Pray for Karl Hanaoka

Dear Friends,

This was a truly special Father’s Day as Karl has been home for four months and continues to grow in strength. He has out-patient speech, occupational, and physical therapies two to three days a week. We have been adding foods (chopped up) to his diet which he is now able to swallow. The feeding tube remains for now in order to give water and medications.

It was with much joy that Karl “talked” on the phone to each of the grandchildren as they called to wish him a Happy Father’s Day. He was able to answer briefly with one or two words, and they were able to understand.

A few mornings ago, as Jeffrey and Jason and I were bathing him, Karl said, “I’m glad I have two sons”, and began to weep. These were tears of gratitude, which I share, because the Lord has put it in our children’s hearts to set aside their lives for a time to give help and encouragement to their father and me.

With much gratitude for your love and prayers,
Karl and Shirley Hanaoka

“Blessed be God which hath not turned away [our prayers], nor His mercy from [us].”
Psalm 66:20

A few days ago we had a major answer to prayer – our dad swallowed applesauce! He literally had not eaten anything since that first week in December (a fact he often reminded us of!). Not being able to swallow has been a very frustrating and discouraging problem, so this answer to prayer has been a huge blessing and a very good sign of hope for us. He then had an evaluation swallow test scheduled. We had discovered that many of his therapists are Christians, and it was encouraging to be told by each of them that they were praying for dad during this swallow test, and it was a blessing to hear them openly praise God when dad passed. We thank you all so much for praying – God has truly been good to us. Our dad still has a long way to go before he can eat regular foods, but this is a very encouraging start.

On another note, I would ask that you pray for some very good friends of mine – Vince and Anna Koh. Anna’s father had a stroke several days ago, very similar to my dad’s. His condition is very dire. Then this morning, her mother had a heart attack. She was scheduled to undergo quadruple bypass surgery today. Both of Anna’s parents are unsaved. I know many of you may not know Anna personally, but she is a sister in Christ and I would ask that you would remember her parents in your prayers tonight.

Our dad has been making slow but steady progress. The multiple therapy sessions each day are intensive, but the results are evident as he grows stronger daily. However, though the progress is obvious to us, to our dad it seems like a painfully slow process, and he gets discouraged at times. We were encouraged the other day by a pastor friend who reminded us of the “impossible” situations found in Mark chapter 5 – the demoniac whom no man could bind, the woman with an issue of blood whom no physician could cure, and Jairus’ sick daughter whom no man could heal, and passed away. Each case was a hopeless situation from man’s perspective, but in each case, Christ healed them with but a word or a touch. We pray that we will continue to see God’s healing hand on dad. In particular, we are praying that our dad would:

• regain his ability to swallow. Presently, he cannot eat or drink, or keep his throat clear of congestion.
• regain his speech.
• regain use of his left arm and leg. He still has very little movement on his left side.
• be encouraged and strengthened, spiritually as well as physically.

We know we have a compassionate God who has the power to heal, and we greatly appreciate your prayers on behalf of our dad.

On Wednesday, December 23rd, our dad was transferred to an acute rehab unit at a nearby hospital, where he will receive the intensive therapy that he needs to regain motor skills that were lost in the stroke. One of the most important of these is his ability to swallow. The first hospital had no acute rehab unit, and was making arrangements to release dad to a skilled nursing facility. However, we knew he would not receive the intensive therapy he needed at such a facility, and were praying that he could get into the acute rehab unit at this other hospital. Most of the hospital staff at the first hospital did not think our dad would qualify for the acute rehab program – in fact, the nurse in charge of transfers said it would “take a miracle”. Shortly after, God performed that miracle through an old friend of our dad’s from medical school (his old roommate, in fact), who stepped in and made it possible for our dad to get into the acute rehab unit at this hospital where he works. We see God’s care for our dad in all of these events, and we thank the Lord and all of you for praying.

Dear Friends,

You are all so dear to us. Thank you for your encouraging words, and for praying for our family.

At present, Karl is stable and has far exceeded the expectations of the doctors. We are all witnessing the power of God in healing and the faithfulness of God in hearing our prayers. Whatever the future holds, we are resting in the care of Him who rescued us from sin to walk in newness of life, even life eternal, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His Love,
Shirley Hanaoka

Thursday night was a rough one. The PEG tube that had been inserted the day before was causing our dad pain everytime he coughed, keeping him from getting a good night’s rest, and he was having cold sweats most of the night. Then around 2 AM he woke up, very disoriented and incoherent – it’s a bit scary and heartrending to see your parent in such a state. In the morning, the doctors had no explanation for his condition. It was a bit discouraging as we left the hospital that morning to get a few hours of sleep, but as we pulled away from the hospital, God sent a timely reminder in the form of the jeep in front of us whose license plate read, “N PRAYR” (i.e. “In Prayer”). It was comforting to be reminded that there are so many people who are remembering our dad in prayer. Our family can’t thank all of you enough for your prayers, and your comments have truly been an encouragement to us. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

