Greetings from post-op world! 

Hang tight, there's a lot in this one! This will include surgery results, God moments from TX, lessons God has taught me throughout this,  an update on how I'm doing now, and what our current needs are!

Surgery results: (other than a pathology report we're still waiting on)

• I HAD ZERO THORACIC OR CARDIAC ENDOMETRIOSIS!!! My surgeon did see scarring from the previous surgeries and drained some fluid from my L lung, but there was zero regrowth, and no reason for him to cut anything. This has allowed for my lung recovery to be less painful than last time, when both lungs and my heart were operated on. It is possible that I just didn't recur in my lungs, and the pain I was having was from severe pelvic disease, but I believe with my entire heart that God healed me on August 26th when our church's worship team prayed for me! Before that prayer, even in the moments leading up to it, I was having severe fluctuations in heart rate, I was gasping for air and trying to take in more oxygen, and I even had a cough and lung congestion during my cycles. After we prayed, I simply had pain and none of those symptoms! I believe it was the mighty hand of the Lord that removed the disease prior to surgery, and saved me from further damage and scarring! Thank you, God, for Your faithfulness and Your saving might.
• I did have very severe pelvic adhesions and endometriosis regrowth. This affected my ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, bladder, rectum, bowel, and most destructively, my ureters. They were tented at a 90 degree angle, not allowing urine to pass correctly. This is the third time that my ureters have been displaced by adhesions to the point where they were not fully functional, and beginning to cause kidney problems. This is a situation that I will need to monitor and manage closely, because if the situation were allowed to continue without intervention, the backup of urine can cause kidney damage, which can lead to kidney loss. This is something I am fearful of, and am asking the Lord to protect me from recurring, and to give me wisdom in the years ahead.
• The surgeries were very successful, and there were no complications or worst-case scenarios! I'm so grateful for God's protection and kindness to me. I also left Texas with all the organs I went with, which means that AJ and I can continue fighting for our dream of a biological child once I've fully recovered! We submitted paperwork this week to have our upcoming pregnancy managed by a reproductive immunologist who also happens to be an endometriosis excision specialist. He will be running tests prior to me trying to get pregnant again to see if my immune system played any role in my previous losses, and will create a protocol to help my pregnancy flourish until delivery, despite my endometriosis, adenomyosis, and hEDS. Please pray for the logistics to fall into place, wisdom for the doctors, AJ and I, and for this pregnancy to be healthy and successful, all the way until our child is in our arms!

God moments from the trip:

• Our interruptions or setbacks are often where God wants to give us an opportunity to share about Him! On our way to our rental car in Dallas, we left one of my bags on a shuttle. Once we realized this, we ran from bus to bus, trying to find it. I was frantic because my main (favorite, prettiest, most marked-up) Bible was inside the missing bag! I jumped onto a bus whose driver called the command center and heard they had a bag matching my description, so he started driving me there. I told him I was so frantic because the bag contained my favorite Bible and surgery supplies for Texas! After I mentioned my Bible, he looked at me and confided he believed in God but felt so discouraged by the evil and suffering in the world right now. We talked about how there is so much pain now, but we know Who wins in the end and Who will rescue us from all sorrows and pain! I also got to share that God had saved my life twice before and was about to do it again! As soon as the conversation was over, I got chills because I instantly knew that losing my bag wasn't a setback, it was a divine appointment to encourage the bus driver. And yes, I got my bag (and my Bible) back! 
•  Like 2 Corinthians 2:1-3 tells us,  one of the ways we were created to be comforted is by someone else living out our experience, and passing along the comfort they received from the Lord in their own trial. We are narrative, story-driven creatures, and it's amazing what the power of "Me too!" after sharing our stories can do for our souls. God gave me the privilege of being on both sides of that comfort recently, and I want to share it with you briefly. 1. The surgery coordinator for my cardiothoracic surgeon happened to be an endo sister who, upon meeting her in person for the first time after months of talking on the phone, showed me her "Endo strong" bracelet, said, "I understand, girl, me too", and gave me a big Texas hug. Let me tell you there were some tears shed! 2. A sweet friend of AJ and I's came over recently to bless me during my recovery, and she shared about a recent loss in her life that is similar to one I experienced. I had the joy of relaying God's faithfulness to get me through my own loss and reminding her she's not alone, it's okay to grieve, and that the Lord sees her pain. I also got to give her an extra copy of a devotional I had on hand the next time this exact conversation happened. God is beautiful! He wants to bless us and help us bless others, if only we listen and pay attention to His voice.
• When I had an ultrasound during pre-op testing, the radio in the room played some of my favorite songs by Brandon Lake, Elevation, and Phil Wickham! Ultrasounds carry a lot of trauma for me since the two miscarriages, and this ultrasound in particular was pain AND showed us how severe my pelvic disease was. In other words, it should have been a terrible 20 minutes. Instead, I was brought to tears by God's kindness to have that exact music on the radio while I endured the ultrasound! A little sign of His love for me so far from home!
• This is also the very first time each IV attempt has been successful! Thank you Jesus for Lynne from the PACU! 

