Archive for December, 2013

God’s Plan… surgery bumped.

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Update 2: Surgery went well and I am out of the hospital already. Glad to have this part over with. Now for a speedy recovery with no infections would be nice. Your continued prayers will be appreciated. šŸ˜‰

Update: Well, I am going to bed early tonight (Sunday Feb 9). My operation is at 8:00 am tomorrow (Monday) and I have to be there at 6:00 am to get processed. Those who pray I ask for your prayer covering. If all goes well I should be getting out Wednesday-Thursday. Pray for Linda as well, that god will strengthen her and give her peace of mind. God bless.

Previous post:
My surgery has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled. I will know tomorrow or the day after when it will be.

But haven’t I got a lot of prayer… so what went wrong? I thought of that, knowing that God always has a plan, specially if it is backed up by prayer. So what happened?

First, I was scheduled to have the surgery at 8:00am. That was bumped to 12:30pm. The guy that bumped me, the one who got the 8:00 slot, has had complications. His/her surgery is still going on and will be going on for many more hours. Just not enough time in a day to do us both… safely. Since the person is a lot worse off than me I have no problem with being bumped to another day. It is just the pre-op stuff to do over again, the fasting, the prayer, etc…

When I get the new date and time I will again ask for your prayers, for they are more precious to me than gold or silver.

UPDATE:

New date for surgery Feb 10
Registration 6:00am
Surgery 8:00am

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Nelson Mandela

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

Nelson Mandela

An Icon of Truth and Reconciliation has passed away and a nation, yea the world, mourn his passing. He was the grandfather image to every child. He was the inspiration for several generations. He wasnā€™t a saint but he was a pragmatic seer who helped a people avert a race war that could have killed hundreds of thousands. South Africa has many systemic problems but racial hatred is not a major problem. Now that he has passed from the scene will the ghosts of the past resurrect and haunt the soul of a nation? Only time will tell.

What do I remember of his time? He was a trouble maker fighting for the rights of his people (and justly so). When the apartheid laws were passed, and the oppressed peoples organized, violence began to bloom in ways not too dissimilar than what was experienced by others around the world. The ā€œAfrican National Congressā€ was formed and they had a militant wing. Coloured people made national protest, the police met this with a hard and sometimes murderous hand. Our peace loving Mandela took up arms and a revolutionary was born. He was caught early enough in his campaign, charged with treason and jailed, before the terror escalated and the image of riots were broadcast around the world. I remember seeing Winnie Mandela shake a box of matches… and the necklaced victims. Police vehicles going through black camps firing their weapons. The dead and dying: white, black and mixed blood.

In prison, on Robin Island, Mandela still fought, but using passive resistance, to improve the lot of black prisoners. He read a poem and the seed of the pragmatist was planted.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Mandela read about the national freedom won by other African nations. He saw how the lies kept people in darkness and a call for vengeance made black on white and black on black atrocities the norm as violence tore away what little national life blood remained. Truth; the good, bad and ugly; had to be placed before the light of day. Reconciliation, not the meaningless lip service of an easily spoken ā€œforgive meā€ but the honest approach to mend and build… yea, to forge a new relationship with those who despised you, hurt you, killed you was needed. That was what Mandela brought to the negotiating table. That is what he brought to the nation. That is what healed the people.

Mandela… the man

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Surgery… one more time.

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

Surgery… one more time.

Some of you already know that I will be having surgery, once again. My pre-op will be on the 5th of December and the surgery on the 16th. Don’t know the times yet.

The procedure is to open up the stent in my abdominal aorta, where it descends into the right and left legs. Build-up of material has accumulated where the stent divides. They need to send a balloon (angioplasty) up into the stent and inflate it. A mesh will be put in place to keep the stent open. Perhaps he will do something about the clots in the upper part of the stent (let wisdom prevail).

At the same time they need to do a repair on the by-pass they put in my right leg/hip area (hmmm, can’t remember if it was one or two years ago) by placing a patch over a weak area in the arterial wall.

This operation concerns me a bit. So I will ask now for your prayers to prepare me and the surgeon for this operation. Since I began asking for prayer prior to my surgeries things have gone well. When I had surgery without a prayer covering??? Couldn’t have been much worse. I will give more details after I have the pre-op in a few days. Hopefully the pre-op will be quick.

Please read comments for times and updates.

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