UPDATE - January 12, 2016 - All symptoms of blood clots in my left leg are gone, praise the Lord! My doctor removed me from taking blood thinners this week. He recommends that I continue taking 80 mg. of Aspirin (baby Aspirin) daily to help thin my blood, to prevent further blood clots. It's just a precaution. I am pretty much back to normal (as before my Gallbladder removal surgery). My stomach incision from the September 25th surgery is 5-inches long on my right side, and is healing well. It sometimes itches as it heals, and some mild sensitivity pain if I rub over it through my shirt.
My sugar level has been high, 150-300 consistently. I am diabetic. My doctor gave me the drug Metformin (2,000 mg. daily), but it didn't lower my sugar level. He then gave me 30 mg. of pioglitazone (Actus), but I was scared to take it when I read the warnings online (the drug's been banned in Germany, France and India). There's already class-action lawsuits because of deaths associated with the drug. Side effects include: broken upper arm bones, loose teeth, upper respiratory tract infection, bladder cancer, liver failure, just to name a few... no thanks! So I'm scheduled to meet with a diabetic specialist in a couple weeks. I'd appreciate your prayers, please. God is good! I learned from Pastor John Wilkerson at FBCH [in his sermon (I think it was this sermon) on “The Prodigal Son”] that, “Everything God does is right!” I like that, and I believe it is very true! One day at a time! I pray for the Lord's soon glorious return. Until then, there is still much work to be done. John 9:4, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
Today my radiculopathy (razorblade pain radiating down the entire right side of my body was bothering me). It's worse on some days than others. It comes from my neck injury. Literally, I can feel the sharp pain start from the back of my neck and extend down thru my limbs, mostly the right side. My right thumb and right toe feel the most pain. I always have toothache-like pain, where the bone is located in back of my neck. My neck is always tense, feeling tight. It accompanies the pain. Both of my arms feel puffed up, like the veins are inflated with air. I feel this 24/7. These afflictions never go away. I feel a burning sensation throughout my body oftentimes, which my second surgery made much worse. Although these afflictions have become the “NEW NORM” for me, it is still difficult for me to be around people. I just don't feel like going anywhere, and when I do, it is in spite of my afflictions. It is a very lonely feeling when your body is in constant pain and discomfort, and no one around you has a clue what you're suffering inside. They have no idea what you're dealing with, and it's a very lonely world. And when you try to explain it to them, they can't understand.
These ailments get me down and stifle my desire to do anything. Everything that I do is in spite of my neck pain. I have had stenosis and radiculopathy since 2004. As you can imagine, Philippians 3:21 means more to me than most believers. Philippians 3:20-21, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” I love this passage of Scripture!
I sincerely appreciate the prayers of my friends in cyberspace. I apologize that I don't take e-mails, record more of my music, or update my health situation more often. I wanted to wait until I had something different to share with you. It's all I can do just to keep up with my “Recent Articles” section, which is my pulpit in cyberspace, which the Lord is using to help OTHERS. We are living in exciting, strange and wicked times of history. These are unquestionably the End Times. The New World Order is almost in full-swing. Once the guns are confiscated in the United States, you will see horrific tyranny, and the public will be helpless to defend themselves. Artificial food shortages are coming. Nationwide, cattle ranchers are being forced out of the ranching business. Everyone has become ultra paranoid, recording everything with their cellphones, dialing 911 for any reason, tattling on their next-door neighbour, dog eat dog. These are the “Perilous Times” as foretold in 2nd Timothy 3:1-5. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!!
UPDATE - November 6, 2015 - The horrible pain in my left leg from the blood clots is just about gone. The soreness and itching behind my ankle from the blood clot is gone. I rejoice in the Lord for that! It appears that I am healing well from my gallbladder removal surgery on September 25th. I'm still taking 5 mg. daily of the prescription drug, warfarin, to thin my blood, to prevent further blood clots. My doctor said I'll be taking it for the next 3-6 months. My doctor said the blood clots likely haven't gone away in my left leg; but rather, the blood is working its way around through other blood vessels. At some point I'm sure they'll do another ultrasound to establish a new baseline, to see if the blood clots are still there.
