A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

You probably think I'm referring to Pearl Harbor, but actually, in the Luce household, December 7 is the anniversary of another very significant event in history--at least in our personal history! Five years ago today, I took Chad to the emergency room with severe stomach pains. After a long wait and thorough examination, the surgeon on call assured us that Chad needed a "textbook appendectomy." HA! When this simple surgery lasted way longer than expected, the surgeon came into the waiting room to inform me that he wasn't even able to find Chad's appendix, since his appendix wasn't enlarged in the least. What he did find, however, was a fist-sized mass in Chad's colon, which turned out to be diverticulitis. To make a long story short and spare you the gory details, complications from this surgery to remove the mass led to a second surgery 6 days later, which led to a grueling hospital stay of 16 days. Watching Chad suffer through the pain of those surgeries and the subsequent recovery had to be one of the most physically and emotionally draining two weeks of my life! I couldn't even fathom how difficult it was for him. Finally, on December 23, just in time for Christmas, I brought my weak and emaciated husband home from the hospital. One of these days I'll hook up the scanner (five years ago we didn't have a digital camera) and show pictures of what he looked like when he came home. I believe he weighed just under 160 pounds. It was crazy!

Due to the nature of Chad's surgery, about 2 months later he had to go back for a third and final surgery, just days after his 30th birthday. Thankfully, all went smoothly and he was out of the hospital in a mere 7 days. Fortunately, his problems since then have been relatively minimal and he leads a fairly normal life considering he's missing half of his large intestine!

While I'd certainly never want for either of us to have to go through something like that again, I know it was a learning experience--one that strengthened us as individuals and as a couple, and one that definitely strengthened our faith. We saw God's hand in so many of the circumstances surrounding the event, there was no doubt that it was all part of His ultimate plan! Not a fun trial, I assure you, but one that we're thankful is 5 years behind us!