November

November was a hectic month for us. Life always gets busier for us toward the end of the trimester. Our calendar included the usual stuff, some meals with campus visitors, home groups, Bible club, and classes. It also included special holiday activities, like our campus Thanksgiving dinner, APTS annual candlelight Christmas service and the faculty Christmas party. In preparation for these events I (Lindsey) taught the Bible club kids how to sing "Silent Night" in American Sign Language, baked over 300 cookies and made 15 Christmas ornaments with the kids!

Interrupting all our activities was a couple of trips to the hospital for me. I had a gallbladder attack on the day before Thanksgiving. Thanks, to a providential discussion about gallbladders with my Mom the day before, I had some idea of what might be wrong with me and was able to suggest to the doctor that she check my gallbladder. They found multiple stones, including two somewhat large ones, and some thickening of my gallbladder. The doctor said it needed to come out with in a week. I decided to have the operation done in Manila at a cleaner and more modern hospital. So, I managed to talk the doctor into letting me go home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. The next day was spent trying to locate a good surgeon (this proved to be no easy task!), packing and preparing to leave for Manila. I also had to get the kids ready to stay with a friend and fellow missionary on campus while we were gone.

(Picture of our family, not including Chris who's behind the camera, at the APTS Thanksgiving dinner.)

We left before sunrise on Saturday for Manila. In the afternoon I had an appointment with the surgeon. He showed us his collection of photos of gallbladders he removed. As he had been performing the surgery for nearly 20 years, and teaching others how to do it, the collection was extensive! However, we appreciated that he took his time with us and was experienced in laproscopic surgery.

We stayed the night in a guestroom at a church of an APTS graduate. We attended his bilingual (Chinese/English) church service the following morning. After church we had a quiet lunch (with out the kids) and checked into the hospital.

Late Monday afternoon the surgery was performed successfully. I no longer have a gallbladder! We were blessed to have several missionary friends visit us during our stay in the hospital. I was able to return home to Baguio (about a 5 hour drive) on Wednesday morning. I've been getting better day by day. I was even able to attend the faculty Christmas party on Friday for a little while. Pretty soon I should be fully recovered and hopefully, feeling better than I have in years. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the friends, family and churches that prayed for us!

Photo of me at the faculty Christmas party just 4 days postop!