Kris Johnson Kris Johnson - Surrounded

For the better part of 16 years now Kris has been challenged with heart issues.  She has rarely complained - instead turning to her faith in God and spending more time in His word and more time serving others in so many ways.  In November of 2017 she moved into that special place as Grandmother.  She also began planning the next home move which is in progress now.  Kris has been very intentional in directing her story into something that reflects God's goodness and good intentions for His people.  Proverbs 31 speaks to a Noble Woman and this describes Kris perfectly.  

On August 28th, Kris had her 3rd ablation to rectify some AFIB that has started again several months prior.  This surgery was planned a few months out and Kris was really looking forward to a heart back in sinus rhythm.  Complications from this procedure involved a small hole in her esophagus which allowed air to flow into the left atrium which was then pumped through the body through the bloodstream.  This perforation or opening was not known and we learned it would take 10 to 14 days for this to manifest itself. The morning of Sept 10 (13 days after the ablation) Kris suffered from blurred vision and some numbness on her left side.  She was rushed to UW Hospital under "code stroke" which alerted the doctors in the ER .  After a battery of MRI's and other tests it was determined Kris needed emergency surgery to stitch the hole in her esophagus.


The surgery was successful as the tear was stitched.  There was also an areas of the left atrium that needed some repair and this too was a success.
When we saw the surgeon around 3 am early Tuesday we heard those words that bring you to your knees - Kris had in fact had a stroke.  It was unclear how many and it was unclear how severe.  It appears that there were three major strokes that have impacted Kris.

Her favorite song recently is Surrounded by Michael W Smith - if you would please pray with us and let the words of this song flow deep in your soul you will get a sense of where the family is at.  

                                                        "This is how I fight my Battles.....It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by YOU!!
                                                                                                           "Nothing too difficult - Nothing too hard.

The lyrics exemplify how Kris is viewing what's in front of her.  We believe she knows what happened; and she is aware of those in her presence - surrounding and rallying around her.  The love and outpouring the last few days has been overwhelming.  We are touched by the gestures,  emails, texts, hugs, the meals, the laughing and the crying together.  Kris would want nothing less.  Keep the prayers coming please - she needs them and we need them.  Scripture talks about not being thankful for everything - but in everything.  


We are thankful for family and friends and we fight this battle with and for Kris.  God will be glorified here - we are certain of this.

The path before us is uncertain and will likely be long.   What we have in the days and weeks ahead will require lots of patience with the process.   Please in prayer for this patience.


Updates provided in the Journal pages daily with any news.