12/21/2002
Suzanne Presley was in a very very serious car wreck last night - Friday 12/20/02.
Suzanne was hit while on the passenger side, they were turning left at Thomas and 51. The car was going 55-70 mph and hit Suzanne in the passenger door so hard that there was no passenger side left. She was totally crushed with one foot behind her and the other through the floorboard. One of the police officers told us that they didn't think anyone was in the passenger seat. They had 8 firemen trying to get her out, they had to cut her out from the driver side. These brave men and women saved her life from the start. She could have easily bled to death right there. Her lungs were collapsed and filled with blood. Suzanne is still in critical condition and we should know more in the next 48 hours. Both her lungs were collapsed and her spleen was immediately removed. Her liver has level 5 lacerations. Pray that her liver will stop bleeding and that the doctors will be guided by His hand.

11:00pm
They took a chest tube out tonight so that's great news. All of her signs are looking really good. She is breathing more on her own but still on the ventilator. They changed her sheets and cleaned her up today. She has blood coming out of her ear, so she probabally has some bleeding inside her head. They occasionally wake her and said that she responds and moves her fingers and toes when they ask. She is heavily sedated and is under most of the time. I got to whisper in her ear today and she moved her leg and arm. She is not able to take visitors yet and won't for a while. At this time due to the limitations to the trauma center and her critical condition, it is not a good time to come and visit. I will let you know when she is in a room and can accept visitors. She will be in the hospital for weeks. I am still in shock and not really up to explaining it over and over. We have been blessed with so many loving family members and friends and for that we are very thankful. It has been a bit overwhelming to try to keep so many people posted. My former roommate and good friend, Dr. Andy Pierce has allowed me to use a lounge w/ internet access, so I may send another email out late tomorrow. We really covet your prayers. We have seen huge miracles thus far.

Keep praying that the doctors and nurses will continue to be supernaturally guided by the Great Physician's hand! God's presence and peace are all over us in this place! I had asked about Dr. Pierce and had hoped that I could see him, and then within a few hours, we ran into each other today at the cafeteria on my first visit there (what a coincidence :), he has been able to visit, he always lifts my spirits. Our friends Clay and Colleen have also been able to help a great deal; she is a physician here as well. It has been very encouraging to hear their input and positive outlook on Suzanne's vital signs (I didn't do very well in Latin class).

Now and tomorrow are very important times. They are going to be doing x-rays hopefully tonight and cat scans tomorrow. They are supposed to close her abdomen up tomorrow. So, be praying that the x-rays and CT scans show good news and she will just be on the road to recovery from here. She is in the very best of hands at this level 1 trauma center.

I will let you know when she is in a room and can accept visitors.
Many of you have called and stopped by, your support and love are so encouraging. I am a bit overwhelmed and I just can't return all of the calls. Suzanne is truly special and she is dearly loved by so many people. I apologize for not being able to answer all of your calls. I'm not supposed to answer my cell phone at the hospital and I'm staying there until late. The guards take the cell phone policy very serious. Today when I was getting Suzanne's personal items from security, I saw a visitor that had been grabbed, hit in the face with a night-stick, then arrested for not getting off his phone quickly enough. It is a crazy place, the wealthiest people go and the poorest people, some have aids and patients are here for everything from colds to serious trauma. Pray for the doctors and nurses as they live on adrenaline, working long shifts and may only see 2 days off a month. I have such a respect for all of them. They are amazing, I don't know how they don't burn out.

God has truly put His loving arms around us, comforting us and has miraculously provided His peace in our hearts. This event did not take Him by surprise, He is in control and He is worthy of our trust and praise. No matter what the outcome of this will be.

Please keep lifting her up before the Father.

Jeff

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." II Cor 1:3

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Colossians 3:15

12/22/2002
Suzanne had a very good night last night!! She is at The Med on Jefferson, here in Memphis. Everything went very smooth. They are going to try to close her abdomen up soon. (They had closed her up with plastic mesh as a temporarily measure). To me, this means that they are confident that they have found all the issues that were inside her abdomen and she is on her way to recovery. So now she is going to get some cat scans and x-rays to determine what all is broken and to get an accurate picture of here head injuries and liver, etc. This is such good news, as the night before she needed 6 transfusions of blood and some of her vitals dropped a little bit, she had a fever & her heart rate was up - she's running a marathon so keep lifting her up in your prayers. Pray also for Suzanne's parents who are in transit from their home in Alaska, the flight situation has been difficult because of the Christmas holiday, they are stuck in Seattle last night, headed to Chicago today and on to Memphis.

