The Words of the Francis Family
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The Words of the Francis Family |
Prayer Request for our dear brother Bruce Williams, as he is getting weaker.
On Oct 17th Bruce Williams was preparing to go to our church service in Washington, DC. He felt weak and the staff at the physical rehabilitation center where he was staying would not let him travel. Joy, his daughter, was there to bring him to church. She stayed for a awhile a then left in the afternoon. Later that day he felt worse and they sent him to the emergency room where he was admitted.
The doctors were not sure if it was an infection, or complication from his kidney transplant a few years ago or stroke or other cause. He eventually became unconscious, although breathing on his own but not able to eat or drink. Over the last 2 weeks, while being treated in the Intensive Care Unit at the Washington Hospital Center, Bruce regained consciousness and was responding to visitors. Then, on Saturday, Oct. 23rd his fever rose and he became unconscious again and has been put on a breathing respirator.
Below is a note from his wife Rhonda.
Bruce was put on a sedative to make the difficult effect of the breathing tube more tolerable, so he is not conscious and only rarely stirs. (It is actually a relief to see him sleeping calmly. The hours prior to the machine it seemed he was fighting so desperately just to breathe that I was afraid his heart would burst.)
He still has a high fever, and his white blood cell count is high, indicating an infection. The doctors gave him a broad-spectrum antibiotic and took some blood samples from which they made cultures to try and pinpoint what kind of infection it is. These won't be done for a few days but when/if they pinpoint the type of infection they can narrow the antibiotic.
The boys came home from college to see Bruce last weekend. Both had to ask time off from their football coaches; UVA dedicated their football game last night to our family and Bruce getting well. (BTW -they WON!!).
Sunday, the doctors gave Bruce a lot of liquid to help the kidney flush the body, but the liquid seeped out from his veins and flooded his lungs, so they put him on a more aggressive breathing machine and gave him a stronger sedative.
The doctors originally told me that they wanted to do a CAT scan of his lungs to determine what had happened. But this would require a dye being put into his blood to help it show contrast in the reading. This dye would be too much for the transplanted kidney to handle, so the doctors decided not to proceed with this test. They did a CAT scan of his brain and there are no problems there. They also moved a by-line from his thigh to his neck.
Bruce's blood pressure is low. The doctors have been putting in extra liquid with the hope that it will add to the blood and help it move along the body's circulatory system. But as mentioned before Bruce's veins are weak so the liquids is seeping out of the veins into tissue and the lungs. So they injected a medicine that forcibly causes the veins to contract, pushing the blood along.
Because this can be uncomfortable the doctors continue to heavily sedate Bruce which they already planned to do for 5-7 days to try and solve the inflamed lung problem. In addition, he now has an internal catheter in his arm which monitors blood pressure more accurately and consistently than an arm cuff.
Please keep Bruce and Rhonda and their 4 children Hyangman Joy, Seungman Victor, Wonman Joesph, Jinman Michael, in your prayers.
Here are some of the areas where Bruce has worked from the 70s til now: Bruce worked and taught DP in Texas, Seattle, CA, all of New England, DC, MD, VA, and NY. He also spoke for CAUSA in a number of colleges in Chicago and the Midwest and worked extensively with ministers, traveling to Korea with ICC. When True Parents called all American members to serve other countries in the 40-Day International Exchange Program (before Desert Storm) Bruce traveled to Indonesia. He is also National Messiah to Republic of Georgia and attended the Jardin workshop in response to TF's direction to NMs.
It would be nice to receive some testimonies/comments from those brothers and sisters who know him well. They can be shared with his children and those around the family praying for him, and even read to him at the Washington Hospital Center.
You can email Rhonda directly.
Thank you, Sincerely,
Rev. Randy Francis
District Pastor, MD,DC,VA