"The place where love grows"

Finally some good news came yesterday for my brother, although frustrating in some aspects , very good news. He has heart problems and was in the hospital over the summer with 10% heart function.  Six months later he had his heart tested again and got it up to 30%.  In November it was time to test it again and he had the test taken at our small hospital in Russell County KY,probably not the best decision but better than driving 2 1/2 hours to Louisville.  For some reason he didn't hear anything back from those test until January and the doctor told him his heart was back down to 20% and they would need to schedule to have a defibrillator put in right away because he could drop dead any minute with no warning signs.  We were all very worried and concerned.  Bruce insisted that he was feeling better and just couldn't believe this to be the case.  He went and spoke with his family doctor and his doctor advised him to drive to Louisville and have it retested.  He told him that their equipment at the hospital is outdated and the test could be wrong.  So this is what he decided to do.  He went to Louisville and had the test done and got a call the next week with the results. I kept telling him not to get his hopes up because his heart very well could be at 20% and even the nurse in Louisville told him even though you feel better doesn't mean your heart is stronger.  I just didn't want him to get his hopes up although I was praying constantly that he got better results.  The doctor called with the results and told him that his heart was actually at 35-40% and would not need to have the defibrillator put in at this time.  Praise God what a relief!!  It just makes me mad to think about it though.  Can you imagine how Bruce was feeling , walking around thinking his heart had gotten worse and he could drop dead anytime?  I don't understand why hospitals would even consider using such equipment if they know it is outdated and there is a chance the test could come back wrong.  Now Bruce did chose to have them done in Russell County close to home instead of driving all the way to Louisville but what if he didn't go and have the test redone and get a second opinion?  He was so discouraged and very worried with the first results.  If he had not been retested they would have went ahead and put a defibrillator in that he really doesn't need right now and would be walking around today worried that he could drop dead.  Now all of this could still happen and maybe it was all due to prayer that the new tests came back so much better.  Maybe it was really at 20% and through prayer God worked his magic , we will never know.  All we do know is now he must focus on getting his heart stronger by eating right and exercising.  I keep telling him the heart is a muscle and if he exercises and eats better it can still improve even more.  We can also hope that the Russell County Hospital can use this to try and talk the board into getting new equipment so this will not happen to someone else.  When you are talking about an organ as important as your heart or as my 10 year old calls it , "the place where love grows"  you need to be 100% sure so you know and can make the right decisions on helping to improve.  I have two boys that are BIG fans of their Uncle Bruce and prays and prays for him everyday.  We have to make sure we encourage him to do the best he can for himself so he can get stronger and stronger everyday. I just hope he listens and understands the importance, oh and by the way , I am a pretty BIG fan of him myself and I pray  many times a day for him because my "place where love grows" would never be the same without him.   So I am begging all of you to pray for him, encourage him, give him advice, check on him when you can even yell at him if he needs it, he'll get over it.    He is so blessed to have so many amazing friends and we saw that when he was in the hospital and are just so thankful.   

Bryce had a game last night and I got to go watch his game.  It was very exciting and he got to play quite a bit.  He actually took a couple shots and both came so close to going in!! After the game, he was bummed that his shots didn't go in because I know he wanted it so bad and of course as a Mom I told him that he did an amazing job and they won as a team and that was the important part.   I then began to tell him that I had some really good news that may cheer him up, so of course he was anxious to hear.  His first guess was , "you are going to take me out to dinner", of course I did that anyway to celebrate the win, but no that was not it.  My 10 year old , Brandt said no it's 20 times better than food and that's saying alot for him because he loves to eat, lol.  Brandt began to tell him about their Uncle Bruce and what the test results said, Bryce was quiet.  I then saw a tear run down his cheek and he looked at me and said "Mom, prayers do work and this news is awesome".  At his very moment, my "place where love grows" was beating very fast and I felt it grow just a little bit more.  Yes, he still wishes he made those shots but he is very thankful to God that their Uncle is a little bit healthier than they thought.