Tuesday, May 08, 2007

We Are Home

Just a quick entry to let everybody know that we are home. Rita is resting well and recovering slowly in these first few days. I believe that she will be blogging again in no more than two days and I will again have to fight to pry the computer out of her hands. The Dr. was very pleased with the outcome of her surgery and believes that the healing process will be completed quickly. Thank you for your prayers. We both appreciate it very much.

I must admit that that first night after surgery was rough. JM kept waking me up and wouldn't let me sleep. So I woke up with a headache and a little sore from the fold up cot. But I am feeling a lot better now!!!!! prayer works!! I told Rita that we should change the marriage vows to "in sickness, surgery, recovery and in health!" Because I don't remember anything about bedpan patrol in my wedding vows!!!!! She is my girl and I am glad she is getting better. I also thank God that I was the one able to take care of her.

Yekwanaman

38 comments:

Abouna said...

Praise the Lord.

Jane said...

glad to hear that Rita is on the mend... and I love the new marriage vows!

Anonymous said...

Glad she's doing so well.

No one takes care of me like my husband does when I've been in the hospital or ill -- I'd rather have him than any nurse. I imagine Rita feels the same way. :)

Hope you can both rest better now that you're home.

Kristi said...

Please tell Rita that Happymama is saying prayers for her!! I hope she recovers quickly with little or no pain.

~Kristi

Mishel said...

LOL...too cute! Glad "your girl" is getting better. We miss her and I'm praying for a quick recovery.

Pen of Jen said...

Thank God you re doing well, and thank God for honorable husbands! Recover with ease, we sure do miss you and your blogging!
Jennifer

MathewK said...

Good news, thank the Lord.

Unknown said...

AAWW how sweet! Thanks for the update. I miss her though! Give her kisses and gentle pats for her big sis!

Portrait of Peter said...

Blessings to from overseas and with prayers and thoughts - thinking of you!!

Rosemary Welch said...

Well God bless your loving heart. :)

Please tell JM that Rosemary says, "Hello. Nice to see you've made it! Take care."

Kimberly said...

Glad to hear you're doing so much better Clint! Praying for all.

Anonymous said...

First off, it's great that Rita is doing fine.

It would be more appropriate for you to credit the doctors, and science in general with this positive medical outcome.

Prayer, rubbing your lucky rabbit's foot and not stepping on sidewalk cracks may bring you comfort and that's great. But by any objective measure, intercessory prayer, the kind you solicit here, doesn't work.

I'll say it again, prayer doesn't work.

Indeed, more heart by-pass patients had complications and died when they knew they were being prayed for than those who weren't prayed for.

From the American Heart Journal:

Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer

Herbert Benson, MDaCorresponding Author Informationlemail address, Jeffery A. Dusek, PhDal, Jane B. Sherwood, RNm, Peter Lam, PhDm, Charles F. Bethea, MDb, William Carpenter, MDivc, Sidney Levitsky, MDd, Peter C. Hill, MDe, Donald W. Clem Jr., MAf, Manoj K. Jain, MD, MPHg, David Drumel, MDivgh, Stephen L. Kopecky, MDi, Paul S. Mueller, MDj, Dean Marekk, Sue Rollins, RN, MPHb, Patricia L. Hibberd, MD, PhDlm


Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials. Prior studies have not addressed whether prayer itself or knowledge/certainty that prayer is being provided may influence outcome. We evaluated whether (1) receiving intercessory prayer or (2) being certain of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with uncomplicated recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.
Methods

Patients at 6 US hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 604 received intercessory prayer after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; 597 did not receive intercessory prayer also after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; and 601 received intercessory prayer after being informed they would receive prayer. Intercessory prayer was provided for 14 days, starting the night before CABG. The primary outcome was presence of any complication within 30 days of CABG. Secondary outcomes were any major event and mortality.
Results

In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). Complications occurred in 59% (352/601) of patients certain of receiving intercessory prayer compared with the 52% (315/604) of those uncertain of receiving intercessory prayer (relative risk 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28). Major events and 30-day mortality were similar across the 3 groups.
Conclusions

Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.

______________________

Michael said...

best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Anonymous said...

Rita, milk it for all it's worth. I've been through one of those surgeries and I say, "make the most of your down time", hehe!

Bless the Lord for a good man in your life! God knows just what we need and He has given you your husband and your friend. Who else would do the things our guys do for us? Hope he's making some awesome pancakes for you when you are up to eating good food.

Much love and well wishes.

Sherry said...

Give Rita lots of love, support and say lots of prayers for her. Tell her I will keep her in my prayers for a fast recovery. Thanks for keeping us posted. God Bless You Both for doing such wonderful jobs for the Lord. The Lord always takes care of his children.

Theresa's Notes said...

"I also thank God that I was the one able to take care of her."

How sweet :)

Still praying for her, take care.

Glenn B said...

Great to hear that Rita is recovering nicely, and that she has a good man by her side (and on bedpan duty).

Yekwana Man said...

Abbey,
Pr 17:22 ¶ A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Thanks for the laugh! It is good medicine! I have to giggle when agnostics and atheists feel compelled to argue about the non-existence of something that in their mind doesn't exist. The only way to know that the all-knowing doesn't exist is to be ,yourself, "all knowing." Since you are most definitely not "all-knowing" Those of faith just considerer the source ,giggle, and move on. I pray that God will make himself know to you someday.
Your arguments are right up there with an Amazon indian who once said men never walked on the moon....he looked up at the moon and then said "it is obviously too small to walk on!"

Caraqueña said...

