3-21-12 Surgery Number Two and Fred's 55th Birthday

Well the past two weeks have been busy!  We worked on digging and pouring footings last week and then this week we began by celebrating our 28th Anniversary! So thankful for HIS blessings on our years lived as one.

It actually became very real to me how one we were when the Lord laid it on my heart to plan a surprise trip for Fred to commemorate our Anniversary and his 55th Birthday!  It came to me around the latter part of January and I began to move forward pretty timidly, asking each couple as the Lord directed.  Since we visited San Antonio on our honeymoon, I thought that would be a good destination and so purchased tickets on Amtrak for this week.  By the time Monday, March 19th rolled around, I was close to being physically sick and was so ready to get this secret out and be able to share ALL my thoughts with Fred again!  I had no idea I'd be writing about this on here, but neither did I have any idea how GOD was SO orchestrating every detail of a trip that is yet to come to an end!

Sunday night, our 28th, our children took us to Chicago to eat out and then dropped us off at our hotel for the night.  At bedtime, I noticed Fred's feet seemed a little swollen.  The real concern came Monday morning when he got up and his face was noticeably puffy and he hadn't gotten up thru the night as usual.  Well, we headed to the train station and long story short, after many texts and emails and a lot of prayer, we felt the Lord directing us to keep going forward, not cancelling the trip.  After checking with the Dr. and picking up a prescription we boarded the train, Fred's swelling in his face mostly gone, and replaced with a very shocked expression...as he discovered we were going from Bloomington to San Antonio...a thirty hour trip.  We weren't into the trip long and felt HIS Spirit begin to reveal we were part of a bigger picture than any of us had a clue existed.

Thankfully we could call back to the Dr the next morning to discuss what she would advise for the next step, because he was well over 24 hrs without voiding.  Upon arrival we agreed to get to a prompt care/ER and start looking into it. We were stunned when the Dr. came in and told us he needed to admit Fred because his kidneys had failed!  When the shock subsided then came the questions.  We got to our room at 4AM and tried to rest a bit before the day began.  Several Dr.'s later, it was determined that the best approach would be to insert nephrostomy tubes to drain the kidneys, so at 4PM he went into surgery to have that done.  The procedure went really well and within the hour he was voiding!!!  We will be here several days yet.

Kinda exhausted, so I'll sign off.   Our  hearts are filled with thanksgiving and praise for the mighty hand of GOD carrying us thru this very emotional day!