Pastor Pusch

Dickens wrote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness… it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

It seems that over the last year my family has experienced both sides of the emotional, mental, and physical spectrum that Dickens penned in the opening line of his classic title  A Tale of Two Cities. However, to bring the last 12 months to summation, I would have to say, we experienced the greatest of times showered only by the grace of God.

June 2009 proved to be a trying time in our family as we had to take our daughter Jovie in for surgery to repair her cleft palate. While Jovie was clueless to the situation, Rena and I were charting new and unexpected territory. This was perhaps the most difficult process to endure. We had complete confidence in Jovie’e care, but it was still my little baby girl who had to suffer. I cannot even begin to tell you how much joy and happiness Jovie Madelyn has brought to our home. We released Jovie into the arms of the surgeon with indescribable feelings swinging back and forth between hope and despair. Today, Jovie is doing extremely well and has not experienced any further problems. Grace.

July 2009 we learned that Jovie was going to be a big sister. Overall we were excited about receiving another gift of God, but it would be a complete lie if I told you that we did not experience feelings of another kind as we wondered whether or not we were ready for child number 2 after all we have experienced with number 1. Today, we are within 6 weeks of delivery, and words would fail to describe the great anticipation we feel as we wait for the arrival of Jovie’s little sister. Grace.

September 2009 taught us unforgettable lessons. Two seizures landed me in the hospital for a series of tests that brought forth darkening results. After reviewing the results, doctors wasted no time scheduling surgery. After surgery, recovery was a challenge. From anxiety to full mental breakdown, I experienced everything in between. Thankfully I have been taken off the medications that caused such instability. The pathology reports all came back the same week of surgery. Today, all is well. What was thought to be a low grade brain tumor with malignant activity is no longer. I am taking 1 medication with little to no side effects (for only 6 more months) and to this day all of my scans have come back clean and clear. A miracle for sure. Grace.

It is not like we have not seen God’s hand at work in our lives before, it just 2009 has been a year like none other. Words fail to describe how grateful we are as a family. God continues to mold us and shape us. He has given us new perspective and we enter 2010 with great anticipation thankful for all that He has done and will continue to do. While 2009 brought with it great trials and heartache, I can say for me, it was indeed the “best of times.” Grace.

“And the God of all grace…will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 5:10-11

Blessings,
PastorPusch

Last week was rough. I am thankful that all went extremely well at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Jovie came through strong and continues to do well in her recovery. She doesn’t care so much for her meds, although Daddy got them flavored for her, but I figure, who likes taking medications anyway. Speaking of meds, I was shocked to find out how much her 3 scripts cost. The ear drops killed us! Her pain script was about $4, antibiotic about $7, but her ear drops were a whopping $38. Later I was told that most sprays and drops are like that. Anyway, Jovie is progressing well (still trying to get used to her arm braces).

Gotta Get Back On! Although things went well for Jovie last week, I took a bump off the wagon. In other words, I fell off into the land of ”Not-So-Good” choices. I started the week doing well. I was eating light, doing the Subway thing (only real good thing to eat in the cafe), and even our wonderful Connection Group from church brought me healthy snacks as a ”go to” at the hospital.  It was going well; much better than I thought it would be in those circumstances. Then we got home… and somewhere along the way, I took a dive. I didn’t turn into some mad eating machine or some kind of out of control animal. Instead, I gave into some of the temptations that surrounded me. Temptations names pizza, chocolate, and other not so great choices. My portions grew a bit and guilt set in. Looking back, I hated that I allowed myself to succumb to those temptations. I felt bad… still do.

Weigh-in Day: Today I am approaching the scale with the attitude that everything is going to be ok! I caught up with the wagon, and took a leap back on! My stay in the land of “Not-So-Good” was short lived and I am ready and more excited about the journey ahead. I learned a lot in “Not-So-Good” land and I learned that I really didn’t care for the me that was there. “Not-So-Good” is extremely overrated, especially when you worked to hard to avoid that place.

A Personal Note: Thank you so much for all of your encouraging emails, calls, and chats. Not only concerning my journey through weight loss, but for all that my family has been through in the last week. I/We could not do it without your love and support for us. We love you!

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Weight Loss Update:
Week 6: -5

I realize those results go against what I mentioned prior to this update. Obviously I wrote this blog before we weighed in. My thoughts have not changes in light of the results. All this means is that it’s time to buckle down and ger serious again! It’s time to work hard! The future looks bright and I am excited about the days to come.

