Saturday - prayers, healing, celebrating, and action.

Prayer:  Great God,  in life and in death and in resurrection  You are with us.   Show us today  how we can share Your great love.  Let us see with our dim eyes  who needs to be enfolded in Your care and Your blessings today.  Be with us  as we take Your Word into our daily lives so that others can see You through our actions. Help us to slow down today so that we pray to You with delight.   May we bring joy into our families and keep them and our friends and congregation  and community in our prayers of  invocation.   Holy God,  create within us  the energy to bring Your healing to this world.    This we ask in Your Son's name.  Amen.
Pardon the personal glimpse today but  this indeed in a time of celebrating. 
In October the surgeons have me a diagnosis of  stage 4 colo-rectal cancer.  I knew that my body was not well.    And me being me  began organizing  who was going to do my Service of Resurrection.   As best I could I began  cleaning house and giving away items so my husband and son would not need to do it after I was gone.  There were many times of prayer and meditation... especially prayers for  husband and son and family so that they would have peace and calmness and understanding of  the end of my life.    Surgery happened within a week of the diagnosis.   The awesome surgeon ended up doing a bowel resection and a hysterectomy to remove a big tumour.  We were still thinking it was stage 4 colo-rectal cancer.  The pathology report came back within three weeks... and the tumour was  endometriosis  cells instead of cancer cells.  No cancer,  no imminent death - resurrection.   
I was stunned.   My first thoughts were "Thank You God"  and "How come".  I am still meditating on the "how come" part.... God has given me extra time to do what... I am still not sure.  But it is amazing to get out of bed every day and ask God what we will be doing today so that  God's  love is shared this day with others.  
During my time of healing there were hiccups.   The bowel upon healing was beginning to close up instead of  keeping open.  So  the Surgeon  said a flexible sigmoidoscopy was in order.   The procedure was requested in December and became a reality  yesterday.   Yesterday was two hours of processing and waiting for a 10 minute explore.    Dr Ahweng,  my surgeon,  said that I was healing fabulously and there were no signs of  the resectioning of bowels nor of hemorrhoids.

I was healed.  Hurrah!  And fabulous!!!   No  stent needed.  No colostomy needed.  Hurrah!  Hurrah!

Amazing what sounds so simple a procedure  was actually a frozen banana in flannels shoved up one's derrierre.  :)      It was the shooting of gas and the frozen banana 360 degree swivel checking for hemorrhoids that just about had me  off the table and onto the ceiling but I managed to hang onto the table for dear life.     At the end of the procedure,  Dr Ahweng said I now had no  more limitations on anything. I replied, "What about vacuuming?"  Quick as a bunny,  Dr Ahweng said, "Right,  no vacuuming for 10 years!"   Heh heh heh.   Then the prep nurse turned around and said, "Oh!  Are you the one that said  you were allergic to housecleaning on the Patient Processing form in the section marked allergies?"  YUp :)   She thought that was the funniest thing in the world.  Good.  The world needs more humour.  

After I was wheeled to the recovery room,  the nurse said I could change back into my clothes.  Humm.   Let's  see.  The recovery room window is  wide open to anyone coming into Emerg and the Doctor's  office across the street.  No blinds.  The pull curtain does not go all the way around the bed.  So  I had a choice of either flashing the young male patient in the next bed and scaring him for life with the middle aged female figure  (and gravity R us body parts)   or  the whole of Brandon.    I decided to go with the whole of Brandon.   One parks one's humility and humanity at the door of the hospital upon entry.  

John (son) and I for a walk yesterday afternoon that we now call the rootin' tootin' walk.   One of the many things that is not told on the Patient Home Care Form.   Lots of rootin' tootin'.  Who knew!      And the Climate Change Scientists think it is  the  gas from cows and cars  that is contributing to the changing  climate of the planet.... I've got news for them...it isn't just cows and cars :)  

And through all of the surgery and procedures,  it has been amazing to be supported and nurtured in prayers of friends and family and congregations.    Thank you so much.    Glenn (husband)  and John (son)  have been solid rocks and  blessings to help me heal and heal well.  Thank you! 

Now comes the time of action... of sharing  the prayers and the love of God with others who are in need this day.    As  Marvel Comics  Super Hero  Iron Man  states,  "it is time to suit up"  and take action :)  

Many blessings

Lorna