My Medical Story

The Long Ride…

Jodie L. Roberson

Psalm 56:3 – When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Time Line

August 2016 - Fatigue, Upper Left Quadrant Pain

September 2016 – Colonoscopy, Endoscopy, CT (all Clear)

October 2016 – Bariatric Surgeon – Come back if worse.

November 2016 – Nausea, Vomiting – ER on Monday. On Tuesday, riding to pick up my car from the previous day’s hospital visit, Mama hit a pothole.  White, hot pain. ER again. Appendix ruptured, complicated by sepsis. Developed ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Begged for intubation.  Told my mama that I was going to die.  Told everyone how much I loved them. This was my last memory. 

December 2016 – Life Flight from MG to Vidant. 10% chance of survival. Arterial blood draws, Ventilator, Tracheostomy, Chest tubes, continued to have respirations at 60 breaths per minute.  Multiple surgeries to try to resolve infections.  Illiostomy, unable to stand, walk, speak, swallow, communicate, vocal cord paralysis (Unsure of the number of procedures, somewhere around 12)

January 2017 – Home with home health care nurses, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy. Hair fell out in clumps due to malnutrition.

March 2017 – 2 Vocal cord surgeries, PTSD

April 2017 – Back to work with illiostomy

May 2017 – Decision to reverse illiostomy.

June 2017 – Laproscopic Reversal (10% chance of success) Bowel nicked in two places.

July 2017 – Open Procedure – Lots of infection. Wound Vac Applied.  Home 2 weeks later.  Returned to ER. Vac Failure. Waste coming through vac. Wound Manager – Left to heal on my own. Told it would be 6-12 months before I could eat or drink.  Home again after several weeks.  Nutrition through a PICC line.  Home Health again.

September 2017 – Still healing. Open wound. Released to go back to work on October 2^nd.

November 2017 – Still healing. Still open wound

From The Message:

James 5:14 – Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing – prayer will heal you and Jesus will put you on your feet.

To Do List:

·       Defeat the weakness in your voice.

·       Pray! Believing your prayers will be answered.

·       Dare to be amazing. Have courage. Winston Churchill said, “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”

·       Believe in yourself. Put yourself at risk for something great to happen. 

·       Know that where the human mind thinks it will break falls very short of where it actually will break.

·       Push yourself! Believe in yourself.

·       Be a champion and keep moving.

·       Stop being a victim.  Be a victor.

·       Go after what you want.

·       Trust yourself.  Make your life purposeful.

·       Set your priorities and be GREAT!

·       Share your experiences. Pray. Add value to your life by doing for others.

·       Learn to accept blessings.

·       Find your passion and pursue it. Drive to it.

·       Life comes down to your decisions. Decide to contribute to the good. The way to affect others is to change your self.

·       Take a risk. Don’t waste time. Be bold.

·       I can! I will! I must! Move forward. 

·       Psalm 30:2 – God, my God, I yelled for help and you put me together.  God, you pulled me out of the grave, gave me another chance at life when I was down and out.

·       Be rich.  Not by having money. Be rich in your commitments. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” (Churchill)

·       No past is ever too dark for the love of Christ. “Kites rise against the wind – not with it.” (Churchill)

·       Be sure of your own value.

·       Never stop learning. Make commitments to God, country, family, friends, strangers.

·       Grind, fight, press on. Don’t just go through it, GROW through it.

·       Stop allowing worry to push out peace.

·       Keep a journal. Be disciplined.

·       Worry will make you weak.  Empty out the “should haves” in your heart.

·       Do something about right now.

·       Get back up. The accuser will jump on your back. He will try to hold you down.  Get up!

·       Be a mentor, a teacher, a coach. Discover yourself.

·       Know that you are smart.  Don’t compare your knowledge to the knowledge of others.

·       The truth hurts, but we grow from pain.

·       The body has limitations, the mind doesn’t. Prepare to be successful in your gift. Figure out what your gift is then attack it!

·       Focus on something! Joey said, “You don’t have to be perfect, just focused.” Make it your priority! Work towards it! Live it!

·       Make friends. Be a friend. Accept the benevolence of others.  Let your friends be friends. Don’t deny them the blessing that they get from blessing you.

·       Healing comes through tears. Everyone can praise God on the mountain top. But it is in the valley where we grow and change and learn to rely on God, his blessings, our friends, and family.

·       Share your story. Somewhere, someone needs to hear it. Live so people see Jesus in you!

We paint our world in our thoughts and our level of self belief.

Steve Harvey said, “If you see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand.”

Monitor your thoughts, words, and deeds.  Make good choices. Don’t half go. Go all the way. Do it! Do it! Do it!  God will put the fire in you.  He will stoke it.  He will push you farther than you ever thought possible.

Be Strong and Be Courageous! TRUST in Him, for he will never fail.

Maple Grove Christian Church

November 12, 2017

Sunday night service