April's Journey - Next Step in Healing



Today's Smile!

We are so thankful to the Lord! Ernie will be moving to Trinity Mother Frances Rehabilitation Hospital today (3/30), tomorrow, or as soon as a bed is available for 7-14 days. This is such a miracle! They want Ernie to get as strong as he can be before he goes home. The electricity has travelled through his hands and feet for several months. Walking was quite difficult. Now, he'll get some help walking to victory! The rest of the good news is that Moni can also stay with him.

We so appreciate all of your phone calls! We realize that we are missing quite a few phone call because Moni is investing all of her energies on learning how to take care of Ernie for the next 6 months. There's a lot to learn. We have great doctors and nurses all around us encouraging us through this process. They remind us to stand in faith for all healing comes from God! We are so thankful for the Lord's grace in providing us this hospital system! 

Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement!

April's Journey - Surgery Update 11:27AM 3/29/12



Immediately BEFORE Surgery

Surgery began around 7:30 AM. At 10:15 we had already finished talking with the Dr. Patrick after Ernie's surgery and everything went well from his perspective. He felt that the surgery went smoothly and even quicker than he had anticipated. After removing the bone on the back of his neck, he could immediately see the pressure on the spinal cord had been relieved. He felt this would give Ernie the best possible chance of halting the progression of pain as well as giving him the best possible chance of recovering.   

A Pre-Op Blessing: As we noticed that we were about 20 minutes behind the anticipated start time for the surgery, a kind lady walked in and introduced herself as the Nerve Monitoring Tech. It is specialized equipment to monitor the performance of the nerves before, during and after surgery.  She had a case that had just canceled 5 minutes prior and was now available for Ernie's surgery. We found out later from the Doctor that had her case not canceled, they would have postponed surgery.  So our apparent delay was actually a perfectly timed Divine appointment!  That is your prayers at work, to be sure! Thank you!

Some of the details:  There was no disc replacement. Sometimes on these surgeries they removed the intervetebral discs and repack it with bone. In Ernie's case, they did utilize his bone, which they ground into a powder, to repack in-between the vertebrae, but did not need to remove the discs. We count that as a blessing. 

He is currently 'coming out of the fog' of the anesthesia in a recovery room, but if they have adequate beds, we may be able to see him in the next hour or so.

April - Journey Continues

You have been wonderful! You are great encouragers! Thank you!!

So many things have happened, I am writing this quick blog to request your prayer support. 

We met a wonderful surgeon, Dr. Todd Patrick, at the beginning of this week. Dr. Patrick is a Mayo-trained, Christian Neurosurgeon here in Tyler. He's part of the Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals system. Ernie will be having surgery on Thursday morning (3/29) at 7 AM. It will be a 4-level decompressive surgery with fusion, using the bone that they have just taken out of the neck as part of the decompression and turned into powder, which becomes part of the fusion process. Technically the hospital staff procedures describe it as a four level cervical laminectomy (cervical three-four, cervical four-five, cervical five-six, cervical six-seven), posterior, instrumental fusion. Ernie will probably be out of the hospital in 3 days. It is then 4-6 weeks not lifting more than 5 pounds; followed by another 4-6 weeks of not lifting more than 10 pounds. They want at least 6-8 weeks for the "hardware to set".  He'll probably not carpentry again. He will loose some up and down and possibly roatational movement in his neck. But, the purpose of the surgery is to stop the progression of increasing pain. We are praying that all of nerves will be healed. But, this might take a year or more. [Click here] to learn a little bit more about the surgery. Then go to >Spine Procedures and then go to >Cervical - Posterior Cervical Laminotomy.

The pictures shows one set of a rod with screws. There are two rods for each of four fusions. So you can imagine that Ernie will be taking it easy when he gets home. The rule is "No BLT sandwiches or pickles." This acronymn means  "NO B=Bending, L=Lifting, T=Twisting or P=Pulling." Such movements are to be kept at a minimum for several weeks. However, we can spend the rest of the year building up his muscles. However, he is encouraged to walk and stay active.

The doctor cannot guarantee that there won't be additional problems. But, our doctor is  excellent and encouraging us that as we walk through the pain, remember that this should be a one-time fix, good for 15-20 years. We are thankful for God's grace. The Lord has been most faithful!!

Our son-in-law, Kevin, encourages us that ...

"Man can do the mending; but, only God does the healing."

We appreciate your prayers!!! Ernie will really appreciate some encouragement in a week as the drugs start to wear off and the limited movement becomes a challenge. So, if you have a moment, please pray, write or call.  Our new address is 5583 FM 16 E, Tyler, TX 75706

Since we're not getting good cell phone reception, we've also invested in VoIP. Ernie would especially love hearing from you in a week or so.