My neck is another story, which always hurts terribly 24/7. I thank God for the drug Oxycontin (although it kills many people from misuse), which has offered me consistent pain relief. My neck pain is just as bad today as it was in 2004 when it began. With the pain medication, it is tolerable (although the pain never completely goes away). I also have constant neck stiffness, which nothing helps. An EMG test showed that it's my spinal cord (stenosis) and not the neck muscles causing tension. An MRI shows that I still have mild compression on my spinal cord. The two neck surgeries (discectomy and fusion) didn't help my neck pain, but made my radiating razorblade-like pain in my arms and legs worse. The right side of my body is mostly affected. My right leg has horrible intermittent sharp pain daily (and now as I type).
As my longtime web visitors know well, I have constant toothache-like pain in the back of my neck, where the bone is located, which radiates into my facial area up to the right eye. It humbles me continually. Everything irritates me, like the elephant with the thorn stuck in his foot. Thankfully, the pain medications do help, at least most of the time. I'm not seeking sympathy, just your prayers (ok, just a little sympathy...lol). The right side of my body constantly feels half-asleep, which causes a noticeable limp when I walk.
I thank God for the health that I have, and also my afflictions (weaknesses) that God uses for His glory (2nd Corinthians 12:9). I see people with legs missing, blind, deaf and having seizures sometimes in public, and I pray for them and thank God for His blessings. We are all so blessed of God. Still, I look forward to going to be with the Lord, just as the apostle Paul said. 2nd Corinthians 5:7-9, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.” I love what Paul said... since as born-again Christians we are headed to be with the Lord; therefore, we ought to labor for Christ, that we may please Him. Time is running out! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!!
UPDATE - October 22, 2015 - I still have the awful pain in my left leg from the blood clots, but it is slightly better than it was. When standing it's a 7-out-of-10, which is much better than a 9-10-out-of-10. I can now walk without the pain being intolerant, or having to walk around, or elevating my foot. It still feels good to elevate my left leg, but it's easier for me to walk around now than it was. Before, I didn't want to walk because of the horrible pain. It hurts, but I can handle it. Before the leg pain was overwhelming. It's now been 27 days since my surgery. The pain medications and compression stockings do help alleviate the pain.
My INR (measurement of how long it takes my blood to clot) the other day was 3.5 (and my PT at 41.8). The desired target for me now is 2.0 to 3.0 the Pharmacist said. My blood is so thin that when I cut my chin shaving the other day, it bled for 6-hours. (I shaved my beard off. I like to do that every so often, and then let it grow back. Because my beard contains a lot of white hair, I look 20-years older with my beard.) I kept dabbing the spot with tissue paper but it wouldn't clot, because of the warfarin drug. The small cut finally stopped bleeding. I have to be very careful not to get hurt, or I'll bleed to death. The warfarin is to prevent further blood clots. I'm taking 5 mg of warfarin a day, but was instructed by the pharmacist to break the pill in half on Mondays and Thursdays.
So please continue to pray for me. The lead pharmacist who is monitoring my INR level said that decreasing pain doesn't mean that the multiple blood clots are being absorbed by my body. My understanding is that when they stop prescribing the warfarin drug in a few weeks (months?), they'll perform another Ultrasound to determine what's going on in my left leg with the blood clots, and establish a new baseline. The back of my lower left ankle is sore, burns and itches, because of the blood clot. The pain extends the entire back of the inside of the left leg, feeling like a constant Charlie-horse. It is irritating to say the least. Other than that, praise the Lord, I feel fairly good.
Of course, my neck always hurts, as it has since March of 2004 from Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease, Stenosis and Radiculopathy. After all conventional medical treatments and two major neck surgeries I am worse off. Both neck surgeries were Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF); the second surgery took a bone graft from my left hip instead of a “Z-tech” artificial implant used in the first; the second neurosurgeon decided to redo my first surgery. I am worse off, now also having peripheral neuropathy (arms feel like my veins are inflated with air, burning throughout my nervous system, and tingling in my extremities).