Reflections from this season: 

• I've learned so much more about God's goodness in the darkest, rockiest, driest valleys than I ever have in times of abundance and ease. The things I've been through in my life have allowed me each time to see a different side of God that I would have entirely missed without the trial. I wouldn't trade knowing Him more personally, more perfectly, more fully, for anything, even if it meant I could bypass the pain and heartache. 
• Nothing is wasted in the Kingdom of God, including my suffering, and I can trust that He will be faithful to use whatever pain I surrender to Him. My trials become my testimonies, my pain becomes my passion, and what I go through becomes glory for Him! 
• It might not look the way I expect it to, but His plan is so much better! 
• Some seasons require resting instead of running, and those seasons show you how much you were striving instead of trusting in the good times. In the beginning, this season just looks like pain, difficulty, setbacks, pauses, injuries, recoveries, and just plain not-your-plan. But if you can let go, fully surrender your life back to your Creator, acknowledge instead of fight your limitations, and trust God for what you can no longer do on your own, that season will teach you for the rest of your life how to base your identity off His love, not your hustle, how to acknowledge Him as in control, not us, how to truly abide in Him with humility and obedience, how to die to self, and how to live fully in Christ, counting all else as garbage compared to the treasure found in His presence. 

Recovery update:  My recovery is progressing well, but it has its difficulties! My days (and nights) are marked and divided by pain medication doses, and the rest of my time is filled with breathing exercises to strengthen my lungs, spending time with AJ (who went back to work yesterday), reading, thinking, sleeping a LOT, binge-watching Suits, studying for my credentials, and trying to stay as still as possible and just make it through the hours when the pain hits hard. I had an infection in the beginning of my recovery, but an antibiotic is taking care of it nicely. Then the pain meds began causing me some issues, so I made the necessary decision to titrate off them much faster than previously planned. It is helping me tolerate the side effects, but taking less than planned requires me to do less as well in order to be able to survive the pain. 

When I DO have energy, I'm really enjoying studying for my last class for my certified minister's license, studying for the 3 upcoming exams to receive said credentials, and putting together the application and references needed. I was getting intellectually bored, and it feels great to return to something I'm really passionate about and driven to accomplish. Each class gets me closer to my calling of chaplaincy!

Our needs for this season: 

• Food: Our Mealtrain has been a blessing; thank you to everyone who has brought us food. It will continue to be super helpful in the weeks to come as I still can't cook or grocery shop for a while. 
• Friendship: We're still in a hard season, so visits, texts, and messages from our friends are so needed, appreciated, and enjoyed by AJ and I! We'd love to have you visit, and it means a lot when people check in to see how we're doing <3  
• Prayers: for decreased pain, for a successful full recovery, for my certified ministers credentialing process, and for this next season of working with reproductive immunology to embark on pregnancy #3! 

If you've made it to the end of this, thank you! I love you all and can't thank you enough for your prayers, food, donations, hugs, encouragement, and love. I'm filled with deep gratitude, realizing that my life has become a group project, and I wouldn't survive without the love of others. Thank you!!!

All glory and honor and power to Him, 

Katie Joy