There is More

   The surgery continued with another CAT scan and x-rays, I believe.  After the boring of holes I was a little foggy over just what was being done ‘cause I was processing all that had happened.  There might have been a wire inserted into my brain before the x-rays, I’m not too sure.  The next big step was the wire.  Once the surgeon was happy that it was placed properly, a couple of nice young women from Medtronic had me do several exercises, saying the days of the week, drawing  a spiral, a signature moving a cup to my mouth as though drinking, all to see how much I was trembling.  

  Once I did the series of movements, they turned the wires on and I repeated the moves.  After a few times the result were satisfactory and the wire was snapped into place and the hole closed off and sealed, after more x-rays.  The change in my movements was remarkable..I went from severe shaking to controlled movements in just a few tries.  

  Modern medicine, although somewhat barbaric, is truly amazing.   Side two was done and snapped in place.  Eventually I was stitched up and the procedure done.  By then however, I could no longer hold back the horrid cough that took hold. Coughing, being able to move, is tricky in the best circumstances, but coughing when head and shoulders are locked in place is truly tough.    

  Post-op was filled with nausea, but finally controlled by around 5:30pm.  I was released the next day to Jim's care and so happy to be home.  My battery surgery was moved up to Friday 20th because of the corona virus.  So I had just a little time to get some rest and recover from the first surgery before I was back to get it finished.  

  

  Romans 8:38  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life 

nor angels nor principalities nor powers 

nor things present nor things to come,

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,

shall be able to separate us from the love of God

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Surgery... Part 2

  Once my scalp was numbed, the doctor made an incision on the top left of my head.  I felt this, but it did not hurt.  He then retracted the scalp so he could reach the skull.  This I felt also, kind of like the stretching that it was.  It also did not hurt, just felt weird.

  The position of my neck during this time was quit uncomfortable.  Although the team tried very hard to reposition me in a way that relieved my neck, it just couldn't be done. It felt like it was crimped in the middle making swallowing and talking difficult, though not impossible.  It also felt like a tickle in my throat was coming on, so I fought against that for nearly the whole surgery.

  Next a hole was drilled in my skull about the size of a nickel.  This is one of the more difficult spots in the 4 hours I was in surgery.  The whine of the drill was quite loud, but the "pop" sound I heard when he broke through the bone was a surprise.  Drilling went on for a very long minute and 45 seconds and then a very loud "CA-RACK" and he was through the bone.  The vibration the drill made was powerful.  I was glad for well rooted teeth.  That was side one, side two was similar.


When all around gives way,
He is all my hope and stay.

More next week.

Surgery, Ugly and To the Point

  Well, I told you that you would get a blow by blow account after DBSS I had on Monday 3/16/20.
First of all, forgive me that I have not been too regular of late with my postings.  It has been a bazaar couple of weeks...for all of us.

  It was only by the grace of God that I got the first surgery done.  Lockdown, because of COVID-19, came the very next day.  My surgery was not critical so it would have had to wait indefinitely.  After the first surgery was done, the second became a crucial part of the set.  If that one waited too long I would have had too much scar tissue surrounding the wires for the doctor to move them to the area where he hooked them up to the battery.  So on 3/20/20 I had the second surgery also.

  The first surgery to implant the wires into the "sweet spot" in my brain was an awake surgery.  I needed to be fully conscious to do the things they needed for proper placement; things like, say the days of the week, touch my nose, write my name and draw a spiral.  It was a very difficult thing to go through, fully alert to all the sights and sounds.

  A halo, a metal device that encircled my head, was first fitted, marked on my head where the screws would be placed and removed.  The doctor then numbed the four areas and screwed it into my skull.  The halo was then screwed onto a frame on the surgical bed.  I had a CAT scan to make sure the co-ordinates lined up with the earlier MRI.  Once satisfied that it all line up well and I was positioned exactly, I had novocaine injected into the areas where the incisions would be made.

  Enough for today?  This kind of thing isn't for the weak stomached.  I will continue next time.

Through EVERYTHING God is in control, sovereign and good.  He is the same yesterday, today, and for always.  He never changes.  My "GO-TO" during tough times is to count my blessings with a grateful heart.  Gratitude is so important to God.  If we are grateful to Him, He knows that we trust Him.  He gives use Hope and a future.

Dom's Baptism

  Dominick was baptized on Sunday February 23, 2020!  How excited I was, and a bit incredulous, to hear him say "I want to be baptized."  "I want fixed."

  For several years I had prayed that Father would move in his heart to make his commitment, to be a follower of Jesus, public.  I don't know why I was surprised.  I guess because he hates being in water so much.  During the church service the week before when he told me, I must have asked him at least three times if he wanted to be put under water and come up a man committed to following Jesus.  Each time, he told me firmly, "Yes, I do."

  So Jim and I and Dominick met with Pastor Larry and went over the details.  It was brief and to the point.  He was committed to going through with it.

  Dom has always been very in-tuned spiritually.  He lays hands on people and prays for them regularly.  Not only that, he remembers them, and asks about how they are doing the next time he sees them.  He says God talks to him.  He has vivid dreams.  He seems to understand so much of what he hears about scripture.  I love that his name is Dominick Israel.  He loves to hear his name in church.  He loves to have me pray for him, and prayer makes a difference to him.  Often I have seen him respond to prayers for a settling of his emotions, that can get out of control.  He is a tender hearted, gifted young man.


  1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has set the members,
                                   Each of them,
                                   In the body just as He pleased.
                          vs.20 But now indeed there are many members,
                                   Yet one body.


PS.
My MRI went well on Monday.  God willing, surgery as scheduled, on the 16th.

One Interfering God

  After our first three children were born, we were so very content.  We were not at all interested in adding to our family.  Three children seemed just right.

  Enter, One Interfering God, and our plans began to change.  The Holy Spirit whispered in my heart each day, as I began to pray, that we should have another baby for Him.  So I asked Him to change my heart; to change our hearts.  Over the next weeks and months, as He whispered to my heart over, and over again, about the baby He wanted us to have, my heart was found by Him; softened, and drenched with longing for this child He so wanted us to have.

  And then we became pregnant.  I knew it was a boy, as the Lord had told me so.  While I was pregnant with this little boy, the Lord told me about his little sister!  Quite willing, this time, she was born 18 months later.  But while I was pregnant with her, again the Lord spoke to my heart, that there was another boy for us. Her little brother was born 4 years later.

  Our fourth child, Dominick, and our sixth child, Charlie, were both born with microcephaly, an extremely small brain, causing cognitive delays and various other possible disabilities.  There are many, many, adventures we had because of their problems.  Some of those adventures I will be sharing in the future.

  For now, I'd just say, each of us is made exactly as God so chooses to make us.   We really don't get to pick and choose.  We need to embrace, and rejoice over our differences, respecting all, as a God given individual, unique and precious His sight.

  1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly,
But then face to face.
Now we know in part,
But then I shall know
just as I also am known.