Sweet Smelling Incense
We are home, and all is well. We weren't able to post any news at the hospital, and we thank David Pippenger, Steve's brother-in-law, for helping us out then.
Tuesday morning our whole family was up at 4:30 and out the door shortly thereafter. They whisked us into the pre-op room, and Shea was soon hooked up and ready for a long nap! Dr. Nunn came in and Shea said, "Did you have a good night's sleep?" "Well, as a matter of fact I did." Shea shared with him that many of us were praying that her surgeons would sleep well the night before. Dr. Nunn smiled and said, "Hey, would you please pray that I sleep that well every night?"
As they wheeled Shea away, Dr. McKay yelled over his shoulder, "See you in three or four hours." We saw Shea twelve hours later! The surgery took much longer than all the surgeons anticipated, but we are thankful they were able to take their time. At about noon Dr. Mills, Shea's dental surgeon, came out to report that all was well. He was able to direct the plastic surgeons and tell them exactly where to place the bone in her jaw so that he would have the exact amount of bone he needs to eventually do her implants. He reminded us again that Dr. Nunn and Dr. McKay are unbelievably talented and artistic. So waiting the rest of the afternoon and into the evening wasn't as difficult as you might think since we knew Shea was in great hands. After the surgery both doctors commented that all went better than they ever imagined. Dr. McKay said, "I felt like I had an angel on my shoulder the whole time."
The first few nights at the hospital were very rough as they had a difficult time regulating the morphine. Shea was in great pain the first night and the nurses were trying to convince her to relax and allow the drug to take effect. When the shift changed and the night nurse came in, she informed us that the morphine pump machine had been turned off for over an hour! So glad to have a nurse with 35 years experience watch over Shea all night!
Shea is home and improving every day. She has been seeing an alternative health care specialist, Dr. Marc D'Andrea, weekly for the past number of months. He called on Saturday and asked if he could make a house call! We couldn't believe it. He is working hard to give Shea the proper nutrition her body needs to rid her body of all the toxins, boost her energy and speed healing.
Once again, we thank all of you for your faithful prayers. There's a song by Matt Redman taken from Revelation 8:4 that Steve and I have been singing lately, - here's a line of the lyrics: "May the prayers of the saints be like sweet smelling incense to You, Lord." There are many of you whom we may never meet, but you continue to pray for our girl's continued healing; so many have not stopped praying. How could it be that doctors sense an angel's presense, that they are in awe of their own God-given abilities except for the prayers of the saints? Thank you again . . . and again.
Love,
The Hickoks
Tuesday morning our whole family was up at 4:30 and out the door shortly thereafter. They whisked us into the pre-op room, and Shea was soon hooked up and ready for a long nap! Dr. Nunn came in and Shea said, "Did you have a good night's sleep?" "Well, as a matter of fact I did." Shea shared with him that many of us were praying that her surgeons would sleep well the night before. Dr. Nunn smiled and said, "Hey, would you please pray that I sleep that well every night?"
As they wheeled Shea away, Dr. McKay yelled over his shoulder, "See you in three or four hours." We saw Shea twelve hours later! The surgery took much longer than all the surgeons anticipated, but we are thankful they were able to take their time. At about noon Dr. Mills, Shea's dental surgeon, came out to report that all was well. He was able to direct the plastic surgeons and tell them exactly where to place the bone in her jaw so that he would have the exact amount of bone he needs to eventually do her implants. He reminded us again that Dr. Nunn and Dr. McKay are unbelievably talented and artistic. So waiting the rest of the afternoon and into the evening wasn't as difficult as you might think since we knew Shea was in great hands. After the surgery both doctors commented that all went better than they ever imagined. Dr. McKay said, "I felt like I had an angel on my shoulder the whole time."
The first few nights at the hospital were very rough as they had a difficult time regulating the morphine. Shea was in great pain the first night and the nurses were trying to convince her to relax and allow the drug to take effect. When the shift changed and the night nurse came in, she informed us that the morphine pump machine had been turned off for over an hour! So glad to have a nurse with 35 years experience watch over Shea all night!
Shea is home and improving every day. She has been seeing an alternative health care specialist, Dr. Marc D'Andrea, weekly for the past number of months. He called on Saturday and asked if he could make a house call! We couldn't believe it. He is working hard to give Shea the proper nutrition her body needs to rid her body of all the toxins, boost her energy and speed healing.
