ll of you to know that she loves you. We all love you and will be forever grateful for the prayers, and faith in our behalf. We feel your prayers and feel so much support from each of you. As many of you know life does not always turn out the way we have planned. This week is no exception of that.
As many of you know this is a week where we get to practice even more the powerful truths that are taught to us by our Savior. He loves us. He knows our hearts, He will always help us grow and He is the basis of everything that we do. We are using the atonement this week in every way to deal with sadness, heartache, hurt and fear. We express gratitude and love for those thoughts, fasts, and prayers in regards to Sister McKee. Your prayers in Sister McKee’s behalf are heard and truly felt by our family and we know they are being felt by her this week as well.
On Monday afternoon Sister McKee was feeling chest pain so she went to the heart doctor. He recommended that she do an arteriogram on Tuesday which checked out fine. Our Australia daughter Miranda stopped in for a one day visit on her way to New York for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since Sister McKee was not feeling well Angie, Aubrey, Kiara and Destini took her around Nashville and enjoyed a few sites like the Opryland Hotel. Wednesday morning we had a nice breakfast with Miranda and then took her to the airport.
By Wednesday noon Sister McKee still was not feeling well. She stayed down most of the day determined not to go see a doctor. Her pain kept increasing throughout the day and she started into nausea as well. As she went to brush her teeth, I turned around and she blacked out cold onto the floor. We helped her back into bed wondering if maybe she had a touch of the flu but she kept telling me that her chest hurt worse than ever. I called the doctor and we made a decision that it was time to go to the ER. By the time that we made this decision Sister McKee was in so much pain that she was ready to go quickly As evening came, there was no other alternative and I took her to the ER that night and stayed there with her as we tried to diagnose why she was in so much pain.
About 5 am on Thanksgiving Day they finally admitted her into the hospital but could not diagnose the pain. Later that day we experienced our first miracle.
I had invited the missionaries to spend a 2 hour Thanksgiving dinner with a family and them share 10-minute messages throughout the day with as many families as you can. I received a knock on the door from a nurse telling me that two missionaries were here to talk to me. I couldn’t understand how they found us, Seeing how the missionaries were never informed about Sister McKee and her condition. As I walked down the hall their jaws dropped as I asked what they were doing here. They had no idea Sister McKee nor myself would be here. They said they felt prompted to go to a hospital and give blessings. This hospital I asked? On the third floor? I am told that there are 17 hospitals in Nashville area. These Elders had been guided by the spirit to come to this hospital at this time and on this floor and start requesting door to door if anyone was in need of blessings. We were, and I invited them to give Sister McKee a blessing.
Her pain was still at a level 12 by 2:00 and I felt that we should use the missionary force to help Sister McKee. I asked missionary’s and family to stop and pray on her behalf at exactly 5:00. At exactly that time She began to rest and was soon asleep (another miracle) as she had no relief of her pain for the last 24 hours. About 15 minutes later her oxygen rate went down into the 60s and she was rushed to the ICU to keep a better eye on the situation.(another miracle) as this move is what led them to find out that she had actually had a heart attack in the hospital right after they had tested her blood levels which had shown no sign of a heart attack.
The following day they were testing her for pulmonary problems when the heart doctor came by to check on her for her doctor who was out of town. He Immediately found that Sister McKee had had a heart attack that the previous tests did not show. This discovery would not have happened without her oxygen levels dropping and her appearance in the ICU. She was immediately moved to another ICU for the heart. He scheduled for another arteriogram so he could fix the heart Saturday morning. During this surgery they found a blockage in a stent and put in another stent. After the surgery she made hand movements and tiny sounds to communicate to me about her pain levels so she understood me well.
Two hours later while sitting the room with her she experienced cardiac arrest. The room began to move with every able body reviving her. There was a Dr. Scoggins just outside the door that stepped in (another miracle) and directed the action and she was quickly brought back.
Scott flew in from Boise Saturday morning to be with the girls. They had been alone since Wednesday as I never left the hospital. They have all been amazing. They sent me a picture of their Thanksgiving meal. It was beautiful. One of the girls even said,”Boy mom really works hard to prepare these big meals doesn’t she.” (another miracle). They did wonderful but I think it was a blessing to have a big brother around after no parents for four days.
