2-10-11 Port Installed!

 My port was installed today!  Thanks to your prayers, everything went smoothly and I was peaceful as I went through the process!  I knew a little about what to expect since I’ve helped my dad with his pacemaker site after he’s had the pacemaker changed.  So, I didn’t “freak out” when I saw the site where it had been implanted. :-)  And once the bruising in gone I think my site will look better than my dad’s – just like I will look better bald than he or my brother!!  Just telling it like it is! :-)

It’s not a good thing when the receptionist at the surgery desk says, “Weren’t you just here recently?”  I told her I was getting to be one of their best customers to which she agreed, that was not a good thing!!  Once a month for three months in a row is the record that I hope I don’t break!

While I was getting into my hospital gown, a song that I’ve heard The Collingsworth Family sing BURST into my mind “from nowhere”!!  I didn’t even know all the words, but the words I did know, ran through my mind, crowding out anything else that I might be thinking:  “The Healer is here.  The Healer is here.  Let your faith rise from all doubt and fear.  The Healer is here.  Jesus, the Healer, is here. Ask what you will for the Healer is here!”  Wow!  Where did that come from?  I thank the Lord for giving me that song just when I needed it.  At a time when I “should” have been nervous and apprehensive, I was able to lie down on the bed, close my eyes, and wait with confidence and courage.

Today some of the things for which I was thankful were: 1) for Steve who is always there, making sure everything gets done right, carrying all my “stuff”, parking the car, and just being calm and strong (and handsome, I might add!), 2) that I was only having a procedure rather than major surgery, and 3) that the port being “installed” is temporary - not a permanent port for dialysis or some other process that would be part of my life the rest of my days on earth.

As a post script I will say that my recovery from surgery seems to have taken a strong, steady healing path.  I feel better every day and am so grateful!  I drove this week, went to women’s Bible study Tuesday morning, and went to the class on Psalms that I’m enrolled in on Wednesday nights.

Thank you so much for your prayers.  They make the difference in each day.  I was thinking this evening about how I used to take my Aunt Lois to the Missouri Cancer Associates once a month for a shot.  We had to go to the chemo room for them to give her that shot.  Each month I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  When she passed away this past April, one thing I was thankful for was that neither she nor I had to go to that chemo room anymore.  Who would have thought?  I now have to face my worst fears.  They are still the same.  The difference is that “His strength is made perfect in my weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).  That’s the only difference.  

Thanks again for your prayers and for your interest in walking with me on this journey.  The 15^th’s “a comin’”……