God is good. [not a studio journal entry]

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for all your prayer, encouragement, and kind words. God has truly blessed me with each and every one of you in my life.

As both Mrs. Wells and Jessica commented on my last note, the surgery was a complete success. God pulled me through and nothing could have gone any better than it did.

The cholestoma was gone so the surgery was just reconnecting the two bones.

I am expected to recover much quicker than last time due to the fact that I didn't get sick (they gave me anti-nausea meds before and during surgery), I am not in nearly as much pain as I was last time (we had to stay at the hospital for 11 hours last time, after the surgery, even longer in total), and this surgery only took 40 minutes as compared to the nearly 2.5 hour surgery I had last summer.

I am in some pain, but I honestly do not care all that much. God has brought me through victoriously and I should never need another surgery on that ear ever again.

I also learned more about the cholestoma. If it had come back, the canal wall down procedure that would have had to take place was bad for several reasons.
1) the cholestoma needed to be removed if it was there because those can grow out of control and be fatal
2) canal wall down leaves the patient vulnerable to more ear infections and bacterial growth, thus making more ear drum holes
3) canal wall down greatly effects the hearing of the ear in which it takes place

I am so blessed by the outcome of this surgery and I am in awe of God's great love.

Thank you everyone who either called me, IMed me, prayed for me, texted me, emailed me, etc. It means more to me than you could ever know.

Please continue to pray for me this next month that I will have a quick and safe recovery.

God Bless,
♥ Carl