View From the Recovery Room (Road) - Part III

Sunday night, Nov. 15/09

Dear Family and Friends:
The Birch hotwire has been dead for the last few days for reasons I’ll share below.
I’m not sure where each of you will be in the communication loop, but I will start with last Tuesday (the 10th). I was discharged from hospital exactly one week after the 8 hour surgery. I was massively taped up in the back and shoulder and somewhat doped up from meds but all agreed I was fine to return home for recovery with community nursing coming in each day to change the dressings, etc. Of course, hovering over all was the Sister Superior Shirley, just a little lower than the angels. And above all else, our Heavenly Father was in the Executive Director’s chair.
I was scheduled to return to the hospital on Friday for a close up inspection by the Dr. and experts here. We left Nanaimo at 10 a.m. planning on 4 to 6 hours before retreating to our nest on the hills overlooking the Strait of Georgia.
Welllll… it appears a bump in the road had risen up. The clinic nurse took one look at the site and said “I think the Dr. should have a look at this.” He was there in 5 minutes… so much for a short visit to Victoria. They re-admitted me Friday afternoon with the plan that I would go back into surgery as soon as possible ‘to clean this thing up’ and here we are, Sunday night. Finally, now, they are definite – the surgery will be first thing tomorrow a.m. Sounds like fairly’routine’ surgery to deal with infection. But they will probably keep me here until at least Friday to keep a close watch.
So there you have it. Having lived in Africa for 10 years I’m used to bumps in the road. But it’s a set-back none-the-less and we’ve had our down moments. We continue the feel the need for prayer just as much as we have all along this journey. And dozens of you have told us “we are with you”.. Thank you and God bless you.
KEN AND SHIRLEY