Over the past couple of months, my grandpa's health has been failing pretty quickly. For a while we didn't know anything was seriously wrong besides the fact that he was just tired all the time and his hips and back hurt. Then it turned out that one of his kidneys was failing.
The doctors in Jeff City kept telling him if he could just keep his blood pressure down, things would get better. But they were wrong. Day before yesterday my grandma and grandpa came up to see a Nephrologist (a kidney specialist) here in Kansas City. It turns out that not only has one kidney failed completely, but the other is only functioning at 14%. And still going down hill.
Now, being the daughter of a doctor, I know this is significant. But let me explain. The kidneys are responsible for - to water it down a little - cleaning the blood in our bodies. Without them, we can't live.
Now, because of modern medicine, there are options we didn't have years ago. There is a process called Dialasis where you go into the hospital three times a week and they hook you up to a machine for several hours. The machine slowly circulates your blood out of your body and into the machine, where it is cleaned, and then puts it back into you. I know, it sounds disgusting - and it is, it makes you pretty sick. But it's pretty much our only option right now. Most people do this for a while until they get a kidney transplant. But my dad said because of his blood type, this would not be a likely candidate.
My first response is to get mad at the doctors in Jeff City. How could they not have noticed what was going on? And then I was reminded of Pastor Hoffman's sermon a couple Sundays ago. "People are people. People are not God." People are not sovereign. God is. And nothing any person can do could have changed God's plan, anyway. God's plans for our lives are good, no matter what they might look like for us. We can rest in this promise knowing that we don't have to be responsible for these things. God already has it all taken care of!
Thankfully, my grandpa is a strong Christian. He loves the Lord with all his heart. And I know he trusts in him in the midst of the storm. This, in turn, gives me comfort! But it is a trial nonetheless, and I am asking for your guys' prayer. I know you will pray for us, and I am grateful for that.
May God receive all the glory during this time!
3 comments:
Hey Elisabeth! I will be praying for you and your family during this time. Love ya!
Elisa,
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24
I can't even imagine what you are going through, but I will pray for you.
I encourage you in this time also..
"I will bless the Lord at ALL times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
I love you...let me know if I can help you in anyway...even just call me to pray for you.
Girls, you have no idea how much it means to me to know I have friends who pray for me. Thank you so much for your encouragement. You are a blessing and I thank God for you!
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