Living a Blessed Life

“ And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. ” — Romans 8:28 (I know I have posted this verse more than once recently, but I really love the Amplified version with the literal expanded translation. It is my hope that it will speak to you in a way that brings comfort to your soul the way it does mine.) Sitting in my living room with a cuddly puppy at my side and a cool breeze gently entering my home reminds me that Autumn is quickly approaching. The leaves are beginning to change on our neighborhood trees and there is dew on the grass signaling the end of summer. The change of seasons always meets me with mixed emotions. I honestly love the transition from one season to the next but I am never quite sure I am ready to say goodbye to the season we are in. Especially Summer!...

Twelve days ago the post surgical healing process began. This process has taken longer than I expected this time around. Honestly, I was expecting things to move along a little faster simply because I have been through a similar process before. I spent two days in the hospital, in a shared room! This surprised me especially because HIPAA seemed to go right out the window. I now know a great deal more than I should about my roommate, her life story, and her family, and I’m sure she feels the same about me. Her daughter and husband were there both days from 8:00 AM - just after dinner. They were incredibly kind people and I have no complaints about them, I just found it very strange that her care team didn’t bother to move to a private space to discuss her very personal health situation. On the other hand, she was experience intense pain the first night we were there and I had an incredible opportunity to pray for her. She was crying out for hours and I kept wanting to ask her if I ...

Yes!! I am home… and have been since Friday 8/13. I was discharged from the hospital early Friday afternoon and was so relieved to see my children again, sleep in my own (comfortable) bed, and simply enjoy the comforts of healing at home. Darek was by my side during most of the visiting hours while I was in the hospital. He sat with me, made sure I was comfortable, and I’m sure we talked about a lot of very important things (haha) that I cannot remember. Thankfully, he was able to keep up on some of his work while I rested (let’s be real, SLEPT). I was on a couple of different pain meds this time around, and I appreciate that the hospital staff made sure I was recovering well, and my pain was “under control.” I received pretty great care, from what I remember. This surgery was No Joke! The post op pain has been worse and longer lasting than my previous surgery. My nurses told me that liver surgery can be very painful (good to know now) so I should expect to use more pain controllin...

You guessed it! Tomorrow (8/10/22) is the BIG day , when I will check in to the hospital for surgery. I will have a Laparoscopic Partial Hepatectomy (Liver Resection), Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Gall Bladder Removal), and possible Laparoscopic Liver Ablation. Why are there so many things, you ask? I will do my best to explain. The Liver resection is the primary reason I will have surgery. This procedure will allow the surgeon to remove approximately 5% of my liver which contained the original tumor found on my CT scans this past spring / summer. As we know from my recent PET scan, the tumor is no longer active (Praise God) and there are no signs of cancer in my body. That being said, the oncology team still wants to remove that small segment where the cancer took hold in case there are additional cells lingering that are too small to see on imaging. The Gall Bladder removal is collateral damage. Apparently the location of the portion of liver being removed is immediately bene...