Monday,

Today was pretty much status quo with Bonnie. Her platelets and hemoglobin were low so she got a unit of platelets and the first of two units of red blood cells (we’re waiting for the second). Her temperature was fairly stable today ranging from the low 98s to the high 99s, which is a blessing. She normally spikes a fever into the evening hours and thus far she has kept it at bay.

One praise and one frustration took place respectively today/tonight. I’ll start with the praise.

As we have posted previously, Bonnie had the triple lumen port removed from her chest several days ago as it had been identified as a source of the yeast infection that she has in her blood. The peripheral IVs inserted into veins in Bonnie’s arms were handling the flow of fluids (antibiotics, antifungal, food nutrients, etc.) but the ongoing concern has been how long before the vein would “blow” and not be useable. Yesterday an IV technician said a few things to Bonnie about not having any more real options and this created a great deal of anxiety that has persisted for over 30 hours. Bonnie has been fearful that one of these would become useless in the middle of the night and every doctor coming to check on her always seems to look at the condition of the IVs. We have been told by the Infectious Disease physicians that she could not have another triple lumen port due to the yeast infection, unless there were no other options. This afternoon Bonnie’s main doctor assessed everything regarding this and gave the order for a new triple lumen which was a great relief for Bonnie. She is resting peacefully now knowing that there shouldn’t be any surprises related to the IV during the middle of the night. This was a huge praise and you could see the concern lifted from Bonnie’s countenance (even under sedation!).

The frustration today was Bonnie’s inability to read the words in her Bible. She easily could read the Bible verses on all her cards, the daily devotional books and the encouraging notes she receives, however the size of the type in her Bible was too small requiring a stronger pair of reading glasses. I scoured Sparrow’s pharmacy for a stronger lens, but finally found what she needed at Rite Aide.

It is so great to have God’s word available to us. When Bonnie was discouraged about not being able to read the words in her Bible, I tried to encourage her that for the time being she had all the wonderful note cards with God’s word written on it that she could find strength, comfort and joy in the interim. I told her that we are so incredibly fortunate as a country to have God’s written word so readily available to us and know that we are not going to be persecuted, jailed or even martyred for having a copy. The shame is, even with this freedom, we don’t spend the time in it like we should. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our everyday activities we have a tendency to put it on the shelf and only pull it off when we experience times of trouble.

If we expect to have a relationship with another individual the only way it will flourish is working on that relationship and understanding one another. The same goes for our relationship with God. The only way to begin to understand God is spending time regularly in His word. Many of you have been amazed at the incredible emotional and spiritual strength Bonnie has exhibited through this extremely challenging experience that has all but wiped her out physically, but not mentally. It is her relationship with God that sustains her. I can testify that she hasn’t kept her relationship with God in a box only to pull Him out along with the comforting verses from His word during times of turmoil and trouble. Her relationship has flourished because she spends time with God in His word regularly. These verses have deep meaning because she trusts God with her life. Does she have her ups and downs? Yes, but the “downs’ are quickly neutralized by the scripture she knows and keeps close to her heart day after day, year after year. She believes (as I do) that God has a greater purpose than this issue we are facing. God is good and He is right. He doesn’t make mistakes. So there is no mistake that we are staying in this hospital room for a reason yet to be seen. One verse that I have memorized in the past is from Joshua 1:8 and a fitting way to summarize the importance of immersing ourselves in God’s word to prepare for trials that we don’t plan for:

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

“Good success” is glorifying God in everything we do no matter the circumstances we are facing.