God is faithful

God continues to answer prayers.  We thought we'd share (at the risk of not mentioning them all) a few of the creative things people have blessed us with during the past weeks:
-an aloe vera plant (great for healing scar tissue)
-organic grass-fed beef for the freezer (valuable nutrition)
-chia seeds (super antioxidants)
-bubbles, Bible verses and "seeds of hope"
-incredibly thoughtful meals and garden help
-school supplies and laundry help
-paper plates, forks, napkins (no dishwasher and mounds of canning season dishes make these gifts nice)

Ellen's pain is still high - nerves, muscle and tissue mending a large incision will take time says the Dr.  She is still having digestive, bowel and circulatory problems which were issues before surgery (partly because of the huge mass blockage) and will also take time to resolve.  Last week was a difficult week for her.

Please pray for good sleep (she has been having long, sleepless nights), digestive health (she is not digesting food in spite of dietary restriction, digestive enzymes etc.), proper healing of the many layers of stitches and tissues, muscle, fascia etc. (the doctor also repaired an umbilical hernia), pain level (surgery plus a displaced rib on the right side causing pain and problems), adrenal taxation from medication, pain, stress...

Everyone is still tired out at our house.  Gregg is still working part-time nights and during the day has been applying for jobs and phone interviewing and still driving the indoor air quality and mold inspection business forward in the midst of things.  He definitely needs a different, DAYTIME, higher paying job or for his business to become much more profitable.  Of course now he has hospital bills etc. to work out which also takes time and energy and causes extra stress.  Please remember to pray for God's strength for him too.

Thank you all for continuing to care and check this blog.  Healing is sometimes a slow process and some days can be discouraging with pain, etc..  We have so much to rejoice over and thank God for each day which keeps things in proper perspective.  Your prayers, help, gifts, friendship are so valuable, and we thank you.

Prayers, Pain and Praise

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and thoughts.  Mom's incision is looking better.  She is having internal pain still and digestion continues to be challenging.  Her body is still cleansing out the medications so she has headaches, muscle pain, nausea...  It will take a while for her body to adjust.  Thank you to all of you for your continuing prayers.  We praise God who is the Great Physician and Healer!

We have been so blessed by friends and family with groceries, meals, lawn mowing, cash gifts, garden help, cards etc.  Thank you all for your love and help!

Victoria took the picture of one of our 'volunteer' sunflowers that came up on it's own in the garden.

1 week post surgery update

Thank you all for your prayers!  God has answered in such miraculous ways.

Mom had her staples removed on Saturday.  She is still in lots of pain, is not sleeping well, is having trouble with medication side effects etc. so please continue to pray for her.

Friends and family have been awesome in helping with food, cards, garden help and more.  We are still all exhausted and having a difficult time trying to keep up with everything, so the help has been greatly appreciated.  It has helped also not to have to explain details of every thing to people individually.  We are still not really 'up to' visitors yet, but so appreciate your care and checking our blog!  :-)  We will try to continually keep you updated on her progress.