Most of you are probably already keeping up with Mark on his Caring Bridge site but just in case you aren't and you wondered whats going on I wanted to let you know that I try to update that site each day as I get time instead of updating on here since not many people know about my blog. You can keep up on there if you want. I will eventually get back to normal (normal for me) blogging once life gets somewhat back to normal around here. In case you missed the link in an earlier blog post, it is HERE.
Learning to enjoy Truth, Beauty and Goodness Together
Showing posts with label Mark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
A prayer request
Obviously we definitely covet your prayers for the surgery for Mark but last night as the kids were getting their baths in preparation for church today I got to thinking about how often they end up sick a few days after going to church. So I proposed to the family that we stay home from church today even though I knew it would give Mark one last opportunity to visit with our church family before being stuck at home for quite some time. But I felt very strongly that we should do what we could to avoid sickness, not just for Mark before the surgery but for the kids as well since it would not be a pleasant week for anyone with sick kiddos.
So I am asking you all to pray that we will all stay well and healthy for the coming week and that the doctor and his team of people will be healthy as well.
Thank you for praying!!
So I am asking you all to pray that we will all stay well and healthy for the coming week and that the doctor and his team of people will be healthy as well.
Thank you for praying!!
Friday, February 21, 2014
Seeing God work
When we are in the midst of trials it can be very difficult to see God at work. Sometimes even when our trials seem to come to an end we can't always look back and see how God worked. But we know that He works and it is wonderful when we can step outside of our worry and look around to see it. I thought I would just jot down a few things that I am able to look back and see...
Not too long ago a friend at church invited a Naturopath to come and speak to our Ladies group at church. The doctor is in Portland which is quite a distance from us but I decided to go see her for some nagging health issues. I had an appointment with her when we found out about DH's tumor so I called the receptionist to cancel my appointment. I explained to the receptionist that I just didn't want to deal with anything else right now. She apparently passed the information on to the doctor and shortly after that I received a phone call saying she highly recommended we go see a certain doctor at St. Vincent's hospital. I must admit that I pretty much took the phone number of the doctor just so I wouldn't offend her.
After our first visit with the original neurosurgeon that we were referred to, we both felt pretty discouraged. He kept saying odd things about not really liking to do this kind of surgery and that his ego would not be hurt if we chose to use his partner. He then walked Mark up to the desk to help get an appointment scheduled with his partner. He really wanted Mark to be seen on Monday, just 4 days later. But that happened to be President's Day so we would have to wait possibly 2 weeks to get in to him. In the meantime, a possible trip to a hospital in St. Louis was discussed. I wanted to call the hospital in St. Louis and we needed to call our local hospital to arrange to pick up a disk with the MRI pictures on it but I figured I wouldn't get anywhere with those phone calls since it was President's Day. But actually both places were open even though the original surgeon's office was closed. God closing a door!
Then we started researching hospitals and found that St. Vincent's which is local to us is ranked very well for this type of surgery so we called to schedule an appointment with the doctor that my Naturopath had so kindly referred us to. We were told that we couldn't get in to see him until Feb. 26th which our Chiropractor felt was too long to wait. I was kind of discouraged at this point but decided to see who that office would refer us to when it came about in conversation that the doctor actually changed his plans and was going to be in town and could see Mark on Feb. 21st. Before going out of town he looked at Mark's report and said "Yep, it needs to come out. Schedule him for the day I get back". So after thinking that God was closing this door too, He opened it up wide.
Most of you know that we went today and were very pleased with him. Mark feels very comfortable with it all now and I am praising the Lord for His provision.
All of that to say, that if my friend hadn't invited the Naturopath to speak, I wouldn't have met her and she wouldn't have been able to refer us to the doctor who is doing Mark's surgery. Now I know that God could have worked another way but it is neat for me to look back and see how He worked this out.
Not too long ago a friend at church invited a Naturopath to come and speak to our Ladies group at church. The doctor is in Portland which is quite a distance from us but I decided to go see her for some nagging health issues. I had an appointment with her when we found out about DH's tumor so I called the receptionist to cancel my appointment. I explained to the receptionist that I just didn't want to deal with anything else right now. She apparently passed the information on to the doctor and shortly after that I received a phone call saying she highly recommended we go see a certain doctor at St. Vincent's hospital. I must admit that I pretty much took the phone number of the doctor just so I wouldn't offend her.