Jeff

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are {they} not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. In God, {whose} word I praise, In the LORD, {whose} word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Your vows are {binding} upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living." Psalms 56:8-13

12/22/2002

Suzanne's status as of 3:00pm Sunday.
Jeff asked me to get this update out to everyone and wanted me to convey to you how much he appreciates all your prayers.

Suzanne was stable enough this morning for them to go and do the CT scan to see if there were any other injuries that needed to be addressed. The good news is that there did not seem to be any more injuries in her abdomen and chest. Her Pelvis also does not seem to be broken as they had originally feared. They are still not sure about some of the long bones such as arms and legs as they will need to do more standard x-rays.

Not as good of news was that they did discover that there was some hemorrhaging in the brain. They could not tell if it was still hemorrhaging or not. They will have to do another scan later to compare the two scans. The Neurosurgeon Dr. Mulbower will be coming in a little while to place a pressure monitor on her so that they can keep tabs on the pressure in her brain. If it gets high they have some medicines they can use to bring it down. PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY that the pressure in her brain will be in an acceptable range and no further treatment in that will be needed.

In light of the situation with the head injury, they have postponed the follow-up abdominal surgery until they can determine what this new discovery means. We need to remember that this is not a new injury or problem, just newly discovered. She has been improving to this point even with this condition.

Taylor Park

Psalm 125:1-2
Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

12/22/2002
Suzanne's status as of 6:00pm Sunday.

Here is a Sunday night 6:00 pm update; it will probably be the last one for the night, which is a good thing. This means that she is stabilizing. This is going to be a marathon not a sprint, so we probably won't have information to pass along as frequently as we all would like. It looks like she will be here weeks.

As we told you earlier, they had to postpone Suzanne's abdomen surgery which will remove the bandages around her liver and close up her abdomen. Pray that her liver lacerations will stay clotted.

Madison Michael - the Neuro-surgeon came in and hooked up a monitor to her head. They were looking for her number to be less than 20; her numbers went down to 14. Basically, this means that the pressure around her brain is at an acceptable level. That is great news!! Keep praying that she will heal quickly and no permanent damage was caused to the front left side of her brain.

Now they can put a scope into her lungs to check for mucus and remove it. That is a normal process, I think this helps avoid pneumonia.

They are working on getting her oxygen levels up throughout her body and getting her platelets up for the surgery, not sure when that will be right now.

Pray for the surgeons Mulbower, Michael and Hughes, Rush, MacAlexander. Pray that they would have clarity of thought, accurate judgment as to the situation and best course of action, and for the Great Physician to guide their hand. Pray also for Mary, Christy, Rodney & Pennie who are taking such good care of her day and night and putting up with us :)

Jeff P.
Psalms 27

12/23/2002
Suzanne's Status as of 1:00 pm Monday.

I received a phone call just a little bit ago with the following information :

They took Suzanne this morning to close her abdomen. But, when they tried to do this, the pressure in her head became dangerously high. They were not able to close her abdomen, but instead returned her to TICU. They started medication in attempt to bring the pressure down to an acceptable level. The doctors did not get enough response from the medication and the pressure in Suzanne's head remained too high. They then attempted to put a second tube in her skull, but they found that Suzanne's blood was not clotting as it should. They were not able to insert the second tube. They started more medication to help her blood clot and are scheduled to attempt to insert the second tube again at 2:00 pm today, Monday, December 23.

Please pray for the medicines to have the desired effect. Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom. Please pray that the second tube will be placed without complications and that they can close her abdomen. Please pray for strength for the staff, Suzanne, Jeff and Suzanne's parents who arrived late last night.

I will add more when I can. I know Jeff greatly appreciates all your prayers.

Jeff Tusant

Suzanne's Status as of 3:00 pm Monday, 12/23/02
The Neuro Surgeon just called and said that they have the pressure tube in.
Her pressure is down to 25 and they are wanting it to be around 20 or below.
So they are going to give it some time to drop.
(PLEASE PRAY THAT THE PRESSURE WILL DROP)
If not, then they are likely to need to take a piece of the bone off, to relieve the pressure. This could cause furthur complications.
They are stabilizing her so that the general surgeons can do the abdomen surgery.

