Ladies & Gents, I tell you what time has flown by. Sorry I haven’t updated sooner. But things have picked up quite a bit since I believe February was the last time, I updated my Health progress. I’ll try and do a monthly update at least on my website from here on out. But what better timing than now it being my birthday. After all, it’s a miracle that I have made it to this birthday since my life has been saved numerous times. All the while being on/off bed rest voluntarily & involuntary over these past 2 1/2 years! Voluntary because of pain and involuntary because of surgeries. It’s very encouraging that so many of you have asked how I am doing. Full disclosure this maybe too graphic for those of you who have a weak stomach when it comes to medical issues!
I warn you now this message will be all over the place when my ADHD kicks in. Even though I was diagnosed back in 6th grade with it I thought it was something that I’d grow out of buuuuuut I can tell when it kicks in. But as I write this in the wee hours of the morning because I get 3–4 hours of sleep a night. So many times, I will put on a TV show or a movie to use as background to go to sleep too. But I turn the volume down extremely low just so it doesn’t stimulate my mind causing me not to go to sleep. Basically, it’s a big nightlight because pitch black gives me bad anxiety. but sometimes it doesn’t work because of permanent hearing gain not to be confused with hearing loss. Just learned you can pair your AirPods with your TV well if the TV has Bluetooth option. Although the damage is permanent it isn’t constant, but it flares up from time to time. Because Erika can testify to that because usually it goes a little something like this: Me: “babe my ears are off today” But it’s from a very widely used STRONG antibiotic called vancomycin. The drug is very potent, and you must do weekly bloodwork to make sure all your organs are functioning correctly. So just be careful of the drug and if possible, ask for a substitute because there is one. I told my primary doctor what happened, and she said oh yeah, like duh change in your hearing is 1 of the side effects. I started taking the drug when I was in the hospital for bone deep bedsores but as I said before they looked like black calluses. But on top of that I had a severe infection in my bones, specifically pelvis, hip and tailbone. The side effect increases my sensitivity to sound so much that I can hear with no exaggeration a piece of paper hit the ground. I used to love the sound of the ocean like my wife, but now I don’t hate it, but I have a strong dislike for it because of the severity of the sound. I say that because words that have a strong “S” in it magnifies to where it sounds like the ocean is swishing or it is swooshing in my ears. I texted a friend that while I was in the hospital. To which he replied, so you have superpowers,” which made me crack up laughing! I said well that’s one way of that of looking at it! Which THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who constantly lift me up in prayer. To this day as my dad travels speaking around the United States people still ask for an update of how I’m doing. Which is a testament to God’s love for his children because this has been a 2 1/2-year journey dealing with bed sores severe pain in my hip and buttocks. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer because that has gotten me through this long ordeal. So much for the fact that my wound therapist said in his 16 years of doing wound therapy he’s never seen someone heal as fast and as well as I have. He said it usually takes people years upon years to have the type of progress that I have made. He made the remark I must have someone upstairs helping me out. I said I sure do & it’s only by God’s grace. I’m sure my mom has put in a good word for me! It’s been a little over 2 1/2 yrs. since she without a doubt in my mind, she heard the Lord well done by good and faithful servant! But when someone in the medical field makes that type of comment it’s another opportunity to share the gospel. But to let them know that it isn’t anything of my doing or a coincidence or good luck, etc. Most of my days are spent in bed because of the severity of pain that I have. However recently my wife & I started working part time in guest services for events down at Lucas oil stadium primarily the Colts games. Not that I need it but a little more extra motivation to push through the pain & get out & about into the mean streets of Indy J/K! Also, a big thank you to those who are donating to the purchasing of a new hospital bed that will prevent & heal the 1 bedsore left. BUT PRAISE GOD because 7/8 of them have fully healed. The 1 still open was closed but reopened so please for that. God is good since we learned later that they were surprised I lived. Many of the Dr’s & Nurses thought the prognosis was death. Just a testament that God isn’t done with me yet. I like to name the days of the week with attributes that describe our Lord & Savior. I’m always reminded of a quote from Tony Evans where he says, “undercover Christians get undercover blessings”. A nurse (wound therapist) from our home church College Park (www.yourchurch.com) came over a couple nights to help out before I was admitted to Methodist IU wound clinic. She was also the inpatient therapist that made rounds and ended up taking care of my bedsores while I was there. Before all of that took place she came and helped us out for a couple nights. While she was changing my bandages, she was telling my father & I she said I’m not going to sugarcoat it, but she told her husband when she got in the car that she didn’t think I was going to make it! She said she was going to do her hallelujah dance. Backtracking earlier I mentioned before the bed sores look like black calluses & were hard to touch. Well, when they debrided them (removed dead tissue) both hips my tailbone & part of my upper shoulder blade bones were visible. As a matter of fact, the surgeon touched my hip & a piece of it chipped off! More evidence of a bad bone infection. Backtrack again I had surgery back in February because of severe pain in my hip! I had fractured my femur bone because of a bad transfer from one of my Home Health Aids which we did not know until they did an x-ray. My femur bone was jammed so far up in my hip socket that my left leg was a good 4–6 inches shorter than my right leg & still is. But after being fractured, it broke off and started to heal itself by fusing itself to my pelvis. So, they went in and cut part of my femur bone and took out my hip socket but with no artificial hip. Apparently back in the good old days it wasn’t uncommon instead of doing hip replacement surgery they would just take out the hip socket and wouldn’t do a hip replacement because they weren’t as advanced in surgery as they are now. The hip would build up so much scar tissue that it would fill in the gap but at the same time the leg was less stable. Which makes me think how hard it would’ve been for Farmer Jon if he had to have hip surgery & then still must farm the land. The surgery caused all the pain to go away, but it has gradually come back, I’d say worse than before. So, we are in the process of trying to figure out what is still causing me pain. They tried aspirating my hip to extract fluid to see whether there was an infection in it that may have been causing all the pain. But after attempting to aspirate the hip there was no fluid thus no infection. So, it was back to the drawing board. I had a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday this week. The new game plan is to rehab my hip because I couldn’t do that having the bed sores and what not at the time. So, pray that rehab goes well, so that I can get back to some type of normalcy. It’s the last barrier before success. In the meantime, pray for a miracle that I wouldn’t have any pain if no miracle just very minimal and manageable pain there’s such a thing because he’s answered it before!
But all in all, this has been a learning experience of how strong I CAN be when I fully trust him & have unwavering faith! I have friends & family I could call in town & out of town and say “eh yo I ain’t doing so good I need you” they’d dropped whatever they were doing & be bedside with. I have a rock star and savior of a wife who sacrifices herself more than she should. A daughter who understands that dad has some limitations so life can get a little we’ll say messy & sometimes dad needs a little get away for a couple days or week in the form of a hospital stay. So, it’s hard but she’s a brave young woman & takes it in stride. I have bros brother-in-law sis’s & sis in laws that I group text for prayer a few days during the week. But 1 of my main rocks is my father who loves me & our family endlessly. I know & do call him at all hours of the day, night, & wee hours of the a.m. That he can attest to! I have some very rough nights and I’ll call or text him at 2:00 or 3:00, 4:00 in the morning to pray for me. I do that because The Bible says in James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” I end with some scripture that I cling to
James 1:2–8 NIV “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
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