thank you so much for all of your support and prayers!!
They have meant the world to my husband and myself!!
May The Good Lord Continue To Bless Us All
Posted on 03/22/2006 8:20:07 AM PST by Zacs Mom
As some of my FRiends know I have been grappling with some very serious medical issues for a number of weeks now. For those who may not know, I will give you a brief background, for those who do - a quick update and for all who are able or are so inclined I ask that you please remember me and my husband in your prayers.
Somehow, thru bleeding internally unknowingly and for an apparent extended period of time, I had lost most of the blood in my body. I was critical upon admittance to the emergency room, with the hospital telling us that while a normal woman has between a count of 12 to 16 and that mine was barely 6 ~ that had I not been rushed to the hospital and received the immediate transfusion, I'd have not made it thru the night.
The following week brought me 3 surgical procedures and was been filled a number of invasive, painful and downright scary tests, which have produced some not very pleasant and quite sobering preliminary findings. The tests showed I have several small masses in my brain, a number of growths in my esophagus and upper lung area and at least one large mass in my right lung.
During one of the procedures they preformed while I was hospitalized they were able to gather a lot of tissue from the growths in my esophagus and upper lung area and when the lab pathologies finally came back a week or so later , my pulmonary specialists were totally baffled. The pathologies all came back as NO CANCER!!! (Thank you for all the FReeper Prayers that brought me through that trial). It was totally a different result from what they anticipated ~ the growth are definitely there and they are multiple and large, but these areas do not appear at all to be cancerous.
I spent about a week in the hospital recovering from the bleeding ulcers (which, thankful, did not require further surgery to stop the bleeding ~ again, thank you for FReeper prayers) and from the 2 other procedures they'd preformed (one of which required them to cut my throat) ~ needless to say it was a really tough week for both my husband and myself. (to say nothing of my poor dog who only knew that six big men burst into our home and swept his "mom" away)
Since they had not biopsies the masses in my brain nor the large one in my lower lung, and since there seemed to be a number of masses, the doctors decided the best course of action was run a bunch more tests to see what all we were dealing with before we planned out a course of treatment. So over the past couple weeks I have been undergoing countless tests, cat scans, MRI's, sonograms and some I can't even start to explain or understand. What is scary at this point is that each new test seems to reveal a new problem area. It now appears that I also have lesions on my adrenal glands, and another mass in my pelvic area. Additionally, I am still way low on my blood ~ I'd lost some of the transfused blood during the procedures and I am still only at 8.1 units. Further tests show that my body is replacing my blood and doing what it's suppose to in that area but it is going so much slower than I'd hoped. I can't seem to muster any strength and feeling so weak for so long is really starting to tick me off! (lol)
I am scheduled for one more "look-see" test early tomorrow morning. This one is called a PET-scan ~ they inject your blood with radio-active sugar and after about an hour you lay in their big machine for a half hour while they track where it goes through your body. As I understand it, this test is supposed to give the doctors the information they need about all of these masses to determine and, hopefully, move forward with whatever procedure and/or treatment deemed appropriate.
My FR voice has grown a bit quieter over the past few weeks as I've not had the strength to go online. I miss "being with" y'all on a daily basis! I miss the humor and I miss the insightful, often poignant dialogue I've witnessed here. I hope, as my strength returns, I will be able to be back on a more regular basis! Realistically, though, I'm afraid my voice here may well grow even quieter over next few next few months ~ hell, it may actually be silenced once and for all, but whatever the future brings I know I am walking with God and will happily and gratefully go where ever He leads me. (for now I hope that is back to strength ~ I've some beautiful grandchildren I'm not done playing with yet!) I also know I give thanks for having had such a great chance to 'meet' such wonderful kindred spirits!! You've each added a very special dimension to my life that is a blessing in and of itself!! Thank each of you for your work and your commitment to keeping this great nation free and strong. I'm proud to have shared so much of this journey with you and hold you each dearly in my heart. (((((thank you)))))
PS ~ I am providing my husband with the name and phone number of a FReeper so that in case he can get an update to y'all if I cannot. I am also providing a couple of FReepers with my personal info so they can contact my husband or I if they'd like.
More prayers on the way
Continued prayers, ZM. It may be a slow process, but between your good attitude and the prayers and love that surround you, I'm quite sure we'll be seeing you back here stirring things up for many years to come. May God bless you and your family.
Thank you so much for the update ..I know from earlier FReepmails you have gone through some terrible anxiety "not knowing"..You remain on my prayer list, dear lady & we miss you too!
Prayers continue for your comfort and strength in dealing with this.
God bless and be with you and your family through this ordeal. Keeping you in thought and prayer for complete recovery of your health.
When the things you face overwhelm you, remember...
"There Is A Place of Quiet Rest"
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee,
Near to the heart of God.
There is a place of comfort sweet,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where we our Savior meet,
Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee,
Near to the heart of God.
There is a place of full release,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee,
Near to the heart of God.
Also, a partial verse from "What a Friend We Have In Jesus" that is a particular favorite of mine...
"Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior still our refuge,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
...In His arms He'll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there."
May the Lord be your comfort, strength, and shield, Zacs Mom. Keep us updated, we'll be praying for you.
I will keep you in my prayers ZM and may God give you the strength for the days ahead towards recovery.
Prayers sent
I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this. Prayers said for you and your family (your furry "kid", too ;-)).
Hi Sweetheart,
I am so sorry for your troubles. I will pray for you every day for the next month.
I had a similar experience as you - minus the growths. Over time it seemed my energy was zapped and I could not breathe. I thought I was depressed because all I wanted to do was sleep all the time. But I had no reason to be depressed and no experience of that. They figured out I had hardly any blood. I was going thru the change and bleeding like a stuck pig and since they did not find any bleeding other than that, they figure that is what caused my deadly loss of blood.
Then the question came as to how to treat it: With blood transfusions or with iron supplements. I opted for the iron and it worked over a period of a month. This is what I did: I began with three tablets per day of ferrous gluconate (324 mg/tablet). That lasted for about three weeks and when my bloood was tested, it had improved greatly, so they cut me back to one pill per day for a few more weeks. I also drank a large glass of water with each tablet of iron as liquids are important for building blood.
(Don't over do it - just take a normal amount of water each day. I have to make myself drink water but you might have the habit of drinking plenty of water.)
After three weeks my breath returned and I began feeling MUCH more energy and strength. I had to rebuild muscle in my body because a lack of exercise leading up to the discovery of my health problem really weakened my muscles.
Don't do any of this without your doctor's permission, ofcourse. You can overdose on iron if not monitored. But, if you do it, you will have to get the ferrous gluconate from the pharmaist as they keep it behind the counter; although a perscription is not needed to get it. I guess since it is so strong a dose, they don't want people grabbing it as an every day use iron supplement.
Anyway, as I said, I will be praying for you every day. I am sorry you have had to go through so much testing. I hope the blood thing can be handled quickly as you will feel better when you have normal blood again.
Bless you!
Sending many prayers, much love and lots of hugs!
Logan's Prayer Warriors ping....PLEASE PLEASE include Zacs Mom in your daily prayers...
Prayers from TX
Very sorry about your health problems. Prayers for you.
May the Lord bless you, your family, and your caregivers.
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