After the cardiac arrest on Saturday there was very little response from Sister McKee. All agreed that she had been through so much and probably needed to just rest. There was no movement Sunday morning so they took her in to look at the brain to see what was happening and much to our surprise found that the brain was bleeding and that she had had a stroke. Again she went immediately into surgery. I called all ten of our children on a conference call and they made a choice to all come immediately. Some very good friends here in the mission field helped us so much by arranging flights for all of them. These families are truly angels to allow our children to come out and be with their mom. They cut into her skull and drained the blood and removed the hemorrhage. The surgery was a success and worked out as planned but with no guarantee. It was done by Dr. Li (yet another miracle) who was on call at the time.
Michelle, Steven, Kylie, Mike, Kirsten and their 3 boys flew out on Sunday night. It was great to see them. Andrew our grandson that was born ten months ago reached his sweet arms out to hug a grandpa that he had never seen. On Monday afternoon Jared, Brittany and their boys, Steven , Rachel, and Seren flew out to be with mom. Kason is another grandson that we have not seen. What a blessing to be able to see and hold these new grandsons. (Charlie, Peter, Andrew, Ethan and Kason)
On Monday all of our children, spouses and grandchildren were here for family home evening except for Travis and the Draper boys who stayed behind to stay in school. We had a spiritual time together as we gathered around Sister McKee’s bed and sang and shared spiritual insights. I am sure that Sister McKee could hear the music and for me it was a huge blessing to gather our family around and hear them all sing again. Grandpa McKee and Jim even showed up and shared in the event. Grandpa said that it was one of the greatest nights that he had ever experienced . The spirit was there as we try our best to make sense out of this interesting trial.
For now Sister McKee is resting peaceful. We have seen very minimal movement of arms or legs but are also told that this may take a few days. I am very clear that the Lord is in charge and that He will guide us through this situation. We love the Lord and trust Him. We know that there are so many praying for Sister McKee and we thank you again for so much support. We will keep you updated and want you to know that WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES and pray daily that the Lord will grant us this one. We are also very clear that we are in His hands and that “Thy will be done” will be the basis for our pleading.
We ask that you would please remember her in your thoughts and prayers this week.
Missionary Miracles this past week:
-- “ Aaron ….. told Sis Escobar and I that he is going to serve a mission!!!! We are SO PROUD of him! He is a huge example to us of a disciple of Christ. He helped us teach a lesson Saturday night. You would have never thought that only a few months ago he didn't believe in God. He has truly been spiritually converted.
“he thanked me again and he told us he wants to make a change. He came to church yesterday for the first time in his life. …………. He is a ex member to Hells Angels, and so it was really different for him, he only came to sacrament and loved it. Half way thru church he called us and said......... how can i be baptized? Can i Be Baptized soon?? so we will be having another baptism soon!!!!!!”
”“We currently have 16 dates set some shaky but some solid and a few to reset. There is so much to do and that is going on with such short amount of time it almost seems impossible to do it all. But i know that is what satan wants us to think. Each day we strive to teach all that we can and at the same time talk to each person we can. (My companion) is really good at doing that. But were always looking for more of Gods children who are ready for baptism and he has blessed us tremendously. Only two weeks ago we maybe had 1 member a week come out with us but within the last week in a half we have had more members than we have had in a month come out with us. We have so many splits we are doing now cause the ward sees how much success this area is having and they now want to help. It’s so nice because (my companion) and I can go see many more people and get more work done. I hope that we can continue to do this and do all we can do to invite people and prepare them for baptism.”
“had a baptism on Saturday, and that was fantastic. She was confirmed yesterday and also we set a baptism date yesterday as well. woooooohhoooooooooo!!!!!!!”
With love and appreciation,
As many of you know this is a week where we get to practice even more the powerful truths that are taught to us by our Savior. He loves us. He knows our hearts, He will always help us grow and He is the basis of everything that we do. We are using the atonement this week in every way to deal with sadness, heartache, hurt and fear. We express gratitude and love for those thoughts, fasts, and prayers in regards to Sister McKee. Your prayers in Sister McKee’s behalf are heard and truly felt by our family and we know they are being felt by her this week as well.
On Monday afternoon Sister McKee was feeling chest pain so she went to the heart doctor. He recommended that she do an arteriogram on Tuesday which checked out fine. Our Australia daughter Miranda stopped in for a one day visit on her way to New York for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since Sister McKee was not feeling well Angie, Aubrey, Kiara and Destini took her around Nashville and enjoyed a few sites like the Opryland Hotel. Wednesday morning we had a nice breakfast with Miranda and then took her to the airport.
