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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Blessed Relief !!!

"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  ...  The Lord is with me; he is my helper. ..."  Psalm 118:6-7

Many years ago, there was a commercial on TV for an antacid concoction, showing a glass of water with two tablets being dropped into it, with a jingle that went ...

         "plop, plop, fizz, fizz
           0h, what a relief it is...".

It seemed as if that commercial ran umpteen times every day, day after day, so that every one could sing it by heart.

One day, my sister found her three-year old sitting on the toilet, singing his little heart away, "plop, plop, fizz,fizz, oh what a relief it is..." and when she told me about it, we laughed until we cried.

He is thirty-nine now, and has been in intensive care here at Duke Medical Center for the past week.  Three surgeries in the past seven days, and three other diagnostic procedures - four times under general anesthetics in six days - an almost unheard of amount.  And I overheard one senior nurse say she had never "seen a pain medication setting on an IV as high as the one she was setting" for him. They were pushing all they could through him -just short of stopping his heart.

But - oh, what a relief it is - yesterday's procedure went well; better than well, the surgeon told me it went better than they hoped for.  They have gotten more of the tumor out than they expected to be able to access, and they believe he has a fighting chance, now, through radiation treatment.

Yes, he still must have yet another surgery next Tuesday; skin grafts to close open wounds in order to get ready for the radiation therapy.  And yes, there are difficult months of treatment ahead.  But just 48 hours ago, one surgeon told us that there was essentially no more help to be had - nothing more they could do.

Ah, but you may recall my post from just days ago. The Helper and His Assistants ...  only God is truly our Helper.  All others are just his assistants.  We respect their skill and appreciate their talents, but we do not mistake their source of comfort for our Source of Comfort.

And so, today, we pause.... for some blessed relief, and to give continuous thanks to the One from Whom all blessings flow.

Thank you for your prayers these past few weeks.  We needed and appreciated them more than you can know.  We still do.  God bless you - Marsha

6 comments:

  1. Lifting your nephew, you and your family in prayer now Marsha, God be with you all - Nita

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  2. I remember that commercial well. So sorry to hear all that your nephew is going through. But how right you are. The Lord is the One in charge. I will be praying for your nephew.

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  3. Thankful for respites - no matter how brief.

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  4. Nita - Thank you again for your prayers.

    Debbie - I think you are too young to remember that commercial, but hope it gave you a smile to read about it. :) And thank you,too, for your prayers.

    D.J. - Yes, the respite, however brief, is very welcome. His next surgery has been moved up to Monday, instead of Tuesday - but we are already back here in Charlotte and cannot turn around and go back for tomorrow. Thankfully, prayer knows no distance. God bless you.

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  5. Marsha - I am praying for your nephew. We serve an awesome and mighty God and He is still in the miracle business!

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  6. Finally some good news. Praising God with you friend.

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