I Peter 1: 3-5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Happy Easter everyone! I have thought a lot about Heaven recently and as I was going about my day yesterday I came to the realization that, when I get to Heaven, I’ll be celebrating Easter every moment. No, not the bunny or eggs or anything, but my precious Savior Who died and rose again to make Heaven possible for me... a girl who miserably fails Him so often. What a sobering thought! I’ll get rid of this sick, diseased body and praise Him for all eternity! Doctors are afraid I’ll get another infection that will take my life....but I’m not afraid because I won’t go until it is my time, and I know if Jesus would so choose to take me, I’ll be healed for all eternity! I have an overwhelming peace in knowing I’ve received forgiveness for my sin and trusted the Lord as my Savior. I know I will go to Heaven when Jesus sees fit that my life on this earth is finished. I don’t have to fear death or wonder what will happen after I die. What a wonderful thought to know the moment I leave this earth will be the moment I get to look into my Savior’s face and begin eternity in a truly perfect place! When you have Jesus, fear becomes faith, trials become blessings, depression becomes peace, pain becomes hope. A dear friend sent me an acronym for HOPE...
Hold
On,
Pain
Ends!
I have peace because of the resurrection of Christ...because He died on the cross to pay for my sin, rose again to have power over death, and now is preparing a mansion for those who ask His forgiveness and put their faith in Him! Any time I start moping and thinking I have it horrible, I only need think of His suffering for me and my problems don’t seem nearly as big anymore.
Health wise I am doing fairly well! }read this very quietly!{ ;) I actually don’t have any appointments until the 23rd (I think) of this month! I won’t know what to do with my life without at least 1 appointment a week! LOL! I’ll sure bud figure something out besides doctors, hospital, or procedures (you didn’t hear that, MCAS!)! :) Having consistent nutrition through Jane (my J tube) has done wonders for my energy and really my overall health! My body isn’t constantly starving due to a tube being out of place. I’m so grateful that life with my J tube so far hasn’t been like I expected it to be....which is a good thing this time! I struggled with a lot of fear going into this because of what my previous surgeon had drilled into my head about all these horrible things that he made sound inevitable if I got a J tube. When I was facing the disappointment of my previous surgeon’s idea (avoiding the J tube with a longer tube threaded through the existing stoma [hole for tube]) falling through, I couldn’t understand what on earth the Lord was doing. I had many talks with Him, telling Him I knew everything He did was right, but...”how on earth will You use this for good? What are You doing with this???” I didn’t know then what I know now. Because of that really hard time... I now have a great new GI, a wonderful new surgeon who assures me it is fine to call if I have ANY concerns, and reliable nutrition through a J tube that is working great. The Lord HAS done good through that struggle. It was very hard and very disappointing, but I’m now very grateful I went through that heartbreak because life is so much better with nutrition and I have some much better doctors now! Oh, and I almost forgot.... I had my post op appointment with my surgeon and I asked about the very strong "pop" I felt in my intestines. He checked my tube and said it was obvious that the balloon was in the right place so that was comforting, but I was still VERY curious as to what on earth the pop was! I mentioned the fact that the big indention in my abdomen that had been there since surgery was gone now. When I showed him where the indention had been it was like a lightbulb came on in his head...He said he stitched the intestine to the abdominal wall and he might've caught some of the inner layers of skin, creating the indention and, when I bent over that time, that stitch finally let loose of the skin which could cause the pop and then the indention disappeared because the skin wasn't caught anymore. So I think we solved the mystery! :)
I’ve begun periodic manual draining my stomach some which means I disconnect the drain bag and manually drain my stomach with a syringe. Might sound gross, but I’m working towards being able to disconnect from the stomach drain bag and only do manual draining through the day. This will mean I would be manually draining when I would eat something or if I become nauseous instead of losing all water/stomach juice and everything continuously all day and night long. I’m hoping this will help me stay hydrated easier and it has to be better for my body. Hopefully I will be off continuous draining (accept for nighttime and when I’m out) within the next couple of weeks. It’s a slow process and it may get to a point that I can’t advance any further for the time being, but my hopes are high that I will reach my goal. I have had significantly less nausea and bloating lately which is why I’ve become adventurous enough to try this! :)
Well, I hope everyone has a great day today focusing on our wonderful Lord and what he has done for us!
Taking Life One Grateful Moment at a Time,
Allison
