Notice that the voles missed eating one tulip!
The tulips are fading, but the mulch is down.
His new office is in the BIG house on the hill.
This is part of the business office.
This is one side of the waiting room.
I have been hush hush about Ben being in California
I found these tulips behind the house today.
I asked Chad to take my picture, but every time the
It is 74 degrees today so I went around the house and opened
Even though it is a cold 32 degree foggy morning,
Before I left the hospital, the doctor told me that I should eat red meat, and that liver would be especially good for me, to help build up my blood.
Alan bought some baby calf liver, and we asked my friend Betty to come over and show us how she prepares it for her family. I called Betty on her cell phone and she said, "I'm just a few minutes from your house, I'll be right over."
She soon arrived and prepared the liver, showing Alan how to cook it the next time.
When Betty came, she brought a special gift for me. It was a beautiful nightgown and housecoat set. Isn't it gorgeous?
Like Alan says, I don't have a need that God hasn't met.
Last night Alan tucked me into bed at 10:30 PM.Just a quick post to let all of you know that I am home from the hospital. I took a shower and washed my hair, now I am going to rest awhile. I'm sending Alan out to get my prescriptions and something for supper.
I'll blog more after I get myself oriented to being back home.
Thank you all for your prayers, cards, calls, visits, and well-wishes.
I love you!
Cheryl
Today was another good day. The percocet kept the pain away and Cheryl only had to be hooked to the IV pole two times, for about an hour each time, for the antibiotic medication. We walked four times (one time was twice as far, so we should give her credit for five walks). She also ate three well-balanced healthy meals.
There were several visitors today, including our pastor, our missionary friends, and Cheryl's friend Ruth. Our next door neighbor, Kim, also dropped by, bringing Cheryl a hyacinth.
A beautiful bouquet of flowers came today, from the "English Brook Hens," the name our neighborhood ladies use for themselves when they all get together a couple of times a year. They are beautiful, as you can see.
Cheryl had another good day, for which we praise the Lord!
She sat up all afternoon, took two walks, and gave herself a sponge bath.
Amazing!
They set her free of the IV pole, except for about an hour when they had to give her the antibiotic through her IV.
Cheryl's friend, Kendra, from church, paid a visit today. This doesn't seem out of the ordinary, until you know that Kendra is blind and came to the hospital by herself. She took a bus from home to the hospital and was then going to walk four blocks to her job, where she teaches the visually impaired how to become more independent. She is an amazing young woman, and serves as the chair of the women's ministry committee.
Cheryl told Kendra that she has had so many student nurses that she ought to be paid for being their guinea pig. Kendra said, "Yes, or at least get some frequent flier miles!"
Pastor Reich, our associate pastor, also stopped by today for awhile. He was happy to see the improvement that Cheryl has made since he last visited.
I called Cheryl after I got home from the hospital this evening. The nurse told her that the hospital is filling up and she will probably get another roommate tonight.
Remember, just because Cheryl is improving doesn't mean that you should stop praying for her.
That's all for tonight. I have to go iron some shirts :)
A BETTER NIGHT
Cheryl had a much better night last night and a much better day today. We praise the Lord for His work and intervention on her behalf.
Every night around 10:00 Cheryl's blood pressure and temperature have both been going up. It made her body feel very "anxious and agitated" on the inside. The doctors were baffled about what to do.
So, in the dark, alone in her room last evening around 11:00 Cheryl prayed. She lifted both hands to the Lord, lying in her bed, and prayed, "Lord I praise you, no matter what happens. Lord, please sit down in the chair next to my bed. I don't know what medicine I should have and the doctors don't seem to know, but You do and I ask you to tell them."
Soon after that, the nurses came and gave her a drug that enabled her to sleep all night. She woke up more refreshed than she has been any morning since going into the hospital.
The day went well. Our Sunday sermons were by Charles Stanley, John Maxwell, and D. James Kennedy. No roommate today, so we were able to turn the TV volume up.
GOOD THINGS HAPPENED TODAY
Cheryl's first visitor this morning was Dr. Deshpande, who was her first doctor when we moved back to Lancaster County in 1999. Dr. Deshpande now works on the hospital staff, so that she can have a better schedule that enables her to spend more time with her children. She told Cheryl that she is going to request that an infection doctor be brought onto her case, because they are concerned that there is still infection lingering somewhere. Cheryl hasn't seen Dr. Despande for several years, and she was really happy to see her, because she has always been a caring and concerned physician.
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
Cheryl is making progress in incremental steps. Her voice is a bit stronger and her color is a bit better. They took her off of the morphine and have her on Percocet for pain. The button gimmick didn't work for her, because you have to keep pushing the button every so often and she would fall asleep and miss it.
She was awake much of last night in misery. This morning when the Dr. stopped in to see her, he said that he wants her to sit up part of the day, and to walk as much as she can. She sat up in a chair for awhile today, and walked the hallways three times. She works hard at obeying doctor's orders, because she knows that sitting up and walking are essential if she is going to keep improving.
ENCOURAGERS
Cheryl was cheered up by a phone call from our daughter, Heather, who lives in Seattle, a call from blogger TJ, and calls from several ladies from our church.
Our pastor and his wife visited today. Doris, herself, has experienced some very serious medical challenges and she brought Cheryl a "prayer bear." When she was in the hospital, a friend gave her the bear, saying, "Whenever you look at the bear, know that I am praying for you." She gave Cheryl the bear, with the assurance that she will be praying. Here's the bear:
(This is an illustration, not Cheryl's picture)
I didn't leave the hospital until 9:15 this evening, so this post is a bit late.
Cheryl had another bad night last night and a purely miserable day today, because of the pain. Her doctor had ordered pain medication yesterday, but for one reason or another and one excuse or another, it didn't get done. He was shocked today when he found out that she had not yet received it. We love this hospital and the staff, but there were some major glitches the past 36-48 hours.
