Recovery - Day 2

Today is going to be a big transition day for Suze.  The day started early for her as they moved her from the bed into a chair.  I spoke with the surgeon this morning after his exam & he was quite pleased with her progress.  They are going to:

• Get her up to walk a bit
• Increase the feeding to twice daily (via tube)
• Move her from ICU to a room

Naturally we are glad to hear this as it represents progress.  However, she is going to have to work through more pain as there's always a cost to progress. 

That's why we're asking you, our friends, to give Suze some space over the several days.  Though your visits are much appreciated, her reservoir of strength & energy is very low & must be focused on her recovery. 

However, your emails, cards, texts & prayers are very welcome.  In fact, they are very meaningful, especially as she needs encouragement when her fatigue is high.  If you know Suze, you know that words of affirmation are one of her most important love languages & receiving them from you in written form is a gift she gets to "unwrap" over & over, when she needs it most.

I spent another night here last night & feel okay...tired...but okay!  The joy of the Lord is my strength & I find myself "bouncing back" to joy from whatever fatigue or irritation (like when the new nurse wouldn't let me back into Suze's room earlier this morning because she didn't want to deviate from their protocols...are you kidding me?).  God reminds me that He's got it & that seems to right-size a lot of things, allowing me to shift my perspective.  When that happens, i find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for His mercies which are new every morning.  BOING!  Did you hear that?  I just bounced back to joy again!

Your prayers are making a huge difference in this process, transforming Suze's suffering and my fatigue into healing & blessing.  I am grateful for this position of dependency upon God & upon his people as it is opening us up to something new.

By the way, Jesus showed up in the ICU room again yesterday in her new night nurse, a guy named Al whose attentiveness & advocacy for Suze resulted in more effective pain management a feeling of being refreshed.  If Jesus wore scrubs, I think He'd look a lot like Al!