Pastor Mohr prayer update

An update on Pastor Mohr's progress & additional prayers.

The text below is from an email sent by Pastor Mohr's son, Greg. Greg and his sister are currently in Italy with Pastor Gary and Gloria. He asked that this be shared with friends at Calvary. - Pastor Matt It is hard to believe it has almost been a week since my sister, Gail, got the call from my mom in Rome, Italy, regarding my dad's stroke and we began making plans to be here about 48 hours later. GREAT NEWS! Today one of the doctors told us that he is definitely due to be discharged from the Stroke Unit at San Camillo Forlanini Hospital the afternoon on Monday, Sept 30. He likely would have been released today or tomorrow except for the fact that all of the business operations in the hospital are shut down over the weekend. Acute care is provided free of charge in Italy (something worth knowing before you travel!), but convalescing care is only provided for Italian citizens and other certain groups such as other European citizens, refugees, etc. Americans are not included. So once he is released, he's our responsibility. Tomorrow and Monday we will be busy making arrangements for him to stay with us at a hotel along with whatever medical assistance is required (walker, wheelchair, etc.) while we wait whatever time is necessary for the travel insurance company to finish making our travel arrangements back home. Given the type of stroke he had, travel within less than 2 weeks from the event is considered risky, so the travel insurance company has said a nurse will be traveling with my dad. He'll also likely get to travel in Business Class since it's going to be difficult for him to maneuver, and the nurse may need to attend to him on the flight. Whether Mom gets to travel beside him or not is still to be determined. My sister and I (who have been here since Tuesday evening) are just hoping to be able to get onto the same plane with them. CURRENT CONDITION. He is still moving slowly, but his speech and ability to move everything except his right leg are just about back to normal. Last Sunday when this started, he was able to speak, but he was speaking only in single words (mostly Yes and No), and we could see him struggling at times during the week to figure out either what word he was looking for or how to say it. Today he was speaking in longer phrases and full sentences fairly regularly. His handwriting was sloppy last Sunday. We had him write his name on Thursday, and while it was sloppy at first, it was better than on Sunday. After he practiced it a number of times (filling up a page from a small notepad), it was almost back to looking like normal. His appetite has been very good, and he's eating most of what he is provided (he loves most of their soups!), but not their bread (no butter!), except for breakfast when they provide jam. His other vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiration) are all safely within expected ranges and stable. The only lingering major symptom is that he has very little control of his right leg. Today he was able to stand up, pivot from the bed to a chair, and sit down with me standing in front of him so he could hold on to me. After eating his meal and sitting in the chair for about an hour, we repeated the "dance" in reverse. I really only provided something to hold onto and a little support for his back and to keep from tipping to the side...he did all of the work to stand, shuffle while turning 90 degrees, sit, and lift his legs back into bed. He has not taken actual steps yet, and it doesn't look like they are going to work with him on that here...that may have to wait for him to get home. He said a few times his toes on the right foot have twitched, which the doctors told him was to be expected as the body works to repair itself. This afternoon my sister was "torturing" him by tickling the bottom of his right foot, and his toes were sometimes pulling away from her in a reflex reaction. On past days he just complained but without his foot responding. Once or twice, he even got his big toe to lift a fraction of an inch when he wasn't being tickled. These are encouraging signs that his body is slowly healing. CHALLENGES. The biggest challenge for my dad has been that he has not gotten a good night's sleep since this happened. Between the stress of the situation and the strange noises in the hospital, he has not slept for more than 30 minutes at a stretch. We have tried a number of things, including ear plugs, music, and sounds of ocean, river, and rain. Today we added the current sermon series from Pastor Dawit Bokre, pastor at Dad's home church of Good Shepherd in Hayward. Dad said he enjoyed listening to them this afternoon between lunch and dinner, so maybe if he listens to them enough tonight, Pastor Bokre's voice can lull him to sleep. (Pastor Bokre, we'll let you know whether you'll need to keep an eye on him once he's back in services at Good Shepherd. ;) ) The trip home could take up to 72 hours to be arranged from when the travel insurance company receives the fit-to-fly form, so we are hopeful that the doctor will send that tomorrow so we can get home as soon as possible. We have been told to prepare to fly by Friday, but we are hoping for sooner rather than later. CLOSING. The care that my dad has received here we feel has been fantastic. The nurses and doctors that we have spoken with at the travel insurance company and at Kaiser have all said that it sounds like the doctors here are doing all the right things, so that has been a comfort to all of us. I'll sign off now because I need to sleep myself so I can be alert tomorrow and help my mom and sister with making hotel and transportation and medical equipment/supply arrangements for Monday. Please pray: giving thanks to our Loving God who has been holding us in his arms and delivering his messengers of peace and comfort at so many times throughout this week for my dad to get a good night sleep that his body continues to heal and he continues to gain the use of his right leg that our travel arrangements to return home will be made quickly and smoothly and that we will all be able to come home safely together that we will be able to find all of the necessary accommodations for the remainder of our stay in Rome  that the doctors and nurses in Rome and the Bay Area will continue to know exactly what to do to help Dad heal that Dad has the patience and the willingness to relinquish his strength into God's hands and to accept the assistance of the many loving people who are so ready to help him in his time of need as he has done for so many others in the past and would most certainly like to be able to do for others in the future. Good night from Rome. In Christ, - Greg

Prayer Request

 

Please pray with us... Request from Art and Betty Cooper..... Our nephew, Richard who is a Deputy Sheriff,  was answering a domestic violence call in Louisiana and as one of the couple was approaching Richard, they were both hit by a passing car. The women is critical...Richard will survive but multiple broken bones.     We rest in the certainty of our Father's healing power, knowing that with him all things are possible.

Update on Gary Mohr

 

from Gloria Mohr

Please pray with us... from Gloria Mohr on 9/24   I just got back to my hotel after seeing Gary. He is a bit better. Able to put more words together instead of just yes, no, yup. He was moved out of the intensive stroke ward this evening. Now he is in a room with only one other person instead of many. I can see him for 1 and a half hours twice a day. Greg and Gail will be here in a couple of hours. He can lift his right leg off the bed a bit now, but still can't wiggle his toes. So we're just enjoying baby steps now! With God's help we will get through this. Praying for a little progress every day. Thank everyone for continued prayers; we know they're working. God is good!

Prayer Request for the Mohr's

 

please pray with us

Please pray with us... Pastor Aaron Putnam shared the following via email today. "I just received an email from Gloria Mohr.  She and Gary are vacationing in Rome, Italy but Gary had a stroke.  They will now be in Rome awhile depending on his condition and recovery.   "Prayers requested.  Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy." This is all the information I have currently. Please join me in praying for Pastor Mohr. Peace in Christ,      Matt Behrens, Pastor      here for you

Prayer request

 

Please keep the family of Michael & Pam Caspersen in your prayers as Pam's mother passed away after a very long illness.