Today is a beautiful Sunday morning and one week since the latest saga began. Gene is healing and doing well. All the tubes have been removed. He is eating and his digestive system is working. His challenge now is to get stronger and back on his feet.
We don’t know yet if he has to go back to Sheltering Arms Rehab or will be able to come home-it depends on the strength in his legs. He has to be able to walk to come home. It is the weekend so physical therapy is off. So we will see what Monday brings.
Sunday a group from church sang this beautiful old gospel hymn and it ministered so deeply to me. Its message spoke to my weary soul.
The lyrics to the song…..
There’s a lighthouse on the hillside That overlooks life’s sea When I’m tossed it sends out a light That I might see
And the light that shines in darkness now Will safely lead us home If it wasn’t for the lighthouse My ship would be no more
It seems that everyone around us says “Tear that old lighthouse down The big ships just don’t pass this way anymore So there’s no use in standing ’round” Then my mind goes back to that one dark stormy night When just in time, I saw the light Yes, it was the light from that old lighthouse That stands there up there on the hill
And I thank God for the lighthouse I owe my life to Him Jesus is the lighthouse And from the rocks of sin He has shown a light around me That I might clearly see If it wasn’t for the lighthouse (Tell me) Where would this ship be?
I thank God for the lighthouse I owe my life to Him Jesus is the lighthouse And from the rocks of sin He has shown the light around me That I mighty clearly see If it wasn’t for the lighthouse (Tell me) Where would this ship be?
Connie Lancaster introduced the song, it is one of her favorites, and she has requested it numerous times through the years. Her words are worth repeating……
“ The first time I heard the song ‘The Old Lighthouse’ I knew it was more than a song, it was a story with many truths.
The people who lived around the lighthouse decided they did not need it anymore. They said the big ships didn’t sail through there any more, there was no use it’s hanging around. Finally one man stood up and said, ‘my mind goes back to a stormy night, a very dark night, when just in time I saw the light. It was the light from this old lighthouse. I owe my life to him. Jesus is that lighthouse. If it was not for that lighthouse, this ship would be no more.’
We at PMC (Powhatan Mennonite Church) are a lighthouse beaming light to our community from this corner of Route 13. Let us faithfully share the light.”
As I soaked up the precious words of the song I was reminded of Jesus’ words to us, “I am the light of the world.” We are only the candle, lighthouse, or lantern from which His light beams. Jesus also said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14-16…..
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
A burnout candlestick, forsaken lighthouse or discarded lantern does not offer the lifesaving guiding light. It can only stand as a memorial to a has been.
Are you drifting on the sea of life? Are the storms and fogs of life causing you to lose your way? Are you in danger of ship wreck? There is help. There is a guiding light shining bright if you just look and reach out. Jesus is beckoning for you and will navigate you through the sandbars and rocky shoreline to bring you home. Can you trust him today?
If you are searching for the way to Jesus start by reading the New Testament. The book of John is a good starting place.
This has been a tough week with lots of pain and nausea. The stent moved significantly yesterday and we were so hopeful but then it became stuck in the lower section of the small intestine in a macaroni noodle kind of curve. It was getting so close but was still out of reach of being able to get with a scope. The surgeon decided it was time to do surgery and remove it. Enough is enough and to keep waiting was counter productive.
The surgery was 3-1/2 hours long this evening. It was a concerned wait after thinking it would be 1-1/2. The end result is good news but what happened was serious, a real mess.
When he had his first emergency, because his gall bladder had ruptured and died, a lot of bile had drained into his abdomen. In the aftermath, he had four more procedures to stop and fix bile leakages and drainage. Bile acts like a detergent and melts fat. The surgeon found lots of melted, sticky, gooey, mud-like fat plastered to his intestines which he had to remove. It caused the intestine to tighten and twist in the area where the stent was stuck causing a total blockage. There was no way the stent could move any further. This also caused issues with his stomach and it couldn’t empty causing nausea and three days of nonstop hiccups. The hiccups was the body’s way of responding to the bloating and air in his stomach and diaphragm. They removed 2 liters of fluid from his tightly bloated stomach.
On Sunday he had pizza for lunch which did not settle well and caused him to start throwing up. But what it actually did was alert us to a more serious issue that was developing before it became an extreme emergency. His stomach had closed off and he could not process food. His intestines had been pinched shut and his bowel could not move. I could hear his bowel rumbling sitting in my lazy boy chair across the room.
This is the short version of a serious situation. I am so grateful the surgeon became concerned about the distress Gene was in and made the compassionate decision to do surgery tonight even though most of it was not showing on scans. Gene is expected to make a full recovery however it will be a long haul as it feels like he is starting recovery all over again but this time from a compromised condition. My prayer is that there will be no more problems!
It has been over eight weeks since this journey began and I will not even pretend it has been easy. There have been mountains to climb, rivers to cross and potholes galore. I sure wish VDOT would get them fixed! But, there have also been lots of encouraging passengers in our car, gas stations to refuel our tanks, and “sonshine” to brighten our path. The guiding voice on our gps has been non other than Jesus Christ our Saviour. We are trusting him to guide us every mile of the way.
