Don Spared Once Again

On the 3rd of December Don and I arrived in Hutchinson to spend the month of December before returning to RGBI for the winter. That night Don began to experience chest pains. Next day we went to Urgent Care - did not find anything disturbing. He continued to have some pain through the week-end. On Tues. the 7th we were at the Clinic for my blood work, etc. Don again had severe chest pain, so back to Urgent Care. This time was sent to the hospital. After stress test, and heart cath it was determined that his main coronary artery was 99% blocked and 2 others 70% blocked. Was to have triple bypass on Friday, but a 102 degree fever on Thursday prevented that. On Monday Dec. 13 he did have the surgery. He did well, but the next day he went into atrial fibrillation. Many meds given to him to try to convert the rate and rhythm. Over 200 pulse at times. They tried in vain to convert with the drugs, but by Friday that week decided to cardio convert with the shock. That worked for only 4 hours. Also his hemoglobin dropped to 8 so he had 2 units of blood. They were not effective - only raised it to 8.8. He was very weak, had 20 extra pounds of fluid. On Sunday he had 2 more units of blood. By Tuesday he was sent home. Home Health started the next day. Had been hospitalized from Dec. 7 - Dec. 21. Over the Christmas weekend he kept gaining weight.
By Tues. the 28th we went to Urgent Care - he was again hospitalized and give IV Lasix. On Thursday, Dec. 30 they once again gave him the shock. His pulse stabilized and he was sent home again on Dec. 31.
At this point, Jan. 1, 2011, his pulse is still regular. He is pale from low blood count of 9.8, but is doing better. We went to Roger's house for lunch today, then he slept for several hours.
This is the 3rd time in 2010 that the Lord has spared our lives - in June when Roberta had a very large pulmonary embolism, in Oct. when Don had his terrible fall hitting his head on the concrete driveway, and now being so close to having a heart attack. We are waiting on the Lord and considering what our next step will be concerning our ministry at RGBI. Obviously we will not be able to return Jan. - March this year. We will need to return at some point to get our summer clothing, etc. Perhaps we can go for graduation in the spring. Thanks to all have prayed for us during this difficult year. God has shown us much grace and mercy through these times of illness for both of us.