Day 13 - Pre-Surgery #2/Bypass Surgery

Hi all!

Tomorrow's the big day! I almost lost it this morning... our son, Rick, hadn't been feeling well this weekend, and I had urged him to go in for a strep check. Being a typical guy, he kept telling me that he was going to wait it out because he was sure that it was just a cold coming on. As the week wore on, I again encouraged him to go to the doctor because I didn't want him to be contagious for Jim. Low and behold, I received a phone call from him Wednesday morning at 5:30am near tears because his throat hurt so bad. I talked him into going to urgent care right away in the morning where he, of course, tested positive for strep. Everything was still okay at this point because he still had more than a 24 hour window to get on his antibiotic and not be contagious when he got out here. The complication was that, because he had let the strep get so advanced, he had developed an abscess in the back of his throat -- hence the excrutiating pain. The doctor told him that if he wasn't feeling better in 24 hours to go to the hospital. Great! So, at 7:00am, I received a phone call from Rick telling me he was on his way to the emergency room at the Denver hospital. That was where I started to feel total panic! How was I going to deal with having my baby in a Denver hospital, while I was sending my husband off for major brain surgery! I prayed to God immediately to let him know that this WAS more than I could handle. Well, by God's grace, Rick was able to get seen right away in the emergency room and hooked up by IV to some major antibiotics. The abscess responded right away, so they were able to let him go with a warning to keep an eye on it over the weekend, and he was able to make his evening flight out here! I was so glad that all of this took place before I got to Jimmy's room this morning. I feel so much better having him here with me and conveniently being within a hospital the whole time he will be with me. You can bet he won't stand a chance of putting me off again this weekend! So, two things happened: I received confirmation from God that he is right here with me, and all of the excitement helped to create a distraction for Jimmy and me to keep our minds off tomorrow a little bit and focus on something else. God does work in mysterious ways!

Jim and I did a pretty good job of keeping things normal, but I could tell he was on edge -- who could blame him? He's feeling a little better, so he's finding more things to complain about. Again, another distraction. At least we were able to laugh a little at his kibitzing! We received many more encouraging messages throughout the day, which helped to pass the time until the kids and my sister showed up. Dr. Spetzler popped in and told us that he was all set and ready to go ahead with the plan. Jimmy also got to take a shower today while sitting on a commode with wheels. Even sitting, it was pretty exhausting for him, but he liked it better than the bed baths that he's been receiving for the last couple of weeks. I wanted to take a picture of this new baby step for the blog, but thought better of it. After all, he's going to be able to read this himself someday, and I would probably get in big trouble for that one!!!

Larry Rawn visited Jim for a little while again this afternoon, and all the kids and my sister, Sandy, showed up this evening. He was really pleased to have them all there, even though he told them that they didn't need to come. We have two rooms this time, so we're not as on top of each other for the two nights that my sister will be here. Sandy generously offered to let the boys have the extra bed in her room rather than the lumpy pullout sofa in mine. It's helpful to have the 'mom' distraction for a few days when the stress level is so high. I am planning to go right to bed as I have to get up really early again -- I want to make sure to have some quality time with Jim and the kids before he has to go to surgery.

I have been totally honest throughout this blog, and I can tell you that, although I understandably am scared, I have this underlying calm that I can't even explain. I just know that God is already working in me and giving me his peace. This is so big that I have no choice but to turn it over to God, and he is here for me. So, I know that we all are going to be feeling very apprehensive until we get the official word from Dr. Spetzler on how Jimmy did, but I already have confidence in a positive outcome. I know that there will probably be difficult days ahead and even some setbacks, but I just feel that when we finally get to the end of our marathon journey, we will be fine. So please, remember Jimmy in prayer all day tomorrow, but try to find that inner peace that has filled my heart with strength and hope.

I love you all and look forward to having some really good news to tell at the end of the day tomorrow. Don't expect an early message -- his last bypass surgery went 10 hours! But I promise to let you all know the outcome as soon as Jimmy is tucked in for the night. Love and blessings to you all!

Krissy