God's creative division

9:44 p.m. Today's project was to get my colonoscopy, the complete scope exam of my colon, completed. I say "completed," because the procedure begins with a liquid diet 24 hours before. After a nice morning visit with Steve and a successful Mary Kay facial in Corona, it was time to get busy with my colon clean out.

The allowed foods were water, gelatin, beef or chicken broth, coffee and two teaspoons of sugar at each meal. The gelatin would be easy, because I had a package of Royal brand in the cupboard. I got my ice water ready and put some water in a pan to boil. Then I read the diet directions more closely: "Any color but red."  (I guess when the outflow begins, the victim might think they were bleeding). So much for that, because I couldn't see going to the store just for jello. Now that it was past 1:30 p.m.,  I felt a sense of urgency that would soon be duplicated physically later! I needed to start drinking my 2 gallons of cleansing solution  at 3 p.m. Jello was out, so I'd have to let that dessert go. With the Lord's help and radio Bible studies playing in the background, I continued on.

The broth was fairly easy, if labor-intensive. I wasn't going to buy that at the store either. The Lord had led me to save the core of a rotisserie chicken I'd nibbled on for two weeks in the freezer, so I filled a large pot with water, threw in the chicken, found celery and onions in the vegetable tender in the fridge, and made a respectably tasty soup, the broth of which would become my sole food for the afternoon and evening.  I strained out all traces of meat and vegetables quite well, but it wasn't as crystal clear as the store-bought bouillon cube type. I pronounced it "qualified,"(not perfect) and began sipping it. Better to let God do the perfecting! I John 4:12 says, and encourages me,

If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

2:45 p.m., time to get my pre-chilled gallon of PEG-3350 and Electrolytes for Oral Solution (known sardonically as "Go-lytely"), into a small cozy room along with my novel Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah, cell phone, laptop, chargers for both, my purse, water, all needed for surviving the next 7 hours. I had to down one gallon in 7 hours, and somehow remember to eat and drink water as well. I finished a couple of days in my Bible study workbook, read quite a few chapters of "three weddings," did Mary Kay business on the laptop and wrote vague progress reports for Facebook and did email on my phone.

God blessed a plan I'd made with a young gal Robin, who came by at about 4 p.m. to walk my dogs.I'd already let in the rat man from Dewey Pest control, told him I wasn't feeling well, and disappeared behind the downstairs door. I communicated, sight unseen, with Robin through texting, so she even feed Jada and Jazzlyn on time after their walk. On and on went the drinking of solution, so cleaner and cleaner I must have gotten! I shuffled out to the garage to let the dogs in for bed at 8:45 p.m., drank several more swigs of solution with the predictable results, and headed up for bed at 10:20.

Somehow, finishing off that gallon of "Go Lytely" wasn't a very thrilling victory. But I wouldn't quit until I met my goal! Despite the dreadful discomfort, God brought me through and I thank Him!

After an uneventful night, for which I'd prepared for the worst by placing an incontinence pad over my sheet and a portable commode by my bedside, I know, overkill ( ! ), I got up, exercised, cleaned up the backyard, had my devotions, while quaffing 1 quart from the 2nd bottle.

The worst was yet to come! Instead of lying quietly, getting sedated and drifting off, the nurse placed my IV needle pack into the crook of my left arm, causing the most violent pain I've had since my last child birthing. The saline base was traveling into my tissues and muscles, NOT the veins, and I was in torment, praying like crazy, almost unable to speak, I was crying so much, and unable to move the arm for the pain. I was praying, "Lord, I hope someone senses through the Spirit that I'm suffering right now, and prays urgently for me wherever they are!"  "Lord, there's no one I can call to pray, I'm alone!"  Jesus answered, "I'm here." That calmed me down. But I realized that I was panicking, too, worrying that my arm would be paralyzed, or so stiff that I would have to call one of the kids to come over and help me. I realize now that in places of severe pain, of any kind, my aloneness comes to the forefront, putting me into a panic that could turn to helplessness, and with that, would come despair.

But God! But for God's power and intervention, the enemy would snatch a victory for himself when we're slipping away from strong faith in God. And He answered my prayer.

 The nurse came back over with another one, who seemed to be a superior, lessened and then turned off the drip. They gave me a hot compress and a pillow to rest my left arm on, and then spoke of moving it to a different place, maybe the veins would be better. A third nurse came in, a chemo nurse who would be doing my procedure with Dr. Ravi. She tried two needle sticks in the back of my left hand, but no success--the veins "blew up". She now went to the 3rd and last area possible, so I said, "We'll pray hard!" Into the back of my right hand, the needle went in and Praise the Lord, she was able to put in the catheter and restore the drip!

The procedure went well, polyps were removed, and I've had a very good afternoon, with a visit from daughter Heidi, and a ride provided for our Mary Kay meeting where I was crowned Queen of Sales  for my numbers of last week.  God knows how to end a day--after all, it was He of whom it is said in Genesis:

God divided the light from the darkness.

And I am so glad He's still dividing!