Day #6 post-op

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday. Quick update mid-week for you. We’ve been quiet online for the past few days because to be honest, there has not been much excitement to report (which is a blessing). For those who don’t have experience with HIPEC surgeries (I hope this is all of you!), recovery is typically 7-9 days in the hospital where the focus is on pain management, wound care (from surgery incision), getting the GI system up and running, and getting physical therapy to support safe recovery at home (i.e., being able to walk, climb stairs, etc.)

Thankfully, we have been charting the path forward in all these arenas. Recovery has been appropriately slow and thankfully, steady. We are targeting getting home sometime this week, and from there we will focus on more recovery and starting to put the other “pieces” of life back together (getting Maddie home!, getting into our normal rhythms, and then starting to think about getting Maddie back to daycare, me back to work, etc.). All those things will, Lord-willing, come in time.

For now, I just wanted to check in and let you know that we are so grateful for your prayers, for those who have reached out, for those who have signed up for meals, and so many of you who are supporting us near and far, in person and remotely, and in ways that we probably don’t even realize. Thank you for giving us the permission not to respond to every message – we see you and are grateful for you, while also focusing on the boundaries that will allow us to store energy for our immediate needs. We love you guys for real!

 Some final thoughts before closing this message out –

• We want you all to know that we are praying for you, too. One of the gifts of needing so much support from others is that we get to be connected with each of you. And one of the gifts of so much time in the hospital is time to pray for you!

• Second - a shameless plug for our church’s sermon from this week. It was on the topic of politics, authority, and what it looks like to respect authority. This is a REALLY hard topic, particularly in light of the upcoming election. I thought it was addressed well – if you need something to listen to – check it out! (sermon starts around 25:30)

• Finally – I’ll share some prayer requests and recent praises!

  • Pray for continued pain management for Kelly and endurance for me.

  • Pray for Maddie’s safety while she’s with my parents and for her heart as she continues navigating this unique situation (even though she doesn’t realize the magnitude of what’s going on)

  • Pray for our family’s logistics in the next ~7 days – we could use wisdom to discern how best to navigate these next days with family coming in and out of town, discharge, preparing for Kelly’s dietary needs, etc.

  • Please pray for good sleep tonight for Kelly – she had a rough go last night and it would be a great blessing for her to get real rest today/tonight!

  • Praise that recovery has been relatively normal so far!

  • Praise for so much support from friends and family near and far. We are experiencing what it’s like for others to help us bear this burden while we carry our load (Galatians 6).

  • Praise for God’s protection from emotional/mental/spiritual darkness so far. (And please keep praying that God would sustain us and protect us from spiraling into darkness).

Hopefully, our next update will be coming from our house! Thank you for reading!

-Jonathan (and Kelly!)