Kevin's Recovery Helping Kevin Mather on his road to recovery

Pictures of Kevin

Kevin and Tiffany wanted to thank everyone who has come down to visit them over the last month. 

Here are a few pictures of Kevin with friends and family and doing physical therapy.

Cousin’s Visit

Community Group Visit

Family

More Friends and Family

Physical Therapy

OUTSIDE!!!

God’s Faithfulness

It has been amazing to look back on the past month and see God’s faithfulness.  Remembering the initial phone call, rushing to USC, arriving at the ER not knowing Kev’s status, first seeing him before surgery – covered in blood and in shock -  shaking uncontrollably, then waiting and praying throughout the 12 hour surgery, it’s incredible to see the countless ways the Lord has sovereignely orchestrated so many things.

While there are still so many unknowns in our lives now, it’s just a huge blessing to know that I can walk through them with Kev.  It is such a miracle that he is even alive, has full brain function, is able to speak and has use of his upper body.  We are of course praying for full healing and restoration of his lower body, but have been astounded by what God has already done.   We truly can’t thank everyone enough for the numerous ways you have sacrificially given of your time and resources to bless and support us.  Words don’t even come close to expressing how thankful and overwhelmed we are by everyone’s kindness, generosity, and willingness to help in any possible way.   

Even though we clearly have a long road ahead, we have definitely begun to learn that God’s grace is enough and His strength is perfected in our weakness.   Thank you again for your continued prayers – it is truly amazing knowing that every day there are countless people lifting Kev up in prayer.  We serve a powerful God and it will be interesting to see what He has in store for us.    

- Tiff

Meals for the Mathers

Thank you all SO MUCH for serving Kevin and Tiffany through bringing meals!! Not only has it blessed them, but it has made an impact on the staff at the hospital as they see the love and community surrounding Kevin and Tiffany.

 Kevin’s tentative release date is September 2nd so they are going to need meals through the end of August at least. So, PLEASE sign up for another day if you can. They do not need anymore paper goods so you don’t have to bring that down with you. Also if people were just going to order something, some of their favorite choices were sandwiches from Kona Krisp, Corner Bakery, Mimi’s Cafe or Burrito Factory in case people wanted some ideas.  To sign up for a meal go to the Get Involved tab, go to Meals and follow the instructions.  

Blessings! Jennifer Love

Kevin’s Progress

As Kevin begins another week  he has been very encouraged by a multitude of visitors and the generosity of all those who have brought meals and donated in different ways.  His rehabilitation is progressing at a good rate and his therapists are very happy with how he is doing despite some setbacks ie. infection and broken scapula.  He is transferring from his bed to wheelchair and shower with little to no assistance.  The last couple of days he has suffered some pain in his back.  Please be in prayer for continued healing in his back and that he will know whether the pain is muscle pain from rehab or something that needs to be treated.  The puncture in his leg has closed about a 1/2 of cm which hopefully is an indication that it is healing.  He has been on quite a few antibiotics for his infection and he began to show some abnormal liver function so they are trying to narrow down which antibiotic might be causing this.  Please pray for healthy liver function as they will be testing for this in the next couple of days.  Again Kevin and Tiffany covet your prayers and thank everyone for all the support they have received.

Message from Kevin

  While reading about all of Jesus’ interactions with people one can’t help but notice all of the sick people that have their lives changed when they encounter the savior.  Because of my recent situation, the encounter in Luke 5:17-26 has really hit home.   “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.   Then behold, men brought on a bed a  man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.    And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.When He saw their faith, He said to him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you’. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ’Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?’   But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say Rise up and walk?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’ - He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”   Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.   And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”    

I relate to this story in several ways at the moment.  It has been amazing to me, being the Paralytic on the bed, having a Church behind me bringing me to the feet of Jesus daily in prayer.  I have been truly amazed by the local body of Christ that I am a part of, thank you for your faithfulness to pray, love, and support Tiff and I while we are wondering our way through this process.  The meals, visits, donations, and everything else you have provided have been amazing, and we are continually blown away.  