The CT Scan looked about the same, some swelling. I asked about that and he said "its common that swelling usually worsens on day 3,4 & 5". "After 5 days or a week it can calm down". We are on day 3 so keep praying.

He said that she is not out of the woods yet.

Please pray for the doctors and nurses, they have such a tough job. And for us, that we would continue to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Thank each one of you for your concern and prayers.

Grace and Peace,
Jeff P

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

"You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials so that the genuineness of your faith--more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." I Peter 1:3-9

Suzanne's Status as of 5 pm, Monday
About 5pm they were taking her in for a CT scan to make sure that the 2 tubes were placed correctly to relieve the pressure. If they were in correctly, then they will need to temporarily remove some bone to provide immediate pressure relief. They said that they must lower the pressure.

As my brother David said, "She is being bathed in prayer from soldiers all over the world."

So please pray for Suzanne!!!

Thou wilt keep him (Suz) in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee ... Isaiah 26:3 - (from Dr. Andy Pierce)

JeffP

12/23/02 - 7pm update
The abdomen doctor called to say that they were going into the operating room to get the packs out around her liver.
While there, they are also going to do 3 more things.
1) Trac to replace the breathing tube in her mouth
2) Remove Gallbladder, said that she didn't need it anyway :)
3) Add a feeding tube

I asked him about the results of the CT scan, He said that the Neuro doctors were trying to lower it now but they gave him the ok to do this surgery.

"On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:6-8

It is always easy to trust Him when the bills are paid and things are nice. Less than 2 weeks ago we were talking about how this has been an unusually trial free year as Suzanne put it (it has been anything but trial free, but his presence and encouragement has been so real. He has been knitting our hearts together and we have been growing deeper and stronger in love and as teammates), wondering if something was coming up that would be as Max Lucado calls "Anvil Time" where our character is shaped by the Master's skilled hand, to conform us more to His image.

This is where the rubber meets the road.

12/23/02 8:10pm Update
Suzanne is still in surgery, we just called.
Earlier today, our pastor, Taylor Park mentioned that we may want to do as James encourages us to do and have some elders lay hands on Suzanne. God put a few specific people on my heart and worked with their last minute schedules to have 3 on their way: Tory Sandlund who is a friend and elder at First Evan and also a doctor at St. Jude's, Jim Pendleton who has been here helping us out and has been through this trial before and is an elder at our fellowship ChristEvan.org, and our friend Wayne Furman who is also a doctor and an Elder at ChristEvan. Pray for my friend Dr. Jim Newman who is sick and having a tough time right now, so it is obvious that this was not his time, but he really wanted to be here for us. We are so blessed to have so many people who love God and are truly followers of Christ!

Please pray that I would not dishonor the Lord by giving into worry, doubt and fear. I am encouraged as I read his word trying to guard my heart, his word is a sword to me.

Jeff P

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. Psalms 27:14

Suzanne's Status as of 12:00 am December 24
She went into surgery around 7pm 12/23/2002. I called at 8pm and she was still in surgery, no update or news, just in surgery. Jim Pendleton, Dr. Tory Sandlund, Dr. Wayne Furman came at 9pm in anticipation of being able to see Suzanne and pray over her. We waited and waited and waited and waited. While waiting we had a great time talking about Suzanne and all that she means to us. Sharing stories about her was fun. I have to say that about 10pm I started to panic and loose heart. I began to fear the worst; my head says that my heart can't be controlled by fear and faith at the same time, but my heart and imagination began to worry.

We prayed for a while and God really used this time to comfort me. We prayed about specific items, her pressure in her brain, clotting, etc. I confessed my lack of faith and negative emotions and asked Him to take them away, replacing them with conformity to His perfect plan.

I kept thinking of Charlie and Marcie Conley in Delaware's song they sang earlier this year when we went to visit them. They sing the best song to the words of 2 Chronicles 20:6-12:

"O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ... For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

We talked about how God was doing things that we have no idea and will never realize on this side of eternity. We talked about how many people love and admire Suzanne. She has touched so many people who don't even know the Source of her strength.