I'll keep you updated if anything changes or I learn more information about my medical condition. Thank you for those of you who care and pray. I need your prayers, even if just a minute a week. God bless you!
UPDATE - October 12, 2015 - I met with my surgeon today. He said the incision looks good. The puffy area along the top of my large incision he called “a healing ridge.” The pain in my left leg from the blood clots is still horrible, a 10-out-of-10 when I stand still on it. If I elevate my leg, it drops to a 5-out-of-10 and lower if I lay down. If I walk around on it, the pain is still a 9-out-of-10, but it feels better moving. I'm taking four Percocet 10/325's a day for pain, on top of my regular daily dose of Oxycontin for my neck pain. The surgeon said the blood clots will go away, as he has seen from experience. That was encouraging to hear. One day at a time.
I also let the surgeon know that it took over 100 hours for his nurse to respond to my initial contact on October 1st (6-days after the surgery). I told him that I wasn't complaining, but I thought he ought to know. He didn't say anything. I also let him know that the nurses at the hospital didn't put compression stockings on my legs after the surgery, which he said they should have, and he was concerned. I told him again that I wasn't complaining, but thought he should know. We'll see where all this leads. My INR blood reading yesterday was 3.3 (and my PT at 39.4).
I did thank the surgeon for performing my surgery, and was grateful. He also did my umbilical cord hernia surgery back in 2007. This was the 6th time that I've had surgery, where I needed to be put out under anesthesia. Once when I broke my arm at 15-years-old. They put me to sleep and reset my broken ulna bone in my left arm. Then in 1999 when I had my appendix removed. Then my hernia in 2007. Then my two neck surgeries in 2009 and 2010. And now the removal of my gallbladder in 2015. I think surgeons ought to be praised more, for all their stress and hard work. It's wrong that Americans have bums for heroes who have never done anything more than play ball, making tens-of-millions of dollars a year in many cases, while skilled surgeons are unappreciated.
The Lord is with me, and I have been praying for His healing hand. I thank those of you who have taken time to pray, and I ask that you please remember to pray for me, even if just one minute a week. I believe even the smallest amount of prayer can accomplish great things with God. There are 10,080 minutes in each week. Please pray for me and this needful ministry with just one of them. I love you all in the Lord, and you are my greatest rewards. This ministry is waking people up to the truth, and leading many souls to Jesus Christ for salvation.
I love what Evangelist Phil Kidd said, “The pastor's job is to comfort the afflicted, but the evangelist's job is to afflict the comforted.” By God's will and grace, I am an evangelist in cyberspace, saying what needs to be said, offending the masses for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Like John the Baptist, although I would never compare myself to such a great man of God as John the Baptist, I am proclaiming the truth without apology, taking an uncompressing stand against the wickedness of our generation. We need some Billy Sunday type preachers today, and by God's grace I want to be one of them!!! I am just A VOICE, but millions of people are listening, and I've got something to say from the Word of God. HEAR YE HIM!!!
I'll keep you updated concerning my health if anything changes. If the pain subsides from the blood clots, I will let you know.
UPDATE - October 7, 2015 - Due to the blood clots, I have severe pain in my left leg when I stand upon it, a 10-out-of-10 in pain. When I elevate my foot, the pain drops considerably to a 7-out-of-10. I went to my doctor today and he gave me a 60 mg. shot of Toradol in the leg for pain, which didn't offer any relief. On top of my 100 mg of Oxycontin, I'm taking another 4 tablets of Percocet 10/325 for pain. It takes the edge off and helps me relax, but doesn't alleviate the leg pain. Nothing is helping. Even when I elevate my left leg, the pain is still a 7-out-of-10, which keeps waking me up in the night. I still have some swelling around the large incision, where my gallbladder was removed. I am scheduled to see the surgeon on Monday the 12th of October. My INR blood count was 2.3 today (PT of 27.1). Please keep praying that the Lord will remove the blood clots. One day at a time. God is good!
