Major surgery

UPDATE #2:

Thank you to all who donated. I am sharing a short letter from Monica and Jonathon. You'll read their words below, but they were so grateful for your support in so many ways.

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Dear friends and family, we are so blown away by this and all the ways that so many of you showed kind, creative, over-the-top support and love to us at a really vulnerable time. Your bold prayers throughout many weeks, your generous monetary gifts towards the costs we faced, the frequent encouragements, and the emotional energy you devoted to being with us in this trench mean more to us than we know how to express. You made it possible for us to focus on Monica’s healing with a medical team who truly are phenomenal experts in this type of surgery and the very complex wound care to follow.

We are home now! Even though getting through the past weeks and the trip home was no small task, we are grateful for how things went. Monica is still very tender and needs assistance with many daily tasks, and she uses a walker when walking greater distances.

In John’s original post, he included a message we had written for our prayer group. In that message we mentioned peripheral conditions which are also caused by the immune system. Monica’s neuropathy (a separate painful condition in the nerves) has worsened following the surgery, due to the many deep incisions which were made through the abdominal muscles and nerves during this complex surgery. The surgeon will use the same entry points for the second and third surgeries in the future, so it is good to know that more incisions/cutting through different nerves shouldn't be required. But we nevertheless appreciate your prayers as Monica continues to struggle with sharp pain much later in the game than other patients of this surgery would, due to the neuropathy she also is dealing with.

Thank you for how you have shouldered this truly difficult thing with us, and we will always remember your overwhelming kindness. God’s steadfast love and provision is shown through your hands and hearts. Thank you so very much, and may the Lord bless you and continue to make you a blessing in others’ lives.

Blessings, with great thanks,

Jonathon and Monica Rempel

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PREVIOUS UPDATE (from John Trammell):

Thanks to all of your generous contributions, we've already raised more than $3,000 toward our original goal, which was to raise half ($3,500) of the $7,000 amount needed. Since this original goal was only half of Monica's expected costs, we're going to increase the goal to $5,000. This is your opportunity to share this fund with your friends, letting them know how much the Rempels have meant to you. Or perhaps, you've not yet given, but have been prayerfully considering doing so. This is an opportunity to know better the current need, and have that information weigh into your decision.

Whatever you end up doing, or how you choose to support this dear couple, we're so grateful for your partnership during this difficult time.

As you may have heard, Monica is out of the hospital. The doctors are feeling optimistic about the procedure. Monica is still in quite a bit of pain, but she is recovering slowly due to the advanced nature of her illness. She and Jonathon are comfortable in their temporary apartment, and are enjoying the company and support of their family. I know they are grateful for your prayers and support.

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ORIGINAL POST:

As many of you know, a dear friend of ours, Monica Rempel has struggled with health concerns stemming from her auto-immune disease which has caused ulcerative colitis for almost 17 years. It has been a long, complicated road, but thankfully, Monica, together with her Canadian husband and care giver, Jonathon, and her physicians have come up with a surgical course of treatment, which they hope will bring her relief in the long run.

Unfortunately, undergoing this series of 3 procedures under the care of the specialized surgeon will require that they travel from their lovely home in Langley, British Columbia all the way to Florida, where they will rent temporary housing while maintaining their own apartment back in BC, obtain flights and a rental vehicle, and manage any medical and health-related costs they may encounter -- all the while not being able to work as they usually would during this time.

That means that in order to walk through this life-changing (and perhaps life-saving) procedure and trip -- they need our help.

They have done everything they can to keep the costs low -- used airmiles, researched deals for housing, saved, saved, and prayed... but there is still a significant cost that they will incur. When it comes down to it, we just want to bless them and remove some of the burden and fear that comes with these big steps.

Won't you join me in supporting them, both financially and in prayer?

I knew that the Rempels were about to post a prayer update to their prayer support group on Facebook, going into more detail of their context and needs. However I stopped them with an idea, asking them to consider sending their update to me instead. I wanted to post their update for them, along with this request to bless them.

As you'll see in their update, their requests are for prayer. But I know that they also have a significant financial need. That's why I'm starting this fund. If you don't have time to read their update, that's fine, but please consider giving whatever you're able to help these dear friends of mine. While their expenses for this trip may be in the region of $7000, I would like to try to raise even half of that to help cover their costs.

