Prayers answered
Prayers Answered for my Family
As many of you know in August 2018, my wife and I suffered a disaster that ended up being a catastrophe for us. We had a large limb fall through the roof of our house. This limb was large than some trees, it was three feet across and forty-five feet long. It made quite an impression on our house. It put two holes that were more than two feet across in our roof. It took me a week to cut it off the roof of my house and another two weeks too cut it off the side of my house.
I was keeping careful track of the number or hours I worked on the removal of the tree from my house. You see, the tree belonged to my neighbor who was responsible for the tree according to Texas law. It took me a total of 150 man-hours to clear the debris from my home. The going rate for this type of removal is normally $75.00 per hour. I had pictures of the damage to my home and was beginning the process of hiring an attorney ( for those of you who live in different countries a solicitor) when I found out that the maximum I would receive would be $1500.00. This was a great miscarriage of justice in my eyes and I am still upset about it. Even though I am upset I am still looking for a solution for our situation.
Relief
Having such a disaster happen to a person brings all sorts of doubts, despair, and laziness. It was very depressing to have the home I had raised my children in practically destroyed and having no income to do the repairs was very frustrating. Until, my wife saw a flyer at the water office saying that if your house was substandard that you could have it rebuilt for free. I was skeptical that such a program could exist. I told my wife to go ahead and fill out the paperwork but I still had doubts. She filled out the paperwork and a few weeks later we were called in for an interview about our situation. They asked for some tax documentation and some other documentation to determine whether or not we qualified for the program. We did qualify and now we are waiting to sign the final paperwork to get the process started..
The process after signing the paperwork will be having our house completely destroyed. There will be nothing left of it. This will take about 2 months to do. A completely new house will be built in its place. It will have all new appliances, all new cabinetry, everything will be new. There will be nothing from our old house. The requirements for this grant is to keep our taxes paid and our homeowners insurance paid. There are no other financial obligations for this wonderful blessing.
Health
Since we received the news on what was going on with our house, we received some other news that was not as pleasant and definitely not wanted. I had gotten sick toward the end of 2018 and never completely recovered from it. I just kept getting weaker and weaker. It seemed as if whatever I did that it wasn't enough. I finally found an insurance that we could afford. We signed up for it and made an appointment to be seen as soon as the insurance went into effect.
Well, I went to my appointment with a high degree of anxiety since I had been sick for so long that I was afraid of what the results would be. He took some preliminary tests and made some observations of my behavior to make a good assessment of my state of being. He made an appointment for me to have an echo cardiogram of my heart since it did not sound quite right. He also had me go the next day and have 15 more test ran. The next day I received a call from my doctor's nurse that I had another to have done the next day and then go straight to my doctor's office.
Faith
After having gotten through all the testing all I wanted to do was to go home. My wife and I got to the doctor's about two hours after the last test was done. He did a very good job explaining why he had so much testing done and what the results were. He then gave my wife a choice: either she could take me to the hospital or he could call an ambulance to have me delivered to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, the doctor had called ahead and had the emergency room waiting for me. I went straight to one of the exam rooms for more testing. I was apparently on the verge of collapse and coma. I was in the emergency room overnight and was placed in a regular room to begin my treatment. I was informed that my blood pressure was at a critically low point that if I had not received treatment when I did that I would have died. All the testing that had been done over the previous four days were starting to get results back. It seems that the aortic valve to my heart was defective. That was not the biggest challenge I was facing though. It seems that around November or December I had become infected with a bacterial infection in my blood. This bacterial infection was what was causing my fatigue and lack of motivation. Another little nasty side-effect of this infection is that it had caused that defective heart valve of mine to crystallize and become critical for it to come out and be replaced.
I will be having open-heart surgery on Friday or Monday to replace that valve. The doctors tell me that once that valve is replaced that I should have renewed energy. I should be able to do what I did before I became ill.
From the time the tree limb fell through my roof until now my computer has crashed and had to have the mother board replaced three times. In spite of all the bad that has happened and the setbacks that my wife and I have suffered, we will overcome these obstacles and be successful.
Jerry
P.S. This is the reason I have not been very active the last eight months.
Please leave any comments and thoughts you may have.
Recent Comments
67
I am sorry to hear about your health. I'll keep you in my thoughts. I'm glad that your house situation is going to be just fine.
My commiserations for all of your problems, you have had much more than your fair share of them. Your determination to get through them is an inspiration for us all.
I wish you a speedy recovery from your surgery,
Steve.
Oh Jerry, this is too much but I am glad that you are very positive about it and are getting solved. Do, keep strong. We are keeping strong for you over here at WA.
You shall go in for that surgery and come out stronger,healthier and happier. And wifey too, extend our love to her,she's an exceptional human.
I have you both in our thoughts.
I will be praying for you Jerry. I had a surprise ambulance ride in Aug. 2017 3 days after hiking over a weekend in the Appalachian Mts.. 95 % blockage. Stent next day put into the main artery and tons of new energy afterward. Recently had a scare, and yesterday a catheterization showed all good. but still an issue, but at least not heart.
I friend of mine had the same thing you have, infection ruined his valve, but now he is biking and doing well at 60 yrs old.
Take care, many prayers your way
Bill
My prayers for you and in hopes that you may overcome all of these circumstances. May God bless you and your family.
Jerry,
I will add you to the prayer list at church! Unless you tell me not to.
Wow! You have been through a lot.
Ellen
You have been through some disasters and near-disasters, and are coming through everything with a good solution in hand. That part is wonderful. I wish you all sorts of divine assistance so your surgery will go well. Then, with a new home and a new heart, you can continue on successfully. We'll all be rooting for your fast recovery.
Jerry, I am very saddened to hear of the misfortunes you have suffered recently. I am also amazed at how you took the
time amidst all these unfortunate circumstances to update us.
WA is truly like a second family :)
My prayers and blessings are with you in hopes that your surgery goes well and you get your energy and stamina back.
Best of luck on the house, too, but health first.
xoAmy
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Jerry, you are in my prayers. Although you have certainly had some major challenges, I feel like you have been so blessed.
That tree branch could have killed your wife or you.
The grant program is a blessing.
The timing that you found insurance was a blessing.
The fact that you did not experience heart failure and a heart attack and die is very much a huge blessing.
My Dad has had several heart surgeries over the last 20 years. None of them were fun. In one case, the medication was off and he was more sleepy than he needed to be.
Yet in every case, he felt so much better and energetic once he had recovered. So, I am praying that it will be the same for you.
Sondra