UPDATE - October 4, 2015 - I went to the doctor to have my INR tested today. The number tells the doctor how fast my blood coagulates (clots). It was 1.5 today (with a PT of 17.6). It was 1.0 two days ago (with a PT of 11.6). I'm not exactly sure what the PT value means, but it has to do with my blood's ability to clot. Ideally, they want it between 2.0 and 3.5 (which means my blood is still too thick). My doctor is signing me into what's called a Coumadin (or warfarin) program, due to my blood clots in my left leg. The pain subsides when I lay down and raise my leg, but when I stand up the pain sumps to 10-out-of-10 in my left leg. The doctor said the blood clots and some pain may stay permanently, it's too early to tell. He said I don't need to inject my self in the stomach anymore, which was good to hear. The pharmacist oversees the Coumadin program, where they monitor my INR and regularly adjust my blood thickness. I'll find out Tuesday what they're going to do, when I have my appointment. The pain in my left leg is unbearable when I'm just sitting. I have to either elevate my leg or put full weight on it and walk around.
My primary doctor removed my 17 staples today from the two incisions. I had gallbladder removal surgery 9 days ago. He said the skin was red around the staples from irritation, not infection. My incision is draining on it's own with no tube or anything. There is some swelling on my right side, above the large incision. The doctor told me to put triple antibiotic crème on the incision, which I am doing. I am taking 5 mg of warfarin per day. I'm also taking a few Percocet 10/325 daily for the pain in my leg, which helps. The doctor said there are plenty of veins in the leg, and it is common to just leave blood clots alone, as long as the blood can find another path to supply the leg. I have no idea where this is headed. The doctor said we can only take it a day at a time, so please keep me in your prayers. I'll keep you updated as I learn more.
UPDATE - October 2, 2015, PM - I went to my primary doctor today and told him that I have constant Charlie-horse-like pain extending down the back of my left leg. He ordered an Ultrasound, which revealed that I have acute embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower leg. That's exactly what I read it might be yesterday (see former update below from last night). My doctor said I have blood clots throughout my leg, blocking the blood-flow. He said it's definitely from my surgery last Friday to remove my gallbladder. That's why I'm having horrible left leg pain, a 7-8 out of 10 on a pain scale of 1 to 10.
I called again today to speak with my surgeon's nurse and they still refuse to call me back. I called to leave a message on their answering machine tonight, kindly informing them that I have blood clots from the surgery they did on me, and they've totally abandoned me as a patient. Their message said they won't open again until Tuesday.
So today, my primary doctor (at a different medical clinic) prescribed 5 mg of warfarin (pills) per day, to thin my blood. He also prescribed 90 mg of Enoxaparin Sodium Injections (to prevent a stroke), which I have to administer to my self with a shot into my stomach twice a day for the next 3-6 months he said. Ouch! I injected myself with the first one today at the clinic. The nurse talked me through it. I have to inject myself in the stomach again tonight, before I go to sleep. Every 12 hours I have to inject myself. I'm a bit scared of all this, but I know the Lord is with me. I really do ask for your prayers through all this. One day at a time. The doctor said I could die if a blood clot forms in my heart and I have an embolism. I have to see my doctor again on Sunday he said.
My doctor also warned me that my blood is going to be very thin for months to come, and I could bleed to death if I have any accidents. I've already had uncontrollable nose bleeding today since taking the blood-thinners. I told my doctor that I'm not afraid of dying, because I know I'm going to Heaven, but I really don't want to lose a leg if I can avoid it. He said, “Exactly.” Please pray for me. When it rains, it pours! God is good! I love you all in the Lord.
UPDATE - October 2, 2015, AM - I am having painful leg cramps and spasms in my left leg. My right leg is fine. I am a bit concerned because blood clots are more likely after surgery. I was reading just now about something called Deep-Vein Thrombosis, which is a form of blood clot that feels like a cramp. Please continue praying for me. I called my surgeon's office today and they said he is gone until October 12th. I called twice today and was told that the nurse was too busy to call me back, and that I should call my primary doctor. They're brushing me off after surgery and it is disappointing.
