Update

Brothers and sisters have been writing to ask if I am still in the hospital and how I am doing. I was released from the hospital last Friday having been admitted on the preceding Monday. I had procedures done on Monday and Wednesday of last week to clean the wound on the inside of my left ankle where I had a compound fracture. I was put to sleep for both procedures, and had no difficulty with the anesthesia or the procedures. I have continued to have almost no pain with the injury.


The doctor put a wound vac over the injured area. This is a bandage that utilizes a small suction pump to stimulate blood flow to the wounded area, speeding healing. I suppose this is the modern day, high-tech equivalent to using leeches. I was sent home Friday of last week with a small portable wound vac that is disposable. It runs for 7 days then disables itself.


On Sunday the vac started making loud noises, so I called the manufacturer and they got a tech from Atlanta to call me. He verified that the vac had a problem, so he drive down and brought me a replacement. It is about a 2 hour drive from Atlanta, but he seemed very willing to make the trip. He took out a brand new replacement from the trunk of his car and it failed right out of the box. The unit had some manufacturing defects. The entire front control panel would blank out if the unit was pressed on the sides. He had one more unit in his car, and it seemed to work fine.


The next day, the replacement unit started making the same racket, but I thought I would just put up with the noise since it seemed to be working fine. On Tuesday the unit alarm went off indicating that it was not maintaining proper vacuum pressure to the wound, so I called and reported the problem. The tech was in Macon this time, only 30 minutes away, and he brought me yet another replacement unit. He was very apologetic. He said it was a new product for their company, and they might have gotten a bad batch. So, I am now on my 4th wound vac, and it has been working flawlessly yesterday and today.


One good thing about the problems is that every time they have brought me a new unit the 7 day counter has started over again. So, instead of getting to use the unit for 7 days, I will actually get about 11 days service.


Joe Boes is coming down from the Atlanta area to visit with me tomorrow (Thursday). On Friday I have another doctor's appointment. My schedule has been thrown out of whack due to my hospitalization, surgeries, and recovery process, so I have not been able to write blog postings as often as I would like. I have been getting caught up on correspondence again this week, and I hope to post more writings next week.


A sister in Christ wrote to me a couple days ago with a comment on a recent blog post. She compared my motorcycle wreck to the apostle Paul's shipwreck. I replied that I can empathize with Paul in another way. When he finally got to Rome he was placed under house arrest. I am unable to leave my home ("The Dreamer," my converted bus) since I cannot put weight on the left leg yet (doctor's orders for another 4-6 weeks), and I must have people drive me around if I go anywhere. Paul made productive use of his house arrest, writing a number of "prison epistles" and I hope that my time of confinement will also prove productive. I would appreciate your prayers for clarity to know what the Father would have me attend to at this time.

I do thank all of you who have been praying for me as I recover from this injury. Yahweh has shown me much grace. There was a chance that I would be sent home from the hospital with an IV line so that I could take antibiotics in this way. It all depended upon the identification of the bacteria that was causing the infection and what antibiotic it best responded to. Blessedly, the results came back and there was an oral antibiotic I could take that seemed to combat the infection just fine. It would have been very difficult to stay on my own if I were tethered both foot and arm to the wound vac and an IV while trying to get about on crutches. Yahweh was gracious, and spared me this ordeal.

I am well, and seem to be progressing nicely in my recovery. My 50th year has certainly begun with its share of afflictions, but Yahweh has been faithful to walk with me through them all. I am at peace, and find much rest in the Lord's presence.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days,

Joseph Herrin

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws  
 
Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com  
 
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063