Category Archives: Calvary Chapel

Just got back from seeing Steven in the recovery room. He did well through the surgery and so did Phil. No problems in either case. Phil is on his way to recovery.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, 2 “His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron now say, 3 “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD now say, 4 “His mercy endures forever.” I called on the LORD in distress; 5 The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place. The LORD is on my side; 6 I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; 7 Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. It is better to trust in the LORD 8 Than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD 9 Than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me, 10 But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me, 11 Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; 12 They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, 13 But the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, 14 And He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation 15 Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; 16 The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, 17 And declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely, 18 But He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; 19 I will go through them, And I will praise the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD, 20 Through which the righteous shall enter. I will praise You, 21 For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected 22 Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; 23 It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; 24 We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O LORD; 25 O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! 26 We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. God is the LORD, 27 And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; 28 You are my God, I will exalt You. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! 29 For His mercy endures forever.

This time tomorrow, I will be in prep for surgery to give a kidney to my dad. His surgery starts 90 minutes later. Please pray for us, for the medical teams, for the surgeons to have steady hands and God given wisdom, for the transplant to be successful, and for a quick recovery. May God receive all of the glory and honor and His will be done. Pray that His spirit will prompt us if we have an opportunity to share His gospel and will prepare the hearts of the lost. Thanks in advance.

We got formal approval for everything to move forward. The surgery is scheduled for November 1st, but we don’t know what time yet. There are two transplants scheduled for that day, and I don’t know if we will be the first or the second. Please keep us in your prayers.

I got a call from my transplant coordinator yesterday and got a formal approval on being a kidney donor for my dad. All of the financial pieces have been approved, so now it is a matter of my dad getting final approval from his nephrologist and then scheduling a date for the surgeries. At this point, I am anticipating that the surgery will take place the last week of October or first week of November.

I went to Atlanta on Thursday to meet with a liver specialist. After a fairly short discussion, he said that I was approved to move forward with the kidney donation. There are still some formalities involved, but we are just waiting on my Dad’s transplant team to set a date for us to have the procedure done.

My dad has been doing dialysis for over a month now, and I got to see him this past Thursday. It was great to see his smile! He has lost weight, and it looks good on him. He has had a tough time with his catheter and is on the third one. The first one developed a kink, and the second had issues with the artery collapsing. The third one seems to be holding up well, but it is sad to see the irritation on his skin from the dressings he has to replace regularly. Please pray that this catheter holds up as long as it is supposed to, and pray that my Mom and Dad have the strength of the Lord to continue the in home hemodialysis. It is a blessing that they can do the procedure in home, but there is a level of stress that is put on both of them. Praise God that they have both retired, because this is a full time job for both of them. Pray that God will bless them both with endurance.

I know it has been a while, but I haven’t really gotten any significant news in a while. The transplant team is concerned about my liver function and they want to make sure that I am healthy enough to still be considered as a candidate for kidney donation. Their original concern was a size difference in my kidneys. My left kidney (the one they normally take) is slightly larger than my right kidney and the size difference is right on the edge of the cutoff to be eligible to donate. The first reading put the percentage difference too far out of range and disqualified me, but they re-read the CT scan and the results were within the required range for donation. The current concern is that one of my liver enzymes is elevated, and I believe it is due to my gastric acid inhibitor medication that I take for acid reflux. I am expecting a call from the hepatologist to schedule an appointment for more blood work and a consult.

Sorry that I have neglected to update you on what has been going on. Dad was admitted to the hospital on the 7th of August. They decided to start him on dialysis and he is feeling much better than he was. With dialysis, the best he can expect is approximately 15% kidney function, which is way better than less than the 5% he was at near the beginning of the month. Please continue to pray that the dialysis continues to work. It is very draining, but the next day he feels much better. Right now he is having dialysis done three times a week at the local hospital, and it takes about 4 hours after he waits 30-90 minutes to be seen. He is able to drive himself to have the treatment, so that helps Mom a lot. They start training next week for in-home dialysis and the training lasts two weeks.

Thank you for your continued prayers! So my dad was admitted to the hospital today because of excess fluid buildup in his chest. The major concern is that the fluid can cause heart failure if not kept under control. They have him on an IV medication to try to help his body purge the excess fluid. Please pray that his doctors have God given guidance on all of their decisions.