On Wednesday, God answered our prayers and the gastroenterologist successfully put in the PEG (feeding) tube without any complications - we thank God that our dad will now be able to get the nutrition he needs! He is still very weak and spends a great deal of time resting, but he always seems to perk up for his PT sessions – of which he now has three times a day. The therapists actually had him out of bed and sitting in a chair today for the first time! Please pray that God will continue to strengthen his body and give him energy, and that he will recover much of the abilities that he has lost.

Several days ago, the gastroenterologist had determined that it was too risky to attempt to put a feeding tube (PEG tube) into our dad’s stomach. However, after discussing with several of the other doctors, he has decided to reconsider – praise God! On Wednesday morning he will test dad’s blood, and if it isn’t too thin he will perform the procedure. This would be a huge step in enabling our dad to get the nutrion he needs. However, because dad’s blood is thinned, there is a risk of excessive bleeding. Please pray that the doctor will be able to successfully perform this procedure without any complications on Wednesday morning.

We also praise God that dad’s vital stats have been very stable for the past two nights. His pulse and respiration have been steady, and his lungs have stayed pretty clear. Additionally, today was a very good day. He seemed to have a little more energy today, and  he actually underwent three physical therapy sessions! We thank God for his goodness to us each day.

On Thursday night, our dad was transferred out of the ICU to respiratory telemetry. Both Thursday and Friday nights were rough for dad. He’s had a fever both nights, which causes his pulse to race very fast and his breathing to be very labored. The doctors said this is due to the fact that the part of his brain that controls these functions has been impaired. On top of this, his lungs have been filling up with fluid making breathing more difficult, and requiring his lungs to be suctioned two or three times a night, which is just horrible. He seems to do better during the day – he has more energy – and he’s actually started physical therapy.

We had a couple of setbacks on Saturday. First, our dad was supposed to have a feeding tube inserted into his stomach, which would have helped greatly in increasing his nutritional intake, but the gastroenterologist felt the procedure would be too risky at this time. Instead, they tried to thread a nasogastric intubation tube through his nose into his stomach, but after several unsuccessful and very painful attempts they mercifully decided to stop. They have temporarily inserted a PICC line (which is like a “super” IV line) instead, with the hope of being able to insert some type of feeding tube in the near future. 

Secondly, the doctors were concerned about the build-up of fluid in our dad’s lungs, so they did an xray. It appears that he has a bit of pneumonia in one lobe of his lungs. They will treat it with antibiotics, and hopefully the antibiotics will kill the infection quickly.

Finally, they did another CT scan and found a subtle difference from the previous CT and MRI scans. The doctors say this could be evidence that the blockage has moved higher causing another stroke to occur, although it could simply be the progression of the initial stroke as well. In any case, it was just a grim reminder that there would be little more they would be able to do if another stroke were to occur.

Despite these setbacks, we are encouraged by the improvements we have seen in our dad’s recovery. He is getting stronger, and he looks forward to his physical therapy sessions. In fact, they are even thinking of increasing his sessions from two-a-day to three-a-day. We have been told by more than one doctor to face the grim reality – that many abilities will be impossible to recover – but we know that all things are possible with God, and so we continue to put our trust in Him. Please pray that our dad’s spirits will continue to be lifted, and that he will be encouraged in the Lord.

The stroke was caused by a clot in an artery that had narrowed. Even though the doctors have put our dad on blood thinners, they say there is a high likelihood that another clot will form, causing another stroke.  The only option is to have an operation to open the blockage in the artery - unfortunately, only a few hospitals will attempt such a procedure. After seeing my dad awake and lucid on Tuesday morning, they thought he might be a good candidate for the procedure, and sent his case to UCLA (one of the few hospitals with the expertise/experience) to be reviewed and considered. The following day, our hearts sank as the doctor informed us that UCLA did not consider our dad an ideal candidate for the procedure and turned his case down. However, they did leave open the possibility of performing the operation in several weeks if our dad stabilizes and recovers enough to have it done as an outpatient. So, although disappointed, at least we have something to aim for.

Despite the setback, we are encouraged by the progress we’ve seen our dad make. His heart and respiration vital stats seem to be stabilizing, and his eye site has improved to some degree. Please continue to pray for him as he still cannot speak or swallow, he still cannot move his left arm and leg, and he is still very weak.