An Unexpected Journey to the Hospital

On the Monday before Christmas I was excited about our trip to see an NBA game that evening. Joyce was coughing a lot but she still thought it was “just a cold.” I know, I should know better, right? That night as I was headed home from the game we got the call, “Joyce is in the hospital and has been diagnosed with pneumonia.” So we headed straight to the hospital and I spent most of the night with Joyce in the emergency room. They told me she would be in the hospital for at least 3 days. I had to cancel our Christmas evening flight to San Diego and reschedule it for Saturday. On Christmas Day, most of the Owen family, joined Joyce in the hospital courtyard to open her presents. The doctors and nurses seemed pretty confident that she would be out of the hospital soon. That was until they found some “effusion” (leaking) in her lungs. The doctor was very concerned about it and ordered an ultra-sound for Friday. If they had to remove the fluid she would be in the hospital for several more days. I waited for her in the room while they took her away for the testing. She was supposed to be gone for over an hour, but I was surprised when she came back after only 15 minutes. The doctors and nurses were surprised to find that the effusion was “only a trickle” and she was good to go. I consider it a minor miracle and attribute it to the many prayers that were going up for her. Within an hour we were leaving the hospital and headed home. As we left many nurses and hospital personnel told Joyce goodbye and expressed how much they enjoyed having her in the hospital. We are now in San Diego enjoying our grandkids and looking forward to 2014. Thank you everyone who prayed for Joyce. We appreciate your prayers.