Welcome dear friend, I have a cup of my old favorite, Earl Grey tea, in hand because in times like this you reach for that comforting hot cuppa.

Please Grab yourself your favorite cuppa & sit with me for awhile as I share the most unexpected & challenging situation that my husband & I are still traveling at this moment.

Let me set the scene…

My eldest daughter, husband & young family have been visiting, they live 1,000 kilometers interstate, so it has been lovely to have them visiting.

They are on the beginning of their year’s journey of discovery around our beautiful country in their tiny house.

My daughter will be home schooling her three sons during their trip, so they needed to establish a school work routine while here in our little seaside village.

They extended their stay for a week, as the school year has just begun here in Australia.

So while they were here, we made plans to attend our church fellowship together.

I was rather excited that we were all going to share in this time together.

That morning I rose slightly late to have breakfast & get ready for the service, noticing my husband was already up, as his side of the bed was empty.

I went out to say good morning to him & to prepare our breakfast cuppa.

As I entered our living room I was instantly on alert as all was not well.

His normal routine had drastically changed!

He was still in his bed attire (he always gets dressed as soon as he gets out of bed each morning, a habit he has done all our married life).

There was evidence he had been lying on the sofa (which he never does) & the ceiling fan was going full pelt (again unusual for him).

I closely observed him as he was slowly pacing the living room, he was in absolute agony, deathly pale, cold & clammy to the touch.

His breathing were quick raspy gasps. He just couldn’t get comfortable, whether he sat, laid down or paced.

I knew this was a medical emergency, my husband is a very stoic man, he rarely shows that he is in pain (he has Chronic Arthritis, so he knows pain).

Thus, for him to exhibit this behaviour with pain was very alarming indeed.

He also has a chronic heart condition & he knows the symptoms within his body when this needs urgent medical care.

I asked him if it was his heart condition… He gasped “no”.

I phoned the emergency services at this point as shared in my post “What is your emergency…

When the paramedics arrived, I had already administered the on hand medication as directed by the Ambulance service & made him as comfortable as possible.

Bracing myself to do CPR (Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation) on him if needed.

I can’t tell you just how relieved I was when the paramedics arrived within 10 minutes of despatch.

I had been rather concerned that if this was a cardiac event & he did go into Cardiac arrest, just how long would I be realistically capable of keeping up manual CPR with the Fibromyalgia I have.

As they proficiently & quickly administered pain medication, inserted a cannula & connected him up to a heart monitor.

They pronounced that it was not a Cardiac arrest! Praise God!

But the agony my husband was still experiencing was clearly evident, even with the extremely strong pain medication administered.

The decision to urgently transport him by Ambulance to our closest Emergency Department for assessment & diagnosis was made, as something was drastically wrong.

As they wheeled him into the back of the Ambulance. I had flashbacks of my late husband also leaving in an Ambulance…never to return home.

Hmmmm…

Many thoughts raced through my mind for my husband, Will I see my Steve again & will he return home?

I noticed I felt very calm & peaceful, God’s presence was surrounding us. God’s hand was upon the situation.

“I will never leave you,

nor will I ever forsake you,

nor will I leave you without support…”

Hebrews 13: 5-6

The paramedics said they would care for him as they closed the doors of the Ambulance.

I was very thankful to them. But also knew more importantly that he was in God’s care whatever the outcome.

As I prepared to travel to the hospital, my eldest daughter, son in law & grandsons arrived for our church plans.

My daughter, an RN (registered nurse) jumped in my car to accompany me to the Emergency Department.

When we arrived, diagnostic procedures were in progress.

Within a very short time, diagnosis was discovered, my lovely man was immediately prepped for emergency surgery.

As a perforation had occurred in the internal wall of his stomach & stomach acids were pouring into his abdominal cavity, a very serious & life threatening condition!

He was rushed to the operating theatre for major surgery as my daughter & I waited for the next six hours (shared with my husband’s permission).

Until next time, for an update, go to Grace in the unexpected…

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

Or in Prayer

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