Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is an appointed time for everything. And
there is a time for every event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth
and a time to die;
A time to plant and a
time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill
and a time to heal;
A time to tear down
and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep
and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a
time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones
and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and
a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a
time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a
time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart
and a time to sew together;
A time to be
silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a
time to hate;
A time for war and a
time for peace.
9 What profit is there to the worker from that in
which he toils? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the
sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
11 He has made everything appropriate in
its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that
man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even
to the end.
This blog entry is kind of all over the
board, but when you read it, I think you will understand why.
There is a time for everything. I realized
the truth of those words in the past few weeks. The Lord has been so good. There is much to be thankful for, and much to
praise God for. We were tooling along,
making gradual changes to our diet and exercising (more about that later), and
planning our Florida vacation. I went to
work as normal on Monday, Tom got up early and started working in his home
office. At about 2, I received a text
from Tom telling me to come home. NOW. I
arrived to find him on the bathroom floor.
He had been throwing up for an hour. I called 911 and he was taken to
Tucson Medical Center. After some delay
he was admitted, in part because his heart rate kept dropping and he was severely
dehydrated. Multiple CT scans, x-rays,
lots of blood work and almost being sent home twice, the doctor decided to go
ahead with an already ordered - and nearly cancelled - MRI. He was surprised that the results came back
positive for not one, not two, but six strokes. There were six areas in his
brain that had cell loss, confirming stroke, not TIAs. One more test was performed to try to
determine where the strokes originated, a test call a trans-esophageal
echocardiogram. That test is similar to
an endoscopy, but instead of going into the stomach, the doctor looks at the
heart. The test showed that he has a
small hole in between the two chambers of his heart. We
were sent home with an aspirin regime and cholesterol medication, with
follow-ups with our primary care physician and the cardiologist. No physical
therapy was necessary, because he hasn’t had any residual effects, aside from
vertigo. This is a major praise – with that
many stroke areas, the fact that he has no residuals was a relief. Even the neurologist
said he dodged a cannonball.
When we went to the cardiologist yesterday
(June 30), we were told that the hole is small, and at this point they are not
overly concerned with it. However, if he has another stroke, then the
possibility of open heart surgery is strongly indicated. That is the scary
news. In the meantime, he will be going
in to TMC soon to have a loop devise implanted in his chest. This loop will
constantly monitor and record his heart function, letting the doctor know if he
has a-fibrillations, which is another likely cause of the strokes.
But the Lord has been so good throughout
this entire ordeal. Pastor Ron is doing a series on Philippians, and his topic
for the past few weeks has been Joy in
Adversity. Nothing like a medical
emergency to test whether I’m applying the messages or not! I’ve been really thinking what it means to Choose Joy. Throughout this ordeal, I’ve been reminded
that joy is a choice, and that God is in control. That has brought me an
enormous amount of peace. God is in
control, I’m not, and our lives are truly in His hands. We saw that every time we turned around. And the fact that Tom has no major residual
effects is such a blessing. I have to
say, praying with your boss about your husband's health is not something that
is possible when you are working in the secular world, that's a HUGE PLUS to working
at a church!
We had been looking at houses with an eye
towards downsizing. Now that Tom has had
the strokes, and there is a very real risk that he could again, downsizing into
a one-story house has become a priority.
So, Saturday found us at a sales office for a new development here in
Tucson. We had already looked at the
houses once before, and knew we liked the model, but wanted to see it
again. After talking with the sales
agent, we returned on Sunday and signed paperwork to build. Scary, but exciting thought! Now comes all the paperwork and sorting this
house in preparation for moving!
 |
| Last Summer - at my heaviest |
On a more personal side, in April I decided
my weight was out of control. It was time to get serious about my health. Seeing the doctor and getting put on new
blood pressure meds was just what I needed to kick start losing weight. I tried Spark People and My Fitness Pal, but
both of them were just too cumbersome, so I returned to Weight Watchers. This time, I'm following the Simply Filling
plan. I had been having stomach issues
every time I ate pizza and pasta, so I made the decision to cut all simple
carbs - pasta, bread, white rice, pizza (boo!).
Immediately, without even trying, I dropped 8 pounds. Great! A good way to begin!
Then I added in cardio. We have the oversized space hog sitting in
the family room, and it was time to put it to use. Oh, what is it? It's an elliptical. I started
out slow, couldn't go much longer than 15 minutes. But I pushed on. Then I decided to get on my
bike again. I again started out slow - 7
miles in about 55 minutes. Weekly bike
rides, sometimes both Friday and Saturday, and my strength and stamina have
improved.
 |
| 25 pounds later, and still going down! |
So where am I now? I've lost 25 pounds. I can do 35 minutes on
the elliptical, with my heart rate averaging about 132. I have ridden 18 miles,
in 90 minutes. I'm down almost a full
size. My clothes are baggy and I don't dare wear pants without a belt, or
else!
I'm cooking differently, experimenting with
different recipes, different seasonings.
For example, tonight we had lean pork chops marinated in teriyaki sauce
with garlic and ginger, sweet potatoes, and Asian green beans - green beans,
shallots, garlic, and soy sauce. It was
delish! I'm not depriving myself of
much - I have dark chocolate at least once a day and ice cream bars on
occasion. My drink of choice lately is
water with a sprig of mint and a slice of lime.
I'll also have water infused with orange, lemon and lime slices.
Mornings are usually oatmeal with
blueberries, nectarines, or apples. If I
work out in the morning, then I'll have an egg, light English muffin and a
piece of ham. (All of that is zero points, under the Simply Filling plan!) It's
working! My goal is 150, so I'm roughly
1/3 of the way there.
The Lord has been good, so good. I am blessed beyond measure, and I know that
whatever He has in store, He will give me the grace to see me – and Tom –
through. I CHOOSE JOY.
