Back to Plan A

Well...once again, looks like plans are changing. Ron's leakage has dramatically decreased, thus his skin irritation/breakdown has greatly improved. So, depending on how the next few days go, we may be back to Plan A which is go home for a while and then return in a month or so for the big surgery. They are watching his drainage output closely and will take him down to Interventional Radiology in the next couple of days and make final decision from there.

It's good that things are healing up on their own but Ron was extremely discouraged to hear surgery may be postponed. Since we were thinking he would have surgery in the next couple of weeks, he was getting excited about the prospect of having the major part of this ordeal behind him soon. The thought of continued waiting is hard. He knows that the further we are away from his last surgery (December 10) the more his body will have healed and that the leakage and skin issues had tipped the scales as to the necessity to go in earlier. Now that those issues aren't a problem, the surgeons say they would prefer to wait to allow optimal healing to take place before they go in. Please pray for Ron, that he will be at peace with whatever final decision is made. He totally believes God's timing is perfect, and is trusting Dr. Shires and Dr. Becherel for wise discernment, but he is more than ready to get this behind him.

Also pray that these cluster headaches (the intensity of a migraine, difference being that they come on every day...or mostly nights in his case...for a few weeks and then won't come on again for years). He has been having them for 7-10 days now and they have increased to more than one a day. Today his headache started about 6 and when I left his room at 10:30 he was still having problems despite the fact he has had two doses of his medication. Even the morphine doesn't cut it.

Please remember to pray:

• wise discernment for Dr. Shires & Dr. Becherel
• for Ron (and all the family) to trust God's perfect timing
• for peace
• against cluster headaches
• for decisions needing to be made within our family
  

Many thanks!
Christie & gang

"Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Heb 6:12

The Biblical heroes of faith remind us not only of the necessity of faith but also of the patience required for faith's work to be perfected. May we fear attempting to remove ourselves from the hands of our Heavenly Guide, or missing even one lesson of His loving discipline due to our discouragement or doubt.
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Just as the blacksmith strengthens steel, the Lords tests us in the same way: through fire, water, and heavy blows of His hammer. If we are unwilling to withstand the test, or prove to be unfit for His tempering process, He may throw us onto the scrap heap. When the fire in our life is the hottest, we should stand still, for "later on...it produces a harvest" (Heb 12:11) of blessings. Then we will be able to say "When He has tested me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:10

Heb 12:12-13 (New Living Translation)
"So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong."