Again are 2 songs that are very precious to us as they were part of a group of songs during our 1st worship service attended after Elizabeth’s illness in 2005.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

We look forward to what God has and will teach us as we are his vessels.

God Bless,

Scott, Elizabeth, Colson & Kamryn

Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 6:56 PM

Subject: RE: RE: Direct reports from Scott for Martin family and friends

Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since we provided an update on Elizabeth’s health.

Since September;

In October her incision healed up. This took time because they re-opened it in August to confirm that a bubble they saw was not bacteria. They then let it heal on its own rather than staple it.

We took 2 trips to Toronto’s St Mikes hospital to have an immunologist review Elizabeth’s health. On the second visit he confirmed that her antibody levels are stable but that her spleen does not absorb bacteria. This means she can fight off the common cold or flu, but is susceptible to bacteria. She is what they call immune compromised. To prevent bacteria from rearing it’s ugly head she needs to and has had the appropriate vaccinations including H1N1. Cleanliness is also a high priority.

Eliz is waiting to see a blood specialist to see what they might suggest (the spleen is a blood organ)

In December she has another ear, nose, throat appointment to confirm whether or not bacteria is settling in any of those areas

Just today we received great, great news concerning her vision, she can continue driving (vision was impacted by septic shock in 2005), she thought it had worsened since this summer’s episode , but it has not

All things considered Elizabeth is feeling well, she feels like she has her energy back and is doing normal everyday activities again.

God has truly blessed us with learning’s from these experiences and He continues to be our strength. We are all doing well, are so grateful to God and to each of you for your love and support.

Thanks so much and I truly hope that this is the last email I need to distribute regarding my wife's health.

Regards, Scott Ruppert