An Update on my Dad’s Health

Dear Friends—

Many of you have been asking for an update on my dad and I wanted to write a quick word on what’s been going on with him.

Thank you all for your sincere prayers and kind words after my father had his stroke. The last few weeks have been intense and often emotional—many nights spent by my father’s (and mother’s) side in hospital rooms and ER’s dealing with not only the stroke, but a brain bleed and a pulmonary embolism. But it’s also been a very sweet time connecting with my family. My brother and his wife were here for 10 days from Singapore, and it was wonderful to be with them, even though we were all running around a bit.

We’ve been talking to many doctors and nurses, and working with cutting-edge therapists, and praying for significant healing for my dad. So far, that doesn’t seem to be God’s path for him, although we are certainly seeing improvement day by day.  He is in an acute rehab hospital and working hard to overcome significant challenges with memory, mobility, confusion, vision, continence, and so on. He has had such a sweet attitude about all of this, which is a blessing to the rest of us.  He was actually able to walk a few steps with a walker the other day, which means he might not be entirely bedridden, which would be HUGE! We are waiting to see what the trajectory is like for the long term. Until then, many things are still up in the air.

It looks very likely that Dad will require 24/7 care from a full-time live-in caregiver (since the care he requires is far more intense than my Mom can handle without putting her own health at risk!), and that Mom and Dad will at some point move down to Atlanta to live with us. Which will also mean building a sizeable addition onto our home, since our current house doesn’t have the layout or the size we’ll need, and was already bursting at the seams with us, our kids, and running my ministry and Jeff’s business out of our home. Our minds are reeling a bit with how we’re going to choose and manage a general contractor and major build while also working on a major research project and book deadline, sending our daughter off to college and doing all the usual traveling and speaking. Can you tell we need your prayers? We are trusting God’s goodness and direction!

My entire family appreciates your prayers as we are navigating these new waters. To have a community of friends who are storming the throne of heaven on our behalf is truly humbling. We know God is in control. And we are resting in that. 

Love,

Shaunti

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Shaunti Feldhahn loves sharing eye-opening information that helps people thrive in life and relationships. She herself started out with a Harvard graduate degree and Wall Street credentials but no clue about life. After an unexpected shift into relationship research for average people like her, she now is a popular speaker and author of best-selling books about men, women and relationships. (Including For Women Only, For Men Only, and the groundbreaking The Good News About Marriage).

Her newest book, The Kindness Challenge demonstrates that kindness is the answer to pretty much every life problem, and is sparking a much-needed movement of kindness across the country. Visit www.shaunti.com for more.