After our first visit with the original neurosurgeon that we were referred to, we both felt pretty discouraged. He kept saying odd things about not really liking to do this kind of surgery and that his ego would not be hurt if we chose to use his partner. He then walked Mark up to the desk to help get an appointment scheduled with his partner. He really wanted Mark to be seen on Monday, just 4 days later. But that happened to be President's Day so we would have to wait possibly 2 weeks to get in to him. In the meantime, a possible trip to a hospital in St. Louis was discussed. I wanted to call the hospital in St. Louis and we needed to call our local hospital to arrange to pick up a disk with the MRI pictures on it but I figured I wouldn't get anywhere with those phone calls since it was President's Day. But actually both places were open even though the original surgeon's office was closed. God closing a door!
Then we started researching hospitals and found that St. Vincent's which is local to us is ranked very well for this type of surgery so we called to schedule an appointment with the doctor that my Naturopath had so kindly referred us to. We were told that we couldn't get in to see him until Feb. 26th which our Chiropractor felt was too long to wait. I was kind of discouraged at this point but decided to see who that office would refer us to when it came about in conversation that the doctor actually changed his plans and was going to be in town and could see Mark on Feb. 21st. Before going out of town he looked at Mark's report and said "Yep, it needs to come out. Schedule him for the day I get back". So after thinking that God was closing this door too, He opened it up wide.
Most of you know that we went today and were very pleased with him. Mark feels very comfortable with it all now and I am praising the Lord for His provision.
All of that to say, that if my friend hadn't invited the Naturopath to speak, I wouldn't have met her and she wouldn't have been able to refer us to the doctor who is doing Mark's surgery. Now I know that God could have worked another way but it is neat for me to look back and see how He worked this out.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Caring Bridge
We have started a Caring Bridge site to keep our friends and family updated a little more easily for us than texting or calling. Not that we don't love to talk to each one of you but it can be difficult to reach everyone. So if you want to check in with us you can go to.... www.caringbridge.org/visit/markmenne
Monday, February 17, 2014
An Update
I had grand plans to blog for quite some time now about the beautiful cello that my dear hubby rented for me and the cute picture of the boys trying to figure out how our new toaster worked since they had never seen a toaster before but life throws us curves sometimes and we just received our curve this week so now I am blogging to ask for prayer and also just to have a way to keep family and friends updated....
On Monday DH had an MRI for some back pain which was thought to possible be a herniated disk but it in fact revealed a spinal tumor. It is attached or seems to be attached to the spinal cord and there is no way to see if it is cancerous until the doctors get in there. It is not going to be an easy surgery but it is one that needs to be done right away before there is any loss of function. So far the doctors have been surprised that there hasn't been more nerve loss, for which we praise the Lord. We have met with a surgeon at a prominent hospital here in Portland but we just didn't feel comfortable with the surgeon there. So right now we are scheduled to see a new surgeon at a different hospital on Friday with a possible surgery date of Tuesday, Feb. 25th. We will know more after we meet with him. We have also considered traveling to St. Louis to have it done since they are ranked 9th in the nation for this type of thing but we are waiting and praying to see where the best place is.
So far we can definitely see the Lord's hand in it all and look forward to sharing with you how He is working and we pray that we will be faithful to give Him the praise and glory for all that He is doing, in the good and the not so good.
Maybe in the near future I can post a picture of my beautiful cello!
On Monday DH had an MRI for some back pain which was thought to possible be a herniated disk but it in fact revealed a spinal tumor. It is attached or seems to be attached to the spinal cord and there is no way to see if it is cancerous until the doctors get in there. It is not going to be an easy surgery but it is one that needs to be done right away before there is any loss of function. So far the doctors have been surprised that there hasn't been more nerve loss, for which we praise the Lord. We have met with a surgeon at a prominent hospital here in Portland but we just didn't feel comfortable with the surgeon there. So right now we are scheduled to see a new surgeon at a different hospital on Friday with a possible surgery date of Tuesday, Feb. 25th. We will know more after we meet with him. We have also considered traveling to St. Louis to have it done since they are ranked 9th in the nation for this type of thing but we are waiting and praying to see where the best place is.
So far we can definitely see the Lord's hand in it all and look forward to sharing with you how He is working and we pray that we will be faithful to give Him the praise and glory for all that He is doing, in the good and the not so good.
Maybe in the near future I can post a picture of my beautiful cello!
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