I wanted to
write briefly to give you all an update regarding our recent events. Since I
last wrote, we arrived back in Scotland safely and were settling into life back
in Glasgow. We arrived in on Saturday and I was SO pleased to find that on
Thursday I was given an appointment with an Endocrinologist, which was much,
much earlier than I expected. As many of you know, I am a type 1 diabetic and
since arriving in Scotland in September, I had not yet had anyone looking over
my blood sugars! So, this appointment was a major relief.
On the
Thursday we made our way to the hospital for the appointment
(travelling quite a ways out with many setbacks), only to find that we
came to the WRONG hospital! By this point I was exhausted and really
frustrated, but we pressed on trying to get to the right hospital. After much
walking, a bus ride, a train ride and a taxi trip we managed to get to the
right hospital and thankfully, were seen immediately. I had an awesome visit
with the Endocrinologist. I am feeling so relieved to have someone taking care of
my conditions and am so grateful to God.
THEN,
immediately following the appointment I began having horrible abdominal pains.
Now, while we were in the states I had pretty intense abdominal pains
as a side-effect of the drugs they gave me to terminate the pregnancy, so I
thought this was more of the same. However, these would not let up at all even
with paracetamol (Tylenol). The nurse saw me hunched over in pain and
offered me a bed until it passed. Eventually, when she saw my pain was not subsiding,
she insisted that we make our way to A&E (ER) to get urgent medical care.
So off we went.
Ali
explained the whole situation to them and they immediately admitted me and gave
me morphine (thank God). However, they didn't have any
emergency gynaecological services there, so they had to transport us
to another hospital in Glasgow via ambulance (to Alisdair's delight). When we
arrived there, they did an ultrasound to find that there was heavy internal
bleeding and assumed something ruptured, but couldn't see what. Because I was
stable at the moment, they suggested exploratory surgery in the morning to get
rid of the blood and to see what was going on. But that hospital was undergoing
reconstruction, so they didn't have any beds. So, they sent us to ANOTHER hospital
in Glasgow via ambulance. Alisdair was having a great time and we have now been
in all the main hospitals in Glasgow. :)
When we
arrived there, my pain was manageable for a while, and then suddenly things
took a major turn for the worst. The pain meds were no longer working and the
intensity was increasing rapidly. Apparently, they were VERY concerned by the
look of me as I had gone extremely pale. They immediately started preparing
everything to take me into emergency surgery. At that time, I could hardly
breathe, the pain was so bad! They continued to give me morphine, but it wasn't
working at all! It was agony.
After the
surgery we found out that my left fallopian tube had ruptured (where the
ectopic was) and caused a lot of internal bleeding. They removed my left
fallopian tube, but were able to preserve everything else, which means I can
still conceive, God willing! I was provided with incredible care and amazing
nurses. It was also a huge relief to know we are not going to get a big, fat bill
for all of this!
Physically,
I am doing well, and feeling so much better with each new day. I'm totally off
pain meds and can do most things like normal. The recovery has been really fast
which I know is God working through so many people
praying for me. We
have been so cared for by our friends and family back in the states, friends
and family here and our new church family. This first week out of hospital we
have received meals from friends, had people coming round to help with
household things, flowers delivered and visits from folks to check on how we
are doing. We have received countless emails of people letting us know they are
praying for us and are watching God answer their prayers
before our eyes. I am
humbled and SO grateful. Spiritually, we are also doing really well. Every day
we continue to process all that has just happened with God and He is speaking to us constantly. I just "happened" to be reading through the book of Job (a
book in the Bible about God's response to one man's tragic circumstances) when
this whole thing took place and just finished the book this morning. Jesus has revealed Himself to me even
more deeply through this
situation and His word. What an incredibly
gracious God we get to know!
As always,
and possibly even more at the moment, we need your prayer! Find out specifics
below:
1. Rejoice! There is SO much to praise God for. Please know that your prayers are being answered,
so be encouraged!
·
Praise God
that I am alive!
·
Praise God
that we were not on a plane when my tube ruptured!
·
Praise God
that we were in Scotland when emergency surgery was needed; thank God for
the National Health Service!
·
Praise God
that we were in the hospital when the pain began and were given immediate care!
·
Praise God that
only one tube was removed, nothing else was damaged, and God willing, we can
still conceive!
·
Praise God
for incredible, unusually kind and caring nurses!
·
Praise God
for a speedy recovery free from complications, thus far!
·
Praise God
that our hearts have not been hardened as a result of this situation and that
we are getting the amazing opportunity to know God more deeply through it!
2. Marriage. Please continue to pray that we can process this
together, with Jesus and that we would grow closer to one another and Him as a result of these circumstances. Pray for
increased faith and protection from the enemy's lies.
3. Healing. Please pray for a continued speedy recovery and full physical healing.
4. Ali's new
job! In the midst
of all that is going on, Ali also started his new job this last Monday.
After feeling quite discouraged by the content of the work so far and wondering
why on earth he accepted this position (oh right, we need money!), yesterday he
got invited out for a pint after work with two guys his age! They had lots of
chat regarding real things and they are now arranging the start of a work
football (soccer) team together! Can you believe it? What an incredible answer
to prayer. He was so encouraged! The things God has put on our heart, He is bringing to fruition and we are amazed.
Thank you so
much for walking with us in this life and for interceding on our behalf. To Jesus be the glory and honour and power, forever
and ever.
McKibbens
P.S. Oh, I
almost forgot! Quick story about the photo at the beginning of this post.
Before we left for the states we went down to Alisdair's village to see his
family. They have an artist in their village who wanted to give us one of her
paintings for our new flat, so I went over with Ali's mum to pick it out. Out
of all the paintings that she offered me, this is the one I was totally drawn
to and chose! And I didn't even know I was pregnant yet! Pretty incredible.
