"Thumbs up," "Ok," and "I Love You"

Thanks Kirsten McKee for the photo--very cute. 

I’ve been reading a few quotes from Lorenzo Snow a modern prophet of God as it will be part of our lesson manual for this next year. He stated:

“Every man and woman who serves the Lord, no matter how faithful they may be, have their dark hours; but if they have lived faithfully, light will burst upon them and relief will be furnished.”

“Trials and tribulations have been the experience of the Latter Day Saints. God so designed that it should be. I daresay that in the (premortal) spirit world, when it was proposed to us to come into this probation and pass through the experience that we are now receiving, it was not altogether pleasant and agreeable; the prospects were not so delightful in all respects as might have been desired. Yet there is no doubt that we saw and understood clearly there that, in order to accomplish our exaltation and glory, this was a necessary experience; and however disagreeable it might have appeared to us, we were willing to conform to the will of God, and consequently we are here.”

I have received several phone calls lately asking what had actually happened with Sister McKee. So to dispel all rumor, The night before Thanksgiving she had an undiagnosed stroke, she then experienced an undiagnosed heart attack on Thanksgiving day. On Friday the heart attack was discovered and she went into heart surgery Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon she went into cardiac arrest and she almost died. Sunday morning she was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke and I was told that she need immediate brain surgery and that she very likely would not make it through the surgery. Following the surgery she went into to a self induced coma for almost two weeks. After much fasting and prayers she began to come out of this coma. We thank you again for your continual faith and prayers. There are so many that continually pray in her behalf. We feel your prayers and your love. THANK YOU!!

We have been in the Intensive Care Unit now for 23 days as she fights for her life. She began to make a change beginning last Thursday as so many prayed and this week we are seeing miracles take place in her life. She has come completely out of the coma now but is still on a respirator tube. She is breathing on her own today for four hours without the respirator tube but with the help of oxygen. (miracle) She can move both feet and both hands.(miracle) She can cross her hands across her lap.(miracle)She can understand everything that I say.(miracle) She can communicate (yes) by raising her eyebrows. She can mouth the words (I love you) and (bye). (miracle) She can give a “thumbs up” and an “OK” sign and “I love you” sign with her hands. With her return from the coma also comes a new awareness of pain. She has had no pain medication for two weeks. Those of you who know Sister McKee know that she is determined and that she has a spunky personality. That is beginning to come out with her determination to keep her feet moving and to roll her eyes from time to time especially when her husband does not quite figure out some of the sign language. Jared (our son) is here working some physical therapy with her. We are so grateful for our children and so many friends supporting us in so many ways as we keep the mission going and deal with this opportunity to grow.  We all love Sister McKee so much.  The missionaries are working so hard as their way to support her when they know that there is so little they can do beside faith and prayers. We have wonderful missionaries who serve with a constant love for the Lord. We love and appreciate all of you and thank you for your cards, prayers , faith and support.

The William McKee Family