My primary doctor is frustrated that they're dumping me on him. Where I live, it is now Friday, 1 am on October 2nd. I need to call early this morning when I wake up, both the surgeon's office and my doctor. They can't just cut into someone and then abandon them (which it appears they have done). I need to meet with my primary doctor at noon and discuss the leg cramps and spasms. I have cut back on my 100 mg. daily of Oxycontin (prescription pain medication for my neck) and drank much more water than usual in an attempt to alleviate the problem, but the cramps are constant, 24 hours a day for the past couple days.
The cramps feel just like a Charlie-horse, but around my ankle and up the entire left leg above the back of the knee and upper-leg, but not the big ball of the calve (as a full-blown Charlie-horse would be like). I've never had this before. Sometimes, if I forget to take a dose, my Oxycontin causes leg cramps (Charlie-horses) in my right leg, in the big ball of the calve muscle, but never the ankle and entire leg. So this is out of the ordinary for my body. Please pray that this is not a blood clot, which can become fatal or crippling. My right leg hasn't even had one cramp since my surgery. It's only the left leg being affected.
The incision appears to be healing well (but no itching yet). I met with my primary doctor (a Japanese man) on Wednesday and he said the incision looks good. I have an appointment to meet with my surgeon as soon as he returns. At that time I'm sure he'll remove the surgical staples. For now, the surgical staples are making the skin red and tender where they enter the skin. There's a little inflammation. It's a fairly ugly scar. I'll look more like Rambo now. I opened my Bible today to Psalms 23, a familiar passage, and read these precious words...
Psalms 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
I know that God is with me, and He wards off predatory enemies with His rod as the Good Shepherd. And with His staff he guides and leads the sheep, i.e., born-again Christians. God will lead us through and out of the valley. Ever since my online ministry began to grow in 2004, things in my life have become extremely difficult. I believe it has all been God's way of humbling me, so that He could abundantly use me to reach others in the Lord. I found out in 2004 that I had Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease. I underwent another surgery on my stomach in 2007. I've been through much pain, suffering and tribulation.
I have been through a dark valley in my life, with all the forces of darkness and Hell trying to destroy me, but greater is He [Jesus] Who is in me, than he [Satan] that is in the world (1st John 4:4). FOR THOU ART WITH ME! I love that, and I believe it with all my heart! I've learned that unshakable faith comes from having your faith shaken. I've learned that faith is like film, it develops in the dark. Your prayers are never in vain. I desperately need your prayers, even if just 10-20 seconds day for God's will to be done in my life, health and ministry. I prayed for all my web visitors a couple hours ago. You are my heart's desire.
My stand for the simplicity that is in Christ has made me unpopular. Local religious Baptists won't associate with me because they're teaching the heresy of Lordship Salvation, and I kindly warned them, but they like utter fools won't listen to THE TRUTH. They pride themselves in having built a religious school of 1,000 students, yet they are destitute and devoid of truth concerning the Word of God and salvation. They're Easy-To-Read Version (ERV) has contaminated their theology, changing their plan of salvation to one of damnation! Mainstream ecumenical evangelicalism is a poison, a disease, a rotten plague that is destroying the churches. By God's grace, I intend to keep exposing it for what it is, straight from Hell. If you don't have a King James Bible, you don't have a Bible. Lordship Salvation is not salvation, it is meritorious religious deception. Jesus said... YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!!
I'll update you with more information as it becomes available. For now I need to find out, if possible, what's causing my left leg only to cramp all day and night. My appetite is good. I don't feel sick. I'm sleeping OK. But something is not right with my left leg. Please pray. Anything can go wrong after surgery, and I pray this is nothing serious. Ok, thank you and God bless until next time.
