The view from our room of the sunset and Medicos
Hello from the laundry room again!
As I listen to the clothes tumbling in the washing machine I, oddly enough, am praising God for the answer to prayer regarding His provision in opening space for us to return next week.
When we notified our travel agent with a week’s heads-up that we needed to extend our stay, she promptly checked for flights that would work. Our agent got back that anything flying out that week would cost us $3,144.00 per ticket due to rearranging our departure!! This now brought us to a grand total of $6,288.00! We had originally been told, before we left, it would be about $500 a ticket for us to change our return dates. The agent then looked into the next week for seats and was now telling us we might need to stay in Germany till the week of July 20th! This would also mean paying for quite a few extra nights at a hotel.
After hearing this disheartening news we notified my Dad, who notified the church; they began to pray with us J Well, God heard our prayers and within less then 24 hours we had flights booked for July 16th and only had to prolong out trip home by two extra days. Better yet we now only had to pay $559.00 extra per ticket! God’s swift answer to all our prayers, on both sides of the ocean, was amazing. We feel so cared for by everyone back home, and especially the Lord who’s ways we can trust and who’s arms we can rest in :)
Thank you again for blanketing us in your prayers; it means so much!
Yesterday was also a big day for Mom as we headed 40 minutes in a taxi to Datteln where Dr. Bierstedt has his office. This appointment was for Mom’s final check that the implant was still in proper position and all was well. Dr. Bierstedt confirmed that all was in correct position and that she was able to get back to normal life as her body slowly allows.
We asked him for further detail on the surgery of her peritoneum. He explained that there were three reasons that gave him suspicion that there she may be at risk. The first is, Mom is a woman; women naturally have a thinner peritoneum. Two she has had four previous abdominal surgeries; each one making her more susceptible. Thirdly, she has red hair, lol! Apparently it goes with the territory of being a redhead; we also have thinner a peritoneum then most people. Thankful that Dr. Bierstedt caught this and corrected the problem.
The hole in Mom’s peritoneum was quite large and if it had been left it would eventually have become a hernia or more serious abdominal complication in the future, causing a separate abdominal surgery!
We are very blessed to have had such an unassuming thorough surgeon. We thanked him heartily for his extra work. He accepted our thanks so humbly; as if he had just completed a menial task like putting air in your tires ;) He apologized for the misunderstanding with the physiotherapist in the hospital and was adamant that we accept the extra week from them in order to get Mom back on track. Dr. Bierstedt has really aided this whole process in being a positive experience for both of us!
Well, it’s Saturday and that means we only had appointments from 9-10:30am! This morning Mom has already been to physiotherapy, lymph drainage, and she did some work in the gym. So, we are off for the rest of the day and will begin again on Monday and work till Thursday. After that there will be two days off before we head home!
Mom working on the rope system with her trainer Ute
Mom is currently napping; she has hit the point in rehab that the Dr. says 90% of patients hit. Actually our whole North American group here at Medicos seem to have hit the same wall. Everyone is drained and naps when there is spare time between appointments. They have put them all on some extra doses of vitamins and energizing drinks to prep them for another week of rehab. So, we’ll see what the weekend brings. Perhaps a trip out for ice cream or a taxi ride to Oberhausen to go shopping??
Haben einen gesegneten Tag (Have a blessed day),
Alix
p.s. I wrote this yesterday hence it's the references to yesterday lol!