Benign!

The doctor just told us that everything they removed during Joyce's surgery was benign! Thank you so much for all your prayers!

On the way home from the hospital

We're paying the cab driver an exta tip for driving slowly. Since the nurse wheeling Joyce to her room was so careful with every bump on the floor I had my concerns with a NYC cabbie, but Joyce says he's driving very gently.

At noon the doctor said it would be 50/50 whether or not they'd release her at 5. At 4:59 the doctor on charge gave her clearance to leave after dinner.

Please continue to pray for her left hand and for strength to return in general. It's hard for her to stand up straight. Pray against swelling related to the surgery.

Unless something unexpected comes up we won't report again until Friday when we hear results from the test, but we'd appreciate prayer all week.

Thanks.

In Christ alone,
Rich

Continue to pray for Joyce's hand

Thank you so much for your prayers yesterday. We definitely felt them, and I know the Lord carried her through that tough spot.

Continue to pray for strength to return to her left hand and to her body in general.

In Christ alone,
Rich

Night time prayers

For any of you night owls,
Pray for:

weakness/numbness in the left hand to disapate

for her to reach her breathing goal before she goes to sleep (She's only half way there.)

for strength in general (She hasn't eaten since last night.)

against infection

that she can rest

The shivering has stopped. Thank you so much for your prayers!

In Christ alone,
Rich
(Now being kicked out of the only 5th Ave apartment--her hospital room-- we'll ever have.)

Pray her body will relax

There were some complications in the surgery that extended the surgery, but they called in the best surgeon in the world at the specific technique they needed done, and she came through fine.

They're going to keep her overnight, but expect to release her tomorrow afternoon.

The doctor will meet with us tomorrow at noon and the post-op checkup will be next Friday.

We'll let you know more when we know, but at this point everything looks great.

Thank you so much for your prayers! I could really feel them throughout, and I know they made a difference.

Keep praying. She's experiencing a lot of pain. Pray that her body will relax and stop shivering.

In Christ alone,
Rich

She woke up smiling

She's ready to see me. More later.

Still in the operating room

Three hours, 51 minutes and counting. We appreciate your continued prayers.

In Christ Alone,
Rich

Joyce just went in

I'm now waiting with a pager like I'm at the Olive Garden waiting for a table.

Lord, guide the anesthesiologist. May she receive exactly the right amount of anesthesia. Guard her heart. Keep it beating with strength and regularity. Guide every assistant. Keep my wonderful bride in the palm of your Hand.

In Jesus' name, Amen.
Rich

Joyce will be going in for surgery

At 2pm EST, July 29, Joyce will be going under general anesthesia for surgery.

Please pray that her heart maintains the strength that it's gained over recent months. She was scheduled to have this surgery before her heart failure in March, but her cardiologist wanted her to wait.

Feel free to use the Guest Book in the right margin of RichDrama.com/Joyce to pray for her and wish her well.

In Christ alone,
Rich

New Updates at RichDrama.com/Joyce

This was the last post at the old site before I moved the blog to my own server.

Joyce is ready for spring.
Originally uploaded by RichDrama.

I took this picture of Joyce today. You can see she is leaping forward into spring, but it's still hard for her to work a full day and carry heavy things. Thanks for all your encouragement and continued prayer!

In Christ Alone,
Rich

A Diagnosis and an Update

Dear Friends:

Just a quick update to report that the doctors' official diagnosis is cardiomyopathy. For information, check out Cardiomyopathy. Essentially, this means that the heart is failing to perform adequately.

My case seems to have been caught early, since my heart was not enlarged, so the doctors are hopeful that it may be restored to full, proper functioning through the course of medicine that I'm on.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your concern. Please know that we are grateful to you and to God for all you've done and all you are.

Blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ. Joyce

Back to work

Dear Friends:

Our MD visits today indicate healing is on the way -- although my heart function is less improved than they wanted to see. I feel better, though, and some indicators -- like blood pressure -- are strong.

What continues to bother the MDs is that they can't be sure what caused the heart failure. The biopsy and the MRI show completely normal heart conditions -- no cancer or viruses or other indicators that might point to a cause.

At this point, the MDs continue to hypothesize that the condition may have been caused by the medicines I've been taking for my multiple sclerosis, so treatment now centers on tinkering with the heart meds and remaining off the MS meds until the heart muscle strengthens.

I'm cleared to return to work and did so from home yesterday; I plan to go to the office tomorrow. Praise the Lord!