They encouraged me to call again at 10:45pm to get an update and Michelle (she has had the best people taking care of her) said she had just got back from surgery and it went very well. No complications at all. They were X-raying her foot. Closed her up with mesh. I asked if we could come and pray for her, she agreed and we did. Every single thing that we had prayed about couldn't be better.

Her brain pressure was down to 10! (It was 30-40 when we left around 7pm). They did a lumbar drain in her back and think that this helped take care of it.
She maintained 9-10 during surgery, this is MIRACULOUS! They released her from all blood products, meaning that she is clotting well. Temp was a healthy 98.4  Pressures are good, lungs, urine, heart, no problems getting the packing out of the liver.
Even though God continues to manifest himself in all kinds of ways, I was still surprised (I'm kinda slow).
So just take a moment and thank the Father of lights for stepping into time and space and touching Suz.

Her next battles could be when the anesthesia starts to wear off. Keeping her ICP's stable (brain pressure) without all kinds of manipulations. And Fever, she has tubes where they don't belong.

If she gets better in the next 78 hours, that will be great news.
She is still in TICU, but we are so hopeful and relieved.

Thanks to so many of you for your prayers, support, Dr. translations into layman's terms, my brother telling me he told me so (that she is going to be fine), etc...

Thank all of you for your love, prayers and tears.

Jeff

p.s. please pray for Jonathan's brother, Reggie's girlfriend 'Shay', she is Suzanne's neighbor in TICU.  She found out that her child and Reggie died in their wreck. She is afraid to sleep because she fears not waking up. We got to talk for a while tonight, she could use some comfort from the great Comforter. She said that she might not be able to walk again. She was so excited that her dad visited her today. We'll get to talk more in the near future. (Suzanne and Julie Nichols had just left Jonathan's house bringing food to their family before Reggie's wake when the wreck occurred Friday night at Thomas and 51 - the end of the millington exit).

Suzanne's Status as of 10 am 12/24/2002
Suzanne is doing well, (I'll try to keep these shorter). Here is what the doctors say: She is stable. No sedation & her brain pressure is good, it is at 9. They are going to do another CT scan soon to compare and monitor the progress. Now that she is stable, they are able to get X-rays. She gets the drainage tube out in the next couple of days. They expect someone in her condition to do well from here. There could be microscopic damage that doesn't show up easily yet. When more stabilized running a MRI next week or even this weekend will be more telling. To see if the brain pressure did more damage. We are in a wait and see mode now. Best case is that if she slowly gets better, in 6 months back to relatively normal. Body sickness is most critical now. Brain could flair up. Body needs to repair itself now.

I'm sure we are going to need a lot of help in the upcoming months; many of you have offered to help. I will be taking you up on it in the near future. Right now we are still in critical condition so we are not able to see visitors yet. Please pray that there is no damage to her brain and that her bones aren't too broken. Also pray that she will start to come out of it soon. Her body was reacting to the pain and she is not yet responding, as they would like.

Suzanne's Status as of 5:30 PM 12/24/2002

Earlier today the nurse said that Suz opens her eyes to pain, like suction. She is not under any pain medicine and her heart rate stays good. That is a good sign. 

Tonight PTL that her pressure is down to 6! She is running a little 101.6 temp. She is breathing 24 times per minute and the respirator is set to 12. Urologist is working on an issue with blood coming out of her bladder tube. But the films of that area looked good. CT Scans & X-Rays were bumped due to a large volume of Trauma patients coming in. As I am typing these few sentences, I've heard 3 air lifts arrive. Pray for the nurses and Doctors making quick decisions as they have to move from patient to patient, prioritizing their time and resources.

Suz responded to her mom holding her hand. Her mom and dad (Ray & Beth) raised their 3 girls to sing together, so it is very uplifting for me to get to sing (ever so quietly) with them. Suz's mouth was almost smiling; we were convinced that she was singing along with us. We sang some Christmas carols to get us in the festive spirit. We are so very encouraged. We are hearing second hand stories that they didn't think that she would even make it and now it looks like she is going to be fine.

Suzanne is our: 'letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God' 2 Corinthians 3:2 (read vs. 12-18) 'We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.'