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 - SURGERY - I was fine Monday night on September 22, but I woke up due to stomach and back pain on Tuesday morning. By 5 pm Tuesday afternoon the pain was really bad, both back and abdomen, so I checked into a local hospital. They admitted some pain medication. They did a CAT Scan (CT Scan) test Tuesday night. In preparation for the test they made me drink about a quart and a pint of the worst tasting-awful stuff, which tasted like 409 or Windex, bubbles and all. Yuk! The liquid is called “contrast” and makes your insides glow during the scan. After all that horrible stuff to drink, they didn't find anything in the scan.
So the doctor ordered an Ultrasound for the next morning Wednesday at about 11:30 am. The Ultrasound test showed that I had Acute Cholecysititis (a gallbladder infection). The hospital just recently opened their Emergency Room and couldn't take my medical insurance yet, so I was transferred by my surgeon via Fire Department Ambulance, and admitted into another local area hospital on Wednesday night that would. I was crying in tears when the ambulance transferred me into the second hospital, because the first hospital hadn't treated my pain all afternoon. I'm not sure what their plan was, probably to hold off on medications until they knew more. I usually take 100 mg daily of Oxycontin for neck pain, and now I was taking nothing. I had to keep explaining to them that I have a previous medical condition in my neck, that causes excruciating pain continually. I had begged for pain meds all afternoon, but none came. It was rough. If you've ever been in that situation, then you know how hopeless, lonely and trapped that feeling is.
The surgeon came and spoke with me Wednesday night at the second hospital and said he would try to perform surgery Thursday afternoon. They did treat my pain with a shot of Demerol every 3 hours, but it wasn't alleviating my neck pain. Then, thankfully, they switched me over to Dilaudid via IV-line Thursday morning, but it was only 1 mg every 3 hours. It worked for about an hour. My neck pain was so bad. By now the abdominal pain had moved to the right side of my body (under my ribs, but above the navel). I was in horrible pain by Thursday afternoon when they wheeled me down to the operating room. The surgery was cancelled until Friday, because a man desperately needed urgent surgery they said.
So I struggled through the night in pain, still receiving 1 mg of Dilaudid every 3-hours (which did little to help my neck pain, but did help my stomach pain). The doctors also had me on plenty of IV-Antibiotics, which helped to reduce the abdominal pain, but not my neck pain. Through the whole ordeal, my neck hurt so badly, chronic and unrelenting (a 10 out of 10), with uncontrollable spasms of stabbing sharp jolts from my neck into the right side of my head (eye, ear, temple and back of head). It was inexplicable pain. Going cold-turkey from 100 mg of Oxycontin, plus dehydration, plus everything else going on medically, it made me pain level soar.
Friday afternoon I was rolled in a hospital Gurnee down to the operating room. They hadn't given me any recent pain medication because they said I was going into surgery, so I was in much pain. The Anesthetist tied my arms and legs down. He then poured liquid Novocain under my tongue (he said it was for neck pain). He started to place a plastic mask over my mouth, but I told him that I'm extremely claustrophobic, and so I asked if he would please put me out with the sleeping gas. He said he first needed to insert breathing tubes in my neck. I felt smothered. So he used a different type of breathing apparatus.
But then he went to pierce my throat to do a tracheotomy, and once I felt it pierce and the air flowed, the Novocain in my mouth dropped back into my throat, burning, and I choked. I then burst into tears and told the personal in the surgical room that I was only a man and they were torturing me. I still hadn't received any pain meds for about 5 hours. I was very traumatic at the time. I'm pretty forgiving. I even apologized to the doctor later, after the surgery, if I had been difficult in any way. The surgeon was kind and understanding.
The surgeon said everything went fine (as far as the surgery). He tried to perform a Lathroscopic surgery first, but couldn't because the infection has completely obscured his scope view of the abdominal area, so he had to do a full-blown operation. He said that he manually moved my organs to the side to remove the gallbladder. The surgeon cut at an angel, halfway between my navel and ribs. I have a 6-inch scar and 14 metal staples. I also have another 1-inch incision and 3 metal staples above the bellybutton (navel). My scars feel tight, but the pain is tolerable. It hurts when I lay down and move or try to get back up to walk. I asked the surgeon what caused my gallbladder to go bad and his exact words were, “I think it was just bad luck.” I had Acute Appendicitis in December of 1999 and they had to remove my appendix then. I had my C5-C6-C7 cervical disks removed from my neck in 2009. So it seems I'm going out of this life piece-by-piece. Won't it be wonderful when we see Jesus!!!
