Hand Surgery

I have successfully made it through hand surgery! Since surgery life has been crazy in ways that I would not have expected. I had no idea what the healing process would be like, every question I asked the doctor her reply was 'everyone is different' which wasn't very helpful for me who loves to be over prepared when it comes to surgery! 

The surgery was harder and easier than I had expected. For a week after surgery my hand was totally useless, I was one handed. I had the week off, praise the Lord, but it didn't feel like a week off because it took three to four time longer for me to do daily chores with one hand than with two, so I actually got little time to actually rest! I am so thankful for my roomies who were always eager to jump to my aid should I need help, especially with my hair! Thank you ladies! 

Once the stitches were taken out recovery became easier than I had expected. I started hand therapy to gain the mobility of my hand back, after a few days we were noticing significant improvement. I know I say this every time but God really does have perfect timing. There was a morning that I was getting very discouraged with my hand and when I went to do my morning stretches, no joke, it moved an inch  farther back than it had since surgery! I was ecstatic! The Lord delights in small beginnings therefore I delight in small improvements! 

I have some pictures for you, if you have a queasy stomach you may want to skip this part :) 

This was my hand five days after surgery, the first time I saw it after removing the bandages. 

This next picture is my hand a day or two after the stitches were removed. 

(Sorry its shiny, it's the lotion) 

Lastly, this is my hand today April 29, and my how it has improved! 

One thing I have loved about having hand surgery is the opportunity to witness drastic healing up close and personal. I have lyme disease which is an extended over the course of years I will heal. But this cut in my hand has healed over the course of weeks. It is beautiful to see how the Lord has designed our bodies so perfectly, He even gave us the ability to heal. What a blessing! 

The week after surgery my lyme was very quiet, looking back I call it the calm before the storm. God was gracious to give me a week to focus on my hand before lyme took over again. After that week I have been on a ten day medicine for my co-infection babisa, this is the med you take ten days of every month to help with my breathing co-infection. This month it made me much sicker than it has in the past. There were many days I had to cancel plans to stay home and rest. My last day on that medication was friday and I have been pretty sick since, I stayed home all day saturday and sunday. 

If you were unaware, lyme patients heal when they sleep, its how your body kicks the lyme. Im not sure why but that the way it is and every time I am sick or don't feel good I know I need more sleep! The last three nights in a row I have had over twelve hours of sleep each night! I guess I really needed the extra time to heal! As the day progresses I am feeling better than I have in a couple days which is a huge blessing. Weeks like the two I just had remind me I need to take it slow and make my health a priority of my daily living, especially when I am on extra medications that make me sicker! 

If you keep up with my blogs you will notice that I commonly write about the blessings I have been given by God. I read a beautiful verse about it.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield. ~Psalm 5:12 

I began thinking about why God blesses us, what have we done to deserve the blessing that He pours about us, what have we done to deserve His favor? Well we haven't done anything! 

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul: save me because of Your lovingkindness. ~Psalm 6:4 

God favors us and blesses us because He loves us. This is something that I have known for a long time but looking at it again it blows my mind! Its like it just choose to travel from mind knowledge to heart knowledge. No matter what you are going through you can look at the Lord and see how richly blessed you are if you are a child of God. You are blessed because He loves you, its nothing about what we can or can not do, what a gift! 

Some small knowledge: 

I have successfully finished spring semester 2012 and I am on summer break! I get a week off then begin my summer classes, so I am going to live up no homework! I successfully passed all three of my classes and am excited to see the Lord work through the four I have this summer. 

My hand is still doing marvelous, I am even typing with it! I am still going to hand therapy and doing stretches and massaging it to reduce scar tissue and insure that the surgery was successful. During surgery they did find a trigger finger, they did some extra cuts during surgery and it seems to be functioning properly so far! 

Prayer Requests:
*Wisdom how to balance time this summer: classes, work, ministry, and health.
*That I will be able to keep up in summer classes and do well
*That I will never again have to have hand surgery (there's nothing you can do to prevent ganglion cysts) And if I get one that I will lean on God and let Him handle it from day one.
*That I will be feeling well for a full week of work and the ten day medicine will get out of my system soon, along with the co-infection!