Count It All Joy

I want to preface this blog entry by mentioning that the post just below was written last week. I just got around to posting it today.

My dearest friend in all the world is my beloved dh, Ski. The more we share, the closer my heart grows to his. We often joke that I probably would not have married him if I knew half of what was in store for us. I am really a wimp and a chicken. But then I would have missed out on a great journey and a rewarding life together.

Thursday night, my Ski and I went out on a date. We had the greatest time together. With six nutty Skibums around, we have such a hard time having a real conversation. So, out we go and just hang out somewhere and talk. Thursday night was especially sweet because during the holidays our dates got complicated and while we sometimes had time out together, it wasn't a date (time specifically for us to hang out together). Even after we returned home, we just had fun cuddling and laughing over our teens playing a silly game on the Wii. (Yes......we have a wii thanks to grandparents).

Sadly, our sweet evening ended at about 3:45 in the morning when Ski awoke in pain. Slowly, the pain progressed and, having experienced this 4 times previously, he knew he was in the throes of a gallstone attack. Typically, Ski's attack have lasted about six hours which is on the long side. This time, it was nearly noon and he was still in serious pain. He had pain medication (Demerol) which did not really help at all. He vomited 8 times. He was literally writhing in pain. You really do strange things when the pain is unbearable!! My heart ached for him and I tried everything that I could to help him. The kids were praying. I was praying. Ski was crying out for relief. He had a pre-op appointment to do blood work, testing, and talk to the anesthesiologist that afternoon. We decided to leave early and head on over to the ER. I was five minutes away and suddenly I heard his painful cries change. Panic surged through my heart and I was trying to decide if it was better to pull over and call 911 from my cell or from a land line somewhere -- like the gas station I just passed. Thankfully, he calmed down again and I decided to keep going.

God was so gracious to us and no one else was in the waiting room of the ER. When they took us back, there was only one other patient in the back. I am so grateful that God could arrange such immediate attention for Ski. In the ER, we had the BEST nurse ever. He was so attentive and had just the right mix of seriousness and humor. When he drew blood, he put in an IV so in case he needed surgery, Ski would only need to be stuck once. They drew a ton of blood and it all came back elevated -- billirubin, pancreatic enzymes, and white blood cells. They ordered a ultrasound. Another plus was that they immediately gave him morphine and phenergan. While Ski still had pain, he was finally able to rest a bit. His color was not good in the ER, but our nurse never made us feel panicked. Finally, the ER dr returned with the ultrasound results. They were not good. But God had planned this day in advance. The surgeon that was planning on removing his gall bladder later this month happened to be on call. At about 5:30, he went into surgery. And for my comfort, God divinely arranged the nurse anesthetists who would care for Ski. It was someone we had known and we were well aware that he was very good at his job. And if we had happened to arrive earlier, Ski would have been cared for by another skilled person that we know. About an hour and a half later, he was in recovery.

I am so very blessed. My children told me that if I wanted, I could stay at the hospital. I didn't think that I would, but the nurse told me that I could sleep in the room with Ski so I happily stayed. I got very little sleep and Ski was between awake and asleep most of the time. But he told me that he was glad that I stayed. This morning he was able to eat breakfast and he had no nausea at all. He was such a good patient.

Due to the suddenness of everything, I had not had a chance to shop for foods that post surgical people would want to eat. I also can't leave him alone. So, I had to take the poor guy to Super Target on the way home. We were pretty pathetic because we rode around together in motorized wheelchairs. Super Target is waaaay to big for me to hobble around in and I was pretty exhausted from the past 24 hrs. I would pick up heavy things and get things off of high shelves for Ski. One lady laughed at us and our antics. Glad we could make someone more cheerful.

So, once again, we have seen the faithfulness and wonderful goodness of God. He has provided a relief to the pain my dh had and I am blessed to live in a time where my dh can be healed through medicine and the hands of a surgeon. Today, as I hold Ski's hand I have a deeper appreciation for his deep faith and trust in the Lord. And I am so grateful that God granted me such peace so I could be as much of a help for Ski as possible. And I am even more grateful that I will have more days to spend with my dear friend and love.