Hallelujah....Homecoming!

Well, today is the day :) Thank you all for your kind words (and funny from many of James buddies), encouragement, and faithful prayers for our family!! James is getting his last dose of antibiotics, we just saw the doctor and we have discharge orders to go home this afternoon! This has been a challenging week for our family, but because of your prayers and our great God we have made it to the finish line for now. The next challenge will be transitioning to home and managing James' pain. He is still in a lot of pain and will have restrictions on his diet and lifting things for the next days to weeks. And, our joyful children may be a stress to him b/c he has enjoyed some peace and quiet here which doesn't really exist at home :)

Please pray specifically for him to be able to manage his pain and that healing will continue from the inside out. I thank you also for the many offers for food. As of now, we are holding off on setting up a meals calendar until next week. The doctor said he can eat "whatever he wants today", but we are going to start slow with some simple dinners a few days a week. For now, I see the greatest need may be getting my kids out of the house over the weekend while I try to focus on James and give my mom and James' parents the break they need as well. They have been such a blessing to us and our children this week!

We continue to be thankful for the appendicitis that revealed a problem that needed to be corrected. We look forward to healing for James and that he will be full of energy and back to his active lifestyle in no time! We are focusing now on the future and putting this week behind us. Thank you again for building us up in this time when it would have been be so easy to fall.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. "

2 Cor 4:16-18

Love,

Meredith

I know my blog is linked to James' facebook...SO, in case you missed the beginning of the story with James...here are the first two e-mails....

May 16, 2010

Hi Friends and Family,

I'm sorry that I have to send this out in a mass e-mail, but it has been a long day and I wanted to call you all together in prayer to help us get through this week.

I took James to the ER this morning. Originally the cat scan showed that he had appendicitis, but that the appendix had not ruptured. We knew that their was still the potential b/c we had been to the ER two times this year in January for similar pain episodes. The surgery was supposed to be a short 35 minutes by laproscopy, but they ended up opening him up the good ole fashion way. With out getting too detailed...they found that the appendix was 4X the size, very inflamed and had ruptured. So, they would need to be more aggressive in treatment. They also were concerned b/c there seemed to be a "mass" in the appendix protruding into the colon. So, they did a "colon cancer surgery" and removed part of his colon, small intestines and the lymph nodes in the area. They will send the lymph nodes off for pathology and we will hopefully know something by Tuesday or Wednesday. All that being said, he had APPENDICITIS and it is gone. And IF it was cancer it has ALL been removed too. So, we are praying for negative pathology and being "still and knowing that HE is God" (Psalm 46:10) and in complete control. We are at peace and have confidence in His hands (The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." Deut. 33:27)

We have our family and plenty of friends and neighbors that are helping us with the kids so the best thing you can do for us is pray for peace and complete healing for James.

Love,

Meredith

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Dear Friends, Family and Faithful Prayer Warriors,

The doctor that did James' surgery finally came in this morning and gave us the news we had all been praying for over the last two days. The pathology is negative and James had APPENDICITIS! It seems that there was most likely a blockage back in January when we made our first visit to the ER and the infection had been brewing and caused a large mass and inflamed lymph nodes. We are thankful to God that the third visit gave the doctors the wisdom to see the problem and to completely take care of it!

Now, we ask that you pray for continued healing. He has had a significant surgery of his colon and it will take some time for his gut to "wake up" and to get used to eating food again. We are expecting that he will be here for two to three more days and that the antibiotics will cover any infection that might still be present post-operation. I can't thank you all enough for your prayers and encouragement during this time. James said this morning he had complete peace which we know only came by the grace of God.

I prayed this prayer this morning and today I'm rejoicing in God's mercy. Amen!

"But when I am afraid I put my trust in you. O God, I praise your word. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid....On the very day I call to you for help, my enemies (enemies = the "C" word) will retreat. This I know; GOD IS ON MY SIDE!!!" (Psalm 56:4,9)

Faithfully,

Meredith and James