A Bad Report, A Good God
Yesterday I received a bad report from my doctors.
An echocardiogram showed that I have “moderate to severe valve regurgitation”.
In layman’s terms that means my heart needs a valve job.
It means I will probably be having heart surgery sooner than later…I’m waiting now for a call on the next step.
It’s pretty obvious my time here will be limited for a while and I won’t always be available to moderate the site.
I ask for your patience and understanding as I decide how to navigate the near future.
Am I scared?
Are you crazy?
Hell yes, I’m scared.
I’m more scared about the impact on my family and loved ones, but I’ve saved a little fear for myself as well.
We will try to keep up with the stories we’re covering, the comments, and the email, etc…but a sabbatical may be necessary.
I already have someone to take care of the cat… 🙂
I believe God is in this…the problem was discovered when I was in having my elbow looked at.
His ways are weird at times…but they are always good.
We covet your prayers and support.
Michael, thank you for sharing this with us. I will definitely be praying for you. I’m sure we will all be able to exercise some level of patience as you adjust your schedule. Many blessings to you and your wonderful family.
Thank you, CK!
May you know the peace that comes from the one who made you, that surpasses all understanding. Blessings, Don
Thank you, Don!
A prayer for you .As a 56 year old who has a number of health issue’s I have empathy for you.
Dude,
I’m a year ahead of you…will be praying for you as well.
I am sorry, that sucks, I will be praying for you all.
Thank you, gg !
I will be praying for you – for peace and a good outcome. I am just about a week away from celebrating the tenth anniversary of my quadruple bypass surgery, so I can say that I did feel your pain. God is good. One minute I was talking with my aunt, uncle and mother and the next minute ( so it seemed ) I was waking up. Just rest in the Lord.
Glen,
Happy anniversary…and thank you.
Rest, recover, and renew. May the LORD be with you in everything.
Thank you, BD…
Michael I will be praying for you and your family. My fathers has had over 20 stents (now he has a triple bypass), 2 valve replacements (one Pig another Mechanical). After 4 heart attacks by Gods mercy he is still with us and walk 3-4 miles daily. We love you sir!
Wow! I pray you have a full recovery and that they’re able to obtain a heart valve that will last another 57 years if and when needed!
Thank you, Keith… that is encouraging to hear.
Hopefully my readers know I love them back as well…
Thanks, Scott…I’ll settle for another 25 or so…
I’m praying for discernment on how to proceed medically, your speedy recovery. Glad you went in to have your elbow checked so this didn’t get worse.
I’m praying for you, Michael. How good is our God in the way this issue was discovered!
Thank you AA, thank you, Jim.
It was weird how it was discovered.
He decided to do a quick check up after he looked at my elbow…heard the murmur and sent me off.
That…was God.
Going on the IR, eh? Get some rest and know you’re in many prayers.
JoelG,
On the short term IR…still have some work left to do before my seasons over. 🙂
Regurgitation. With all that extra time spent with Miss Kitty recently, she didn’t pass on some kind of hairball condition to you, did she? 🙂
Praying for you.
KevinH,
I’ll have that checked… 🙂
Thanks, my friend.
moderate to severe heart valve regurgitation, i learned from my nurse daughter, means you need medical care NOW – but, God willing, there’s a good outcome coming
if i had a ticket to Hawaii for R&R, it would be on its way to Michael right now … warriors for the Faith need to go and rest away from the field of battle sometimes, eh? anybody got a free vacation? … i know one PhxP (not me) that would send it to Michael in a heartbeat, if she had one … God bless her … anybody?
i don’t quite understand why prayers for others seem to be more efficacious than when we pray for ourselves … but i’m telling, having just come off of a miracle, prayer is (ahem) where it’s at for us
Bless you Michael. I will pray for your health and recovery.
I share and echo the thoughts of the other readers. Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Michael…I truly pray for you that you will have the peace of God that passes understanding as you wait for your surgery. I pray for wisdom for you as well in dealing with all the “blog stuff” you have to deal with. Hang in there, my friend.
Steve, Jean, dumb…thank you all for your prayers.
Em…can’t afford vacation…I’ll settle for quiet recovery. 🙂
I am praying for you and your family, Michael. May the Lord be glorified in everything concerning this trial. He is still on the throne and loves you very much!
You will be in my prayers.
Thank you, Bob, LJ.
I’m so blessed reading the prayers and am echoing them, praying for every provision for you and yours.
Take the time you need to receive needed treatment and then recover. I am sure we will continue to pray for you and look forward to you being back in great shape and “ornery” 😉 as ever.
Sometimes the #! priority is to take care of yourself.
There is a wonderful community that has developed here. I’d say things will run fine and what we want most is for you to get healthy.
Michael, i know you can’t afford a vacation and am praying that God will enable that quiet recovery (which is hard to do around folks who are used to depending on you)
Joining in prayer, Michael, with all the others…for a successful and speedy recovery. God works in mysterious ways…so cool how He works…in your case, through an elbow check-up of all things. God bless and God speed. Now Miss Kitty gets to tend to you. 😉
Michael you will be in my prayers. I pray every good thing for you as you walk through this time in your life. God bless and keep you.
As a pastor, I’m sure you have a lot of support of friends around you. May the LORD use this set-back for His purposes in your life and raise you back up new and improved. This too shall pass. – Prayers ascending for you.
I know it is scary but today the technology is so advanced that it is almost routine.
I know many a man who has had to have his chest opened and they all have told me that the fear upfront was more to be feared than the actual operation.
Everyone of them told me to a “T” that after the operation their energy levels went up and their memory improved…what up with that?
My sister has worked at a Surgery center for 35 years and one of her jobs is to hold the heart in her hands while the doctor does his specialized work.
They have not lost one single patient!
You have nothing to fear really.
