[Oe List ...] Final Status

Tue Sep 17 20:03:15 PDT 2013

Jack, so glad to know you are on the mend. From a friend who nearly died
of pancreatitis, I understand it is not only life threatening but
horribly painful. And hospitals themselves are not always the safest
places to be these days with all the superbug that have developed from
irresponsible use of antibiotics. So, I am relieved you're out of the
hospital and recovering well. 

Blessings,

Susan

Susan Fertig-Dykes

(personal email account)

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought .  Isaiah 58:11

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From: oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net
[mailto:oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Jack Gilles
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 2:06 PM
To: Order Ecumenical Community
Cc: Jon Gilles; Helen Heal; Mindy Klebe; Joshua Craver; Shally Khedkar;
Jennifer Frohlich; Hiraman Gavai; Nick Challed; Carolyn Gilles; Viren
Shukla; Alok Shukla; Bharat Shah; M. Theophil; Anil Saldhanha; Jeanne
Evanoff; Ashoke Maitre; Victoria Straw Gilles; Anil Sachdev; Ravi
Toshniwal
Subject: [Oe List ...] Final Status

Dear Colleagues, Friends and Colleagues,

Not sure this is the right title for the email, but I wanted to share a
few things as a wrap-up to my encounter with my serious health events.
>From here on its a matter of getting strength back and then heading back
to Mexico from here in Kalispell Montana. 

First, I want to give official permission for all candles to be
extinguished. Of course anyone who wants to keep one burning for my
continuing enlightenment it is fine with me! What a great symbol that is
within our community! It meant so much to me and I thank you. So many of
you sent healing messages and Skype contacts. Bless you all!

Secondly, I want to make sure everyone understands what happened and why
recovery will be a journey. To use our language, the gallbladder attack
was my problem, the contradiction was (is) the pancreas. Once David got
me to the emergency room with my attack they where able to get the pain
dealt with and they did blood tests and an MRI.  Now both of the
surgeons that worked on me later say that I should never have been
allowed to leave the hospital. I had Pancreatitis (blood count of 50,000
vs normal 50). Pancreatitis was never mentioned to me. All I knew was
that my pain was gone, I had discomfort in the belly, but thought the
pain pills they prescribed would deal with it and when offered the
choice to stay (and have the gallbladder removed) or go home I chose to
go home to work out all that being gone would mean, Judy care etc.  We
were given no instructions as to what care I needed. 

So all the subsequent week was coming to terms with this new reality (no
sleep, no eating, little liquid etc.). The next week started with the
operation last Tuesday to remove the gallbladder and then hospital care
to deal with the Pancreatitis (getting slight fever down, white count
stabilized etc.) and then discharged on Sunday. My gallbladder surgeon
said the first three rules they teach you as a surgeon are: 1. Do no
unnecessary surgery 2. Always get a second opinion 3. Don't f--- with
the pancreas! It is very serious illness and you can die from it if not
treated. All news to me!

Learnings from being in the hospital. Now other than being born I have
never spent any time in a hospital. So all was pretty new to me and you
all will sort of laugh at my naive ate. 

1. If it hurts say so!  They put the IV into the back of my left hand
before my gallbladder surgery. There it stayed through numerous changes
of drips, saline, antibiotics etc. Every time they changed bags they
flush with saline and for about 4 seconds it would hurt like hell, which
I thought was normal. After three days my hand and wrist began to hurt
and were puffy. The nurse said we need to shift the IV, which they did
to the right arm, on the inside of the elbow. No pain! The flush was
getting under the skin, thus the pain.

2. Trust your body's intuition! When they started me on solids on
Thursday I had a good breakfast and all was good. Lunch came and it was
a piece of salmon on a bed of spinach. i took a bite and I was aware I
didn't like the smell, but rather say anything or send it back for
something else, I decided to eat it, for it did taste good. So one bite,
two bites, some spinach and then bite three - followed by everything
coming up! This spooked the doctor and I went back to liquids only. I am
convinced that any other food would have been fine. Anyway, it was
Saturday when I got to back to solids. 

3. All situations are time for care. I realized that for the week I was
in the hospital I would be being cared for and just receive it. But for
me care is a two way street. I had a job of care for them as well. So
over the week there were opportunities, some in the middle of the night,
to have life conversations. Several had vocational and life altering
possibilities. At least one relationship will continue. On the final
trip out in the mandatory wheelchair I asked the nurse to thank the
cleaning crew for their care and let them know how important it was to
my recovery. She said "You can tell her yourself, here she is." coming
down the hall with her cleaning cart. We stopped and I spoke to her for
a couple of minutes about care, working without recognition, and how
much I wanted her to know I appreciated her work. I grabbed her hand and
I thought she was going to cry.

So that's it. The wonderful care for me and Judy by the Scotts here in
Montana continues. Now it is exercise, good no-fats food and getting
strength and vitality back, take my meds and care again for Judy. I have
one last request to you. I hope to be able to watch some good movies and
would like your "don't miss" list. The only great movies I saw in the
last year are "Lincoln" and "Life of Pi". But since people may not want
to have all these email recommendations please send to
<jackcgilles at gmail.com>. Thanks.

Grace and Peace, and Love,

Jack

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