Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Surgery was Successful.



Everything went well. I'm home resting now with a solid amount of stomach pain. Thank you for all the prayers and love. I showed up to the hospital at 7am and they began doing the final prep work. At 8:30 surgery began. They shaved my stomach+swabbed it with iodine, pumped it full of gas to expose the gall bladder then began working on it. The gas is not in my intestines, but inside my body (I can't just fart it out) and it should be absorbed by my system in 3 days or so. The pain is sharp and intense but I'm taking pain pills to help me sleep. It feels like I have been shot in the stomach, I wasn't expecting that from what I heard from various folks- different body types I would imagine. Now I just have to take it easy for the next month and I should be right as rain : )




Monday, August 29, 2011

Health Update #4 Time for Surgery

My status as of 3 minutes ago on Facebook reads:

My surgery consultation went well. Laparoscopic Surgery for my gall bladder with Dr. Heisterkamp is now scheduled for tomorrow at 7am in Port Angeles....lets do this thing : )

 I will wake up at 6am to wash my torso with antimicrobial skin cleanser before my dad and I drive to Port Angeles for the hour and a half surgery. If all goes well I will be out the same day with minimal pain in my abdomen. Thank you all for your prayers and support. This is the moment we have been waiting for and I can't wait to have this thing out. I have enjoyed myself tremendously catching up with friends while Stateside, getting to attend no less than 3 weddings throughout my duration here. This time has been beautiful, but there is much to be done still in New Zealand. If God wills it, I will be heading back to NZ October 3rd, first stopping in Fiji for 3 weeks to participate in a service trip with my Kiwi Church family at Avondale Baptist. On Oct. 22 I will fly home to Auckland with the group and then shortly thereafter make my way to the south island where I will once again work at Zebra Vineyard (http://www.zebranz.com/) in Cromwell, a small town close to my heart. These are all big plans that I hold loosely. I would love your prayers for all of this.

The plan is to work the Kiwi summer until mid February, saving money for school which will start on the 28th  of that month (Fall Semester). I have three semesters left after taking one off for medical reasons towards my bachelors degree in Theology.

His,
Piper

Time for Surgery

My status as of 3 minutes ago on Facebook reads:

My surgery consultation went well. Laparoscopic Surgery for my gall bladder with Dr. Heisterkamp is now scheduled for tomorrow at 7am in Port Angeles....lets do this thing : )

 I will wake up at 6am to wash my torso with antimicrobial skin cleanser before my dad and I drive to Port Angeles for the hour and a half surgery. If all goes well I will be out the same day with minimal pain in my abdomen. Thank you all for your prayers and support. This is the moment we have been waiting for and I can't wait to have this thing out. I have enjoyed myself tremendously catching up with friends while Stateside, getting to attend no less than 3 weddings throughout my duration here. This time has been beautiful, but there is much to be done still in New Zealand. If God wills it, I will be heading back to NZ October 3rd, first stopping in Fiji for 3 weeks to participate in a service trip with my Kiwi Church family at Avondale Baptist. On Oct. 22 I will fly home to Auckland with the group and then shortly thereafter make my way to the south island where I will once again work at Zebra Vineyard (http://www.zebranz.com/) in Cromwell, a small town close to my heart. These are all big plans that I hold loosely. I would love your prayers for all of this.

The plan is to work the Kiwi summer until mid February, saving money for school which will start on the 28th  of that month (Fall Semester). I have three semesters left after taking one off for medical reasons towards my bachelors degree in Theology.

His,
Piper

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Health Update #3

My health status has moved in leaps and bounds since the 5th. The Doctor gave my most recent blood test a "A" with a giant smiley face on it. That document now hangs proudly on my parents refrigerator the same way a child's artwork or report card would. On the whole, I feel good. Wednesday I went rock climbing to test my bodies capabilities after a 2 mile hike, then yesterday my mom and I successfully completed a 9 mile hike without much difficulty.

I thank everyone who prayed for clarity on the spleen issue. On my moms side, I have had various family members with the same condition take both their spleen and gall bladders out- and for the better part of a week it looked like I would need to follow in their footsteps. That all changed on Monday after a weekend of mom researching this disease and myself reading her notes. As the years have continued, so has the knowledge of this condition expanded. Doctors know much much more about it now than when my mom was struggling with it as a teen. I was diagnosed with a mild case of hereditary spherosytosis which means that I get to keep my spleen as long as it doesn't act up. Hooray!! My fall and eventual collapse from parvovirus was textbook in nature, and so is my hereditary condition which has made it easier to asses. I have a classic case of mild hereditary spherosytosis and that's why it's gone undetected for so long. What this means is that I will most likely go on to live a normal life with a slightly enlarged spleen. My abdomen scans revealed gall stones as a byproduct of my condition and that is scheduled to be removed shortly. My surgery consultation was moved until August 29th, then surgery should take place 1-7 days after.

