BIG surgery scheduled for 4-17

Good morning!

I'm so thankful it is Saturday! It's been a l-o-n-g week. Work has been exceptionally busy and then add in Ron's little episode landing us back at Presby...praise God we have Him to lean on during tough times.

Found out yesterday afternoon that Ron's BIG surgery has been schedule for THIS THURSDAY, April 17 (happy birthday, Shar!). It's amazing, since November Ron has always told people surgery would be sometime in April (though no doctors had actually given a date). Then, because of the wound complications, they thought they'd need to move it up to March. Once that cleared up, they decided to wait until June which really bummed him out! And now...it really is scheduled for April! As always, this is dependent on everything staying on an even keel. Today, his creatinine is down to 1.4 which is virtually normal, liver function is normal, white blood count is normal, temperature is normal, heart rate is normal, blood pressure fluctuates somewhat but nothing to be concerned about. Dr. Shires believes it's obvious things are not going to get much better than this...even tho they had hoped to get him home and allow him to get stronger, etc; there are just too many negative things he's dealing with having to stay only on TPN. They are constantly having to monitor and tweak which defeats the purpose of delaying.

So, this Thursday at 9AM they will begin the very long process of reconnecting his intestines. Dr. Shires says the surgery may take a good 5 hours or more.

Ron is thrilled! He is so ready to get into the next phase of recovery. As yet, there has been no timetable mentioned concerning recovery time.

Please pray that between now and then: his body will be strengthened and fortified and that when they (Dr. Shires & his partner, Dr. Beecherel) get in there it will be obvious that God's miraculous healing power has been at work! That there will be more viable intestines to work with than they think, that scar tissue is not a big issue, that they will not encounter or create any more tears in the colon/intestines, that his one kidney will stay strong, that there will be no liver issues, that he will not have any problems from the anesthesia (heart rate, blood pressure, etc will handle things well)....basically that the best possible scenario will take place! God "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think"

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20 The Message

TO HIM BE ALL GLORY!!!!!