Medical advancements are way beyond what they used to be.
Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach is one of the foremost places for this type of Surgery.
Oral Roberts flew in to get his medical attention there.
Just saying…
May God’s blessings be upon every cell and fiber of your being for healing.
For by His stripes you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24
Oh Michael…you and your family are in our prayers. For peace, for healing, for total recovery, and the ability to sing God’s praises.
First prayer sent. Sorry you have to go through this. One prayer is they change their minds and decide it’s not so serious. But if not, I wish you the best.
mk, Erunner, Ms. ODM, Surfer51, Linnea, Rick…thank you all for the kind words and prayers.
Boy, those names cover a lot of our history…glad everyone is still with us.
God bless you, Michael. We will be praying.
Michael, my long-distance friend, I hurt for you in the midst of this but I also rejoice with you that it was discovered in time. Praying for healing, for a comforting peace over your household, and many more decades for you to hike your beloved Oregon wilderness and to speak wisdom into Trey’s life.
Get better quickly, for we have a lot more publishing to do in 2016.
🙂
I wonder if KP or those who consider you as there nemesis. Believe this might be the judgement of God?
Make your own application.
Normally these things are a genetic issue.
Michael, praying for you and your doctors.
Josh @44, not cool. When someone is suffering, we should offer comfort, not hint that it is somehow God’s judgment.
I know you aren’t saying that you believe this, but why even bring it up? Some reading here might see that accusation and apply it to themselves and feel condemned by their Lord, when He really wants them to know that they are loved in the midst of the suffering.
EricL, MLD…thanks my friends.
Josh, I’m aware of what some people may think…I’m going to survive just to spite them.
Xenia…thank you dear friend.
Dear Michael, our church will be interceding for a successful and texbook surgery. May God comfort you and give you His peace.
I’m sorry to hear that Michael but also comforted by how much God already seems to have His hand on you in and through this. My mother had a heart valve replacement several years ago at about the age you are now I guess, and she has done very well in life since then. She still works full time (in a very stressful job managing a medical office) and stays busy in her time away from work with 16 grandchildren. The longevity of her replacement valve has exceeded expectations too. Hopefully that will encourage you a little during the more fearful moments of this you have to live through. Take care, and I will also be thinking of you and praying for you frequently.
Michael,
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, particularly the August 17th evening reading ministered to me greatly this summer during a bad report season. Praying you receive back the comfort and help you provide for so many on this blog.
Please know we will keep you close in prayer.
Wallace & Happymom
Adding my prayers along with all the others. Praying for rest and for a Thanksgiving which brings hope and mercy. Praying for the wisdom of your doctors, with thankfulness for all the technology and all the expertise.
Praying for healing.
Michael, praying for His hands to be laid upon the surgeons and upon your heart and the surrounding functional components.
Praying for rest and renewal in all areas as you recover in the body.
glad to hear your condition was identified and a treatment is available…God is good. Trusting Him for a good outcome & your peace and confidence in the meantime.
Thank you all for the kind words.
My next appointment will be December 11.
How many of you on here have ever sent him money or stuff to actually help him, along with all your ‘prayers’?
Just sayin’
P.A,
A bunch of these folks have.
I need to keep the stress levels at a minimum…and I already guarantee some just by what we do.
Thanks for your consideration.
Good, the others who haven’t, should…and those who have in the past should send some again and really help you since they say they care so much and will ‘pray’.
I’ll be sending something your way, not to score points with a deity or to get out of hell, but b/c I do care about you and appreciate you and I can tell you need some help.
I do believe prayer changes things…and I appreciate it greatly.
Just help me by allowing things to be smooth here…
Psalm 31:15
My times are in Your hand; — the story of the sister who holds hearts during surgery brought this to mind.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. — 2nd half of the verse that takes care of all the KPs in the world.
Hoping for all the best.
We’re all going to croak. That is a fact. None of us are getting off this Rock alive, just in what manner you’re going to breath your last.
I think I’d rather go out in a shoot-out or in some exciting manner than being slowly eaten by cancer. That’s just me.
Why fear it? Whatever is, is and whatever will be…will be.
Enjoy the ride until it stops.
interesting – in my dark moments i’ve thot that i’d like to shoot someone (who deserved it) just before i die … lol
then i remember Christ and the cost of obedience to God a couple millennium ago – i guess i’ll let God decide who gets dispatched and when and by whom … and why
“I ask for your patience and understanding as I decide how to navigate the near future”
a fall back might be to just post a prayer vigil here for duration of your surgery and recovery?
Em,
I’ll figure that out when I get more info on how long my recovery will be.
I could write ahead…and EricL has offered to take the reigns while I’m gone.
My first cardiology appointment has been put out to Dec 11… I have some planning time.
Michael: I will pray that as God cares for all of your body during this time, that He will also protect your mind and heart from fear, dread, stress, and anxiety. When I have faced tough physical challenges, the things that passed through my mind were often worse than the things I faced.
I too will be praying.
I’ve got a bunch of medical stuff coming up in December. This is partly due to getting appointments and procedures taken care of before a new (and higher) deductible kicks in on January 1st.
Michael,
I am little late in posting. Wanted to think this through a bit. I know how scary this can be, partcularly as one goes under anesthesia knowing that yolife is in the hands of others. On top of this, having tend to the many details toget our affairs in order. What is and is not suddenly become a myriad of choices base upon the “what ifs”
I know because of the experimental brain surgery I had been scheduled to ha I was about 30 years younger than you are today.
Michael, you are a position that no matter what you cannot lose. I hope that you come to realize this, as it will free you up to focus upon the things that you can control to go into this with your heart and mind at peace.
You will be just fine Michael.
here on turkey day i am thankful that “uriah is alive and well” and posts here
also that i’m finished cooking for the day 🙂