IRP has gone home. We are all very grateful for the successful surgery and quick recovery (at least enough to go home). Her pain is under control. She will probably miss three weeks of work. Thanks for your continuing prayers!~~TSG
Archive for the 'Medical' Category
12
Feb
17
well, that was fast
10
Feb
17
IRP
Tomorrow, IRP goes in to have the hernia caused by the earlier operations corrected. Please pray that all goes well and that this is the last surgery. Thank you!~~TSG
26
Jan
17
when it rains…
Today, IRP, CPI’s older sister called. She will need surgery the 10th of February to repair a hernia caused by the surgeries to correct a birth defect that you will find chronicled earlier in this blog. We had hoped to give the issue a little more time to work itself out, but IRP turns 26 in May and will have to leave the insurance provided by my job. I don’t want her to have to pay for surgery either out-of-pocket or with a plan that will probably not be as good as mine. Please pray that all will go well. Also, I am going to look into the possibility of her staying on my plan until she can get her own. Please pray that I will find favor with HR and the law in this matter.
As for The Scheme, I found $.67 today either on the floor or in vending machine coin return slots. I am really getting a lot of stretches in amassing money this way.~~TSG
01
Aug
16
The “Scheme”
I have been thinking of several things that we need to have acquire or have done in our lives. Somewhere, I read a suggestion that I write down everything that I needed, wanted or thought would make my life easier; rate them on a 1-10 scale; and then choose three of the highest numbers and give them a time-line. After the three were chosen, I was to estimate their cost per month to the given time-line. These “end costs” were added together to give me how much I needed to bring in extra per quarter, month and day to make them a reality.
My three things are the following (monthly cost):
1. perfecting my pottery skills and perhaps selling on Etsy–$120
2. a down payment on a newer car–at least $300
3. new clothes and shoes to replace my aging wardrobe–$100
This works out to about $20 a day. I intended to start working this program today, since the first of the month seemed like a good time for new beginnings. Instead, I woke up Friday with horrible pain in my left hip. I got through the weekend and went to the doctor this morning. I have sciatica. Wonderful! I spent $25 on the visit. The accompanying medicine was $59.50. So, today ends with me -84.50. This does not count the $20 I did not figure out how to make. Oh, well, there is always tomorrow.
~~TSG
25
Jun
14
rejoice,…
…the Lord is King! IRP was told by the doctor today that she does not need any further surgeries. He took out the final drain and declared her finished. She has another checkup next month, but other than that she can just get on with her life.~~TSG
20
Jun
14
the new normal
Praise God! IRP is happier and healthier now than she has been in years. She is relieved that, with the permanent colostomy, she knows what to expect. As she said to me, “at least I won’t wake up every day wondering what is going to break and will it succeed in killing me this time?”. This is not the solution we really wanted, but it is one that is working. I could not ask for anything more. Thanks and love to our prayer partners!~~TSG
06
Jun
14
this is getting old
Well, here we are again. IRP called at about 10:30 this morning in terrible pain. I ran her up to her doctor and he had her admitted to the hospital. The hospital was full, so it was nearly 3:00 by the time she got a room. Since then, we have been struggling to keep her out of pain and to get her to keep contrast liquid down. Finally, I decided to have the nurse tell IRP’s doctor that she was never going to be able to keep anything down unless he could get, and keep, her out of pain. The nurse had already come to this conclusion and informed the doctor. She was actually on the way to IRP’s room with a syringe full of morphine and the information that the scan would be performed without contrast fluid. They will be coming for IRP shortly. Please pray that the reason for the problem will be relatively mild and quickly solved. Thank you!~~TSG
27
May
14
our ways are not his ways…
IRP went into surgery at 1pm. At 3:15, the doctor came out to speak with us. The fistula has been successfully closed. However, IRP will have to deal with a colostomy for the rest of her life. There is simply not enough material left to reconnect her in the normal manner. In fact, the colon could not be stitched to the stoma today. A temporary plastic stent has been put in to allow for the growth of scar tissue. In three or four weeks, the doctor will use the scar tissue to complete the connection.
IRP has been dealing with the difficulties caused by Hirschsprung’s for her entire life in one way or another. This is the end of that. The permanent colostomy does not make any difference to her fiancé who says it is “just a thing” which has nothing to do with her as a person. 🙂 I asked the doctor about IRP’s main concern; would she be able to conceive and carry children. He said that she has the correct equipment and it is in fine shape. Should scar tissue prevent regular conception, there are other methods to conceive. Most importantly, she will be able to carry a child to term. It has always been IRP’s worst fear that her condition would make this impossible.
God’s ways are not ours, but I know they have a purpose. Please continue to pray for a quick recovery and return to normal life. As always, thank you!~~TSG
IRP needs surgery once more. She has developed a fistula and the doctor will have to repair it and give her a temporary ileostomy again. I will let you look up the meaning of ‘fistula’ for yourself if necessary. Suffice it to say that it has given her an infection and made life much worse for her. As you probably guessed, IRP is very tired of all of this. She tells me that, if there is even a chance of anything going wrong after this, she is just going to keep the ileostomy. I am praying for God to heal this breech before the surgeon has to. Please join me; IRP really needs this to be over. Thank you!~~TSG
26
Apr
14
hurrah!!!
IRP’s surgery went very well. In fact, much better than I expected. This time, they managed to get her pain under control in the recovery room instead of having to send her up to the floor for others to try.
When the nurses were preparing the pad that is used to transfer patients from one bed to another, IRP announced that she could move herself. She hit the medication button on the suggestion of the nurse who had brought her up to her room and practically hopped right on over. She was doing so well with control of pain and nausea that instead of waiting until today, the doctor put her on liquids last night. Soft food should follow this afternoon and IRP may come home as early as tomorrow.
I want to thank God and each of you who brought IRP’s cause before Him. I really feel that this operation will be the last and IRP will finally have a normal bodily life.~~TSG
In the Ensuing Panic 
Recent Comments