Toshi is a very good friend of Dave's. He has known and worked extensively with him for about 7 years and considers him to be one of his closest friends here. He has been very sick for the past few months and I just wanted to post a few excerpts from some e-mails that our friends were sending out for the sake of prayer.
As soon as Dave found out how serious it was, he got off the phone and wept. The next day he went and visited him to pray for him and check on Toshi and his family. He said that he has never seen him look this thin and sick before. (He's not been able to eat anything since January.)It has been pretty bad. At one point Toshi couldn't remember the name of his two children. There have been quite a few times that he couldn't have any sort of pain medication because of the nature of his injuries and surgeries and has been in great pain. We have been praying for him and would just ask that you would remeber him as well.
Again, the following are excerpts from some e-mails that our friends have sent out...
Dec. 9th
We have a special request...a close friend of ours here in Guwahati just found out yesterday that he needs to have a gallbladder operation. His name is Toshi, and we've known him for the last six years or so through Y*AM. He's having gall stones, and it looks likesome stones have already come out and he's at risk of jaundice. Hehas already talked to a doctor whom he knows personally and who iswilling to do the operation for the minimum expense, which comes to around Rs.25,000...that is, about $570. They don't have any money to do this, and have asked us to forward this request to anyone who might help. They're hoping to do the operation sometime next week, since that's the soonest the doctor is available. Please pray that Toshi won't have any further complications before he can do the operation next week and if you would like to help contribute towards the cost, please reply to us and we will let you know how.
Dec. 20th
I wanted to give you an update on our friend Toshi who had his gallbladder surgery. The operation went well, though there were complications because of a prior appendix removal that was not done properly several years ago. After 4 hours of surgery, he is recovering and actually coming home today. He's a bit sad that he'll never be able to enjoy the Indian pork curries again that he's so fond of...but as they say here, "kya karega" What to do! :)
I can't tell you enough how grateful and overwhelmingly blessed Toshi is by all your prayers and support for him. Without your help, this kind of operation would have put him into serious debt that would have taken years to recover from. He is such a good friend of ours, and to see the way that God provided for his needs and then some, is amazing for us to witness as well! Thank you...
Feb. 11th
Please continue to pr*y for our friend Toshi who had the gallbladder surgery in December. He was recovering well, but about 3 weeks ago,he took a turn for the worse. He's been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks unable to eat or drink anything, and has become extremely weak. Joshua & I visited him yesterday, and they had just gotten the results from the latest tests which showed that there is an obstruction in his intestinal area which is preventing him from eating anything. He needs another operation to remove the blockage and will hopefully have it in the next day or two. Please pr*y that the operation will go smoothly and that he will recover quickly!! Toshi had the operation on Feb. 12th in the Satribari Hospital here in Guwahati and is still there now. They needed to do extensive repair on his intestines and he was under for almost 4 hours again. It's been a week and a half now and he's surviving only on an IV since he's unable to take any food or water by mouth. They tried water 2 days ago, but it was not staying in his intestines, so they're going to wait a few more days hoping that the stitches will heal a bit more and try again. He shared with Joshua & I that the money he was blessed with for the previous operation is finished and they are now in debt to the hospital around Rs.70,000 ($1600) as of today. This includes the last operation to remove the blockage in his intestines, staying in the hospital for almost 1 month now, and the IV saline & nutritional supplements that's keeping him alive. Please do pray for Toshi, and if you would like to help contribute towards his medical bills, please let us know.
