Yolanda's Health Update

This year, we are that family. You know the people who leave their Christmas decorations and lights up well into the new year? That’s us this year. Well, I took most decorations down the first week of January, but we still have our tree up. We use it for our light in the evenings. It brings my wife happiness. So we still have it up. I’m told that I’m allowed to take it down on January 31, so I guess it’s just one more week. Some of our ornaments are there to look shiny and sparkly, while there are other ones made out of wood. We had these wooden ovals made and laser engraved with different names of Jesus and the Bible reference for it. Messiah, Bread of Life, Son of God, Alpha and Omega, and Good Shepherd are some of them. Another one we chose is Physician. Sometimes Jesus is referred to as the Great Physician. We know that when Jesus talks about this while He’s having a meal with Matthew, He was talking about the fact that He came to earth to heal people spiritually and give eternal life. However, we know that Jesus also did miracles of healing people physically, and we believe He can and does continue to intervene today. This is why we ask for prayer and how we believe He has worked through Yolanda’s surgery.

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Moments of anxiety before the surgery

Yolanda’s surgery was just over two weeks ago. It was successful and she is doing very well now, much better than anticipated at this point. The surgery was estimated to take 6 hours, but only took 4 hours, which was good to be under anesthesia for a shorter time. It was estimated that she could be in the hospital for up to a week, but only needed to be there 3 nights. Both surgeons told us that both parts of the surgery went very well and that Yolanda’s condition had been worse than previously realized, so this surgery was more needed than we thought.

The gynecological surgeon said that she had been hesitant to perform a hysterectomy on Yolanda, because of her age and not having any children. However, after the surgery, she said she now understands why Yolanda was pushing so hard to have it. The hysterectomy is what has now cured her adenomyosis. The surgeon also removed several endometrial lesions, fibroids, and a chocolate cyst. These lesions had been giving much pain wherever they were. They needed to be cut out from the organs they were attached to, so Yolanda has stitches on these other organs now too. Because of all that she did, the surgeon said that there is a low likelihood of any lesions forming and growing in the future. Usually new lesions can form every few years and while there is no cure for endometriosis, this favorable prognosis was very encouraging and not anticipated.

On the gallbladder side, the results from the scan in December which was requested by the gynecological surgeon, revealed the gallstone (which they gave to us afterward and is about 1.5” long and 1” wide), showed Yolanda’s gallbladder was not inflamed. So the doctors advised that this could be removed in another surgery later on, to remove the risks of a double surgery. However, when they got inside, the surgeon saw that her gallbladder was very much inflamed and filled with lots of puss. He said that this inflammation could not have been there for more than a week. He told us about a tissue inside the abdomen that we had never heard of before. I believe it’s called “omentum.” He described it as an apron or sheet, which is mobile and moves around inside the abdomen to protect infections from spreading. So in Yolanda, he said her gallbladder was so bad that the omentum had wrapped itself around her gallbladder, in order to protect her other organs from infection! How amazing is that?

The surgeon did not beat around the bush. He said that with this level of inflammation and puss, Yolanda’s gallbladder could have ruptured at any time, and if that had happened, it would have been fatal (based on the condition of her gallbladder and the fact that we live 2 hours from reliable medical care). Yolanda isn’t sure if any of her recent pain was due to her gallbladder. If it was, she had just attributed it to her normal pains, because they could occur anywhere. So it was more serious than we had previously thought! It sure is sobering to hear a doctor say that she could have died within a couple of days had this surgery not taken place at that time!

Yolanda's room at the hospital

Fruit was her favorite food to eat in the hospital

What a blessing that Yolanda’s regular gynecologist recommended a hysterectomy in November, and the surgeon who performed the surgery wasn’t able to talk Yolanda out of the hysterectomy, and that the surgeon requested a CT scan beforehand (which isn’t normally done in Zimbabwe due to expense), and that the scan revealed the gallstone, and that we didn’t get talked out of removing the gallbladder until later, and that the inflammation in the gallbladder didn’t happen earlier, and that the double surgery was planned, so that the gallbladder surgeon was there to remove it, and that it didn’t rupture at any point. What a blessing that God knew of all of this and orchestrated the whole thing! Having the doctor blatantly say that Yolanda could have died if not treated now, puts a lot in perspective and of course makes us that much more grateful for the number of days and years of life that God provides us. So much of it wasn’t known to us until after the fact. But I guess that’s true with much in life. We think we have all the information, but don’t realize until later that there were things we didn’t know. Or maybe we never got all the information afterward. But God was working behind the scenes in ways we saw, or didn’t see, and He orchestrates the whole thing to protect us in different situations.

So, yeah, we’re the family who still has their Christmas tree up. And I’ll be taking it down in a week, but until then, that ornament with the word “Physician” on it will stick out to us a little bit more than usual, each time we walk by it.

She was having trouble breathing one night, so she was on oxygen overnight

The courtyard outside Yolanda's room was a nice place to walk

In the last two weeks since her surgery, Yolanda has been doing well. She has been taking it easy, doing her best to recover. The surgeons told us beforehand to expect quite a bit of pain during recovery. In fact, she said she was concerned about Yolanda’s emotional well-being, dealing with so much pain and a lengthy recovery. So far, none of that has panned out. Yes, Yolanda does have some pain, but it’s mainly based around her 6 incisions when she’s moving between lying down, sitting, and standing. She is restricted to weight she can lift and is unable to bend low to pick up anything on low shelves or from the floor. She is easily fatigued and is getting lots of good rest. Yolanda’s recovery on the inside will continue to take awhile, but we are so thankful for how well she is doing! The first couple days home, she stayed just in our bedroom, but now moves normally throughout the house during the day. Like I said, her recovery will take time, but she is doing remarkably well so far and is in good spirits.

We continue to be thankful for all of your prayers before, during, and after surgery. We’re thankful for those who have helped with meals. We’re thankful for so many encouraging messages. We’re thankful for God’s provision for the whole thing, for top surgeons, for a top hospital (we were told that people come from all different countries just to have surgeries at this hospital, from all around Africa, but also from South America, and even the UK and Europe), for God’s timing, for His being in control throughout. We are blessed and we are thankful! 

Keep your eyes open for another blog post sometime next week, sharing all about ministry that has already taken place this year, as well as will be continuing throughout Yolanda's recovery period.