In conclusion, I'm feeling strong and thankful to be alive. I've overcome or nearly overcome the potentially deadly parvovirus and now we are dealing with the separate condition which is my hereditary disease. My gall bladder is getting the axe soon after the 29th, we sure had a good run though and I will miss it. I'm tremendously thankful for Gods provision. The Wednesday before I was admitted into the ER (Friday) I was in semi-remote Whangamata, 2+ hours east of Auckland. I'm thankful I was in Auckland when all this went down. I praise God for the life he has continued to allow me to live and the clarity and peace that has come through the prayers of the NZ/US/+beyond, body. It has brought much joy to my heart to be in Sequim/PA reconnecting with friends and students- the summer sun hasn't hurt anything as well : ) Thank you for your love.

Grace and peace to you all.

His,
Piper





Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Health Update #2

Thank you all for your prayers and love. I'm back on Facebook for the time being to keep everyone updated. This was my "status update" as of 10 minutes ago:

"What's on your mind?" Alot is on my mind. Been in/out of doctors office frequently. My blood is doing much better after slowly recovering from parvovirus. Ultrasound has revealed gall stones and a enlarged spleen. Adios Senor Gall Bladder? Doc is not to keen to remove my spleen just yet, more tests need to be done. Thank you for your prayers- not to sure what to do from here. Great seeing Americans again, miss my Kiwis ABC+Laidlaw. Still haven't seen Lauren Piper : (


I arrived safe and sound from NZ Saturday evening late after a few hang ups in Fiji and LA. My bag arrived Sunday evening, to which I (and my teeth) was very grateful for. It was amazing to be back at DCC after such a long stretch; and to be living in Sequim again so suddenly, driving a 88 Lincoln Towncar (almost the exact same car I had in High School) is like living in a strange dream.

On Monday I visited my Doctor, on Tuesday and Wednesday I had blood/ultrasound testing. The ultrasound was a new experience for me, I now know what is like to be a pregnant woman: it's fun to see what's on the screen, but awkward and uncomfortable. From those tests we have deduced that my blood is recovering from parvovirus, but that I have stones and now the great debate is to whether my spleen needs to go. Spleens are really neat. They filter your blood and boost your immune system. I'm a big fan of spleens. Leaving new Zealand I came with a strong sense imparted from my mom (given vast family history) that my spleen and gall bladder would get the axe. The gall bladder most likely will and I have come to terms with that and have said my goodbyes. Where my struggle is now stems from the conversation I had with my Doctor on Tuesday stating that he was reluctant to take my spleen out, even to the point of suggesting I keep it. This was, granted, before my recent test results came back in, but it really got me thinking. My mom, uncle(s), cousin(s) etc all had the condition and had there spleen and gall bladders out and it looks like on the surface that I will join the ranks in having a slightly compromised immune system. My uncle(s?) (who is or was a heavy drinker) had a spleen attack when he was 30, requiring a surgery to get the thing removed. My quandary is that my insurance under my mom runs out when I'm 26 and I could be in New Zealand again when a attack occurs? It's hard to think clearly in times like these. I mean, I really like my spleen- but if it's best that it should go, it should probably go..... then again, I will have a weakened immune system and I'm not a drinker like my uncles so.......??? More information is needed, please pray for my and my doctors/family clarity of mind, wisdom, discernment and trust. I'm trusting God, fully aware of his love and would really love for him to guide the future decisions.

On the whole, I feel better, more mobile and almost over my jet lag. Thank you for your prayers and please pray for the issues I'm having with the NZ insurance company. I need to produce a few documents to prove I (and my family) was being truthful. Some of these documents are from 20 years ago in a Californian hospital, others are more recent but could be equally tricky. I'm somewhat doubtful they will surface to vindicate my claims that I didn't know I had this disease until 6 months ago, and even then it was never medically proven by a doctor, just something my mom told me I most likely had. I didn't claim on my NZ coverage that I had a pre-existing hereditary condition because I was told from a young boy up until I was 23 leaving to NZ that I didn't have the rare disease that was hard to test for. It's frustrating to be called a lier by an insurance company and then potentially unable to prove innocence.

Again, thank you all for your prayers. It's what kept me safe on the way home, I know it. I learned recently that the combination I had of parvovirus+hereditary sphersytosis was deadly. When I collapsed in the hospital in Auckland, that wasn't a good thing. I praise God for his provision and access to medical care. Being strong enough to fly to the states 5 days later was a gift from above.

-Piper