I have been absent from this blog and a great deal of the rrest of my life for about a week now, and it has been due to a little hospital stay.

Early last week, I developed a little spot on my stomach that I believe was an ingrown hair. We all have them. I’ve had a few in the past, and they do their thing, then get better. I just let this one run its course.

But this one didn’t seem to be getting better. It began to get warm and red (what I would later learn was cellulitis). As I sleep on my stomach, I got very little sleep as it got worse. Monday night was extremely fitful. So I decided last Tuesday to go see the doctor.

We love Immediate care, so I headed over to see Dr. Tucker. He looked me over and said it needed to be lanced, dressed, cultured, and treated with antibiotics.

They performed the procedure (and it hurt!), telling me ot come back Thursday for a dressing change.

Fast-forward to Thursday. Back to the Dr. for a dressing change. Dr. Tucker looked me over and decided he didn’t like the looks of it and wanted me to go see a surgeon just for a second opinion.

His office set me up with an immediate appointment with Dr. Brotherton. Dr. Brotherton looked me over and decided that I needed to be admitted to the hospital. He gave us a half hour to run home and get some things then report to the hospital.

He called in the minor surgery team after hours and they removed the infected tissue, packed the wound, and sent me back to my room for intravenous antibiotics, frequent dressing changes, and lots of pain meds to make the dressing changes bearable.

That was my routine until today. The Dr. was finally pleased enough with my recovery that I was released to home, where Jeane had my sick room all ready.

the culture did revealed that I had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which the Dr. had already determined due to which antibiotics the infection had responded to.

So, I am resting comfortably at home, back online jut a bit, but mainly still recuperating, and still having twide-daily wound dressings, which are still painful.

My great thanks to so many people who have been so good to me during this trying ordeal. Dr. Brotherton is an excellent doctor, and I have nothing but good things to say about him. And, let me just say that you could never hope for a hospital and staff better than what I encountered at Claremore Regional Health Center. Every single nurse and aide was kind, personable, and professional. They made a very difficult time bearable. We heard the rare comment from people as to why we didn’t go to Tulsa for treatment. Let me say that there is no doubt in my mind that I would never have received the care and/or attention in a Tulsa hospital that I got in Claremore. Kudos to CRHC.

My friends and family have been an unending support, most especially Jeane. On the tail of a month of extreme activity resulting in near exhaustion, Jeane has taken such good care of me, managed the house, got my room ready, and sat by my side for hours. I can never express how much she means to me or how perfectly she meets my needs as a husband.

Let’s be honest, this was no small ordeal. It started as a relatively small thing, which due to infection, could have threatened my life. And like all life-threatening episodes, I had some serious time with my God. I have long since passed the stage of life where I have tried to bargain with God. However, I did learn anew the necessity of relying on God–fully–to survive. It’s a good place to be able to commit yourself, body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord’s care, and mean it. My prayer to God was that I would bless His name forevermore, whether I stayed sick or recovered. He is a great and mighty God, however He decides to direct my steps. I am extremely thankful that I am recovering well. But His is Lord whether or not I do.