Lots has happened since my last post. The good thing is, I didn't end up getting sick, just didn't feel great for a couple of days but it did not develop into anything. That was an answer to prayer!
On Friday, I noticed my burn wound began to look weird and smell kind of funky (I think that is a medical term...lol) so I called the doctor and they couldn't see me until Monday. I spent the weekend soaking the wound in domeboro solution and saw Kathleen on Monday. She didn't like the way the wound looked either and started me on antibiotics.
Today, I went in for my Herceptin infusion and asked to see Kathleen again because everyone in my house agreed that the wound looked worse this morning. She got me in right away and again she agreed and was worried about the area I was worried about. A section had gotten deeper and was looking a weird color, somewhere between green and black. She put me on a stronger antibiotic and sent me to the wound care center. The Lord was gracious and I was able to get in there today even though they were booked solid until June! Thank you Lord!
I got to see a great doctor who specializes in wound care. It was a bit of a nightmare though. He had to clean the wound with a scalpel! Yes, I was awake, much to my dismay. He scrapped and scrapped to get off who knows what, I wasn't looking. Then he cut into the wound to cut out and clip off the necrotic skin...it was black because the tissue had died. The burn has now gone through all layers of skin and into the muscle...I thought it looked really deep. The blessing and silver lining in this is that the worst of it is where I am still numb from the surgery, so at least the deep cut part I didn't feel. The did numb the area some, but I could still feel it...trust me!
Tomorrow I need to go to a plastic surgeon that I don't know because my plastic surgeon is out of town. He needs to remove about half of the fluid from my left expander, the one that has remained expanded throughout the radiation. The doctor thinks if we get the tension off of the skin there that the wound might heal better.
He is also trying to see if he can get me into a hyperbaric chamber to super infuse my blood stream with oxygen to also help with the healing of the wound. That is major because apparently I will need to go 5 days a week for about 30 days. They are saying it could take weeks or months to heal a wound this bad. So you know a wound is bad when the wound doctor thinks it is.
So that is my tale of woe. I am really fighting being discouraged. I know the Lord is in control and I am putting my trust in Him. Do you remember when I shared awhile back that the Lord had given me a picture of being in the boat with Him in the midst of a huge storm and I was snuggled in with Him, asleep in the back of the boat because if the storm didn't worry Him it didn't worry me. Well, I saw myself in that same picture and I had put my head up and looked over the rail of the boat and saw the huge storm all around, with waves hitting the sides of the boat and splashing over the side and I felt fear. I looked back and saw Jesus still at peace and so, right now, I feel like I am in the place of crawling back to Him to lay back down beside Him. If He is at peace, I too want to be at peace too, so I am praying. Would you please pray too? I feel like I am about at the end of my coping capacity. Thank you for continuing to stand with me, I really need your support in prayer. gratefully, Leslyn
4 comments:
Oh, sweetie...I am holding you up...Jesus is there with you; I see Him holding you near. Psalm 91 is yours. He loves you sooooo much.
Holding you up in prayer Leslyn. He is holding you tight.
Hi Leslyn, I am praying for you. I want to share something my friend Nancy shared with me last week. We were on a walk up to Inspiration Point in the Berkeley Hills last week when she shared about a time when she had walked up there. She said when she got to the top she saw 3 hawks soaring over her head. She said they were motionless, absolutely still, making no effort to fly, yet they soared. We both understood this as a picture of our identity in Christ. He is the wind beneath our wings. We do not need to work at doing what we are meant to do. We are in total dependence upon him. Nancy and I talked about wanting to be able to live in that place of trust just as a hawk does. It knows that it is meant to fly like that. We know we are created to live like that as well. I am thinking of you now as I think about this living parable because you are a beautiful example of such trust. I pray that you are able to live out of that place of identity in Christ so as to soar above your circumstances moment by moment!
This verse comes to mind and I love reading it in The Message! Thank you for the example of living out what we know is true about us as followers of Jesus.
Isaiah 40:27
"Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, "God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"? Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind."
Love,
Lynn Smith
Praying for you today as I drove, I looked up and the license plate on the car right in front of me said, TRSTGOD. I couldn't help but feel it was a sign that I/we/you could trust Him, even in this. We love you and are with you in this.
Post a Comment