Status Report on Mary Witmer, 181102.b

Within minutes of my posting the previous blog from my hotel room at about 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon, while enroute back to Mary’s bedside at the hospital, Stephen phoned to say that Mary had slipped into an arrhythmic heartbeat pattern known as atrial fibrillation (afib). While not totally uncommon for patients who’ve just had their aortic valve replaced, this is still a concerning development.

Medication to control her heartbeat, which had more than doubled to about 150 beats per minute, was immediately administered by IV. As of this posting at 10:30 PM, her heart rate has slowed to some extent, but the afib continues. This turn of events also compromised other recovery plans for the rest of the day, such as walking and sitting up.

We are asking God to cause the medication to have its full effect so that this situation will not turn into a more significant complication or delay in her recuperation process — all according to His will, of course. Would you join us in also praying to that end — and that we, in any and every event, might trust Him instead of giving in to fear and/or discouragement.

Thanks.

Daryl E. Witmer