Family Health Updates

The past week has been a real humdinger. My MIL had a severe heart attack on Thursday afternoon. She was taken to the hospital where we found out that she had an artery that was completely blocked and two more that had damage. The cardiologist inserted a stint in the artery that was completely blocked. She has been recovering in ICU since then. A few hours ago, she was finally moved to a step-down room and she may be able to come home in a few days. The docs plan to do triple bypass surgery on her but they want her to come home and heal a bit before surgery. She has been a smoker for 50+ years and this will be the hardest struggle for her when she gets home. She has a long road ahead but our hope is that she will heal quickly and start feeling well again.

If this wasn't enough, my BIL got a call this evening from his transplant doctor. They had a kidney and pancreas for him and had him come to the hospital to get prepped for surgery. They have to do several tests beforehand so this usually takes several hours. He got the call around 2:00 today. He called us a short time ago to tell us the surgery is a "no go" because there is damage to the pancreas. He is being discharged from the hospital now and I'm sure he's feeling very disappointed. He has been through this two previous times. Each time, he was admitted and prepped for surgery only to find out later that one of the organs was damaged. I'm sure it is very discouraging with this being the third time this has happened.

He has only been on the transplant list for about six months, which made me start to think about others on the list. Some of them have been on there for a year, two years, and some even longer. Imagine how they feel. I can't imagine being in that place. I can't imagine having a child in that place. My dear friend Jenny knows this experience all too well though. Her beautiful little boy Gus passed away while waiting for a transplant. As someone who has a family member on the list, I will say that it is harder each time an organ becomes available but then is damaged. There are all sorts of questions that come into play. Ultimately, I come back to the same thing. God is sovereign over all things. Psalm 46 reminds us that He is our refuge and our strength.