The Raging Storm

Hey everyone!
  So I finally have a surgery date--April 5th.  I saw my lung doc on Wednesday and she said I would need a two week "tune up" for my lungs prior to surgery so that means I'll be admitted to the ICU for desensitization to either Cefepime or Zosyn next Thursday, April 22nd.  There is a LOT going on in my personal life in losing someone VERY close to me to cancer.  I've prayed so much about the timing of this surgery and I asked my ENT who referred me to the "super ENT" if I could safely wait to have the surgery until May and he said, "I THINK the answer is yes." I literally left his office and got a call from the "super ENT's" office and said they had found a date to schedule my surgery for and that he was rescheduling an entire clinic day just so he could do it for me.  Well that was a resounding "No!" from God if I ever heard one.  Dr. Jacob, the "super ENT" or otoneurologist for all you medical peeps ONLY takes referrals from other ENT's so this a HUGE deal for him to reschedule clinic for me--talk about humbling.  I literally have ZERO choice in the matter but I prayed and this is God's answer, as hard as it may be to accept the timing of it all.

  Some prayer requests:

I'm having a ton of autoimmune symptoms--can't type much longer cause it's killing my fingers and elbows...even my cuticles are swollen so pray doctors can figure this one out--autoimmune anything is going to be extremely difficult to treat in me because I can't take steroids or similar medications and that is the treatment of choice for inflammation.

Pray for His peace that surpasses all understanding to guard Jord and I's heart through this entire difficult process and that we would glorify God in all our hours--especially the most difficult ones.

Pray for my witness in the hospital--that I would shine the light on Jesus in me--that in and of myself I am nothing--weak and frail but with Christ in me, the hope of glory, I can do ALL things through HIS strength and that "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness.  Therefore I would rather boast of my infirmities because when I am weak then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10....I've been listening to all of John MacArthur's sermons on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 to shepherd my heart.

Lastly, here is some cute quotables from Hunter who was Aunt Shel's hands and feet yesterday since I hurt so bad:

"Aunt Shel, I want to pick up all the dog poop for you!"
"Aunt Shel! I love you SO much!"
Me: Do you want to go through our toys and find some toys to give away to kids that don't have toys?
H: Yes!!!! Oh let me find some RIGHT NOW!! Oh this one is for a little kid I want to help a little kid.
*Finds teething ring* "Aunt Shel! You could use this on your back!"
*Walking the dogs* "Aunt Shel, don't let them pull on you cause that will hurt you."

Talk about melting my heart!!! Love this little man to infinity and beyond and to the moon and back! Sister, it is SUCH  joy to share in loving your kiddos!



Gotta run--hurts to type but thank you prayer warriors!

In His Mighty Grip!
Rachelle (and Jordan)

Long Time No See! Doc update 3.1.18

Hello all! It has been eons since I've written and I've been meaning to write for a couple months but life has been insanely busy.  I'm going to keep this post (somewhat) short and to the point as it's how I'm updating family and friends on the latest with my ears. 

Looooonnnnnngggg story short, I have a choleasteatoma in my right ear, or a benign tumor for my non-medical friends.  It is near the sigmoid sinus which is a blood vessel that begins the jugular.  There is a chance it may not "fully" be a choleasteatoma but just infection etc, but we can't tell from the CT scan and because of where its at so far back in the mastoid cavity they can't see it from looking in my ear.  So I had two choices: wait and watch it, or go ahead with surgery and at the very least he can revise my ear anatomy a bit to make the opening bigger and easier to clean which would be beneficial and if it IS a choleasteatoma, remove it.  Jord and I both felt confident in Dr. Jacob and the decision to proceed with surgery because we don't want to risk it growing and causing damage to the blood vessel and I have been having symptoms and ear pain since last May.

Where it gets complicated and I would love tons of prayer is my lungs and the fact that this doctor DOES have privileges at UMC still but he works at TMC and has no "OR block time" meaning he can't get a specific time for surgery which means then he can't have the scrub nurses and people that know what they are doing with ear surgeries in the OR so we are trying to see if UMC will give him a start time or if my sinus ENT who works there would be able to donate some of his OR time to me.  If that doesn't work out, then worst case scenario, I would have to have the surgery and be admitted at TMC then transferred to UMC to be watched by my lung doc.  Although this sounds simple, it very quickly gets complicated, especially when you throw insurance into the mix and then the two hospitals and their rules and policies so we are hoping and praying that UMC will give him a start time and that the scrub nurses that are familiar with ear surgeries would be there because that will minimize surgery time, which is crucial because I need to be intubated for as short a time as possible because the longer I'm under, the harder it is on my lungs. 

I will also likely have to be desensitized to whatever IV antibiotic we chose so our ideal scenario would be to be admitted to UMC ICU to be desensitized, have the surgery, and remain there for however long my lung doc thinks my lungs need IV antibiotics to recover.  Please pray for God's favor in all of this and for it to happen quickly and smoothly and for insurance to see the need for admission to a typically outpatient surgery. 

Also, I won't go into details, but a dear family friend, Mark Voss, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 Prostate cancer and he is in his early 40's with a wife and two young kids.  They were missionaries in Columbia and Jord grew up with his wife, Monica.  There is also several other people very close to me that are dealing with life threatening health issues so it has been a VERY rough week emotionally for me.  I'm thankful I serve a big God and He is mighty and in complete control and reigning on His throne even though we don't understand His plans for our lives this side of heaven, but we can trust that "as for God, His way is perfect" (Psalm 18) and "I have a good portion and inheritance from the Lord.  You maintain my lot, the boundary lines have fallen to me in pleasant places." (Psalm 16) This world is full of sorrow and suffering and diseases because of sin, but thanks be to God that Jesus Christ conquered that sin on the cross and 3 days later rose from the grave and now sits at the Father's right hand and intercedes for those who repent and place their trust in Him! What precious truths and promises to cling to in the midst of difficult trials. 

Thank you for your prayers and I promise I will write more "fun" stuff soon and give you lots of picture updates!

In His Mighty Grip,
Rachelle :)