Continuing with the surgery process:

They finally got all 8 monitors back on and finished getting me ready; they found the backup.  Someone had mistakenly thought it would not be needed so they removed it from the room.

The main anesthesiologist came in and said they he was very concerned with my kidneys.  Last time it was checked it was well within limits, this time it is high – I need to discuss that with my Urologist. 

He said it wouldn’t keep them from doing the surgery, but he was very concerned.  I told him I would talk to him. 

Earlier my Urologist had noted an upswing in my numbers, he said that with all the problems and medications I have had over the past few weeks, he would deal with it after things settled down – since he knew my history he wasn’t overly concerned.  We will see.

After getting everything set up, they would do more after I went to sleep.  That was the last conversation I remember before going to sleep.

I woke up in the recovery room – I was awake a good 4-6 hours before I was supposed to be – it took them a while to get me to respond. 

One lady was holding on for dear life to my right wrist, she almost got hit by my left hand, as I lifted her off the floor.  I stopped when she yelled.

She told me that I would have a bruise, one of the tubes didn’t go in correctly and for whatever reason - I was too groggy to understand - she needed to put the pressure on for another five minutes.  Afterwards she disappeared and I never saw her again, not that I would have recognized her. 

She was right about the bruise, it is a big’n’.

That wasn’t the problem, though, it was another much more serious one and it had caused a great deal of bleeding.  They had tried to place a Foley catheter in me.  My body doesn’t do well with those.  In the process of insertion something happened and it caused ‘some’ bleeding.

Carla said the blanket was full of blood and dripping.  Not what she wanted to see.  I am fine, now, the bleeding slowed down while I was in the hospital and stopped within 24 hours.

The surgeon decided since the work he was going to be doing required him to thin my blood much more that it was now, it was too dangerous to do the surgery.  He halted the procedure.

Carla and Deed had gone down to the cafeteria and ate.  They had just come back into the waiting room, set their stuff down and in walked the doctor – about four to six hours earlier than they had anticipated.

Carla said he took them into a small counseling room and explained what had happened.  She said he was trying to think of a better way to perform the surgery when she could see that a light went off in his head – his partner knew a different way.

That procedure was not recommended for someone with my situational A-Fib, they didn’t have much success with it.  However, he had just read a paper that said more tests had been done and based on that information I may be a good candidate for the procedure.

When I finally got half way awake he came in and told me the same thing.  He said he couldn’t do it because he hadn’t had the training, etc. on it – I pointed to the clock and said he had at least 4 free hours, since he didn’t do the surgery, to start it – he just shook his head and said it wasn’t enough.

We had discussions on medications, what to take when, and then he revised his opinion.  He would be sending everything to my doctors in The Dalles.  He said he would piece meal the information to each one as to its pertinence to them – so as not to confuse the issues.

To top it all off, they had noticed an anomaly of one of my lymph glands in my CT scan that needed addressing.  He examined other glands and they were fine, but he felt this one needed to be looked at.

He recommended that I talk to my primary care and have him refer me to a Pulmonary specialist.  Since I had a CT scan a couple of years ago they should be able to compare to see if there had been any changes.  And, of course, they could also take another CT scan.

Nothing critical, especially at this time, just something to be aware of and keeping an eye on.

The surgeon said to be sure I continued with my weekly check for my blood work.  I am on Warfarin and if I go below a 2 then we have to start a new four week cycle.  He wants four weeks of the blood being in the acceptable range.

We hope to have it tried again in four to five weeks.

Today I made a number of phone calls to set up appointments, etc. 

Poor Carla, still has to go through all of this, again, and has to continue to do a lot of the outside chores herself, we were hoping by the end of the week I would be enough on the mend to be more active and helping her more.

Did get to talk with Ken.  He was in Portland at a Conference on child abuse and how to find those that are on-line predators and the process of getting the information.  It was interesting, wish I could have discussed it longer. 

Wasn’t able to talk much about personal things, just didn’t have the time.  We thought about getting together at a local restaurant, I wanted to, but just wasn’t up to it.

Anyway, we will know more this week just what ‘might’ be in store for me and plot out a plan to overcome all the problems we have encountered.

Not one thing, ‘tis another!  I have to be careful and not overdo, but I am ‘basically fine’ if a tad inert.  :-)

Mathew 10:24-25 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Who among us would not like to have a life free of conflict?

Conflict is all around us, we have conflicts with our boss, fellow employees, neighbors, family members and others in the community – most are minor, but they are there none-the-less.

How much better if we all just lived in a cocoon/refuge and not have to deal with the issues that seem to continually come up.  We could go about our world in peace and comfort, knowing we are free from the daily hassles.  It would be an impenetrable refuge.

Since we would be free from having to deal with conflict why should we add to the conflict by proclaiming Christ’s Gospel?

It is a for-gone conclusion that just mentioning Christ is going to cause conflict in most parts of the world.  And today it is getting even worse – we are being forbidden by rules, laws and mandates from sharing our faith.

And when we do, it just adds that much more struggle in our lives.  Who wants that?  Isn’t it easier to just go about life and not cause such strife around us?

There are problems with that kind of thinking.

To be sure there are those that go blissfully about their lives unaware of any problems.  They seem to be in some far off dream world; we look at them and just shake our heads.  How can they be so far from reality?

Now, some of them are – they don’t have the capacity either mentally or emotionally to deal with conflict so they shut their minds off and try to live as if it never happens.  We learn not to trust their counsel, we don’t rely on them, we just let them go their way.

But there are also those that have found peace on this earth and seem to let things roll off their backs.  They remain calm in the face of even the direst situations.  They don’t get rattled by adversity.

They make sound decisions and are often the person we want to be in charge when ‘the chips are down.’  They have proven their reliability.

How do they deal with conflict so effectively?

Some have the personality and in-born ability to be calm in the face of adversity.  Most of us do not.

But we can have it.  Christ has warned us that when we proclaim the Gospel we will meet resistance, even to violent efforts to keep us from telling others of Him.

He let His disciples know that He had and will be going through the world where people don’t believe in Him.  Where they challenge(d) what He is saying and who He is – He knew that He would be going through a mock trial and a violent period in His life which would end on a cruel cross.

It He, our Master, must endure these torments, then why should we, His servants, think we will not?

We don’t need to create conflict for the sake of creating conflict.  Our testimony should be one of promised redemption and power through God’s Holy Spirit.

We don’t have to grab and shake people to get our point across, we but need to let the Holy Spirit work.  Without malice as we go about His work.  We but need to look at the nature of the animals He compares us to, to understand we need to be meek in our work for Him.

Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stand and proclaim, loudly, just means we should be wise in our decisions and not do them simply to make ourselves feel better because we are persecuted.

Mathew 10:16-17  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

¹⁷ But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

About that cocoon, that refuge, we would like to have, that protects us from the world and allows us to live in peace?

It is God. That very refuge and peace, through HIM, is available to us.

Psalm 62:6-8 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

⁷ In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

May our Good Lord send His Holy Spirit to wrap His arms around us as we go through those conflicts that would try our souls.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again