Tavern In Shock

Note: This post will be updated often.

Customers rallied around today when they heard the very sad and shocking news that the Lady of the House, the well-loved Southern Gal, had been injured in a road accident. It does not look good.

A call for Prayer from her fine Knight and Hero husband, the Major, a firm friend of all, was met by nearly forty customers who were present. Rosaries were supplied with every glass of ale.

He said: 

I want to ask for your prayers for her.  Last night she was involved in a very bad car accident.  She was hit on the passenger side by a pickup truck and praise the Lord the boys weren't with her because the little one's car seat isn't recognizable.  She is currently in the Intensive Care Unit at a local hospital. 

She broke all of her ribs on the right side and 4-5 on the left side. She has a hematoma on the right lobe of the lung as well as a leak on that side.  She had some bleeding in her abdomen and inside the liver capsule.  They operated on her last night to take care of that and it seems the bleeding is under control. They have her sedated and on a ventilator.   

The good news is the CT scan of her head and neck came back normal so it appears there is no brain bleeding and no neck injury which is a praise to Jesus. 

My prayers were immediate and have continued, joining those of so many others who heard the call. 

It is a shock. My poor and Beloved friend. I wept. This is a Lady that I hold dear.

My poor and admired friend the Major will be going through much angst and worry for a while. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his boys too.

The atmosphere here is well short of its usual cheeriness. It is sombre and quiet.

M'Lady has many friends here.

I shall be down in the Crypt for a while.

Pray for my dear Southern Gal.

Pax

Update: day 1
My Lady is 'stable' in intensive care. Heavily sedated and on a ventilator. She has responded to requests to move fingers and toes. There is quite a lot of significant injury but her spine and head seem OK. So many broken bones, specifically ribs with a punctured lung and some leaking in her airways. There has been some organ damage which needed immediate surgery. More will be needed. Her good husband says that the hospital staff are doing the best they can. The prognosis is 'good' at the moment with the doctors 'on top of it'. But there are days ahead when the situation may not improve or even go backward, so please continue with your prayers. 

I am so pleased with the response of so many people (Many 'comment' elsewhere). Our Southern Gal NEEDS you. Her Husband needs your prayers too. More than 60 are now praying.
God Bless you all.

Day 2
A customer's prayer.

Heavenly Father please touch this thy faithful Southern Gal and restore her to full health. Please watch over her and comfort her in her time of trouble. Let your peace rest upon her and let faith in your love arise in her soul. Thank you Lord for a speedy recovery and for a great testimony of your saving grace. Amen.



My Prayer, in the Crypt. 

Lord Jesus, I am an unworthy man and a poor Knight who seeks your forgiveness, so as to heal my Soul and make my Prayer to you Pure.  I praise you.  I raise my glass to you in the company of fine people who live by Your Word. 

We read in the Gospels that you spoke individually to many people, changing their lives as you showed them recognition and acceptance and as you brought them healing and wholeness. We read, too, of how some people (Mk 2:1-12 )were such good friends of a man who was weak and paralysed, that they carried him on his stretcher: making their way through the crowds, carrying him on to the roof, and gently lowering him down, so that he could be right in front of you. They must have been such good friends to him, and others could see the tenderness of their love and care as well as their extraordinary faith and trust in you, Lord, in bringing him into your presence. 


And isn’t it the very same that we are doing today, Lord - those of us who love and care for the Southern Gal, our Lady of the Tavern, as we bring her, carry her, in the strength of our love into the warmth and light of your presence: knowing that you, too, Love her? We can all but hear you calling our Southern Gal by her name ( Is 43:1 ) which is known to You, as you are also calling her your friend, (Jn 15:15) and we know that your love never fails. (1 Cor 13:8 ).

Lord, our Southern Gal, the one you love - is seriously injured and ill, (Jn 11:3) and those of us who join you in loving her and caring for her ask you to lay your hands upon her (Lk 4:40, Mk 5:23 )and transform her life once again, bringing her the fullness of your healing and your life. 

