Project 365: When God Answers Prayer

Tim got up around 7:30. He was only able to eat half of the breakfast he fixed. He took his shower and then came back to bed around 8 but was up about an hour later because he was not able to go back to sleep. He was not able to breathe right. That has happened to him several times. Something else to mention to the oncologist today.

We went to the office to find some articles in his database for the bulletin. I finished up the bulletin while he snoozed in his recliner and did some reading and watched some TV. He was not hungry at lunch time. I woke up with nausea that I finally had to take some Zofran for. I think I brought it on myself by eating ice cream and chips before bed last night. So, I was not feeling up to lunch, either.

We left for the doctor's appointment at 12:45. Since Tim has been so weak and unsteady lately, I'm sure from not being able to eat much, I wheelchaired him into the hospital with the chair we got from Lori. It folds up and fits behind the driver's seat in the car! Very convenient. Plus, I was able to get the doctor's signature on a form to get a handicapped parking pass, so I will be taking care of that next week.

After the bloodwork and power port cath care, we saw Dr. Triozzi. I had my list of the problems Tim has for my argument for a CT scan being ordered. I really did NOT want to cry or shout or stomp my feet! But after checking Tim over and my mentioning the first item on my list of the stomach issues, the doctor said he was concerned about the stomach issues so he wanted to have a CT scan the same day as Tim is back to get the brain MRI! Praise the Lord for answered prayer!

Also, remember the bleeding tumor that we had to bandage for 20 months before the doctor agreed it was time to have surgery to remove the tumor, which happened last November? Well, there is another bleeding tumor growing around the rim of the surgery site where the other one was removed, so that was another reason the doctor wanted a CT scan ordered.

Also, there are some lumps of melanoma that continue to grow, even though the medicine Tim is currently taking is keeping most of the melanoma at bay. At least, we think so. That is another reason I was going to be adamant about getting a CT. With the melanoma being active in Tim's brain, it is likely that it is active in places that we cannot see in the trunk of his body. I pray that his vital organs are not compromised, but we need that scan to find out for sure!

Since Tim and I had not eaten all day, we decided to use a gift card we received (thanks again, Sheree!) and eat at Applebees on the way home. We were early enough that we could still order from their lunch menu, which is about all the food we could eat anyway. We both ordered a cup of soup and half a sandwich and a drink! Tim was able to eat all but a few bites of the soup and the sandwich! I was so happy!

It began to pour the rain outside just as we were finishing up our lunch. So, we decided to sit and wait it out since there wasn't a line of people waiting to get our table. Tim took his hearing aids out and handed them to me since they are not to get wet. I didn't want to just throw them in my purse, so I wrapped them in a napkin first and then put them in my purse. We never thought another thing about them all evening.

Napkin I wrapped Tim's hearing aids in.

Jessica and the kids arrived around 8:30. So we visited for about an hour before Tim took his bed time meds. When he went into the bedroom to get dressed he asked about his hearing aids. So, I went to my purse for them. No napkin folded up with his hearing aids in it was to be found! We looked high and low, Jessica and I. We dug through the trash can outside at least 3 times. We dug through my purse several times. We dug through every trash can in the house. Nothing! I was sick! That is almost $4,000 down the drain that we were going to have to replace. Tim went to bed saying, "don't worry, they will show up." I said, "yeah, when we buy them again!"

Jessica and I kept looking. I said, "I know everything happens for a reason, but....." Jessica called Applebees to see if we could come and did through their trash. They let us know they could not do that because it would break too many sanitation codes they would get sited for. Jessica said, "we just don't know what good will come out of this. Maybe you will think of a step in the process that you are not recalling right now." I said to myself, "well, Lord, I don't know what good could possibly come out of this, but I will leave it in Your hands." I kept looking. I looked again in my purse. For some reason I decided to look in my little change purse, go figure! Jessica even picked it up but didn't open it when she felt the change in the bottom of it.

I absolutely do not remember folding the napkin this neatly and small to tuck it into this change purse! I only remember folding the napkin over the hearing aids and then folding the napkin again and just sticking it inside of my purse.

I "knew" I had not put the hearing aids in there! But, praise the Lord! There they were! I just started crying and took the change purse to Jessica and she looked at me and said, "Are you about to show me a Jesus moment?" I said, "look in the change purse." She started crying, too. Now, we had the kids' attention! "Why are you crying?" they asked. Jessica said, "remember how we always pray to Jesus about our problems or when we need help, and we wait for Jesus to answer our prayers? Well, Mamaw and I have been praying for Jesus to help us find Papaw's hearing aids for the last half an hour and He answered our prayers! We don't always see answers to our prayers that quickly, do we?" Ryan said, "No, because we've been praying for Papaw to be well for a long time, and we are still waiting for God to answer our prayers."

Now, I had to paraphrase most, if not all of the conversation above because I couldn't remember the exact wording, but, yes, that was definitely a teachable moment that I thank God for. It was the good that we needed to see come out of the situation....so the kids would see that God cares and hears and answers our prayers. Now, there will be times in the future when God will not answer our prayers the way we want. That will be a teachable moment, too! But, Thank You, Lord, that You chose to answer in a positive way tonight! Now I will be able to sleep!

Tim ran a fever again tonight of 100.1 but he and I did sit outside for a little while tonight before Jessica got here. Here are some of those pictures and others: