Home Sweet Home

In case you haven't heard the news, we are HOME! It all came as such a whirlwind! We really had no idea it was even a possibility. On Saturday a.m. a physician's assistant for our neurosurgeon came in. We asked her, "Is there any possibility we could go home today?" (half-kidding) She said, "I think that's possible." Wow! REALLY?!?!?! Well at 10:30 a.m. we were still waiting for the word from our doctor and by 12:30 p.m. we were in the car heading home. I've never experienced such a quick discharge from the hospital! Normally they say you can go home, but it takes hours to get paperwork and wheelchairs and the like. Not this time!

We wheeled out to our minivan at 12:30 p.m. but didn't arrive home at Casa de la Kastner in Iron Ridge until 3:30 p.m. We had to drop off prescriptions, pick up children, load up our car, pick up prescriptions and then drive an hour. It was a grueling process for someone who was just released from the hospital and had to rigidly hold his head still as every single bump and pothole brought him pain. When we got home, I wanted to just lie prostrate on the carpet and kiss the ground. I got John settled, unpacked the car, and started working on typing up his medicine schedule so I didn't mess anything up.

We spent yesterday resting and trying to recover. We took a walk (had to drive down the driveway and hill to a flatter place to walk.... around our house is WAY too hilly for a person who is recovering from brain surgery). We gave John a shower.... got a few perishables from the grocery store and made a run to Wal-Mart and for dinner.

Today, John is:
***managing most of his pain well. His headache is pretty bad this morning.
***VERY stiff... if he stays still too long he gets very stiff.... tyring to keep himself moving

We are so VERY glad to be home and feel he will rest more comfortably here and therefore recover more quickly here too. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Here is how you can be praying:

1. John - continued, full and QUICK healing. Pray for his headache today. Pray for the right amount of activity to keep him loose but not so much that he overdoes it. Pray for peace over John as he recovers. At some point as he gets stronger, I fear he will want to start doing stuff. I pray that God will give him peace to just SIT STILL and heal.

2. Me - I don't even know what to ask you to pray for me... EVERYTHING??? I'm keeping John's meds straight - waking him several times a night for meds... I'm trying to get back to work.... I'm trying to get school started for the kids this week... I'm trying to cook, do laundry, and keep up with the rest of the around-the-house stuff... I'm trying to make sure the bills get paid... I still need to go get that dumb oil changed... I have to find a new power cord for our laptop.... Basically, I have to do everything right now, and I'm EXHAUSTED. I'm really truly at the end of myself and feeling the stress right now. Please pray that God's grace and peace flood in. I need HIS strength right now because I have NONE of my own left.

3. Children - pray that the "loud family" can be quiet for once. Our children are not exactly well suited for or good at creating a healing environment. I am constantly reminding them to keep their voices down, stop bouncing on Daddy's bed, close doors quietly, quit arguing.... please pray for them.

4. Finances - we have already been blessed ABUNDANTLY by God and His people... but this is going to be a VERY long journey and it is still hard not to worry about "what we will wear or what we will eat" I know that I know that I know that God will take care of us, BUT that doesn't make relying on faith to feed your family an easy task.

5 (saving the best for last) GOD BE GLORIFIED! I always beg God to please find a way to be glorified in my pain. I hate for my pain to be for naught. The Kastner family is suffering through A LOT of pain right now, and we just pray that God will continue to make Himself known, will continue to show Himself to be faithful, will continue to use our pain to reveal Himself to us and to others.

FIRMLY in His grip....