December 9

Friday, December 9, 2011

From Bob

We would ask that you join our family as we pray for our son-in-law David (married to Jenny). He will undergo surgery on Monday, December 12, to remove his eye. David injured his eye as a young boy and has been unable to see out of it for many years. For a long time, David has had severe pain in the eye and so a decision was made by his doctors to remove the eye. We are praying for the procedure to go well and that it will eliminate his pain. He should receive his "new eye" the beginning of next year.

On Thursday, December 15, our grandson Andrew (age 6 - Jenny and David's son) will have a follow-up MRI to keep track of the progress from the brain surgery that he had a year ago. We appreciate your continued prayers for him - he's doing great. Pray that God will calm his anxiety, he doesn't like going to the hospital. (Neither do I!)

(David and Jenny with Andrew and Megan on Thanksgiving)

This past Tuesday, I felt so good that Patra and I went out to lunch. It was wonderful! We went to one of our favorite beach restaurants for grouper sandwiches. It was such a beautiful drive across the bridge to Clearwater Beach. I can't even remember the last time we were able to eat out. I must have overdone it because the next day my back went into spasms and I passed out from the intense pain. Patra kept me from falling out of the shower chair. Later that day, I went to dialysis. I did very well through dialysis but when I was getting into my wheelchair, my back again began to spasm - intense pain so severe I passed out again. I remember the nurses asking me if I was " still with them." They put me back in my dialysis chair and started an I.V. of fluid and gave me oxygen. They brought Patra back from the waiting room to sit with me. Just having her there was very comforting. I am always appreciative of how caring and compassionate the nurses and techs are at dialysis. As I write this, I am feeling a little better, but haven't been out of bed. I pray that my pain management doctor can help me get some relief when I meet with him on Monday.

I have often turned this week to a comforting verse in scripture. Romans 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.". I know that someday all my pain will be gone. It truly will be glorious. The pain is temporary but the Glory will be eternal!

I met with my cardiologist this week. That went very well. My blood pressure was good and he didn't detect any fluid in my lungs. When he listened to my heart he didn't hear any arrhythmias. He is concerned about my heart function so I will have an echo cardiogram in February. He also wants to do blood work to check on my thyroid. Some of my medications have been known to have adverse effects on the thyroid.

The sale of my office fell through, and although we were disappointed we know that God will send the right buyer just when we need it.

Dear God: Thank you for the promises of scripture. Help me when I begin to get discouraged to think of the glory to come. We pray that David's surgery will go well and that his pain will be alleviated. We pray that Andrew will stay calm for the MRI and get a good report. Thank you for friends who have so faithfully supported us and prayed for us.

Until next Friday. God willing.
Bob

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good Morning, Bob,
It was wonderful to hear that you and Patra were able to go to the beach for that grouper. We could just visualize your doing that. That happens to be one of our favorite things to do also. The grouper is fantastic as well as the view.
We continue to pray that you can get relief from those spasms which cause you so much pain.
Bob, it seems that you have a wonderful medical team trying to do all that they can do to help you enjoy your time with your family and friends.
We had already begun to pray for David's upcoming surgery; now we will add Andrew to that list as well.
As we begin to try to imagine the glories awaiting us in heaven, it truly is beyond anything that we can even dream up. Our human thinking just can't even go there.
Thanks, Bob, for your faithfulness in keeping us so well informed. We are so thankful that you have chosen to share this journey with us.
We love you and your family and continue to pray, praise and love,
Lex and Linda
Anonymous said…
Bob & Patra: We continue to have you in our thoughts and prayers daily. We will add David and Andrew to our prayer list as well.

I pray for relief of the muscle spasms; I still recommend acupuncture and know a wonderful one if interested. She works wonders for pain and it doesn't hurt! We will pray for the sale of your office as well.

We love you all dearly and are so blessed to know your wonderful family!

God bless you all!

Ted & Carol W
Grouper sandwiches at the beach sounds heavenly. I'm so glad you got to enjoy but so sorry about the spasms later. Thomas suffers from terrible spasms when he fractures and was actually admitted to ICU once. It seems some children with his medical condition do have this predisposition. Hope you get some relief soon! I know how terrible they are...