Less Guts, More Glory

So, about a year ago, my wife started dealing with some pretty intense pain and sickness. After about two months of it, a trip to the ER finally revealed that her gall bladder was chock full o' stones. She was scheduled for surgery the first week of September '07 and had the little twit removed. Things improved quickly.

At least for a few weeks.

Later in the fall, her symptoms came back en masse. Knowing that something still wasn't right, she saw a gastroenterologist (gut doc) and had every test under the sun including a scope with biopsies of some peculiar looking things. Over Christmas break, we awaited the results. Needless to say, with colon cancer in her family history, it wasn't the most restful holiday.

On January 2 of this year, she was formally diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. This wasn't unanticipated as both her father and brother (bless their guts) have suffered from it for many years, but we had hoped that she had dodged the genetic bullet. That she dodged it this long is a miracle in retrospect!

Throughout the diagnosis process, we were also dealing with some other major life decisions, so I'm sure the stress didn't help her condition. Just prior (literally an hour) to our trip mission trip to Guatemala, she landed in the hospital for five days. God definitely had His hand on the situation, and for that we were so thankful.

Moving to Virginia caused a change in doctors and another round of tests. This time, the recommendation was a resection since drug therapy wasn't having enough of an impact after six months. We met with a surgeon in Richmond in early July and surgery was scheduled for this Wednesday, August 6.

In the procedure, called a resection, they remove the diseased portion of the colon (large intestine) and reattach the healthy ends. They'll also check out the rest of her intestinal tract and assess if there are any other problem areas. Hopefully they will be able to accomplish this laparoscopically, but the surgeon won't know until the procedure is underway. If all goes well, she will be relieved of her symptoms (mainly severe cramping, nausea, and all the good things that come with them) and stay on some maintenance medications. There is no cure for Crohn's, but many people enjoy long periods of remission and a high quality of life.

Please...

• ...pray that my wife will fly through surgery (laparo, if you would pray specifically!)
• ...pray that surgery will be an extension of God's healing hand in solving her issues forever. Yes, forever - why pray small?
  
• ...pray that she will have a quick recovery with minimal discomfort.
• ...pray that our kids will be comforted while away from Mommy.
• ...pray that Daddy will know and strike the right balance between arenas of need as he takes care of both wife and kids.

Most of all, pray that God would continue to glorify Himself through her circumstances! There is no doubt that He has shown us more of who He is through these difficulties. He is our only Provider and Healer. I'll be glad to give her surgeon an assist, though (as well as the proverbial arm and a leg).

Less guts, more glory for God...

We both thank you in advance for your prayers!!