post surgery

Hey, everyone. I thought it would be good to send you and update post-surgery! I'm continuing to feel very blessed by your many prayers! There continues to be no pain and it's already 12 hours after surgery! Thank you so much and praise the Lord. I suspect it will not remain pain free, but I am very thankful for it so far. Funny enough, my left shoulder hurts more along with my lower neck because they're getting knots due to the fact I've been using them so much trying to keep strain off the right shoulder.

So, I went in for surgery this morning at 6am. Alma, another friend and co-worker at the Nehemiah Center came to my house before 5:30am to deliver me to the hospital on time. I arrived, realized I had left an important doctor's note at home (which I intentionally left thinking I wouldn't need it), so my room mate Lennin met Alma half way with it. When she returned, it wasn't long until I was in a fashionable open- backed garment and lying on a bed. The anesthesiologist had some trouble getting the needle into the veins in my hand even though they're normally easy to find. Apparently being cold (air conditioning) and nervous makes them contract. She had to use a baby sized needle in order to get it to work. :) When I felt the warmness in my hand I asked her how long it would take for me to go to sleep. She said I should be feeling dizzy. I told her not yet. Within 10 seconds, I told her that the dizziness was hitting and wham...that's all I remember. Then I was waking up in same room on the same bed, but on my side and with a sore throat from the breathing tube they used (which she warned me about).

So apparently the surgery went well. I now have a screw in my shoulder...hopefully it doesn't come loose! ;) And there's some wiring holding the ligaments in place. They should heal with time and I'll be back to normal. Good as new. They let me lay around for a few hours as they watched my vitals and let the sleepy meds wear off. I still felt a little dizzy when I tried to stand up, which is why they had a wheelchair right there for me.

That's about it. Not real climactic. I've got an appointment with the doc on Friday. he'll take the bandage off and let me know what I can and can't do. I'm guessing we'll talk about physical therapy as well. He did mention to Alma that I shouldn't lift my arm more than 90 degrees...so I think that's a good sign. I will be keeping it pretty still as I enjoy no pain. :)

The doctor offered to take my camera into the surgery. Unfortunately I didn't realize it was nearly full of pictures I'd already moved to my computer! But there are some interesting shots. I've put them on Picasa here. Be aware that they might be a little graphic, but there's no blood.

Again, thank you for your prayers! I have definitely felt them! I will continue to post as I hear more. And, also again check the Sea-to-Sea website. I'm posting some pictures that Kevin and I took when we made the trip since I don't have any from the current trip. Enjoy!

Here's a picture of me right before I went into surgery. See the separated clavicle on my right shoulder? Click the picture for the graphic slides. :) I'll have to post some of the other pictures I have of the damages from before the surgery when the group gets back with the camera containing them.

at the other edge -broken ligaments

Perhaps you've already heard, but my journey has taken an unexpected turn and brought me back to Managua in less than 2 days. Somewhere between Matiguas and Mulukuku on a dirt road the front tire on my motor cycle lost air pressure and after some struggle to remain in control, the front tire slipped out and I went down on my right side. I'm still trying to make sense of it, but in the end, my feet were both under the left side of the bike and I was sitting upright. When I tried to lift the bike off my legs it became apparent that it was far too heavy for me and that something was wrong with my right shoulder. I thought surely it was out of joint. As I looked around, I saw people in both directions and an approaching truck soon stopped and picked up the bike for me and helped me remove my helmet. A few minutes later the people I was traveling with showed up and were startled to see me on the ground with a small crowd around me. We ended up getting in the truck, leaving one of them with the bike, and headed for the next town and medical center. There they took a look at my shoulder, offered me some pain meds and after unsuccesssfully trying to get my shoulder back in joint suggested that we head to Siuna for an x-ray to make sure we didn't do more damage.

Two hours later on a terrible road, we arrived in Siuna. The x-ray technician ended up taking three shots because the first two were so bad they didn't show anything. Soon the doctor arrived and determined that my shoulder was not out of joint as we had thought, but rather that the clavical had come disconnected from the scapula, all four ligaments separated. This, he explained, would require surgery in Managua.

So we retreated to a hotel and the next morning went to the airline office and I bought a ticket back to Managua. I found out later that the airport had been closed for 4 months due to the dirt runway being washed out during the rainy season., and had only reopened two days earlier.