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul" Hebrews 6:11

Suzanne's Status as of 11:45 PM 12/24/2002
Suzanne was being taken care of by Mike tonight until 7am -16 hour shift. We had a great visit with him; (they are so competent, helpful and patient to answer our questions.) Ray & Beth talked about what it is like to live in Alaska and how I met Suzanne up there and our romantic engagement story, etc. When he left the room for a minute, I got to sneak in a kiss, so I'm happy.

Her pressure was remaining low, her heart rate was low at 82, and her vitals were good. She had been moving around and was in pain. So they gave her some medication for the pain. They flushed her bladder, it could be ruptured. They are scheduled later tonight to do the CT scan for her head and possibly on her abdomen. They will also do the X-Rays on her body to see what all is broken. She had vomited earlier with her new J-Tube for feeding, so they'll try again later. She is not able to follow commands yet; this doesn't necessarily mean she won't respond later. We do not want high blood pressure. 128/72

We sang some songs and talked with her for a while. She started to barely open her eyes slightly. She is doing so well and in the best of hands. Pray that she will continue to heal and respond. That's all we wanted for Christmas, so we are more than happy. Suzanne's parents are staying amazingly strong. Pray also that we would continue to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge Him and he will make our paths straight, don't worry about tomorrow, He's got it all under control. Pray also for the doctors and nurses as they work through the night and miss out on family time.

We have been so speechless with all of your support. My brother David is spending his Christmas here with us, so his family in NC is missing him right now. We all have received so many encouraging notes and emails. Thank you so much!

One of my best friends Jim Fox sent me an email. He was the minister at our wedding in Alaska, (along with Doug Pollock who God used along with my roommate - Scott Singletary, to love me into the kingdom in the athletic dorm room at UT in 1984.) Just keep in mind that Jim went back for 3rds when God was giving out enthusiasm :) I think that he meant "dud"...  "Jeff, Thank you so much for keeping us posted and being such a "stud" disciple of Jesus Christ. It's Christmas in 15 min or so and your Email was ALL I needed or wanted this Christmas. Praise God for more good news. His grace in you is astounding. You and Suzanne are impacting the world this Christmas through His strength. What a team. Words can't say how grateful I am to have a mentor and friend like you. Your brother in Christ, Jim Fox"

"I sought the Lord always before my face, He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Ps. 16

Merry Christmas!

Suzanne's Status as of 7 AM Christmas day - 12/25/2002
I must post a legal disclaimer; you may be quoted so, watch out :) One of my best friends, Steve Wiggins said this morning "Thank you for supporting us as we support you in prayer. We've got your back."
On a side note, if you did not wake up and find his new CD in your stocking then shame on Santa, but have no fear, you can listen and get it at WalMart.

I know our buddy Misty Wiggins is looking at this every hour for news on Suzanne, I want you all to not do the very thing that is Suzanne's pet peeve and waste a day sitting in front of a stupid computer, (hitting the F5 refresh key). She wants you to reflect on the mystery of why He was born to die. What Mystery?

So have a Merry Christmas - I'll try to post 2 updates a day, around noon and after 10 or 11pm.

Please pray Col 1:9-14

Suzanne's Status as of 10 AM 12/25/2002
Well, we are in day 5 and Suz is doing great!

Her eyes were open when we came in, she cried. We were happy to see her too. We sang songs with her.

Her bladder was good and cleared out. They did a CT scan, but Kelly didn't know the results yet. She thought that it didn't change which is good news. We don't want to see any new bleeding. They are going to do an abdomen & pelvis scan later. The cranial vent tube is not putting out anything, so they may take it out because she is fine there. We are so thankful for all of this good news. Her ICP pressure is at 10. She has a temp of 101.6 and a heat rate of 75. Her red blood cells were low. They are going to do the abdomen scan to make sure that everything is in place, Feeding J-Tube b/c she threw up when they fed her through the tube.

We went to IHOP to get some warm vittles. The nicest waitress named Beverly waited on us. Long story but she had lost her husband 8 months ago and is working through it all still. David told her about our situation and she was so sweet, we asked her to pray and told her we'd pray for her too. It was good to get our eyes off of our problems and encourage someone else. She had been stiffed by some large groups and we gave her a big tip, it was fun to get hugs and make a new friend. There is a saying that goes 'It is hard to help when you hurt, it's hard to help unless you hurt, the hurting is for the helpin'.