GOD HAS SPARED MOTHER.– God showed His power, as many prayed.

My dear wife had an uneventful convalescence for hip replacement, walking several times daily to the nursing bay. And jubilantly prepared herself for discharge.

Then unexpectedly, drama on the eighth day.

I called her from home at 8 a.m  to encourage her. ‘I feel terrible’, she responded, with a sense that all was not well.  Her medical observations had been good, and no further difficulties were expected. I encouraged and prayed with her while on the phone.  In  retrospect, the duodenal ulcer had already begun to erode the artery and to bleed.

I continued hydrotherapy at Repatriation, planning to visit her immediately afterwards.

On my arrival , the sister in charge soberly reported her precarious condition,  telling of an immense bowel bleed, and that her staff had transferred her to the critical care unit. Shattered, I cried out silently to the Lord as I sat alongside  her.  Miriam, our daughter,  shared the vigil, her nursing training alerting her to the dire possibilities.  She quietly encouraged Mother and me as we awaited developments. 

The Lord surely orchestrated the sequence of events.  An anaesthetist, so adept in intravenous procedures, visited the CCU ( Critical Care unit ), inserting numerous intravenous drips into mother’s vessels, including the Jugular vein , before the veins had  collapsed. These were the life-lines for numerous emergency transfusions of blood and plasma ( blood without the blood cells ); and for days of intravenous and electrolyte support.  The Father’s timing comforted us.

A young,  warm-hearted, physician visited and examined Mother.  He discussed with me the diagnosis, which we agreed was an acute haemorrhage high in the abdominal tract, either in the stomach or duodenum.  He was surprised that Mother had no history of duodenal ulcer or bowel upset.  Surgeons reiterate, following this epic, that acute ulcers in this area may occur after major surgery.  This was the only acceptable diagnosis,  In my experience in medicine I had not known this.   The patient is my beloved wife of 59 years, and your Mother. The physician discussed his findings with the  orthopaedic surgeon, urging immediate blood replacement and endoscopic investigation.  

Our Lord commanded us to ‘watch and pray’.  We did both. We sat quietly, observing Mother during these critical moments.  We watched the monitor, recording her pulse, heart tracing ( ECG); her blood pressure, while the low diastolic pressure

(the resting one) left Mother’s brain befogged and her kidneys barely functioning.  The monitor recorded the continuous oxygen received by Mother, and the oxygen concentration in her blood. It also showed her increased respiration.  Miriam clearly understood that Mother was gravely ill.  Indeed, she was deeply shocked!

Another serious bleed occurred, clearly distressing and weakening her. 

And another! And another.

A surgeon , who was also a gastro-enterologist, examined Mother.  He had returned from a regional hospital where two procedures had been unexpectedly cancelled from his operating list.  He received word by mobile while only 5 minutes from the hospital, freeing him to respond immediately.  He agreed on an endoscopy ( upper bowel examination ) and lower if warranted., requesting immediate facility for this examination. He would seek the bleeding source and tie off the artery.

Miriam was compelled to leave for home, and Cil with her two dear children arrived.

Tess, a sensitive early teen sat, weeping.  We consoled her.  Jed, her younger sibling, soon found a screen where the cricket with South Africa occupied him during the hours ensuing.  They had lost 2 grandparents from hospital procedures, so we prayed that the Lord would be their strength and their Redeemer.  I asked God to show His mercy to them especially and to all Mother’s beloved family.  And to me, her husband.  He did.

Meanwhile, her blood had been grouped and matched . She had needed and used three packs of her own blood for the hip replacement.  Now plasma  flowed freely and blood also from another vein at a fast pace.  I understood the truth ’that the l.ife of the flesh is in the blood’, and thanked God for our Red Cross services, among the best in the world.  7 packs of blood and plasma would be required over the next few hours.

I met Mother’s anaesthetist, a distinguished woman, and we discussed her fragile plight.  I assured her that friends were praying during the examination and resuscitation.  Mother’s frail state posed many problems for her.  And pray we did.

I alerted a few friends from prayer circles, who ‘held Mother before God’s throne.’

On hearing, some were deeply distressed, but full of faith and love. Meanwhile, Miriam told our family members of the urgent surgery, asking for sustaining prayer.

