Home on Sunday

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 Today I found out that I will go home Sunday morning. I will have therapy each day through Saturday. Just in time to return home take Sunday off and recoup and regroup for the week ahead. It is hard to believe that it will be two weeks since being whisked away from home in an ambulKen_Chrystalance to the hospital.

Today was a focus on walking with my physical therapist. I walked twenty feet twice with the walker and once through the parallel bars. We also worked on balance and strengthening my right leg. Both my physical and occupational therapists are pleased and surprised at my progress even in these few days. Also the excess water weight I have been carrying seems to have dissipated. I weighed myself this morning and was actually down to 166. That is lower than the last weight before this most recent crisis. I feel good about that because my main concern has not just been weight gain, but rebuilding my muscle mass.

It is interesting all that is needed between various caregivers, doctors and managers to be able to return home. I had a visit today from the home health agency, who works with the case manager here at the rehab hospital. The in-house physician here came in after that to clarify the timing of my discharge so I could keep on my antibiotic schedule. I also received a call from my infectious disease doctor’s office to clarify plans. In the midst of the conversation I mentioned my primary physician who I will see as soon as possible after discharge and the nurse said their office will be ones to monitor my blood work. The most recent tests showed no infection in my urine but my white blood count was high but was lower than last week.

With this most recent hospitalization it dawned on me that I have gone from living 59 years as a healthy, active, softball-playing, exercise-enjoying male to one who is battling some fairly serious health issues, an auto-immune disease and recovering from muscle atrophy, and  all in less than one year.

If someone had told me a year ago what I would be experiencing in a matter of months, there is no way that I would believe them. I now know the answer to my own question, “What could go wrong?!” when Debbie would ask me about our medical emergency contingency plans.

In the midst of it all, the Lord invites us to trust in Him and to focus on our walk and obedience to him today, leaving tomorrow to worry about itself. The Message Paraphrase puts it this way in Matthew 6:34…

 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

 In our lives and in the lives of many others, I have seen God provide what is needed when it is needed to deal with the circumstances and difficulties of life. When someone says, “I could never deal with _______________” I try to remind them that God doesn’t give dying grace on non-dying days.

I’m not sure if you sat our family down and told them what would happen to me in July of 2013 that any of them would imagine how they would deal with those circumstances. If I would have known that a high fever,chills and headache would end up with me in septic shock a week ago last Friday night I’m not sure I would have believe it could be that bad. (Although now, I know if it is better to go to the hospital sooner than later)

What we are seeing now is God proving Himself faithful once again, I am making good progress and hope that will continue through this week.

PLEASE PRAY FOR….

Productive therapy sessions

Muscle strength

Protection from any falls or medical setbacks

(Picture above Nurse-Aide Chrystal from last December – was with me again today)