Kim Wilbanks

Hello! I’m back.  Like most everyone in the country I’ve been a little out of sorts the past couple of weeks with this Coronavirus situation.

A Global Pandemic Invades

Two weekends ago, I was at the beach with family and a friend.  I was aware the Coronavirus was getting serious, after all, my much-anticipated trip to New York was cancelled, but it didn’t really hit me until that weekend.  The virus was mainly in New York, Washington state and south Florida.  Then, on Friday, March 20, they closed the beach.  I knew it was pretty serious if they were closing the beaches.  I understood closing the public beaches and public access points.  I just wasn’t sure how you closed an entire beach.  But, they did.  My friend and I watched from our balcony as the beach patrol ordered people who were walking on the beach off.

The presence of the virus invaded paradise, if not physically, at the very least mentally. 

I normally post my blog on Saturday night but as I watched a beautiful sunset with the unending drone of Coranavirus news in the background, I realized I had no words.  I couldn’t form a coherent thought.  What strange times.  The world truly turned upside down.

Taking Care of a Medical Issue

The day we returned home from the beach, I had an appointment with my surgeon for an upcoming surgery.  You see, not only was the world turned upside down, my stomach was as well.  And it had repositioned itself in my chest cavity (which explained the two and a half years of pain I have been experiencing).  He said my condition was serious enough to continue with the scheduled surgery on March 25.  My husband and I decided it would be better for me  to go in for the surgery and get out of the hospital before the Coronavirus got bad in our community. (At the time, our town of approximately 100,000 residents had only two cases.) We decided not to risk possible emergency surgery in the middle of a more serious situation.

The decision came with a price.  Although they did the surgery, no visitors were permitted in the hospital.  My husband was allowed to see me before the surgery and then for a short while after recovery then he was banished from the hospital.  A dear friend who works at the hospital was not even allowed to visit.  They were taking the situation very seriously.

Here’s the amazing thing — I was basically in the hospital alone for three and a half days and I was ok.  I can’t even stay in my house by myself if my husband is out of town but I was perfectly fine those quiet days in the hospital.  I slept, read, prayed and watched a bunch of Magnum PI reruns (the ones starring Tom Selleck).   The anxiety that sometimes plagues me was absent.  I’m pretty sure I know why. 

The Power of Prayer

I have the most amazing group of friends, strong women of faith who I know I can call on at any time to pray for me.  I had let these prayer warriors know I was having surgery and I knew they were on their knees lifting me up before the Lord in prayer.  I was never anxious or afraid when I was in the hospital. Though I was by myself, I knew I wasn’t alone.

The day after my surgery, when my surgeon came in to talk to me, I learned that my surgery ended up being more intensive than he expected.  I added a prayer request to my Facebook page and more friends responded with prayers. Again, I was so grateful.

In addition to the many prayers of friends, I had the most amazing care in the hospital.  The nurses, assistants and even the cleaning staff were all exceptional.  They made what could have been a very frightening ordeal not so terrible.  Be assured, I’m putting them on my prayer list. I hope you will pray for health professionals around the country as well.

It has definitely been an eventful couple of weeks.  I feel like I’ve had to put into practice the teachings I have learned my entire life — things like fear not, don’t be anxious, pray without ceasing, trust God. I suspect many of us have. 

I’m home from the hospital now and my body is mending.  Even though things are definitely not normal, I feel at peace.  I’m doing the things I can do and trusting God for the rest.

The Silver Lining in This Storm

The brightest spot of the week came a few hours after I returned home from the hospital.  My husband and I are getting a new puppy  in a few weeks and Friday afternoon, we found out which one would be ours.  We are so excited to welcome Boone to our family.  I’m sure the puppy will bring great comfort to us in these uncertain times.   

If you’re like me, you’re just about over this Coronavirus crisis.  And, I’m sure you don’t want to see a picture of my lovely four inch incision.  With that in mind, how about some cute puppy pictures?

New Puppies

Sweet Babies

Baby Mars (Boone)

Mars

Meeting The Puppies

The Puppies

Mars

Our Puppy