Restore her to us, Lord. Thy Will be done.

Amen.

Update. Day 3 
The Major sends a message:

Thank you for the prayer and encouragement. I talked to one of her doctors who said she is progressing fairly well and will discuss with her other doctor about starting her on some small amounts of nutrition later today or tomorrow.  So that is positive news. Any little bit is a good thing.

Update.
The Major says:

They are still concerned the liver may bleed again.  Gods healing and rest are the only way to fix broken ribs.  Thank you for your prayers and support Sir Tavern Keeper, we appreciate them more than you know.

I talked with Pulmonologist and he and the surgeon are going to try and wake her up and start the weaning off the ventilator process tomorrow morning.  

Now the real pain begins as she'll be more aware of what is going on and moving around more.  

Please pray for her comfort and that God would ease any pain she will experience.

In the Tavern, deep below in the Crypt:

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, breathe for this, our dear friend, your servant. Restore her to good health.


Many others, not just me, are praying Major. I am sure that your friends in your Church are too. Here we offered a Latin Mass today presided by a very old and Holy priest,  that she be healed from her injuries. It is, as you say, in God's hands and those of his 'professional servants' at her bedside.  We prayed for them and the nurses that care for her too.

Update 3 April.
My lovely gal is fighting hard and doing it hard. I was able to speak to her today, enabled by her brave and constant husband, via skype and a hand-held device. I kept it short and let her know that you all were praying for her and wanting her recovery. She heard me and acknowledged. 

She is occasionally conscious as the doctors are weening her off the ventilator and the sedation. She is being given pain killers for the major pain she has from so much damage to her rib cage. It is a real mess. But the air-leaks are healing. The internal bleeding appears to have stopped thanks to skilled medical treatment.

As yet she is unable to speak but she can signal understanding with her eyes. The prognosis is as good as we can expect at this moment. 

Please keep praying for her and keep her in your thoughts. And pray too for her husband who carries such a weight of anxiety. He is a fine man.

Update. 4  April
The major has updated the news. 

They took her off sedation this morning and after running some tests they took her off of the ventilator and removed her breathing tube.  So that is a small victory there.

I read her what you'd written and it made her happy to know you are thinking of her. So far she is tolerating being off the ventilator pretty well.  Pray that she continues to gain strength. She is in excruciating pain all over her side, back and stomach.  Pray for continued comfort.

A little later he said:


She is starting to have a little relief. Starting some breathing treatments soon. But Sir Knight, my wife has an extremely high pain tolerance and she's saying it's 10 out of 10 for pain, it hurts me to see her like this.

It hurts me too and many of her friends reading this. The Southern Gal is a strong gal with a first class Character, and will survive and be restored to good health. But it is and will be a hard slog.  I shall pull pints and pray.


Update.
5 April

Some better news.
My Gal is almost off the sedation meds and is breathing on her own, albeit with immense pain. The Docs have riggered her up with an on-demand morphine pump so she can ease that pain within prescription limits. It gives not just some relief but 'control' back to her. 

But she is still has a way to go to be out of the deep woods. There have been some virtually sleepless nights, but we hope she will get some needed and refreshing sleep soon.

Update 6. April

I am amazed at the strength of the Gal. Today she was moved out of the ICU into a recovery ward. She is still in great pain and she still has a way to go, but is talking. Her boys have even been allowed to visit, which has done her no end of good.

There is much recovery to do yet though and your prayers are still needed. Include some for gratitude. We WILL get our Southern Gal back.

Update 7 April

Night time here in the Tavern and day where she is.

We exchanged words of encouragement, one to another. Skype is a wonderful facility. She is up. Taken steps. But rest and recovery is essential. There is much healing of this awful bodily assault that is yet to take place. It will take time. And care. And prayer.

I will cease this log now. But other posts from the Tavern will occasionally give you an update.

DEO GRATIAS.