November 20

I have been totally out of commission for the past two days.  On Wednesday we headed back to Sac for another bronchoscope to be performed on Thursday. I was not looking forward to this at all but by now my breathing had become so labored I barely made it up the stairs.  We were told that a stent inserted into my bronchus would keep my airways open and help me to breath better.  So that is what I wanted.  But after a consultation with the lung specialist I started to have some doubts. He explained that stents tend to clog up and I would need to come back every month to have the stent flushed out. Yuck!

During the procedure they found that my right bronchus was totally blocked off in two places and that rendered that side of my lung useless, thus all my huffing puffing and whistling.  They were successful in cleaning out the clogged areas and when I woke in the recovery room I was able to breath again.  What a relief.

Cindy had sent me a video clip from a workshop with Pres. Holland. It was titled : We can have what we want or something better.  Meaning that we can assert our will to get what we think we want or we can trust God and accept what he has for us, which is always infinitely better.

That is what I remembered when I woke up in the recovery room. I was really hoping for a stent but I sure got something better. 

The procedure took twice as long as anticipated and it left Dad and me pretty tired and exhausted.  While it is no fun to be hooked up to wires and tubes and have ones insides roto-rooted, at least it is done while one is asleep, but to sit in an un-comfortable waiting room for 3 times as long as anticipated is pretty nerve-racking.

I have stopped whistling but now I am barking.  Dad had a bad cough for the last 2 weeks and I am afraid I got some of that.  Either Dad’s cough or the irritation from my freshly cleaned out lungs has given me terrible coughing spells.  This is the first time in I don’t know how many years that I felt unable to go to church.  I also had to miss Karen’s farewell party last night, which made me sad.  I hope I get better soon because we have a busy week ahead of us.