BACK TO THE “OR” HOPEFULLY FOR THE FINAL TIME
As regular readers of this space know, since discharge from the hospital on September 1st I have always has the specter of returning one more time to the hospital for what I hope will be the final surgery. Following the emergency surgery in early August for the removal of the infections which threatened my life, I have known and understood that one more major surgical procedure would be required. In that surgery, the ileostomies would be reversed, the colon would be reconnected and there was a possibility that my gall bladder would be removed as stones were discovered on the CAT-SCAN which preceded the emergency surgery. Well, the day for the reversal surgery is here and I will be operated on for the third, and please God and hopefully, the final time on Thursday, December 10th.
My doctors are in agreement that I am now strong enough to endure the reversal procedures and the sooner this is done and recovery completed, the sooner I will be back and doing the things a bishop should do. I have been told that hospitalization this time will most likely be a week to ten days, and recovery four to six weeks, this compared to five weeks in July and August in the hospital (four weeks in CPICU) and three months and then days in recovery at home.
My office will keep the diocese informed of my progress on this site and the diocesan web site (http://www.dosp.org) . While I enjoy the same rights of privacy as everyone else, the position of leadership which I hold compels me to be straight-forward and honest in letting the priests, deacons, religious and faithful of the diocese know what is going on.
May I ask several special favors: please no flowers, cards, expressions of good cheer. I know you will be praying for me and that is more than enough. Also, the hospital was very grateful last time for some severe restrictions on visitors. They can be disruptive of recovery and, in my case, challenge the staff of the hospital to do their work not just for me but for the other patients. I would much rather be out and among you doing what I should be doing and that will come sooner as recovery progresses. As soon as I can I will resume my commitment to this blog and am certain that we will be communicating again well before Christmas.
My prayer for six months has been and remains the familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer:” fiat voluntas tua “or “Not my will, Lord, but yours be done.”
I hope to see many of you soon and be assured of my prayers and best wishes for a most blessed Christmas.
+RNL