November 24, 2014 we spent almost all day in a neurologist office. They removed the old catheter and then we waited to see if Zine’s bladder would work. The end result… a lot of encouragement from the nurse, doctor, and staff came first! Secondly a very difficult decision came next. That decision was to go to surgery and for Zine to get a permanent cath. A supra-pubic catheter. This means we are dealing with this long term. There’s no easy fix and it’s not going away. This permanent cath is less likely to cause infections and it is supposed to be much more comfortable.
Surgery day the next morning. We are both a nervous bundle. And we were at a different hospital than we are used to. So everything is new to us as well. Stressed out for sure!
Zine did amazingly well. I know he was stressed, sad, nervous, etc. But he managed his emotions well. His wife on the other hand, didn’t manage her emotions as well. It was SOOO hard to let them take him to surgery. I think the difficulty was less about the surgery and more about the reality of where we have found ourselves.
I had not spent a lot of personal time with our pastor until this day! This day changed things in that regards. Little did I know that this was the beginning of what was going to become a safe haven for Zine and I. A place where we would receive great comfort, we would continually be turned to the truth, and encouraged to learn all God wants for us. He was so attentive to me this day! He loved well! I’m not sure I have let my guards down enough around others to allow them to love well. I have built a fortress!! And it is well protected. But on this day, the walls began to crumble in his presence. He asked hard questions and I tried to answer honestly. I cried, he hugged. I walked around, he walked around with me. I listened to medical staff, he listened to medical staff. As I tried to hold Zine’s feet to give them some relief from shaking…he offered to do the same. But…that was one thing he wasn’t as good at as I was! Just saying! But I am sooo thankful for the time we had together that day!
Wow! What a couple of days!
