John 14:27 (NLT)
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the
peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
John 16:33 (NLT)
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on
earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have
overcome the world.”
There’s something powerful
about the unquestionable peace that comes with knowing you are exactly where
God wants you to be.
Well folks, we have a plan
and a surgery date.
I will be having surgery on
April 7th at 7:30am at a hospital in Addison.
They will at the very
least, place a titanium plate in my head (or use surgical cement if possible)
to protect the area of my fracture. My
brain actually bulge’s from this fractured area and if they can safely separate
my brain from my skull and repair that, they will do that, and then put the
plate in.
This in no way guarantees
that I will stop having migraines according to my surgeon, but I have always
believed that God was going to heal me through this surgery.
I stand firm on that
promise now.
This will most definitely
take some pressure off of my brain which will in effect, hopefully stop
trigging migraines.
I believe that it will.
Some questions I’ve been
asked over the last couple of days:
·
Will you have to shave your head? Part of it, yes, the left side- mostly. I am having a small head shaving party with
some of my close friends- might as well have some fun with it! There will be plenty of pictures (because my ‘friends’
won’t be able to resist, I’m sure!) and be looking for me to do something funky
with my hair. J
·
How long will you be in the hospital? That really depends on
exactly what they’re able to do while they’re in there. If they’re able to safely repair my brain
(insert snicker here) I’ll be in the hospital for about 4 days, a couple in
ICU. If they’re not and they’re only
able to put a plate in, I should be in ICU the first night and then a regular
room and then home the next day!
Amazing! I’m not accounting for
any mishaps because there won’t be any.
·
How long will you be ‘down’? That’s going to be
a little tricky. It will most definitely
depend on how detailed the surgery is and what they’re able to do. Most definitely not full activity for 6 weeks
once I come home; 2-3 weeks before I can return to work, light duty. It will really depend on how I feel and well
I’m doing. I’m going to recover really
well so I look forward to being back at work soon.
·
Will you need round the clock care? When I get home, I will
have someone with me the first week pretty much all the time (for someone as
independent as I am, this will be fun, I’m sure!) just to help me out. After that, for the next 2 weeks (or whenever
I go back to work) I can have some time by myself. Because I will be so tired from the surgery,
I will need help with meals and general house cleaning, and it would be nice to
have some company to just visit.
·
How can I help? I am so humbled by this question to be
honest. I’ve never had a major surgery
like this where I wasn’t able to take care of myself within a day or two so
this part is a little overwhelming.
Fortunately, I have amazing friends that have just taken care of this
for me. There are two
websites that have been set up for me.
One for meals, the other for visitors (those who also want to help me
keep my house clean, do laundry, dishes, etc. when I can’t do those things
myself).
You can go online
and sign up for whatever area you want to help me with. It’s all appreciated.
Here’s the meal calendar:
Calendar ID: 177894C
Security Code: 1577
Click on ‘Show Calendar’
and choose what need you would like to fill.
As with any recovery, I’m
sure that I will have great days and some not-so-good days, that’s only
natural, so I’m asking that you please shoot me a text before you come over
with meals or for anything else. It would
be easier on me and my caretakers if we didn’t have any ‘surprise’ visitors
without some notification first.
I have an amazing friend,
Alicia Hill (no relation) that is helping me with all of this. She is actually going to act as my primary
contact for my recovery. If you have
general questions about what I need or just want to know how I’m doing that
day, she’s the person to contact.
Please email her at: AMHDANZ4JC@aol.com
One last question:
·
How are you doing? I’m okay, at best some days. I’m in a great deal of pain all of the time
and because I can’t take anything before surgery, I’m struggling. My neurologist is calling in something for
pain for in the meantime but I won’t be able to take it during the day. In this aspect, I’m grateful the surgery is
just a few days away. Sometimes the pain
is just overwhelming so please pray that I will have relief as I wait. Otherwise, I’m more than ready to do this and
get better!
I am so pleasantly overwhelmed with the amount of people that want
to help me through this. Your help is
welcomed and so appreciated. Your
prayers for a painless and quick recovery are most coveted.
I am so grateful for the tremendous peace that I’m experiencing. I may be feeling a little overwhelmed with
all the things that I think need to be done before I have surgery, but really,
I have no anxiety. I’m a planner at
heart so my head is reeling with trying to get everything done so quickly. I am also realistic in knowing that what gets
done will be done and what doesn’t, well, it won’t stop the world from turning.
I look forward to watching the Father really show off during this time and I will do my best to keep you all updated on how I’m doing as I recover.
I know that God is going to really reveal Himself in new and powerful ways throughout this process, He’s already made it abundantly clear that He has this, He’s gone before me and prepared the way.
Blessin’s Y’all!
Pamela
I Like Big Brains & I Cannot Lie, Part I
I Like Big Brains & I Cannot Lie Part II
Here's the Latest on my Crack-ed Head
I'm Buckin' Up
Pamela can be reached at Pamela@ACreativeWord.com
Please visit our website at www.ACreativeWord.com
Want to catch up on what’s going on with my head? Here are the links to previous blog
posts! Thank you for reading!
I Like Big Brains & I Cannot Lie Part II
Here's the Latest on my Crack-ed Head
I'm Buckin' Up
Blessin’s Y’all!
Pamela