I’ve gotten some inquiries about where I have been the last few months. As you might have noticed, I haven’t made any new blog posts. The following is an account, and might be more info than you care to know. I’m sharing it; not for anyone to feel sorry for me, but to show that the stuff hits the fan in many different ways, not all of which involve the economy, EMP’s or government. I’m also sharing it to ask for prayer; for myself and, mostly, for my parents.
It started in early spring of 2015 with some of my own health issues; a few types of chronic pain, some degenerative discs, issues from old injuries, and, on top of all of that, fibromyalgia. We also moved my parents from the second level apartment building into my in-laws’ ground floor handicap accessible lower level. This was a huge blessing to my parents, one they are so grateful for.
A few months after moving in, sometime in August, my mom fell and broke her ankle. Mom, who has Huntington’s disease with mild dementia was transferred to a transitional care unit. The night she was admitted, she says a male nurse took some of her pain meds, shook her and threatened her to keep quiet. I made the decision to pull her out. Whether or not it actually happened is irrelevant. She believes it happened and would not rest or heal there.
Two days after bringing her home, she called me at 3:00am to tell me my dad was falling while trying to get to the bathroom. I told her to call 911, that I was on my way, and would get her situated, and head to the ER. Dad is a diabetic, so I was thinking “low blood sugar”. He was admitted, in septic shock caused by diverticulitis; and we were told anyone admitted with sepsis has a 40% chance of not leaving. He was in ICU for a week. Praise God! He recovered; at least from the sepsis.
Over the next few months he had bowel movements 10-20 times a day. At first it was believed it was from the diverticulitis, and a colonoscopy was done to determine the best course of action. The doctor found two tumors and said that he had seen enough tumors in his career to know they were cancerous. This was on a Thursday, so we had to wait until Tuesday for the biopsy results, only to find out that it was not cancer. (Praise God, AGAIN!) Needless to say, dad got a new doctor at a totally new hospital.
It was discovered that the cause of the multiple bowel movements is Clostridium difficile, a very resilient colon infection. He has taken antibiotics to treat it, and was recently told by the infectious disease specialist, that while he has recently still tested positive, they believe he is getting rid of it.
Fast forward a few weeks; and he had another colonoscopy, by a specialist this time. The tumor the first doctor had seen had grown so much, they could not do the scope. They took several biopsies and again, praise God, they came back non-cancerous. He had to be admitted for a colon obstruction and was given a colostomy bag. He was in the hospital for a week and was in transitional care for a week. Oh, I forgot to mention that during the stint in the hospital the first time, he had several small strokes, as a result of going into Atrial Fibrillation (which he came out of in a couple of days). These have impaired his short-term memory greatly, have left him weakened and with very shaky hands.
While in TCU he developed several abscesses at the surgical site, which landed him in the hospital for another week, and a month in transitional care.
Trudee and I have had to take over their entire household; paying bills, shopping, you name it. In their current states, I don’t feel comfortable letting either of them drive, so I have become their chauffeur as well.
For the sake of brevity and dignity, I’ve left several things out. So, the reason for the lack of posts is that when I do have free time, I just don’t feel very creative, and mostly want to check out mentally for a while. It’s also hard to think about prepping for the future while paddling up the crick, if you catch my drift.
I’m not complaining! What I’m going through is nothing compared to what my dad is going through or what my mom is currently battling and will be battling with Huntington’s; a cruel hereditary disease.
It is my pleasure as their son to help take care of them, but I would be lying if I said it was easy. At times I get so dang crabby I can’t stand myself! I’ve failed at times to honor them, but I apologize and ask forgiveness.
In this time, we’ve also had several car repairs needed, totaling in the thousands, job issues, family issues and, most recently, we found out that one of our dogs, Tanner, has cancer. Tanner is more than just a dog, he is part of our family and a huge source of joy.
I am blessed with a Godly wife, who helps as much as she can and, above all, is understanding.
I learned something from Job; he complained and asked God, “why me?”. I learned that God has His reasons for doing things. It is not my place to question His motives. I may not understand or like what He has put before me. My task is to keep putting one foot in front of the other as I march forward, toward the cross. Sometimes the path is on steady ground, others up hill on loose footing, and sometimes it is a downright slog.
The site going forward
This site is still seeing traffic from new people daily and new subscribers. This tells me that it is still a resource for some. Because of that I’ll never sell it or shut it down. However, it costs $70 a month for the service to send out emails to let people know there is a new post. I can’t justify paying this when I’m not posting. I don’t know if or when I will post regularly unless Father inspires me.
It has been my pleasure to write for this ministry over the last five years. I have been humbled by the mount of people who’ve stopped by to read, share and converse with me.
If you have room on your prayer list, please include my mom and dad, Trudee and myself.
Because I have taken down the registration for emails, which is how I distributed the eBook. here is a link to the download page for the free eBook I wrote called Why Should I Prepare and Is It Biblical
May the Lord bless and keep you all.
Chris
