Carl is back home!

I am HAPPY to report that Carl was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, June 18, 2011, after 3 long days of procedures and a neck surgery on Wednesday.

Carl is glad to be out of the hospital.  I am looking forward to a good night's sleep, and sleeping late tomorrow morning.  

I am hopeful that Carl's recovery time at home will be quality family time.  This week has been challenging since the children were out of school for the entire week, and I was gone on most mornings before the two middle boys even got out of bed.  Things at home ran a little crazy.  Here is an example.  The lawn needed mowing all week, and yet with three teenage boys in the family, none of whom had pressing or scheduled commitments ALL week, the lawn didn't get started until after Carl got home today.  (Don't worry, Carl didn't mow it...)  Finally, with a parent (or two) actually around to say "no going to the pool before you mow the lawn",  Nathan tackled the overgrown front yard.  Perhaps Monday Carl and I can establish a good start of the summer routine for the children.

Thank you once again for your prayers.  Carl's surgery seems to have gone better then originally thought possible.  And thank you to those who fed and/or watched and/or drove and/or entertained some and/or all of my children at various points through out the week.  We are blessed to have all the prayers and help, we are blessed to have friends like you.

Prayer Request

Carl is having medical procedures done over the next several days at Froedtert Hospital - I would appreciate your prayers for a great outcome.

Carl is home!

Carl came home from the hospital yesterday, Wednesday, January 26, 2010 at around 8:30 PM at night. My son Anthony and I went to pick him up and then I drove Carl home over the bumpy roads which caused pain at each bump. After Carl was tucked into bed at home, I went to fill prescriptions for him - the total bill for the prescriptions before insurance exceeded $1000. (It's a good thing I had the new prescription card with me. Insurance plans changed on January 1, and... lets just say I still had to pay WAY over $100.)

Carl was released about 48 hours after his neck surgery, and I personally think that was too early. He had barely eaten anything solid since the surgery, and the nurses had been giving him lots of drugs in the hospital. It throws a lot of responsibility on me be able to recognize problems.

Here is an example. On January 1, 2010 (one year ago) Carl went in to get chemotherapy. The night before he had been sick, it was the 4th day of a 5 day chemotherapy string, and I didn't know what to expect. All that I remember thinking was he was like a walking zombie. Carl never got chemotherapy that day, because pre-chemo blood work revealed his potassium level had crashed and so the nurses gave him IV fluids and potassium, etc., and sent him home. I now know (from this sample of 1) that "walking zombie" possibly means potassium is low. I have no idea what hi or low blood sugar, sodium, any of the other 30 things they check in a blood test would result in, so I happily only worry about potassium.

So yesterday I had the nurse check his blood test results before we left the hospital. Carl had his blood tested on Wednesday morning, Jan 26, 2011, and his potassium levels were only 'a little low'. How will I recognize (much less fix) a problem like this at home? Problems like this can only get worse then it probably would in the hospital, and then we would have to run back to the hospital to get it fixed.

That being said, if it were me in the hospital, I'd want to get out ASAP. (And Carl is the same way). In the hospital, people are always monitoring the patient, morning, noon, and night. Blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, blood oxygenation are checked often, 4x a day. They wake you up to check these things - day and night, they take blood tests, and more. You don't go to a hospital to get rest. And you don't get it either.

The fear of infection, usually highest at a hospital, is one of the main reasons medical personnel send post surgery patients like Carl home so quickly after a surgery. That, and Carl moaning "I just want to go home".

So, home he is. And since things seem to be going well, I am very glad. Today I don't have to race over to the hospital, and that is a really nice relief. WHAT A TREAT. Carl slept well, he has had some food, and is getting lots of rest. I will keep you posted.

Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming. What I am praying for now is that the neck tumor does not grow back, a very real possibility.

Interesting insurance issue...

The people at Froedtert are scheduling Carl's surgery and pre-op appointments and procedures. They were trying to get insurance approval, and sent in for the approvals on Thursday, January 13, 2011. The approvals should come back by the next day. I called the Dr.'s office late Friday afternoon, there was no answer from the Insurance company. I called the Dr.'s office later in the day on Monday, Jan 17, 2011. Because of Martin Luther King Day, most insurance companies are closed, and the Dr.'s office has not yet gotten approval. Perhaps this is one way of keeping insurance costs down. The earliest the insurance company will approve this procedure will be on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, when the approvals were requested Thursday, January 13, 2011.

In any case, it looks like Carl's surgery will be Monday, January 24, 2011. Please keep him in your prayers, and add him into the prayer chains at your church.

Healing prayer

A devout and respected friend wrote down this prayer for Carl, and I wanted to share it. This prayer is written to be said by a person as a healing prayer for their self. It can be modified to be a prayer for healing someone else.

Father,
I thank you that in 1 Peter 2:24, your word says,
"by His stripes we were healed."
If I was healed, then I am healed

and You have put the same power inside of me that raised Jesus from the dead, according to Ephesians 1:14 and I praise You for this,
and by Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" that I not only have this power, but the authority to release this power through my words

so I speak to my cancer/pain/sickness;
cancer/pain/sickness; in the name of Jesus
I command you to leave my body

and I command whatever the source of this cancer/pain/sickness;
the root cause of the cancer/pain/sickness

and I curse this root cause
and command it to dry up and be dead
and this cancer/pain/sickness to come out of my body in Jesus name.

Now Body, you recover.
If there was anything or any part of my body that was damaged;
I speak the life of God; the quickening power;
the resurrection life to my body

and I thank you Lord God; my creator, my sustainer,
I praise you most High God - All praise and glory and honor to you!


Personally, I have seen the power of prayer before often enough to be able to affirm it's results. I don't pass results off as coincidence. I can understand a skeptic not believing in the power of prayer, but that just informs me that a skeptic has cut themselves off from an powerful tool.

God does not answer every prayer the way we hope it will be answered. And it is easier to believe that a prayer like this has more possibility of reducing pain then eliminating cancer (Why?). But I have not yet ruled out that prayer (and the Dr.'s skills guided and inspired by God) will cure Carl, and I know that to date the prayers Carl and others have said have had positive outcomes already within Carl's cancer.

I am sharing this prayer today because I have been internally urged to share it ("called?") - There are many others out there who suffer with pain, sickness, addictions, or other issues whom I believe this prayer can help. Share this prayer with others as God calls you to.

I know this prayer has helped my family. And I thank again all of those people who pray for and continue to pray for Carl. God Bless you.