June 11, 2009

Our Heavenly Father in His tender mercies answered our prayers that Bryce would be taken quickly and would no longer suffer. He passed away much quicker than we anticipated, which is a blessing. Bryce passed away at 5:55 p.m. today. Although this is extremely difficult we all feel confident that the Lord's will has been done. Bryce is finally free from all pain and suffering. It was six weeks ago today that he was admitted to the hospital.

Bryce's need for oxygen and blood pressure medication continued to increase through the night and this morningthe surgeon met with us. She said our last hope was to take him to emergency exploratory abdominal surgery. The surgeon met with us in the waiting room and told us that the surgery went relatively well and it appeared that he was okay. However, we then found out that they had to take him back to surgery because he was bleeding extenstively - the reason was due to his liver failure he was not able to clot his blood. They did the best they could and put him back in shock trauma where they gave him Factor Seven, a very expensive medication that has the ability to clot the blood. We were able to see him while 5-6 nurses and doctors were working on him trying to save him and after seeing his traumatized body we asked that they stop all interventions. We felt that he had suffered enough and it was time for him to return home. They kept him sedated and gradually turned down the ventilator and the blood pressure medications. We chose not to be in the room as he looked so awful. He passed away about 15 minutes later.

As I mentioned in my updates the last couple of days Bryce was going through much confusion. However, last night and this morning he was very lucid. We had the sacred blessing of being able to say our good-byes. The first thing he said to his mother this morning when we got to the hospital was: "Mom, I want to go home. Can I go home now?" This choked us up and we now believe that he was talking about going home to Heavenly Father.

Our daughters, Alisha and Heidi, were trying to arrange babysitting for their children and the original plan was for them to take turns being at the hospital. We feel that Heidi was inspired to invite their cousin, Val, to come to the home this morning to watch the kids so that they could both be at the hospital. What a great blessing it was to have Alisha, Heidi, Jerica, Kendra and I with Bryce prior to surgery to tell him that we loved him and to say good-bye to him before surgery - we knew that there was a great risk that Bryce would not survive surgery. Bryce expressed his love for each of us which was so tender.

As I mentioned in one of the previous updates there have been times in the past that the relationship between Bryce and I has been strained. This morning I told him how much I loved him and how grateful I was to be his father. He replied back of how much he loved me and thanked me for being his Dad. Although he has told me that he loved me many times throughout his life - this was particularly touching to me. Then he added: "Dad, I know you have gone through a lot for me and I really appreciate it." I cannot express how I cherish his words!

As an example of Bryce's faith - we told him that he needed to have surgery and our concerns about the seriousness of it - he responded "then let's have a prayer." With Dr. Alonso, the surgeon present, I asked Bryce if he was okay with surgery and had any questions. He then asked all of us to leave, except Jerica, and they met alone with the surgeon. Bryce asked Jerica if she was okay with the surgery and she said yes and he replied, then so am I. He was always thinking of her and wanting her involved in the decisions.

Dr. Alonso told us when we met with her that we felt it was time to let him go and to stop any further medical interventions. She told us how touched they were by Bryce. She said that they were shocked that Bryce survived the first few days when he was admitted six weeks ago and how resilent he was and what a fighter he was. As the Apostle Paul said: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Truly Bryce fought a good fight throughout his life of adversity. Through this six-week trial he was purified and we feel that he is prepared to meet our Savior! What a blessing and privilege it has been to have Bryce as our son.

We are so grateful for all of your prayers for Bryce and our family - please be assured that although we wanted Bryce to live and marry Jerica that we truly do believe that the Lord knows what is best and that His will has been done.

We have a lot of faith and hope in a statement that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said in General Conference in October 2008: "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

Love,

Ken and Kendra