A friend and coworker from the Nehemiah Center graciously picked me up from the airport and took me straight to the hospital where I was seen by who is probably the #1 doctor in the country. He looked at me, took another x-ray, confirmed the diagnosis of the doc in Siuna, got some blood samples and made an appointment for surgery Wednesday morning at 7am. They'll put me under, make an incision, screw my clavical to my scapula, and attach the ligaments again with some wire. Then I'll go home and begin my 3 month recovery.

The Lord has shown his mercy a great deal during this time by preventing more harm, bringing people along side to care for me, opening the airport, and in many more ways. I have been relative painfree, which is also an enormous blessing--and I'm not sure how long that will last. I have health insurance with a $1000 deductible, and they should cover everything over that as long as it is precertified.

Thank you to those who have been praying. Please continue praying for the healing in my arm, for low pain levels, and that the insurance comes through for me.

Also, now that I'm back in Managua, I'll be updating the Sea-to-Sea blog each day of the trip, as they phone me of the day's adventures. Feel free to follow along! bikenica.wordpress.com

at the journey's edge

Well, everyone, after a whirlwind I'm back in Nicaragua and about to head out on a great adventure with 29 very cool people. At 6 or so tomorrow morning I'm going to be meeting at the Nehemiah Center with 3 other people to get a head start on the trip to the Carribean Ocean, where our Sea-to-Sea Nicaragua trip will officially begin on Monday the 29th of January.

I had the pleasure of telling many of you about the trip in person while I was home. I recommend to everyone that you have a look at the Sea-to-Sea Nicaragua website that I set up to keep family and friends back home updated. Go there, explore, read. Check the blogs and skim through some of the recent posts. Check out the profiles of the riders and support staff (like me, for example!)--email me or someone who knows me for the password if you don't have it. It's not a secret, but I don't want to publish it online.

Wish I had more time to write a few more words, but I want to express my deep appreciation for those who have supported me through 2009. It would not be possible to be here and do what I've been doing without your words, prayers, and financial support.

May the Lord bless you and keep you in this coming year; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

coming home soon

It’s true, I’m coming home very soon for a three week visit. December 3. Looking forward to seeing many of you!

If you followed the link on the last blog, you saw that I’ve been very busy with Sea to Sea preparations. Kevin and I took a rental truck 549 kilometers (sorry, I’ve been out of the US too long, and everyone else uses kilometers!) across the country to Puerto Cabezas on the Carribean coast. It was an amazing drive with astounding sights. Our objective was to plan some specific details of the trip and basically get a better idea of the route, the challenges that lay ahead, and make give our hosts along the way a familiar face so that when 30 people show up all at once, they know who to look for. We stopped at every place we are going to stay, checked out the conditions, asked about access to water and other things. The roads are definitely going to be a challenge to the bikers, but there’s no doubt we’ll make it and love it. Fundraising has almost reached our goal, but hasn’t changed in a couple weeks. If you haven’t done so, please consider giving, whatever amount. Remember, if donations come through the Canadian office, there will be matching funds of 4:1! This might be the only time in your life where $20 = $100!

I just thought of something. It would be neat if we could get people who would be willing to pray for specific riders on this trip both before and during the event. If you’d like to take a name, and support that person in a special way through prayer, please check the site and let me know so I can tell them! You can start right away! :) There is something very neat about praying specifically for someone you don’t even know.

Today I was talking with my mechanic friend, who is helping me fix my motorcycle for the Sea to Sea trip. It’s been broken down since June, and I haven’t been able to get it running because we keep finding more problems with it, and because of communication challenges in getting the parts here. My friend told me today that due to lack of time and a super full schedule, I’m going to have to be the mechanic, and he the advisor. So, I’m going to have to do some reading before I pick up the wrenches. I need to change the ‘‘doohickey’’, the clutch, and various other smaller tasks. Needless to say, it will be a lot of time spent on the bike...and I need it running soon!

Internet has been out my house and now my computer’s power supply isn’t working, and the cafe I’m at is closing in about 10 minutes, so unfortunately I can’t post more right now. Hope that everyone is doing well. See you soon.

Prayer Items:

-Pray for safety and energy during the biking trip. And pray for someone specific on the list of bikers. (see site)
-Pray that I can have a productive last week and a half here before I leave for home.
-Pray that I get my bike running asap. And that I don’t screw anything up!

on the raod

Hey! I've been meaning to give another update...but things have been super busy. Check out my last two updates on the Sea-to-Sea website here. I've been on a trip with Kevin Voorberg doing some planning for the bike trip. A few pictures there now, too. Enjoy, and I'll get another update here soon.