As they have lived sacrificially in their lives of service, I also know that anything above that half-way amount will help them tremendously with this large trip, which they carry over and above the debts from the health-related co-pays, purchases, and deductables from the past six years.

Here is the post which they wrote for their prayer group, which I am posting in their behalf:

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Dear ones,

We want to thank you for all the ways you have walked with us prayerfully through the ups and downs since Monica’s auto-immune disease intensified beginning with a life-altering flare-up almost six years ago. And to thank you for walking alongside us all the way until now as we explored every medical option and natural therapy, though not resulting in a total recovery.

Although Monica’s worst symptoms have stabilized, her gut condition is held at bay by strong co-therapies, including immunosuppressants and corticosteroids, the latter of which is not a long-term solution because this medicine can cause bone loss, adrenal failure, and many other major problems.

Getting to a stable point in health has been our focus in the past six years, and we had hoped that reaching stability would allow us to avoid the surgery which many ulcerative colitis patients experience. The road to becoming stable took a long time, and Monica experienced numerous flare ups during this. As a result, the large intestine has been left physically damaged by the long fight.

Since Monica is on the last-available medicine-combination (and coming off of steroids means that another flare-up is unpredictable), we have exhausted all of the available options. The physical damage to the organ also means that there is a heightened risk for colon cancer. Due to these factors, the next available medical treatment will be surgery.

But we are thankful that we had a chance to first exhaust all the other options. This next step is a set of 3 major surgeries to first remove the large intestine, then a second surgery which resections the digestive tract. Lastly, the tract is rejoined in a third procedure.

This process is quite a difficult one to go through, both physically and emotionally, but one which most patients are very thankful in the end for going through. Between the first and second surgery, and then the third, a year or two may elapse. But in this time, we will both have a very different life as Monica struggles with a new physiology and lifestyle, with an ostomy appliance in place until the rejoining (third) surgery.

It was important to find a surgeon who specializes just in this type of surgery, since such a surgeon is able to minimize the abdominal trauma which the procedures pose, namely with effects on female fertility. If the Lord wishes to bless us with a family one day, then minimizing the impact on the abdominal cavity is crucial. Monica's surgeon came from the Mayo Clinic into a chief of surgery position at a neighbouring hospital system. It’s an encouragement to learn that he decided to specialize in this surgery because of seeing very early on how life-changing these procedures are for people with chronic ulcerative colitis.

We have just begun the process by flying to Florida to handle Monica’s 4 pre-surgery appointments. The first surgery is on Tuesday, June 25, and the recovery period should take 6 to 8 weeks.

We are very thankful to have found a slightly more affordable 'medical rate' on a temporary and furnished place to stay during this time. Staying near the surgeon and ostomy nurse is going to be important for Monica, and wise for us as we already know that an emergency return flight in the event of complications would be too much for us to handle. We sought a 2-bedroom suite since Monica’s family members will take turns staying with us to lend support, provide home cooking, cheer us up, and help us out as we adjust to a new life.

We covet your prayers since travelling often results in Monica picking up illnesses due to her compromised immune-system, which at this point would cause added complications prior to surgery. Also, your prayers would be so appreciated as we get organized in Jacksonville, get through the days of pre-op appointments and the 6-hour surgery itself, and then for the long and painful recovery period.

We would be so glad if matters were as simple as that, but there are added complexities that we have shared about previously and which you have been praying for, and we need continued prayer for those matters as well. We pray that removing of the colon (the location which her immune system has mistakenly been targeting) does not create an opportunity for the immune system to look for a new body system to target. Although you hear about ulcerative colitis a lot from us, auto-immune symptoms actually span a spectrum of illnesses (arthritis, skin, joints, eyes, nerves, circulation) causing limping at times and other intense pain for Monica. Some people in Monica’s same position have experienced a clearing up of all the peripheral conditions (following the same surgery she is having), but others have experienced a worsening effect in the body. But we pray that *all* of these conditions will be quieted when the now-damaged main target is removed.

After this, we also pray that Monica’s adrenal glands can wake up after a long sleep caused by the corticosteroids. For this we’ve been seeking the help of specialists already and deeply desire total improvement in that area too.

Thank you for all of the ways you have carried us in prayer over the years through this long battle, and thank you for praying with us now! With much love and appreciation,

Jonathon and Monica