"Home"
Friday, September 16, 2011
from Bob
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
Throughout this journey through the "tall weeds", I have been learning a great deal about prayer. I will often lay in bed when I can't sleep and just talk to God. Many times while in dialysis, I will close my eyes and just pray.
You will never know how much the prayers of our friends mean to us. You really exceeded my expectations last week with your prayers. In last Friday's blog, I asked for you to pray that I would be released from the hospital quickly. On Friday I had dialysis at the hospital and when I was done, they took me down for a chest x-ray. About an hour later, my pulmonary doctor came in and told me that even though I still had pneumonia, it was improving and he was going to release me from the hospital THAT AFTERNOON. Earlier that day another doctor had told us we would probably stay until Wednesday (of this week). There is no place like HOME. I guess I dodged another bullet.
Although I don't understand everything about prayer, being able to pray to our Heavenly Father and knowing that my friends are also lifting us up has been an incredible blessing. Thank you.
I am on heavy doses of antibiotics and the major problem that I'm having is that my antidepressant medication has a strong interaction with one of my antibiotics. The doctor wanted me to discontinue taking the antidepressant but I talked him into just lowering the dosage. I have 10 more days until I can go back to my regular dosage. At the reduced dosage I do get some relief, however there are times when things seem to become overwhelming. For example, I have struggled this week with dialysis even more than usual and I find myself questioning whether or not I have told my children everything that I want them to know before I pass away. In reality my kids are probably tired of me telling them how much I love them. Patra has encouraged me to try to remain positive and think of my dialysis as my new job.
I'd like to quit this job.
I sure liked my old job better.
Again, prayer is such an important aspect with dealing with the depression.
I have been able to enjoy the grandchildren so much since we have gotten home. I missed them immensely while I was in the hospital. Patra and Jenny babysit 4 children every day during the week so I have an opportunity to see them often. Andrew (6 years old) loves to play in my hospital bed. Last night he asked if he could lay with me in the bed so he could raise and lower the head and legs of the bed. Wish I had a picture of us in a "V" position. Avery (almost 2 ) has become my buddy, she is not afraid to crawl on me while I am laying on the couch. Sometimes she does this when I least expect it or when I'm almost asleep, but she seems to get so much delight that I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. Her giggles are good medicine. Megan (almost 2) likes to pretend to "scare" me. She will say something like"boo" and I pretend to jump out of fear, and she squeals with laughter. She can "scare" me much longer than I can jump.
Dear God, Thank you that I got out of the hospital and that my pneumonia seems to have been resolved. Thank you for friends that pray for me. I am so grateful that I can pray to YOU. Thank you for the blessing of my children and grandchildren.
Until next Friday, God willing
Bob
Friday, September 16, 2011
from Bob
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
Throughout this journey through the "tall weeds", I have been learning a great deal about prayer. I will often lay in bed when I can't sleep and just talk to God. Many times while in dialysis, I will close my eyes and just pray.
You will never know how much the prayers of our friends mean to us. You really exceeded my expectations last week with your prayers. In last Friday's blog, I asked for you to pray that I would be released from the hospital quickly. On Friday I had dialysis at the hospital and when I was done, they took me down for a chest x-ray. About an hour later, my pulmonary doctor came in and told me that even though I still had pneumonia, it was improving and he was going to release me from the hospital THAT AFTERNOON. Earlier that day another doctor had told us we would probably stay until Wednesday (of this week). There is no place like HOME. I guess I dodged another bullet.
Although I don't understand everything about prayer, being able to pray to our Heavenly Father and knowing that my friends are also lifting us up has been an incredible blessing. Thank you.
I am on heavy doses of antibiotics and the major problem that I'm having is that my antidepressant medication has a strong interaction with one of my antibiotics. The doctor wanted me to discontinue taking the antidepressant but I talked him into just lowering the dosage. I have 10 more days until I can go back to my regular dosage. At the reduced dosage I do get some relief, however there are times when things seem to become overwhelming. For example, I have struggled this week with dialysis even more than usual and I find myself questioning whether or not I have told my children everything that I want them to know before I pass away. In reality my kids are probably tired of me telling them how much I love them. Patra has encouraged me to try to remain positive and think of my dialysis as my new job.
I'd like to quit this job.
I sure liked my old job better.
Again, prayer is such an important aspect with dealing with the depression.
I have been able to enjoy the grandchildren so much since we have gotten home. I missed them immensely while I was in the hospital. Patra and Jenny babysit 4 children every day during the week so I have an opportunity to see them often. Andrew (6 years old) loves to play in my hospital bed. Last night he asked if he could lay with me in the bed so he could raise and lower the head and legs of the bed. Wish I had a picture of us in a "V" position. Avery (almost 2 ) has become my buddy, she is not afraid to crawl on me while I am laying on the couch. Sometimes she does this when I least expect it or when I'm almost asleep, but she seems to get so much delight that I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. Her giggles are good medicine. Megan (almost 2) likes to pretend to "scare" me. She will say something like"boo" and I pretend to jump out of fear, and she squeals with laughter. She can "scare" me much longer than I can jump.
Dear God, Thank you that I got out of the hospital and that my pneumonia seems to have been resolved. Thank you for friends that pray for me. I am so grateful that I can pray to YOU. Thank you for the blessing of my children and grandchildren.
Until next Friday, God willing
Bob
Comments
Ted & Carol W
Thanks for the encouraging updae today. We can just see those grandchildren doing all of those cute behaviors. They are precious little ones, and they are so blessed to have you and Patra to have fun with.
Our God knows just what we need, doesn't HE? He worked your blessings out in an amazing way.
We love you and your family. Only our Lord knows the future of each of us. Many times HE surprises us with HIS blessings that we never expect.
We love you and continue to pray for you. See you soon.
Lex and Linda