(719) 651-0777 Moni's cell
(719) 418-0437 Moni's VoIP
(719) 322-6600 Ernie's cell
(903) 960-9488 Ernie's VoIP

March - Yet I will exalt in the Lord!

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. - Habakkuk 3:17-18

It's been quite a month! Today I can write about it to you. I recently wrote a friend something like this, "I'm so thankful for the time I spent in the Word developing MyBible365, a devotional blog." Everything in life changes so quickly. Thank God that the Word of God stays with us as our Hope forever!!! 

Ernie's Severe Neck Problems: In the last two months, Ernie has walked down the path of having electric impulses shooting down his arms and hands seeking to do them harm. The nerves in his feet have already been harmed, along with his strength slipping away. Through various doctor visits, we've been told that he has spinal stenosis and myelopathy, which means his spinal cord is being strangled by his narrow spinal canal. One neurosurgeon is recommending decompressive cervical laminectomy for 3 different areas between C3-C7. This means they want to go in from the back of the neck and cut two sections out of each vertebrae that is causing the compression. We're told it's two months of recovery and maybe there's no more carpentering. We don't know anyone who has gone through this and has not had consistent pain thereafter. The surgeon has said that the surgery really doesn't fix anything. It just prevents further damage to the nerves. There are also suggestions that additional surgeries will follow for fusion for stability of neck bones. To say the least we are researching other options and asking for a second opinion. Therefore, we know that we have to do something soon. Would you please let us know if you know of anyone who has successfully gone through surgery without a continued life of pain and limitations? We'd love to talk to anyone who has experienced this! 

We covet your prayers!

Making a Home: We are starting down the path of becoming Texans. We have purchased Texas car license plates and are now working on our drivers' licenses. We had purchased country HUD property with a home in Lindale, TX, and then had the opportunity to return it after finding out about Ernie's pending neck diagnosis. We are thankful for this divine intervention now understanding that Ernie probably should not pick up a hammer for a while. This means that we'll probably stay in our 5th wheel for quite a while.

We covet your prayers!

We are so thankful for each blessing!

We daily count our blessings, knowing the Lord is faithful!

Here are just a few of the blessings we counted today!

• We know the Lord’s promises. The Lord will never forsake us!
• We are in love. God has protected our marriage during the most difficult of times. The Lord is faithful!
• We have a wonderful group of believers praying for us! Pastors and elders at our new church have prayed for Ernie, anointing him with oil, and are constantly encouraging him. Ernie's family has been fabulous during this time. They have filled our heart with support day in and day out! The Lord is so kind to show us Himself through these friends and family. It would be much more difficult to walk through these days without friends!
• Moni’s work continues with Food for Orphans. She is fundraising and helping create new outreach strategies. This has been a God-send. It’s a great blessing as we see the miraculous hand of God move in such fun and exciting ways for this ministry. It’s simply marvelous to see the Lord's hand! 
• Moni’s work continues with Office Pizzazz, her new little eNewsletter business. Although progress has been significantly slowed down with everything else, she has had the opportunity to talk with a believing entrepreneur, who is also a long-time friend. This God-send helped guide with excellent wisdom during the web design process. It was such a gift from the Lord. I’m so thankful to the Lord for kindness in allowing this opportunity. It’s amazing grace!

• We now have working Internet in our home. This is a blessing which gives us two more hours in each day as we no longer have to move around finding Internet access. It saves on wear and tear on the car and lightens lots of personal stress.
• We have the special joy of playing with our grandchildren daily. Some days when you don't think that you can take any more, it's a wonderful blessing to grab a little hand or have one say in their own way ... "Oma/Papa, I love you!!"
• Therefore the blessings are endless ... beautiful country living, daily walks, wonderful weather, precious devotional disciplines, a position of gratitude every day, friendly folks, and the Lord's presence. What else can one say; but, "Thank you, Lord!"

In closing, here's a new family recipe: Spicy Spanish Rice. It's got kick!

1-2 tablespoons Oil
1 1/4 cup Rice
2 3/4 cup Water
1 cube Condensed Tomato & Chicken Flavor
1 mini-cube Chipotle Seasoning (Knorr)
2 tablespoons Parsley Flakes
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne
1/8 teaspoon Curry
1/8 teaspoon Garlic
1/8 teaspoon Marjoram Leaves
1 teaspoon Mrs Dash (Tomato Basil Garlic Seasoning)

Heat oil. Stir and fry raw rice for a minute or so. Some raw rice will turn a light golden brown. Add water. Stir quickly. Add seasoning cubes, and rest of seasoning. Make sure the seasoning cubes crumble and are mix in the mixture evenly. Bring to boil and cook for 14 min on low. Makes 5 servings. Excellent!