I am very sorry, Abbey, but I DO NOT agree with you...Intercessory prayer DOES work. Try breathing without God letting you breath sometime! Our times are in God's hands, and Rita is fine because God answered our prayers. Period.

Teresa Maynard said...

So true Clint....I considered the source, giggled, and moved on......hehehehe.

Liz said...

Ah, finally she's home and well taken care !

Prayers and good wishes as well as blessings are a good thing. It's like an smile.. it does miracles to ask with a smile and it's FREE.

Un beso para Rita y que se reponga rápido ;-)

Liz

Tina said...

Great response to Abby!

Glad you are feeling better Rita!!

And Abby if prayer doesn't work, then I ask you why my husband is a completely new person; a loving husband who loves God and His Word and His people when he used to hate God and me? And why do I have a baby daughter that I prayed 6 years for???? That is the power of prayer my dear and a God that loves to answer it!!! I pray too that you come to know our great God!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear JM is doing well. God is so good! Blessings to you all.

(Your arguments are right up there with an Amazon indian who once said men never walked on the moon....he looked up at the moon and then said "it is obviously too small to walk on!")

This is a perfect example of simple ingorance. The indian has not had the information necessary to process to an understanding, but the athiest has the information and rejects it. Woe! Why would any human being with the ability to think and to compare the concept of eternal options (heaven or hell) refuse to believe them. All I would need to do is ask myself, "What if it's all true?" and I know what I would choose to believe.

Melissa Lea said...

Hope all is well and I am praying for a very very speedy recovery!!

Sis. Julie said...

I'm so glad she is doing okay. She is in my prayers. I also thank God that you are able to care for her too. I know that should I go through surgery I'd want no one other than my hubby to help me through it.

Unknown said...

Dear Abbey,
You can't put God in a box or in a Scienc journal. He exists and one day, every knee, including yours will bow.
Why do you unbelievers choose blogs of sick folks anyway? I had a terrible comment left on my blog once while my dad was going through open heart surger. Oh by the way, we TRUE believers, who really can get ahold of God, prayed for him. He was out of the hospital the day after his surgery. Doctors said he was breaking all records! Thank you Lord!

Unknown said...

Rita, did you notice that Ginger encouraged you to "MILK IT FOR ALL IT'S WORTH!" That made me laugh!!

Anonymous said...

OH, Abbey!! Who you gonna call on when you find yourself in dire straits, or ill, or needing deliverance?

I, for one (but sentiments echoed here by many), stand by my faith in God, my Lord, my Saviour, and the one I can talk to anytime and anywhere. My hope lies therin in an allpowerful, all knowing one who cares.

We offer prayers as a means of crying out for help, health, or whatever we deem necessary to intercede for. I truly am sorry that you do not have that privelege. However, I cannot be meanspirited; we will all pray for you and that you will find that Lord and Saviour and feel the need for prayer and see answers and miracles, as we all have!!

We all believe in a Holy God who knows, hears, and cares. And, we cry out with thanksgiving as well as deep supplications when we need an answer!! We have seen deliverance, also.

So, if you have not experienced the power of prayer, then accept the invitation God gives to you, and then you can see firsthand how prayers are heard and answered.

We do have many supporting records of answered prayers, the Bible. I do dare say each one of the writers herin could give you time after time when the doctors gave up hope, but God answered prayer, and it even confounded those writing those medical articles and books!!

I, for one, would trust prayer and God over all their head knowlege. You see, I have heart knowlege. I know firsthand it is real and it works!!

Tracey said...

Woah, Abbey needs our prayers!

Rita, I'm late checking in on you. Glad you are doing better.

Love and PRAYERS your way!

TO BECOME said...

I am so happy to hear the very good news. I know she was glad you were able to take care of her also. I know I have appreciated every thing my husband has ever done for me when I was in the hospital. He would sleep in chairs, cots or whatever was available. I can't wait to see Jungle Mom blogging again. Hi and I am so thankful to God for taking care of you. connie from Texas

TO BECOME said...

Abby, I am so sorry for you that you don't know the God that I know. I don't know about clinical trials but I do know from personal experience! God and prayer those are the answers. I have known the Lord personally since I was 11 years old and I am now 64 in about 2 weeks. God has answered so many prayers for me, it would be impossible to count them. He is not my rabbit's foot, nor my lucky charm, he is my Heavenly Father. I am His child. I have been adopted into His family by the blood of His only begotten Son. I wish you could know Him, He is there for even you. He died for us all. He rose again after He was buried for 3 days and He is alive waiting to hear you call His Name. I wish I could say something to make you believe but God gave each of us a free choice but I am so glad I chose Him. Sorry Abby, you cannot know until you know Him. connie from Texas

Deedra said...

I'm so glad to hear that all went well, and Rita is doing good. If I were her i'd get you for that bedpan remark though! TMI!! (too much info)

Abbey, I'm adding you to my prayer list:)

Heather K said...

Glad to hear Rita is doing well!!
Heather
(from The Zoo)

Harry said...

I'm glad everything is going well. I hope you both have a speedy recovery

Baptist Girl said...

PTL!

I look forward to reading you next blog Rita. I am so happy you are on the mend. Thank the Lord for wonderful husbands.

Cristina

Obob said...

best wished

Webutante said...

Rita, so glad you're home and recovering nicely with the help of a good man at your side!

God bless you as you continue to heal. Will keep praying.

P.S. I just got home too, and it feels great to be back.

WomanHonorThyself said...

hurry up and get better Rita..no more bedpan duty for the hubby y'hear..LOL..:)