Prayer Updates

So many of you have been so wonderful and have blessed me so very much by praying for me and for my family. I just wanted to post an update so you all would know how faithful the Lord is!

I had posted about an issue in my life that had caused me so much pain and so much heartache that I was just thankful that Terry wasn't here to know about it. That issue has been totally resolved and can NEVER be a problem to me again. It worked out in a manner I could not have dreamed was possible, but the Lord knew all the time! Thank you so much for your prayers. God, as always, is faithful to those who love Him and who seek to do His will!

Daddy is back with my sister and her family. He is doing better, but still is having some problems. We know this is how it will be for him. Daddy has C.O.P.D. with chronic asthma, emphysema, bronchitic and pneumonia. His CT scan during this hospitalization showed that the emphysema has worsened considerably. What we initially thought to be a case of pneumonia was actually permanent scarring in his lungs from the emphysema.

The doctors have told us that he now has a certain type of bacterial infection in his lungs that is not curable, but will wax and wane with his condition. Three different antibiotics were required this time in order to get it under control. He remains on Levaquin for another 3 days at home. This is the natural progression of his disease. He developed thrush in his mouth due to all the antibiotics and had to be treated for that as well.

He is, at present, as well as we can expect him to be until the Lord performs the ultimate healing for him and takes him to his heavenly home. Daddy is tired and still very lonely. I understand that loneliness now. Were I Daddy's age, with his illness and having to deal with this loneliness, I would be so ready for the Lord to call me home. Daddy is. So, we will love him and take care of him and miss him when the Lord calls him, but we will know it was what Daddy had longed for.

I am doing better with the grief. I miss Terry more every day. I love him more every day. However, I am learning to go on without him. He will be with me for all the days of my life, but I am learning to be happy again. So much is bittersweet right now, but the memories are so precious and so comforting.

As some of you know, I have been awaiting approval from Medicare since early February to have surgery. I finally got the approval last week! Praise the Lord! I am scheduled for surgery on July 10 at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. I will have a gastric stimulator replaced.

I have a condition known as gastroparesis and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. This simply means that my stomach and bowel do not empty as they should. This is caused by a lack of neuro-stimulation in the vagus nerve. The gastric stimulator is something of a pacemaker in that it provides electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve, causing the stomach to empty it's contents and encouraging the bowel to move the contents through until they exit my body.

This will be my third stimulator implantation surgery. The first was in October, 2004, at which point I had the very first implant. The battery in that one lasted about 20-22 months. It died and was replaced in December, 2006. That battery died sometime last fall. However, due to Terry's condition and subsequent death, I had been unable to go back to my doctor until early February of this year.

At that time, my doctor found that the battery was dead, which I had already known due to worsening of my symptoms. He immediately set forth the process of getting Medicare approval for the replacement. So, I will visit my doctor on June 25 for the pre-op testing and will return on July 10 for the surgery. I am so very thankful to finally have a surgery date scheduled!

Due to having been without the stimulation for about 7 months now, I am experiencing symptoms almost as bad as before I got my first stimulator implantation. I am nauseated 24/7 and get extreme bloating in my abdominal area. I throw up 20-30 times daily and have lost nearly 30 pounds. I don't mind losing the weight, just not in this manner!!! I can only eat about 2-3 bites of food at a time without getting sick later and throwing everything back up.

So, it is all now just a matter of time before I can begin to improve. It will be such a huge blessing to once again be able to go through a day without nausea and vomiting. I thank all of you for your prayers and support. You are all such a blessing in my life. Blogging has opened up a whole new world of wonderful, Christian sisters to me. What a blessing you are!!!