By Wednesday noon Sister McKee still was not feeling well. She stayed down most of the day determined not to go see a doctor. Her pain kept increasing throughout the day and she started into nausea as well. As she went to brush her teeth, I turned around and she blacked out cold onto the floor. We helped her back into bed wondering if maybe she had a touch of the flu but she kept telling me that her chest hurt worse than ever. I called the doctor and we made a decision that it was time to go to the ER. By the time that we made this decision Sister McKee was in so much pain that she was ready to go quickly As evening came, there was no other alternative and I took her to the ER that night and stayed there with her as we tried to diagnose why she was in so much pain.
About 5 am on Thanksgiving Day they finally admitted her into the hospital but could not diagnose the pain. Later that day we experienced our first miracle.
I had invited the missionaries to spend a 2 hour Thanksgiving dinner with a family and them share 10-minute messages throughout the day with as many families as you can. I received a knock on the door from a nurse telling me that two missionaries were here to talk to me. I couldn’t understand how they found us, Seeing how the missionaries were never informed about Sister McKee and her condition. As I walked down the hall their jaws dropped as I asked what they were doing here. They had no idea Sister McKee nor myself would be here. They said they felt prompted to go to a hospital and give blessings. This hospital I asked? On the third floor? I am told that there are 17 hospitals in Nashville area. These Elders had been guided by the spirit to come to this hospital at this time and on this floor and start requesting door to door if anyone was in need of blessings. We were, and I invited them to give Sister McKee a blessing.
Her pain was still at a level 12 by 2:00 and I felt that we should use the missionary force to help Sister McKee. I asked missionary’s and family to stop and pray on her behalf at exactly 5:00. At exactly that time She began to rest and was soon asleep (another miracle) as she had no relief of her pain for the last 24 hours. About 15 minutes later her oxygen rate went down into the 60s and she was rushed to the ICU to keep a better eye on the situation.(another miracle) as this move is what led them to find out that she had actually had a heart attack in the hospital right after they had tested her blood levels which had shown no sign of a heart attack.
The following day they were testing her for pulmonary problems when the heart doctor came by to check on her for her doctor who was out of town. He Immediately found that Sister McKee had had a heart attack that the previous tests did not show. This discovery would not have happened without her oxygen levels dropping and her appearance in the ICU. She was immediately moved to another ICU for the heart. He scheduled for another arteriogram so he could fix the heart Saturday morning. During this surgery they found a blockage in a stent and put in another stent. After the surgery she made hand movements and tiny sounds to communicate to me about her pain levels so she understood me well.
Two hours later while sitting the room with her she experienced cardiac arrest. The room began to move with every able body reviving her. There was a Dr. Scoggins just outside the door that stepped in (another miracle) and directed the action and she was quickly brought back.
Scott flew in from Boise Saturday morning to be with the girls. They had been alone since Wednesday as I never left the hospital. They have all been amazing. They sent me a picture of their Thanksgiving meal. It was beautiful. One of the girls even said,”Boy mom really works hard to prepare these big meals doesn’t she.” (another miracle). They did wonderful but I think it was a blessing to have a big brother around after no parents for four days.
After the cardiac arrest on Saturday there was very little response from Sister McKee. All agreed that she had been through so much and probably needed to just rest. There was no movement Sunday morning so they took her in to look at the brain to see what was happening and much to our surprise found that the brain was bleeding and that she had had a stroke. Again she went immediately into surgery. I called all ten of our children on a conference call and they made a choice to all come immediately. Some very good friends here in the mission field helped us so much by arranging flights for all of them. These families are truly angels to allow our children to come out and be with their mom. They cut into her skull and drained the blood and removed the hemorrhage. The surgery was a success and worked out as planned but with no guarantee. It was done by Dr. Li (yet another miracle) who was on call at the time.