Also, to the complete body of Christ that have stepped up to join us in prayer, we are ever grateful.  As John 13:34-35 states, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Thank you all so much for living out the faith, and showing a genuine love for a brother and sister in need.  We are truly grateful for everything God is doing through this situation.   

Rehab moves foreword at a slow pace.  Everyday I make a little bit of progress, it is encouraging to be able to do a little more by myself each day.  The infection seems to be doing better for now, and the shoulder seems to be doing better everyday, hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to put all my weight on it.  This will help me out a lot with transferring from my chair to bed/shower/car…   Again we cannot thank you all enough for the amazing support you have all provided!  

Kevin

Answers to Prayer

We just wanted to again say thank you for the continued prayer and support.  Today was another good day, Kev has had more energy the past 2 days and has been able to complete more activities in therapy.  He is not having quite as much pain in his shoulder but is still unable to do much weight-bearing exercise.  The puncture wound appears to be getting better, however he is still on several antibiotics daily to keep the infection under control.  The large lump underneath his knee ended up being a mass of fluid which the doctor was able to drain (very gross), so that was a huge answer to prayer.  Also, the redness in his foot has been steadily decreasing over the past few days and it currently appears to be completely gone!    Prayer requests are basically the same – continued healing of Kev’s right shoulder, left ankle, left knee (puncture wound/infection),  the return of feeling and movement to his lower body, strength and endurance for Kev to make it through each day of rehab.  

Thanks again,   Kev & Tiff

Meal Update

Kevin and Tiffany continue to express their thanks to everyone who has brought them meals during these last few weeks.  It has been a huge blessing to them.

They have requested that whoever is bringing them meals from now on should change the amount of food from 6 people to 4. Family members are not down at the hospital everyday during dinner now and they don’t want food to go to waste.  Food for 4 people should be enough to cover anyone who happens to be down there during dinner.

Thank you again for supporting the Mathers!!!

Progress Report from Tiffany

Overall Kev’s been doing really well in therapy.  Of course since his right scapula is fractured, his range of motion and ability to do much upper body work is definitely restricted which can be challenging since his arms are all he’s got to transfer from the bed to wheelchair and vice versa.  The infection in his left knee and fractures in his left ankle aren’t helping either.  Over the past 2 days, his left foot has gotten very red and the swelling in his shin and ankle seems to be increasing.  He has also developed a large lump below the puncture wound. These areas are of course being monitored as the concern is that the infection could be spreading.  Kev has had a low grade fever for most of the day today, so please keep praying that his body will be able to fight the infection.

Basically all of the previous prayer requests apply but I guess the primary prayer requests at this point are:

-        That the antibiotic treatment would effectively fight the knee infections and that the infection would not spread to other areas.

-        That Kev would get the rest he needs to be able to make it through the day and that he wouldn’t be so drained and exhausted.

Thanks again for the continued love, support, prayer, meals, etc.  We truly appreciate all you guys have done! 

Quick Request

I am sorry for the late notice but Kevin is very exhausted tonight due to physical therapy and multiple doctor visits throughout last night and today.  They have asked that no visitors come tonight (MONDAY) so he can rest and regain some strength.  Please try to respect this request and pick a time later this week to visit Kevin.  It is very encouraging for him to see everyone and he wants the visits to continue once he recovers and rests tonight.  

Also next Sunday the 26th Kevin and Tiffany ask that all visits take place between 11:00am and 6:00pm.  Their Community Group is going to come to the hospital to visit them from 6:00pm to 8:00pm and will bring the visitor capacity to the max at one time.

Thank you,

Nathan Keith

Mather’s Note

Kevin and Tiffany wanted to thank the many volunteers who helped move out their furniture this weekend so their new carpet and flooring could be installed soon.  It is a huge blessing to them and they feel very blessed that they are being cared for by everyone.

Please continue to pray for Kevin’s infected leg that it would heal and that they doctor’s would know which medicine would best fight the infection.  Kevin’s white blood count is down which is a good sign and the swelling looks like it is going down, but it still continues to be a concern.  The doctors are going to decide in the next couple days whether surgery is needed to clean out the infection.  Please pray that this will not be needed as it would set back Kevin’s recovery process.