Hebrews 12:1-2a

"Let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with Endurance
the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith."
Hebrews 12:1-2a

Thursday, October 6, 2016

And on we go ...

The day after Jim's visit (Sept. 12) to St. Luke's ER he still had blood in the stool, but on the following day, Sept. 14, it was clear. Hallelujah! On that same day he also had an appointment with his primary, Dr. Butler, who determined more labs were unnecessary. Blood pressure still remained on the low side - for the nurse it read 70/40 and for the doctor it was 88/40. Dr. Butler requested a followup visit with Dr. Gerke in Gastroenterology at UIHC.

On Sept. 15, we received an email from Dr. Parekh's nurse, Joan Ricks-Mcgillen, who noted the CT scan done July 6 at St. Luke's - Cedar Rapids shows no recurrence of esophageal cancer. Great News! Another CT scan of chest will be done in late December.

Although we are no longer the pastor at Wilton Baptist Church, we continue to minister to its members, many of whom have become lifelong  friends. We attended the last WBC Senior Day of the year on Sept. 27 and were blessed with visiting with so many we hadn't seen for nearly a month. Sometimes 4 weeks seems like forever!  Pastor Appreciation Day is Oct. 16 and we plan to also attend those activities.

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Jim had an appointment with Dr. Gerke in Iowa City re: the rectal bleeding Sept. 12. His weight is 137 pounds, blood pressure is 102/56 (good!) and temperature is 97.3. The doctor said he could have an internal hemorrhoid, but not necessarily - a rectal exam would not give an accurate picture - so recommends nothing be done unless another bleeding episode occurs.

Today - Oct. 6, Jim had an 8 a.m. appointment with Dr. Hoxie at PCI Urology - Cedar Rapids.
The ER visit Sept. 12 revealed:
  • portion of right urinary bladder distended, recommends cystoscopy
  • mild increased dilation of distal common bile duct in the pancreas, measuring 8 mm in diameter compared to 5 mm a year ago. IF there is concern of biliary pathology, a right upper quadrant ultrasound would be recommended.
Jim returned from the appointment at 9. The doctor did a scope and said everything was fine. Dr. Hoxie said sometimes CT scans indicate things are abnormal, when they really aren't.

Thank you Lord for every miracle.  

1 comment:

  1. Praise God! He's always faithful. He calms our fears and straightens our paths when things aren't going well. God bless you both!

    ReplyDelete