Michelle, Steven, Kylie, Mike, Kirsten and their 3 boys flew out on Sunday night. It was great to see them. Andrew our grandson that was born ten months ago reached his sweet arms out to hug a grandpa that he had never seen. On Monday afternoon Jared, Brittany and their boys, Steven , Rachel, and Seren flew out to be with mom. Kason is another grandson that we have not seen. What a blessing to be able to see and hold these new grandsons. (Charlie, Peter, Andrew, Ethan and Kason)
On Monday all of our children, spouses and grandchildren were here for family home evening except for Travis and the Draper boys who stayed behind to stay in school. We had a spiritual time together as we gathered around Sister McKee’s bed and sang and shared spiritual insights. I am sure that Sister McKee could hear the music and for me it was a huge blessing to gather our family around and hear them all sing again. Grandpa McKee and Jim even showed up and shared in the event. Grandpa said that it was one of the greatest nights that he had ever experienced . The spirit was there as we try our best to make sense out of this interesting trial.
For now Sister McKee is resting peaceful. We have seen very minimal movement of arms or legs but are also told that this may take a few days. I am very clear that the Lord is in charge and that He will guide us through this situation. We love the Lord and trust Him. We know that there are so many praying for Sister McKee and we thank you again for so much support. We will keep you updated and want you to know that WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES and pray daily that the Lord will grant us this one. We are also very clear that we are in His hands and that “Thy will be done” will be the basis for our pleading.
We ask that you would please remember her in your thoughts and prayers this week.
Missionary Miracles this past week:
-- “ Aaron ….. told Sis Escobar and I that he is going to serve a mission!!!! We are SO PROUD of him! He is a huge example to us of a disciple of Christ. He helped us teach a lesson Saturday night. You would have never thought that only a few months ago he didn't believe in God. He has truly been spiritually converted.
“he thanked me again and he told us he wants to make a change. He came to church yesterday for the first time in his life. …………. He is a ex member to Hells Angels, and so it was really different for him, he only came to sacrament and loved it. Half way thru church he called us and said......... how can i be baptized? Can i Be Baptized soon?? so we will be having another baptism soon!!!!!!”
”“We currently have 16 dates set some shaky but some solid and a few to reset. There is so much to do and that is going on with such short amount of time it almost seems impossible to do it all. But i know that is what satan wants us to think. Each day we strive to teach all that we can and at the same time talk to each person we can. (My companion) is really good at doing that. But were always looking for more of Gods children who are ready for baptism and he has blessed us tremendously. Only two weeks ago we maybe had 1 member a week come out with us but within the last week in a half we have had more members than we have had in a month come out with us. We have so many splits we are doing now cause the ward sees how much success this area is having and they now want to help. It’s so nice because (my companion) and I can go see many more people and get more work done. I hope that we can continue to do this and do all we can do to invite people and prepare them for baptism.”
“had a baptism on Saturday, and that was fantastic. She was confirmed yesterday and also we set a baptism date yesterday as well. woooooohhoooooooooo!!!!!!!”
With love and appreciation,
President and Sister McKee, (Mom and DAD)
Angie,Aubrey, Kiara, and Destini
What a beautiful and inspirational post. Thank you for sharing- even in your hour of fear and sorrow- you are lifting others.. Remember that all who know and love you are praying with and for you. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteOur Love and Prayers are with you...
ReplyDeleteMoment by moment...
Elder and Sister Benedict,
Cabo Verde, Praia, Mission
Capeverdessays.blogspot.com
Your positivity, faith, and gratitude shine through this post and bring such beauty to what cis undoubtedly a terribly trying experience. Thank you for inspiring me yet again, and I and my family will keep you and yours in our prayers. You continue to bless so many, even in your trials. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteBill, I am so very sorry to hear this. I will pray for RaNae and you, and that whatever the end result may be you and your family will be blessed with comfort, understanding, and peace.
ReplyDeleteI love you all!
ReplyDeletePresident McKee - My niece forwarded your blog to me. I was SO sorry to hear of RaNae's problems! We pray that she is doing better. So feel of our love and prayers from AZ! Prayers for you and your family as well, as you go through this trial.
ReplyDeletePlease know that there are LOTS of us in NM praying with you for Sister McKee and all of you, her sweet family. We'll also be praying tomorrow at noon. Miracles can and DO happen. Your faith and example are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteDear Angie, our granddaughter is scheduled to enter the MTC Jan 2, 2013 to prepare to come to your Dad's & Mom's mission so we are very concerned for your family. As an extended family we have all been praying for your mom. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this update. We will add you girls, and of course, your dad to our prayers. Wow, what a refiner's fire you are all going through. Our thoughts, love, & prayers are with you all.
ReplyDelete