09/15/2026
Some of you may know this, but I have been going through a very difficult time with kidney stones over the last few months. I have been to the emergency room twice and if you know anything about me you know it takes a lot of pain to bring me down. It has effected my ability to work but Ive done what I can through recovery. I had surgery on my left side kidney to bust up and remove stones on August 27th. It went well, recovery was tough and it's taken me a while to get my energy built back up but have worked on a light schedule as much as possible. I have an appointment with my urologist Tuesday and another surgery scheduled for the 24th to do my right kidney. I will be so grateful to be on the other side of this. I still have multiple very large stones. One being 9mm in my right kidney.
Tonight as I was talking with my mom on the phone I began feeling the familiar pain coming on my right side. Had to hang up and went in to full kidney stone attack mode. If you have been there you understand! I took pain meds and anti spasm meds from my doc but this one was rough. Earleen kept asking if we needed to head to the emergency room but I was stubborn and just kept trying to walk it off, got sick, chills from the pain, then hot. It came in waves. Even the cats were feeling it and jumping up by me when I would try to lay down. I finally conceded, ready to head to the ER. We got things together around 10:30 pm and ready to go. As I was walking around gathering what I needed I felt the pain soften a bit, I sat down and asked Earleen to give me a minute. Slowly my body relaxed. I must have passed the stone into my bladder. I sat there and felt myself slowly come out of it. It was then that my wife told me she had been praying for me. Not just praying but that "ask and you shall receive" kind of prayer. She prayed for God to ease my pain, to open and relax me and let the stone pass. Literally asking for what I needed, not just praying for me to feel better. When she told me this I realized I never prayed for myself. I was in so much pain my brain could not even think to ask God for help, but she did. We are so blessed to have each other. She had my back in a way I couldn't think of because its all she could do to help. As this sunk in it hit me hard and I felt such love. I am so grateful for her, for God's grace in our lives.
In 10 days I will go through another surgery that should put us on the other side of this difficult time. I would appreciate your love and prayers, joining us in asking again for grace, for God's gifts. All we have are each other and the ones who care about us in this world. I appreciate all of you. I love my family... I love and appreciate my wife. She continues to amaze me. I am a blessed man. 🙏
