Dear Christ Church Family,
I heard wonderful things about the Easter services. I heard great things about Syler, the worship team, the beach service and really regret not being there for the cardboard testimonies. We may have to do them again next year so that I can see them.
On Thursday morning I had a wellness physical with a clean bill of health. On Friday morning I suffered a spontaneous vertebral arterial dissection which lead to a stroke in the cerebellum and medullar areas. It presented itself as dizziness and I initially thought it was dehydration. As things got worse Friday afternoon I asked one of my sons to pick me up. I didn’t think I could drive. I went straight to bed. At 6:30 PM I started throwing up. At 1 AM I realized I was too dizzy to crawl to the bathroom. At 4 AM Sheri called 911.
Staff at Lake Forest Hospital quickly determined that I had a stroke and I was sent to the neurology floor at a downtown hospital. I’ve been in the ICU unit since then. I have another 24 hours in the dangerous window for swelling that would require surgery. The staff here now think we are past the worst. The stroke did not affect my cognitive abilities or memory, but did affect balance and swallowing, I’m doing better and most tell me I can expect a full recovery. No one can give me a date as to when I can be back but it looks like, contrary to what we originally thought, I can expect a long rehabilitation.
Sheri and my boys have been wonderful and I am learning some very interesting things. Six months ago when I started reading in preparation for our upcoming fall series “Broken: Preparing for the day when life stops working and your faith is tested”, I thought I wonder if some of the preparation I need to go through for this series is to suffer. I prayed that not be the case. Perhaps the Lord has other plans.
Thanks to all of you who have reached out. We have many 2 AM friends and we feel very blessed. Pray for the staff who I know will do so well without me that you will wonder what I actually add to the team. Pray also for a full recovery, balance, and swallowing.
The first few days I was here I was craving Starbucks. Now it’s a tall glass of water and steak dinner. We all have many blessings and do not appreciate them until they are gone.
God is good all the time.
Press on, Mike Woodruff