Dearest faithful
friends and family,
I am swelling
with praises and my fingers cannot type fast enough. Prayers have been
answered!
Sunday night
when I typed my previous update and requested prayers, I was feeling terrified.
My feelings were neither rational nor logical. Endoscopies are not
scary, but I was scared of the results. I was petrified of a complication
from surgery requiring additional hospitalization.
I felt the
prayers in little and humongous ways.
The nurses were
all super sweet and friendly. As my main nurse was going over my medical
history, gratitude began rising in me. Heart problems? No. Lung
problems? No. High blood pressure? No. There are a lot of organs
and systems in my body that are very healthy. I had temporarily lost
sight of these blessings. As bizarre as this may sound, being reminded of
all of the health in my body provided me with peace and joy.
My
anesthesiologist had a contagious smile and reminded me of a dear family
friend, Sam Rice. What a gift to be surrounded by kind, compassionate and
competent individuals.
For whatever
reason, when the nurses prepped me, I was not given an IV. If I haven't
mentioned before, I hate IVs. All of a sudden, I was next to go in.
A swarm of nurses quickly surrounded me, put me on oxygen, inserted an IV
and started the sleepy stuff.
When I woke up
and saw Jack's face, I informed him that I was next. I was utterly
confused and dazed when he told me it was all over.
Now, for the
humongous praise: my esophagus and stomach lining look good, where I had
surgery is healing properly and I have no adhesions. Can I get an Amen?!
The only issue
seen was food sitting in my stomach after 15 hours of fasting. FYI: a
normal stomach empties after 45 minutes of eating. This may sound
twisted, but this is an answer to prayer. I wanted something small to be
found, so a source for the pain could be addressed. I have had this issue
before. Gastroparesis (the medical term for delayed stomach emptying) is
treated naturally by eating smaller meals and consuming foods that are easier
to digest. In the past I have had bacteria overgrowth caused by
undigested food. I have a feeling this may be the culprit. To
confirm my hypothesis a test is done where the patient blows into a bag every 15
minutes for 2 hours..no needles and no pain.
All this to say,
I felt relief wash over me. Your prayers caught me and lifted me up, as
if I was crowd surfing at a concert. The imagery of God's hands holding
us has jumped out at me as I have been reading the Psalms. I have been
overwhelmed by the responses of people praying and have felt like your prayers
are a way God's hands are at work.
Final thought
that I feel compelled to share. Monday evening while reading Broken Body, Healing Spirit by Mary C.
Earle, the author explains that a person can be healed without being cured and
cured without being healed. I have been wresting with why suffering
continues when a loving and healing God reigns. This was a revelation to
me and I eagerly shared it with my husband. He kindly responded, "Becky,
you have told me this several times before." Thank goodness for reminders,
because I forget.
Please know this
update comes packed with gratitude and appreciation for your encouragement and
prayers.
With humble gratitude
and praise,
Becky
