M
As some may know on here. I was brought up by my aunt and now
in her old age, she has various medical problems.
COPD, uses oxygen 24/7, heart failure due to the COPD, 50% kidney function,
type 2 diabetes, swollen ankles and lower legs due to the heart failure.
Some reduced cognitive function due to two mini strokes she had a few
years ago.
We are currently waiting for another assessment by the memory clinic to
see if there has been any further decline in that area.
I did work full time, then reduced to a 4 day week in 2014, then a 3 day week
in 2015 to look after her.
It’s hard, impossibly hard at times. We’ve nearly lost her a few times along the
way as well. I don’t know what the future holds. It was really difficult getting
her through the winter months this winter. She wasn’t free of chest infections
and colds the entire period of Sept 2017 to Feb 2018. Including a 10 day stint in
hosp with sepsis.
Anything which causes further breathing problems, even a mild cold, could
kill her. We have been pretty much living one day at a time for the last
5.5 years. Not knowing if she would still be alive each morning.
She gets very confused when she is ill due to all the various medical issues,
mostly lack of oxygen and the poisoning of her body due to reduced kidney
function. To some degree I think the confusion is sort of a blessing for her, as
she forgets how bad it’s been.
Anyway that sets the scene. Oh apart from that I know 100% she is a born
again Christian. She became a Christian at the graveside of her father when I
was a child.
As the 23rd Psalm was read over his grave, it was like a light bulb went on.
She calls it her Damascus experience. Jesus became so real to her in that
instant that she kept looking around the graveyard expecting to see God!
Now she is 83. Recently despite the confusion and ill health. She reaffirmed
her commitment to Christ in a moment of clarity and understanding. It was
during the middle of the night when she called me down and she was crying.
I ended up crying too. I know that whatever happens she is safe in the arms
of Jesus.
For the record, I believe in once saved always saved. There is no other way to
explain how God has continued to speak to her, to reach out to my aunt. Even
despite her lack of mental capacity to read the bible or understand sermons
and religious programmes on TV, or her lack of ability now to follow complex
conversation. In her old age God has given her a simple child like faith.
She prays simple “help me” prayers. That’s all it needs. She is unable to do much
of anything now, let alone think about the meaning of faith. But God continues
to hold onto her. It’s always God who holds onto us.
Anyway so that’s the introduction.
in her old age, she has various medical problems.
COPD, uses oxygen 24/7, heart failure due to the COPD, 50% kidney function,
type 2 diabetes, swollen ankles and lower legs due to the heart failure.
Some reduced cognitive function due to two mini strokes she had a few
years ago.
We are currently waiting for another assessment by the memory clinic to
see if there has been any further decline in that area.
I did work full time, then reduced to a 4 day week in 2014, then a 3 day week
in 2015 to look after her.
It’s hard, impossibly hard at times. We’ve nearly lost her a few times along the
way as well. I don’t know what the future holds. It was really difficult getting
her through the winter months this winter. She wasn’t free of chest infections
and colds the entire period of Sept 2017 to Feb 2018. Including a 10 day stint in
hosp with sepsis.
Anything which causes further breathing problems, even a mild cold, could
kill her. We have been pretty much living one day at a time for the last
5.5 years. Not knowing if she would still be alive each morning.
She gets very confused when she is ill due to all the various medical issues,
mostly lack of oxygen and the poisoning of her body due to reduced kidney
function. To some degree I think the confusion is sort of a blessing for her, as
she forgets how bad it’s been.
Anyway that sets the scene. Oh apart from that I know 100% she is a born
again Christian. She became a Christian at the graveside of her father when I
was a child.
As the 23rd Psalm was read over his grave, it was like a light bulb went on.
She calls it her Damascus experience. Jesus became so real to her in that
instant that she kept looking around the graveyard expecting to see God!
Now she is 83. Recently despite the confusion and ill health. She reaffirmed
her commitment to Christ in a moment of clarity and understanding. It was
during the middle of the night when she called me down and she was crying.
I ended up crying too. I know that whatever happens she is safe in the arms
of Jesus.
For the record, I believe in once saved always saved. There is no other way to
explain how God has continued to speak to her, to reach out to my aunt. Even
despite her lack of mental capacity to read the bible or understand sermons
and religious programmes on TV, or her lack of ability now to follow complex
conversation. In her old age God has given her a simple child like faith.
She prays simple “help me” prayers. That’s all it needs. She is unable to do much
of anything now, let alone think about the meaning of faith. But God continues
to hold onto her. It’s always God who holds onto us.
Anyway so that’s the introduction.
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