After my surgery on Friday, I was put on 2 mg. of Dilaudid every 2 hours until noon Saturday, at which time the surgeon lowered it to 2 mg. of Dilaudid every 4 hours (which was my dosage until I was discharged on Monday (September 28th) at 4 pm. During my 6-day ordeal in two hospitals, I was poked with needles 37 times that I counted! (ouch!). Although the 2 mg. of Dilaudid post-surgery were sweet relief (each injection into my IV-line) for a couple hours, the last hour or two was horrible each time, when my pain levels peaked and intense neck spasms became excruciating. I liked the hospital's food, no complaints, except I hate coffee. The surgeon says I can still eat spicy foods, there are no dietary changes as far as the missing gallbladder.
I JUST GOT HOME TODAY (Monday, September 28th). I was discharged from the hospital at about 4 pm. My son-in-law and daughter picked me up and brought me home from the hospital. My sugar levels skyrocketed after surgery to 304 for a while (that's really bad). The hospital injected me with a few insulin shots, but they had trouble getting it down. I am eating a diabetic, low-fat, high-soy-protein, sugarless, diet presently. I just ate some bean crackers and plain yogurt. I've lost about 10 pounds this week in the hospital. I had a piece of 12-grain bread with pink salmon. I don't usually eat like food like this. My family went to the store for me to get some healthy foods. I'm eating what they brought. I also had some dried cranberries. And then I had a couple pieces of turkey-breast that I bought last week (I have a good refrigerator and I keep it at its coldest). Earlier today I ate a cup of honeydew green melon. That Papa John's pizza is going to have to wait, but not long! Right now my incision still hurts considerably.
I'm at home now. This is my third attempt to finish this medical update for you, as I am still in much pain in my body, with severe neck tension, tenderness around the incision areas (and then I still have the burning, tingling, radiating pain and half-asleep sensation throughout the whole right-side of my body). I laid down earlier, and then tried again, and now after a few hours, I am by God's grace finishing it. I prayed for God to help me, heal me and be with me before and during my hospital stay.
I'm thankful to the Lord. There was a man down the surgical ward from me with no hands or legs. I don't know why he was in the hospital and when he lost his limbs. What a difficult burden to endure throughout life with no arms and legs! So I have no gripes or complaints to the good Lord. None of us should if we can walk and use our arms and hands. I am thankful that I am still alive for another day to serve OTHERS in Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 2nd Corinthians 5:6, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.”
I love you all, my new unknown and old known, web visitors alike. You are my happy-thoughts. You are my greatest rewards in eternity. I am hurting very badly and need to go lay down. I have a swelling sensation in my veins throughout my whole body. The pressure builds and then it subsides. I can feel the tension build in my ears and head, and then it goes back down to normal. My neck is super tight in back, which is where it all emanates from. I have a horrible neck-ache too. I just feel blah, which I know is expected after major surgery, and with all the ailments I have (stenosis, radiculopathy, cervical osteoarthritis, cervical degenerative disk disease, et cetera).
I tried to touch all bases in this post. I need time to recover. PLEASE KEEP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS. I was in so much pain last Tuesday that I wasn't thinking clearly, and needed to get to the hospital, or I would have asked for your prayers sooner. Lord willing, as soon as I am able to post something I will. I need to take this one day at a time. Right now, I can't barely think straight, due to the severe neck pain and ripping tension, which has been exasperated by the abdominal inflammation and surgery.
It has been difficult to finish this webpage, but I wanted you all to know what is happening, and how I am doing. It's only been three days since my surgery, so I am still hurting and need rest. I need to go get some sleep and must rest now. Your are loved much by this born-again Christian and missionary to the internet. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Your webservant, David
I love you all in the Lord, whoever you may be!
1st Thessalonians 5:25, “Brethren, pray for us.”