Cheryl's primary doctor told us that she shouldn't be having this much pain at this point, so he suspects a pocket of infection somewhere. This meant another CAT scan this evening, preceded by two hours of drinking that awful contrast liquid. One sip at a time. One AWFUL sip at a time!
But she did it and had the scan. They will tell us the results tomorrow.
After Cheryl came back from the CAT scan this evening, the IV nurses came with a machine that allows Cheryl to push a button for Morphine. She is finally getting some relief, and hopefully, will have a much better night tonight. They are also giving her an antibiotic in her IV.
Cheryl got two wonderful phone calls from blogging friends today. Cathy at Melodies and Hymnsongs called her and TJ called her. Tears were flowing from Cheryl's eyes as she spoke to both of these encouraging ladies.
Clif and Charlotte created a wonderful home-made get-well card for Cheryl, using the picture of Cheryl in the Emergency Room when she was ready to start drinking the contrast fluid. Cheryl loved the card, saying that my putting that picture on the blog has stripped her of all pride :)
Here's the card. Isn't it great?
For those of you who may be extra sensitive about proper decorum, be assured that I would have never posted that picture if I thought it made her look bad. Considering that she had been in terrible pain for 3 days, and was still wearing her pajamas, I thought she still looked great!
Our wonderful friends Paul & Betty stopped by this evening after Cheryl returned from her CAT scan. They brought these beautiful roses for her room.
My boss' wife stopped in to see Cheryl today, as well. She is involved in the Stephen's Ministry at their church and is a very kind and gracious lady.
Cheryl also got calls from her sister and two brothers from Ohio today. They are all concerned and praying for her, wishing that we all lived closer.
Cheryl had to have a new IV put in today (they have to be replaced every 3 days) and a gentleman from the IV team came to do it. We told him it was going to be difficult, but he zipped it right in on the first try. I told him that he won the Blue Ribbon. He said it was luck, plus the fact that he inserts IVs for 10 hours each day. He said he started working in the cafeteria of the hospital and was so good at putting thermometers in chickens that they transferred him to the IV team. When there is so much pain, it is good to have a laugh once in awhile.
Continue to pray for Cheryl and ask people at your churches to pray for her. This is an extremely hard recovery and she covets your prayers.
Hopefully, I can report better news tomorrow evening.
Alan
When Cheryl came back from her X-ray this afternoon, what a wonderful surprise she found waiting for her. Mari and Cheri, two of Cheryl's blogging friends from Michigan (sisters) had sent her this beautiful bouquet of flowers. It really made her happy, and she asked me to thank Mari and Cheri when I blogged this evening. Thank you very, very much!!
We've been wondering why Cheryl is having such a difficult time with recovery, thinking something else must be going on. We think we know the answer now.
Around 6:00 this evening, Dr. Fromuth, who performed the hysterectomy on March 11, stopped by to see how Cheryl is doing. He spent about twenty minutes with us. This was on his own time, because he isn't one of the doctors treating Cheryl now. He is not only a skilled surgeon, he is excellent at explaining medical things in layman's terms.
He told us that the appendix had been ruptured, which was news to us. (explanation: Dr. Dodge, who performed the surgery, would surely have told this to Alan, if Alan had been where he was supposed to be - in the waiting room - when the he came looking for Alan after the surgery.) At any rate, no one else had seen the need to tell us, probably thinking we already knew.
Dr. Fromuth explained that a ruptured appendix is a big deal. With the hysterectomy, and many other surgeries, you have the operation (the event) and then begin to heal, getting progressively better. With a ruptured appendix, the event becomes much longer, dealing with the bacteria that has been released in your body, before the healing becomes evident. He wanted us to understand this, so that we would have the right picture in our minds regarding how fast Cheryl will recover. In America, we want the surgery and rapid recovery afterwards. This doesn't happen with a ruptured appendix.
This helped both Cheryl and I in understanding what is going on and what to expect in the days and weeks ahead. He also assured us that the medical groups working with Cheryl are the very best and if he was in her situation, he would want these same doctors. That helped us too.
Another thing he explained was why he did not see the condition of the appendix when he performed the hysterectomy. In most people, the appendix hangs extended out from the large intestine. Her appendix was positioned behind the intestine, out of sight.
He also said that the hard time she is having is normal for a ruptured appendix and she shouldn't think that God had appointed her for an especially hard time, more than other people.
They X-rayed her arm today, because it is so battered and because it was greatly swollen last night, to make sure there are no blood clots in the arm.
Cheryl and I took three walks down the hallway this afternoon - the doctors want her to walk as much as possible. When we walk the hallway, she holds onto me and to the railing on the wall. She is extremely weak. To illustrate, after we returned from each walk, she would sit on the edge of the bed and then lean back on the upright, raised head of the bed. She couldn't pull her legs up onto the bed, so I would lift her legs in place up on the bed (she says I am much more gentle lifting her legs than the nurses and aides are). Then after getting onto the bed, she doesn't have strength to reposition herself on the bed (for example, to move over to the center of the bed) even a couple of inches. And at this point they won't allow her to eat or drink anything except clear liquids, until her bowels start functioning again.
Cheryl's day was cheered up with several visitors today, all from our church. Our associate pastor, our senior pastor, our semi-retired missionary friends, and our retired pastor friend and his wife. All of them prayed with Cheryl, which was a great encouragement to her. She also received several encouraging phone calls (717-544-4653 goes directly to her room).
Cheryl also received this get-well card, signed by all of the neighbors on our street. We love our neighbors and always enjoy getting together with them. We live in a terrific neighborhood!
Thank you for praying,
Alan
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