Port Day :)

Hello folks! Well, I am writing to you today in awe of what God did yesterday, humbled by the prayer support we received and praising God for his protection.  I get choked up even writing this post.  I don't think I have ever in my life experienced God in this way before.  We serve an amazing and miraculous God and we watched his power be displayed right before our eyes.  I will give you a recount of the day (as best as I can remember since they gave me some lovely drugs half-way through, lol). 

Brian and I left our house at 6:25am to head for Phoenix.  I actually was pretty drugged because I dosed two of my meds pretty close together in order to take them before the 5am cut-off for the surgical procedure.  In a way though, that was a blessing. I was pretty tired and relaxed on our trip up. :) Brian appreciated that, lol.  Who knows, maybe he rigged it that way, lol. J/K As we were driving up to Phoenix listening to praise and worship music, we looked out the window and saw this rainbow.  It was such a confirmation of God's promises and protection.

Once in Phoenix, we stopped off at my doctor's office to pick up some of their sheets and bedding.  I don't react to the detergent they use, so they were letting us borrow their stuff. 

At 9:30am we arrived at the hospital and checked into the outpatient radiology center.  By this time, I will admit that I was pretty nervous; however, God was with us in every step we took.  Each person we came in contact with did not have any perfume or cologne on.  Yay!! Once I was registered, Brian and I were taken to a "holding room" where they prep you for your procedure.  There, we met the most amazing nurse.  I have never in my life experienced a health professional who was so kind and compassionate and so well-versed with my allergies and sensitivities.  My doctor had called ahead of time to talk to the nursing staff and also the physician assistant who was going to be doing the procedure.  So, they knew I was coming and were prepared for my list of allergies!  That was a blessing.  What was different about this experience is they didn't ignore or minimize my allergies, this nurse even went an extra mile to make sure I knew that everything was prepared how we needed it to be.  She would physically show me everything they were going to use and that it was latex and preservative free (I didn't even ask for that).  She also double checked that they had on hand preservative free epinephrine in case they needed to use it in an emergency.  If I asked a question, she answered it or found the answer.  I could go on and on about how she went above and beyond and how they were so cautious...they even checked to make sure the saline and heparin were preservative free too before starting any of my IVs.  They were good about only starting one drug at a time and watching for a reaction.  I am telling you, it felt like God was right in the room directing everything. Who knows, maybe that nurse was an angel. :)

Next came the physician assistant and surgical nurse.  They were both amazing as well. So sweet, funny and caring.  I think they were even younger than Brian and I...I knew the day would come when that started happening, lol.  They took the time to talk to us about what was exactly going to be happening during the surgery.  They were so reassuring and also took every extra precaution.  They used two drugs to sedate me that I had used before and that I wasn't allergic to even though that was not part of their normal protocol.  The procedure seemed to go by very fast and I was awake during it.  However, I didn't care much about what was going on. :) They even let me pick the music to listen to in the surgical room. :)  They were great!  I came out of the procedure just fine and with no complications.  The picture on the left was right after the procedure in recovery. You should be able to see the small incisions. Oh, and the green dye is antiseptic, I am not turning green. :)

After we were done, we went over to my doctor's office and had my first infusion.  I was still pretty loopy and the doctor even commented about how quiet and calm I was, lol.  The picture on the right was right after the nurse accessed my port for my first infusion.  We had one small reaction of the day to the adhesive bandage they put over your port while it's accessed so that no bacteria will enter into the opening.  It's absolutely necessary that this is kept completely sterile.  If any bacteria gets in through the small opening, you can quickly get a life-threatening condition called sepsis which can happen in seconds.  The nurse wore a mask and gloves while she did everything.  She started training Brian and I how to run the IVs, but to be honest, I don't remember much...thank you drugs.  :)  I am sure I will get plenty of practice in the weeks to come. The picture on the right is what it looks like when my port is accessed and I am receiving IV treatment. Sorry, it's a little blurry as it was taken by my cell phone. :)

Water Update - We found out that I can tolerate drinking small amounts of Aquafina periodically through the day.  We are hoping that my body will calm down enough for me to switch back to drinking our own reverse osmosis water, but praise the Lord He has provided something in the mean time.

I am not going to write a huge list of prayer requests as I did that on my last post, but please be praying for healing from the surgery and also no port complications.  Please also be praying for my upcoming treatment and that we would start seeing results soon! How amazing would that be!!  We are believing God for my healing and we are excited to watch Him work!

Well, I need to go lay down.  Still feeling the after effects of everything.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers!!!  We felt them all day yesterday.  We had a miraculous day and saw God everywhere and in everything.  Never in a million years did Brian or I think that we would come out of yesterday with only one small reaction to a bandage after all that I was exposed to.  God was our miracle worker and all glory goes to Him!!!!