Refugees In Jesus

The roads were good, the car worked fine, I found my way around Rochester just fine, and I didn’t see a deer the whole way over and back.

Our dear friend Evelyn had some tests run, and consulted with the Mayo specialists. It was found that she has five spots on her lungs, four of them very small. Three showed up as white spots, which the doctor says are calcium deposits – he’s not at all concerned about them. The fourth is turning white, most likely a calcium deposit as well; he’s not concerned. The fifth one, however, is nickel-size and dark. That one does concern him, and Evelyn is now scheduled to return to the Mayo Clinic on March 1 for more tests, which will include their going into her side with a scope and removing that spot from her lung. If it turns out to be benign, or if they’re sure they got it all, she won’t have to undergo any radiation or chemotherapy treatments. So we’re hoping and praying for her!

I didn’t sleep well Tuesday night, probably because I was acutely aware that I had to get up early and drive, plus I was experiencing quite a bit of pain in my left shoulder because I didn’t medicate it much because I wanted to be as alert as possible for our early morning trip. I drove in darkness all the way to Rochester. At my age that’s quite a feat. We were up at 3:00, at Evelyn’s place at 4:30, and arrived at the Mayo Clinic at 6:15.

Everything went well for us in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic yesterday. We just flew through all of Evelyn’s appointments! We got there most of an hour early, and at the first appointment they called her back less than ten minutes after we sat down to wait. This was just for a blood test, like they do routinely at just about any medical center anywhere. But they do it like factory work over there at Mayo.

That put us an hour ahead of her second appointment. We just stopped there at that desk to ask if it would be OK for her to grab a little breakfast, but the lady behind the desk grabbed her paperwork and scanned it into the computer, and when we asked she said, “Oh no, you have to stay here now. You’re checked in!” That was a bit of a surprise, but we sat down, and not three minutes later they called her back, and ten minutes later she was out with us again! I’m not sure what that test was, but it sure was quick! Now we had two hours to kill before the next test, so we checked with a nurse (or whatever she was) and she said it’s OK for Evie to eat lightly. So down we went to the cafeteria.

My wife and I grabbed a couple donuts and coffees, and Evie had some scrambled eggs and a couple slices of bacon, and we sat and ate…and sat…and sat. My wife said, “Let’s go up to her next test on the 18th floor and see if she can get in early for that one, too.” So up the express elevator we went!

Evie got checked in, and she sat down, and not three minutes later they called her name. My wife and I sat and waited for her about a half hour before she came out. This one was a pulmonary test where they tested her breathing.

Now it was shortly after ten a.m., and her last test wasn’t scheduled until 2:00 p.m. We wandered the halls of the Gonda building for a bit, and then decided to go outside and wander the streets of Rochester. It was 28 degrees out by then, but it was still pretty cold. We walked a couple blocks down a pedestrian mall to a shopping mall and went inside to warm up and see what we could find. We found lots of expensive stuff! But we weren’t exactly rolling in the dough, so we headed back towards the Clinic buildings, hoping we’d find a little cafe or restaurant where we could grab a bite for lunch. But downtown Rochester isn’t exactly conducive to such a thing at the price we were hoping for, so we decided to eat in the cafeteria once again.

We got done eating our sandwich and potato salad / Swedish meatballs over egg noodles and headed out through the tunnels to Methodist Hospital for Evie’s final test, an injection and an X-ray. We arrived at her 2:00 appointment at just after noon. The nice lady behind the desk said we could sit and wait if we want, but she couldn’t guarantee that Evie could get called early, so we could be waiting a long time. Lo and behold, she was called back at 12:30! We sat and waited an hour and a half, and out she came again. We had to wait a bit longer to make sure the X-ray turned out OK, and then we were allowed to depart.

We arrived back here in Mankato around 4:00 pm, filled the gas tank on the car, and headed over to the local funeral home for a visitation, after which we took Evelyn home and headed to our own home as well.

This afternoon, while I have been working here at the shop and trying to get this post done for you, my wife and a friend from church took Evelyn back over to Rochester for the results of yesterday’s tests. I am happy to tell you that we are rejoicing right now, as the tests show no cancer! The doctors say they’ll keep an eye on it, of course, but for now it’s great news!