My last post was July 6 and we had just came home from the hospital after a return visit for an infection in his abdomen. Things were looking up and doing well until this past week. On Thursday morning I did not like what I was seeing. His vitals were not good, he was running a fever and was too weak to sit or stand without help. After he collapsed coming out of the bathroom, I had to call the Rescue Squad to take him to St. Francis Hospital where he was admitted with another infection and dehydration. A day and half later he was recharged, back on his feet, and looking good. The next day (Saturday) he started having pain in his abdomen and by evening I again did not like his vitals. It is amazing how fast that can change. His blood pressure was 165/124 and his temperature 95.5. Our intuition told us we needed go back to the hospital.
After observing him for about six hours they decided to send him home. They were perplexed as something did not seem right and they really wanted to figure it out but the symptoms were not enough to guide them. They ran numerous tests but nothing really pointed to anything significant. They had done a CT scan 24 hours earlier and did not feel it warranted doing another one.
All day Sunday the pain increased and by afternoon he couldn’t keep anything down. Back to the hospital we went-three times in half a week! It felt like we were racking up frequent flyer miles with a reserved room at a high-end hotel! This time a CT-Scan led them to the source of the problem.
The 1 cm wide stent (about the width of the nail on my pointer finger) that they had put in about seven weeks ago to block a leaking hole (so it could heal) in the bile duct where it dumps into the small intestine had dislodged and was now traveling the depths of the small intestine highway! As of last night it was at a curve and could be blocking the intestine. They are monitoring the situation. They will do another scan in the morning to see if it is stuck or moving. It is currently halfway through the narrow, 22-foot long, winding small intestine. It is at a very difficult, almost impossible place, to retrieve with a scope and they really do not want to do surgery. Join us in praying that it will keep traveling and not stop to sight see. Once it gets to the broader, 5-foot long, large intestine it should be smooth sailing.
This incident is not unusal. They had Gene scheduled to remove it on August 8 but had frequently said that this could happen. Sometimes a dislodged stent can cause problems and other times they simply disappear and are passed without anyone knowing. Of course for Gene, it seems it is going to be the difficult way!!!
In my devotions this morning I was reading from Psalms 33 and was reminded of the sovereignty of our God in creation and history. I quote bits and pieces of several verses…
The Lord looks from heaven and sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually and considers all their works. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy. He is my help and shield. My heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. (Verses 13-15, 18, 20a, 21).
As you think of us, pray for strength for Gene and that God will completely heal his tired and weary body and that he will be able to stay focused on the goodness of God and not the potholes in the road.
It has now been six weeks since this medical nightmare began and finally things are going so much better. Six weeks is often the magic goal for surgery healing and this week there has been a definite turn around. He no longer has a lot of pain and his drain tubes have all been removed. He is eating well and sitting up more and more. Last night he actually joined us for supper at the kitchen table and this morning he joined us on the patio as we drank our early morning coffee. Last evening I drove him around the fields in the car to check on his cows. From the front seat of the car, he walked Jill through the process of catching and sorting cows in the corral as Steve is taking a load of calves to market for us this week. This afternoon Jill took him for a golf cart ride to check on several different farming projects.
We are so grateful for God’s continued healing touch. The biggest challenge now is getting his strength and energy back. As he likes to say, “my energy tank gets empty really fast.” He still walks with a walker and with supervision! He can be a irratic driver with loose steering!!!
Today Gene came home from the hospital-again, and this time to stay! It is always so good to be home. Even though the surgery to clean out the infection was unsuccessful as it was under too many folds of liver, they put him on IV antibiotics and his white blood count immediately started decreasing. For the first time since this all began, it is back in normal range. His red blood count is still very low but that should start improving now that the white blood count is under control. Your red blood cells are what carry oxgyen thoughout your body to your organs and give you energy and the ability to breath properly.
Most of his stats have improved, he has a better appetite, and pain seems to be under control. He weighed 183 before this started and lost 23 pounds.
I am really hopeful this time that we are on tract and that things will begin to improve. He looks and feels better. I guess he just needed a little body tuneup!
On our way home I drove past the hayfield and he got to watch Wray and Rich raking and baling hay for a few minutes. My goal for tomorrow is to take a ride out to see the cows.
This has been a rough ride. It has been so good to have Gene home but he has not progressed as we hoped and yesterday I began to suspect that we had another bump in the road. He fell in the morning and Miles had to help me get him up. He was lethargic all day and by evening was running fever and his blood pressure had dropped some. We decided it was time to take him to the emergency room. Lauren and I were unable to get him in the car so we had to call the rescue squad.
Today he will be having another surgery to insert another drain into his abdomen as he has developed some infection. The drains and stents have been causing us some issues. Please keep us in your prayers. Jesus is the ultimate healer. Hopefully this is just a little bump in the road and he will soon be back on the road to recovery.
I am a country gal who enjoys writing, gardening, baking and my family. My husband and I own a retail feed store and it keeps us active and busy. We love living in the country and on our beef farm. We retail natural, Angus, dry-aged beef in our store and a local "natural" store.
My writings, called "From A Grandma's Perspective" are mostly inspired from our five delightful grandchildren. These along with "Life Perspective" can read on our web page at www.hffinc.com under the "Who We Are" tab.
By the way, I love hearing from people who read my blog!!!