This Monday, June 15, we will take Jovie to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital where she will undergo a surgery to fix her cleft palate. We’ve known about this surgery for just over a year now as we first learned about her condition at birth. It’s hard to believe that it’s time. For months I’ve been saying that it’s months away… now it’s only days; 3 days left to be exact. We’re confident in the medical staff at Vandy as they have been extremely helpful and kind to us. We are thankful to God for giving Dr. Gowdy the ability to what he does. We turn Jovie over to His care. Regardless as to how confident we are, my heart breaks for her. I will never forget taking her to Vandy Children’s heart specialist as they attached the EKG electrodes to her body, I about lost it. We all know that an EKG is no big deal, but to see my helpless daughter laying there with only here diaper on attached to about 5 wires, my heart couldn’t take it. The good news then was that the cardiologist gave Jovie Madelyn a clean bill of health. She’s a trooper!

What is a cleft palate? Over the last 14+ months we have been asked this question at least once a week and the best way I can describe it is to say that Jovie has no roof to her mouth. If you were to take your tongue and start with your teeth, move past your gum line, all the way to the top of you mouth; that’s what is missing; the very top to the back of her mouth. The picture to the right shows how the mouth did not come together as it should have. Obviously, the cleft palate has led to a host of different issues. From the beginning, Jovie could not use a regular bottle as she had no ability to suck as the air flow would continually circulate through her mouth and nose. Without a palate, the next stop is the nasal passage walls as there is nothing there to separate the two. Have you ever tried to suck through a straw that had a hole in it? That’s how doctors describe what happening with Jovie. Although she will try to suck (whether it’s a bottle, sippy cup, paci, etc.) air would escape and not allow Jovie to draw any attachment. The cleft palate has also led to some issues dealing with fluid on her ears. We have been blessed though as Jovie has been able to avoid some other faults commonly occuring as a result of the cleft palate. For instance, the doctors told us from the beginning that Jovie would never be able to feed herself and that we would always have to us the special Haberman bottle until she were to come off of it. I am happy to say that Jovie figured out a new technique and was feeding her own bottle in no time. Also, it’s common for cleft palate babies to go through numerous severe earaches and to this date, Jovie hasn’t had any.

Cleft palate Surgery. As mentioned, Jovie goes in Monday for her repair surgery. Somehow it’s considered an outpatient surgery, although we’ll still spend upwards of 3 days/2 nights in the hospital. During the surgery, doctors will go in and do a couple skin grafts from within her mouth, stretch it, and use that skin to form a roof to her mouth. Yes, believe it or not, it’s all skin up there. There is a 20% chance that she would have to have another surgery if the skin doesn’t patch up like it should. That tells me that there’s an 80% chance that this procedure is all that she will need. I like 80%. That’s it. The doctors talk about this procedure as we would talk about tying our shoes. Also, during the palate surgery, they will drain whatever fluid is on her ears and insert tubes to prevent further irritation (temporary tubes I believe).

Recovery. Here is where Rena and I are bit nervous. For about three weeks, Jovie can’t have anything in her mouth other than actual food and drink which alone will be challenging for the first little while (sippy cups have to be cut down and all foods must go through the blender). As a way to prevent her hands from going in her mouth, the doctors told us that she’ll have to wear arm braces that will keep her from doing so. We believe this is where the real challenge will be as she will have no clue as why her arms have to be restrained. Jovie is a very lively little girl and I can’t imagine what she will think about the braces. Only time will tell. We pray that she’ll get used to them somehow.

I’m sure I’ve left out all sorts of things, but this is all my brain is processing right now. We’ll try to keep everyone informed next week as to how everything went.

Prayer Items:
1. Jovie- Pray that she’ll have a smooth morning on the 15th. She will not be able to eat or drink anything that day. We are scheduledto be at the hospital at 11:45 so that is  a whole morning we’ll have to deal with. Also pray that overall she’ll do well with everything from the anesthesiologist, doctors, nurses, recovery, and patience.
2. Doctors and all those involved in the process. More specifically pertaining to the surgery, pray that Dr. Gowdy’steam will be able to extract enough skin from within her mouth to do the procedure. Not being able to do so would result in them having to go to the back of her throat for more which can potentially lead to speech and other complications down the road. Dr. Gowdy doesn’t seem to think that will be the case, but it is one of those things that he has to mention as a possibility.
3. Mommy and Daddy – Strength and peace on Monday. Patience and endurance during the recover process. (My brother told Rena that she’ll have to take care of Jovie’s dad on Monday. He’s probably right. Remember the EKG story?) I wasn’t sure if I was going to mention this or not, but it’s real and I know you’ll be praying. This process brings about with it a whole new set of expenses. Although she is covered by medical insurance, we all know how these things work.

Thank you so much for praying for us. We have already begun to see cards and emails come through letting us know that people are thinking about us during this time. No words can express our debt of gratitude. Continue to pray! Thank you so much for all of  your love and support both now and what I know will come in the days ahead.

Blessings,
Eric, Rena, and Jovie