Rejoicing at her marvellous response to hip surgery, my two sisters visited. They were horrified to know of this complication. Both had been nurses; their distress so deep, that they stood outside the ward crying.  God helped me, with my arms around them , to  pray for them as well as my beloved.  Maureen returned to the ward, kissed Gwenda, believing she would see her again only in heaven. I understood.  Yet I longed for her.

Cil, so brave, and I tearfully kissed our loved one, a wan, pale shadow of her dear self, praying for her. ‘Cil, tell the family to love one another, as I have loved you’, quoting from our Lord’s final words.   Mother whispered to me, ‘Tell each one I loved them to the end.’  More precious than gold is the legacy of the godly.  She was my dearest one, my life partner; yet I sat quietly, though alert  as a doctor. All I could do was to silently intercede to my beloved Lord.  Truly the peace of God passed all human understanding.

When the examining room was prepared,  Mother was whisked away, intravenous fluids flowing as she went. .

Meanwhile, Cil arranged for Pete to come nearly 30 kms ( 18 miles ) to pick up the children.  We talked together; Cil and I prayed; we had drinks with the children; Jed watched the final overs of the day’s cricket.  Tess was quiet, now no longer weeping. When Pete heard the story, he warmly and seriously prayed for Mother.    

Cil held my hand more like a mother than our youngest daughter, while I snatched some sleep.

The surgeon called me to his study outside the examining room.  ‘I have found the source of the bleeding.  Here is the photo of  a sizeable artery, out from a new ulcer with fresh blood and old.   I was convinced.  ‘I dare not return her to the ward, even while the main theatre is being prepared.  I must precede immediately.’ He held out his hand , which I gripped . ‘Thank God you have found the cause of the bleed.  Please go ahead.  I will pray for you’.  I surrendered my beloved to this noble surgeon knowing her frailty. The endoscopic anaesthetic continued for her abdominal surgery.

Cil made a cup of coffee as I relayed the discussion with her.  She held my hand,  being a great strength to me, while we faced the possibility of losing our beloved one.

I think I contacted Miriam to fill her in with the news of the endoscopy.

Much later, the surgeon came post-operatively to assure that he had found the artery and had thoroughly sealed it.  The surgery had gone well.  He assured me that Mother had  progressed well with replacement blood and plasma.  What could I say in such an hour?  Greatly relieved, I thanked him , holding his hand – and I wept  However, the anaesthetist kept her further in recovery ward until her electrolytes were balanced.

Although Cil was exhausted, I could not persuade her to drive home, ‘Not until Mother returns from the theatre, ‘was her determined answer.  Courage. Only when she knew that Mother had come through her surgery, and would later return to the CCU, did she agree to drive home.  She embraced me, her tear-stained face reassured.

Later that night, a scurry of nurses’ feet alerted me that my dear one was returning to the CCU. My heart overflowed with gratitude to my dear heavenly Father as I spoke again to Gwenda, assuring her of our love and the constant prayer of her dear family and alerted friends.  This time her lips were warm as I kissed her. The intravenous drips were flowing freely. Relieved, I noted that the monitor recorded satisfactory readings.  My heart sang! He is the omnipotent ( all-powerful ) God.

She learned to press the Pain-actuating-control button when pain gripped her.

PRAISE BE TO THE LORD.

Although late, I called Miriam, reporting on mother’s favourable condition and assuring her that God had shown such mercy. As a nurse, she rightly wanted to know all the surgical details.  ‘Yes Dad, I’ll ring John ( Victoria ), Judith ( Sydney), Lis ( NSW ) and Ruth USA ) and Cil locally,  home by then.  Miriam maintained contact with many during her mother’s recovery, relieving me, and  blessing many. 

Tell them that God answered prayer’. ‘He is a faithful God.’

I drove home from hospital so late, asking the Lord to keep my mind clear. I recalled the many times I had delivered a baby or operated in the early hours of the morning.  This was different. I could only whisper my gratitude to the Lord of mercy as I drove.

God had spared the mother of our beloved children; and the grandmother of many precious ones.  And He had preserved my beloved wife of nearly 60 years.

We are praising the Lord together day by day during the long convalescence.

Our Daughters, Judith from Sydney and Miriam, are helping me nurse our beloved.

Her godly surgeon greeted her on her recovery with, ‘Gwenda, You had one foot in heaven.  Thank God the haemorrhage happened in the hospital – not at home. ’

He was compassionate and gracious in reassuring her.

Truly His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.