My prayer requests now:
* That the heart function improves significantly (if not, they may put a pacemaker in --yikes!).
* That MS not worsen in any way while I'm off those meds (right now, I have numbness and pins/needles in feet and hands, which seems to be related to the MS and not the heart).
* That the Lord continue to fill me and Rich with His joy and peace.
* That the Lord richly return the generosity you've shown to us 100-fold! You have all truly represented your Lord and Savior truthfully and beautifully!

All Glory to the King of Kings! Jesus Christ is Risen!

In His Grip, Joyce & Rich Swingle

Thank you for your prayers.

I have felt the Lord's love.
In Him,
Joyce

Joyce is HOME!!!

Thanks for all your prayers. Joyce was released from the hospital at a little before 5pm.

The heart medication has stabilized her heartbeat. She won't be entering any marathons anytime soon, but for now she's in the clear.

After all those tests they know several things that were not causing the irregular heartbeat, but so far they haven't determined what is causing it. After the MRI a woman wheeled her away (she is walking, but before she was released she had to be wheeled everywhere). This woman said Mt. Sinai Medical Center was a great place for Joyce to have been admitted because it is a complex with a wide variety of specialists. She said, "There are a lot of good minds here." So those good minds are going to be putting their heads together about what was ailing Joyce.

Next Tuesday Joyce will have a follow up visit in the doctor's office at 1pm EST, so we'll appreciate prayers:

Pray that the test results will reveal what caused the irregular hearbeat.

Pray the doctor will ask us the right questions.

Pray that we'll ask the the doctor the right questions.

Pray that in the mean time the heart medication will continue to work and that Joyce will be back to full strength very soon.

In Christ alone,
Rich

MRI Scheduled for 3pm EST

I had been praying that they do an MRI, since it's a noninvasive test, and it can shed more light on what's wrong. We would love for any able to pray during that hour as the Lord leads.

And pray specifically for the doctors to accurately diagnose all the tests.

The cardiologist said she'll probably go home tomorrow. We're praying that it's early in the day as I fly to Ohio (RichSwingle.com) in the afternoon.

Thanks for your continued prayer support!

In Christ Alone,
Rich

Can't sleep I'm so filled with joy!

I've just been praising God for all the prayers that have already been answered.

People are praying from coast to coast and from as far away as Brazil, Germany, and Singapore. Prayer networks are lifting her up across the land.

The following are specific answers to prayer (not all published to this site previously):

The exploratory surgery went flawlessly.

The pain in her back has disappeared.

The pain in her shoulder is all but gone.

Her sweating has subsided significantly.

Her pulse is stronger.

They've decided to do an MRI.

Neither of us have any fear.

She continues to be filled with joy and hope.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers and encouraging notes at the Guestbook.

Please keep praying. She could get called for the MRI any time after 7:30 this morning (Tuesday 3/15). Pray that all goes smoothly. Doctors are unclear about when she'll be released from the hospital. Pray they would choose the right time.

Okay, I think I can sleep now.

In Christ Alone,
Rich

Joyce just took a walk

Joyce was sitting up eating lunch shortly after the procedure. Later they took her for an echocardiogram. It's the same technology as an ultrasound. They let me go in, so I could see her heart pumping and her valves working. That's all I took away from the test, but I'm trusting the doctors will learn more than that.

Next they want to do an MRI. We're guessing that at this point they'll probably do that tomorrow (Tuesday, 3/15).

Her doctor dropped by and said they're exploring a number of different causes and treatments. He said it may be a long road, but seemed very optimistic.

Pray for the MRI to go flawlessly. It's noninvasive, so there's no danger involved, but we want to make sure that with every test they get all the information they need the first time around.

Pray for Joyce to continue to be joy-filled and a shining witness to everyone here.

In Christ Alone,
Rich

Joyce is out of surgery

The procedure took less than an hour and there were no complications. Please pray against infection and diagnostic direction for the doctors. She feels an odd sensation in her back. Please pray that it normalize.

Thanks for your prayers!

Joyce is going into surgery

She'll be in for an hour or two: 10-11 or 12 EST. We appreciate your prayers!

Joyce was admitted to the hospital

Please pray for my wife, Joyce. She's been admitted to the hospital so her heart can be monitored. They're going to do two exploratory surgeries on Monday--a heart cathetarization and a heart biopsy--to determine the cause of her irregular heartbeat. We have every reason to believe both procedures will go smoothly, but we appreciate your prayers.