“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
So, tonight is the last night I will sleep in my own bed (with a pancreas)…that seems so strange. Just a couple months ago, I thought I was years away from being ready to do this surgery. And here I am, less then 34 hours until I will be in surgery having my digestive system completely rearranged by someone I’ve only met once. If he was the one I had placed my hope in…..if I was going completely on his opinion, I would be a lot more nervous right now. But, because I strongly believe that God is the one who has laid out this path for me, I will sleep a little easier tonight. I pray that Dr. Christein is sleeping well tonight and tomorrow as well.
Please pray that this sinus infection I have is a lot better in the morning. It is so frustrating and annoying dealing with this on top of trying to prepare for this surgery. According to the nurse, as long as I’m not running a fever, I will still be good to go on Friday. But, I sure would like to be free from one less thing that makes me uncomfortable. Pray that John Parvin continues to get better too, and that Butch doesn’t get whatever it is that we started out with……..I really need him so much right now. Just his presence is a comfort to me.
We will go down to B’ham tomorrow and stay at the Marriott that is attached to the hospital. I will not be able to eat anything after breakfast and will be able to have clear liquids until midnight. I will also have to do a cleanse (fun, fun!) . So, I’m sure Butch, John Parvin and my mom will need extra patience with me….please say some prayers for them. In general, right now, I am relying on y’all to do most of my 'praying out loud.' I know God hears the silent prayers of my heart. But, right now, dwelling on anything makes my mind go in too many directions….and many places my mind tries to go that I just don’t have the energy to think about. So, my sweet friends, I have asked Him to hear your prayers on my behalf as well as those silent prayers of my heart.
I don’t have an official time yet for my surgery. They will call sometime tomorrow to let me know. As of right now, I am the only one on the schedule and the nurse said that if it stays that way, I will probably need to be there around 5:00am. …the sooner they get me in there and knocked out the better as far a I’m concerned. Love to everyone!
I am thinking of you Paula, it's only 11:33 AM here in RI so I know you are not out of surgery yet. I was sitting in that busy surgical waiting room updating my address book with what seemed like 100 people looking at me. I needed to do something mindless while I was waiting for Michael. I'm glad your family has some company with each other. Sending prayers your way.
ReplyDeleteHi Paula,
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading your blog. It was a very touching to me. Mainly because it hits so close to home. My husband Melvin has had recurrent acute pancreatitis since late 2007. Since 2007 he has been hospitalized with an episode 25 times and had a visit to the ER where he was not admitted 18 times. After much research on the Internet I discovered information about TP/ICT and Dr. Christein. I often read blogs from other people who are going through the same thing to get more insight on the reality of it all. The funny thing is that on the day that I found your blog I happen to be sitting here next to my husband in the SICU at UAB. He had his TP/ICT yesterday (4/2/12) and his doing well. I realize that you are just 4 days post op at this point and probably are no where near feeling like writing a post. I am eager to hear more about how things are going for you. The doctor says Melvin should be in a regular room tomorrow. If I knew what room you were in I might even wander over to give you some words of encouragement, or even better let you and your family give us some words of encouragement seeing as how we are 3 days behind you in this process. I pray that things are going well for you and your family. Thanks for sharing your journey and I hope that you have a speedy recovery. Jennifer Hill