I didn't preach on Easter Sunday simply because I was too sick to pull it off. I was planning on spending Monday hanging out with my parents and family and mentally and spiritually prepping for surgery the next day. Sunday evening I went out to put the lock on our church trailer. When I got there, I got out of the car and collapsed with an intense pain in my lower right gut, right groin and leg. I had been experiencing a similar pain for several days and had even had it shooting into my leg. The previous pains had subsided after an hour or so. I assumed, and had even been told by one of the residents in my surgeons office, that the pain was my swollen colon pressing on a nerve running into my leg. So, I caught my breath, got back in the car, drove home and went to bed, expecting the pain to go away.
After tossing and turning most of the night, I finally decided to wake up around 9:30 on Monday morning. As I lay there, I realized that something definitely did not feel right with my leg. I pulled the covers back and my leg was swelling and looked slightly purple. I tried to stand and couldn't. I called Jamie who rushed home and got me down the stairs and into the 4Runner. When I got to the ER, they rushed me right in. My heart was running between 140 and 150 BPM, my right leg was 3 times the size of the left (not hard since I have bird legs) and turning blue and I was hurting. At some point they took an ultrasound of my leg and CT of my lungs. The ultrasound showed a DVT, a clot of the main vein in the leg, running from my ankle to somewhere up in my abdomen. The CT scan showed what they termed as "multiple bilateral pulmonary embolisms" - basically blood clots in the arteries in both lungs.
The doctors were pretty amazed that I was breathing as well as I was. After starting me on a blood thinner drip they were able to get an arterial pulse in my foot. They then moved me to ICU for the night. After spending about 24 hours in the ICU, I was moved to a regular room.
On Wednesday I underwent another colonoscopy. Our hope and the hope of my GI team was that the situation in my colon had changed for the better. Unfortunately, the colonoscopy showed that I was still pretty jacked up. In fact, the ulcerative colitis and its side effects are probably the underlying reason behind this weeks blood clot problems. The GI team initially wanted to hold me in the hospital and push ahead with surgery as soon as possible. My surgeon, however, felt it would be best to go home and try and give my leg time to heal and let the clots dissipate. So, on Thursday evening I was discharged. It felt great to sleep in my own bed:-)
I'm spending the next few days focusing completely on resting and healing. I've got meetings with doctors on Tuesday and Thursday and a consultation with my surgeon on Friday.
Reflecting on this week there are a couple of things I want to share with my friends and church family.
God's Word is a Firm Foundation
3
years ago I was hospitalized with an Ulcerative Colitis flare. On my
4th night in the hospital, lying in my bed with my Bible, I felt that
God gave me a promise from Psalm 27 about my sickness. The 13th verse
of the psalm says this, "I am still confident of this: I will see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." I sensed that God was
reassuring me that this sickness would not kill me. All day Monday that
verse kept echoing in my heart, bringing me strength.
Jesus Commands My Destiny
On Easter Sunday we sang this verse, "
No guilt in life
no fear in death, This is the power
of Christ in me. From life's first
cry to final breath, Jesus
commands my destiny"
Those words are completely true. As I lay in the back of the car on the way to the hospital, as the doctors and nurses scrambled around me in the ER, I have to say I felt a level of peace that I've rarely if ever known. Had I gone into surgery on Tuesday with the blood clots that were already forming in my leg, I very well could have died. Jesus was and is in total control.
As we meet with my doctors over the next few days, I'm honestly not sure what they will say or what decisions we will make. I do know this - God has been and is continuing to work in my body and my life for my good and for His glory.
To Our Friends and Church Family
To all my many friends who have reached out to Jamie and me over the last few days with kind words and especially with prayer, thank you. We still need you, especially your prayer. If you are part of our LifeGate family, our leadership team will be sharing on Sunday some specific ways you can help us.
If you reach out and I don't respond, just know that on the advice of my overseers and concerned family, I'll be resting, reading and playing video games for the next few days.
We love and appreciate you!
AW
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