Once again, we thank all of you for your faithful prayers. There's a song by Matt Redman taken from Revelation 8:4 that Steve and I have been singing lately, - here's a line of the lyrics: "May the prayers of the saints be like sweet smelling incense to You, Lord." There are many of you whom we may never meet, but you continue to pray for our girl's continued healing; so many have not stopped praying. How could it be that doctors sense an angel's presense, that they are in awe of their own God-given abilities except for the prayers of the saints? Thank you again . . . and again.
Love,
The Hickoks
posted by admin | 10:46 AM
19 Comments:
What a praise!!!! I am so excited that Shea is getting better every day. She, and all of you, have been on my heart. Three of us come together on Wednesday nights and pray and we have lifted Shea up in prayer. We just keep praying that this is the time that God has appointed for her healing!!! How awesome that each Doctor has given their all and all, and have cared so much. We keep them in prayer also and thank God for the gift He has given them!!
Shea, I just hope you feel God's tender healing hands perfectly restoring you in His perfect time!!!
Blessings upon blessings to each of you,
Denise
Thank you so much for sharing your good news! We will continue to pray for Shea and your sweet family as she heals.
How thankful we are for the Doctors and Nurses the Lord chose for this special surgery.
May the Lord give you His peace and rest tonight.
Love,
Leonard and Brenda
Shea, dear...
It's EARLY Thursday am, and I hope and pray that your pain is subsiding. If we were there, I'd take Sheila's really cold hands and place them gently on your face, which would reduce the swelling in only eight minutes because they're so cold. Then I'd sing you a new song I wrote, which is called "I Just Pretend I Can Play The Guitar", a song which is both sad and hopeful. Finally, there'd be a piggy back ride to Bob Jones University where we'd have simple dinner salads in the cafeteria....
I Love You Always...
H
When you have down times just keep in mind that the up days will come! Good thing that God's greatness and love doesn't depend on how we feel!
"Jesus Loves me this I Know For the Bible Tells Me So"
keep your new chin up!
Melissa E.
Dear Shea,
I suppose I use to call you Lauren a long time ago. I'm not sure how long ago I heard that you'd been in an accident. Somehow I had stumbled accross Brad Zockoll's blog and had seen your name and read the news that you had been in an accident. At the time, the news didn't seem so serious. Some surgeries were to be performed but that is to be expected after an accident. Thinking it was just a minor knee surgery, I said a prayer asking God for healing, peace, and a quick recovery for you. Today, I had some free time and was reading Brio on-line. Brad Zockoll had a fiction story published. Remember when he used to tell those Jan and Steve stories in Heartland? Well, to this day, I can never think of Brad Zockoll without thinking of Steve Hickok and Lauren...or Shea as you now go by. So, I looked up your blog once again, thinking there would be a quick update on how your knee was doing. I was in for a shocking surprise.
I remember my fourth grade year at Heart to Heart. So many memories that flood through my mind. Yes, of Heartland, of Ryan Larrabee, of track and field, soccer, basketball, and volleyball, and Lauren Hickok. I didn't know you that well Lauren. I remember going to your house one time and maybe talking to you a few times. But that's not why you have stayed in my mind these many years. Shea, it was your joyful spirit, your beautiful smile, and your love for the Lord that I could see so clearly in you...even in your 6th grade year. I remember telling myself that I wanted to be like Lauren Hickok someday. I wanted her love for people, her vibrance for life, and the joy that she let off everytime she was around anybody. I remember listening to you sing in front of church and hoping that one day I would be able to sing like Lauren Hickok. I respected and admired you so much as a fourth grader. I wanted to be as cool as you were.
Now, after a few moves and encountering many different people, watching many different friends forget about Jesus Christ when they grow older, it's encouraging to once again be able to "see" Lauren Hickok. Even in the midst of amazing pain and physical struggles, you haven't given up. I know so many who have wandered away, Lauren. What a priviledge to have met you. What a wonderful thing to know that you are still living for the Lord. If I could only write down all of the friends that I've had that, in little struggles, have lost their zeal, their passion, and their desire for God. Press on Lauren.
This is a difficult time of your life, and most of us won't go through the struggles that you are facing even now. Continue to be a light. Be someone that nurses and doctors, and hospital staff can look up to and say, "I want to be just like her someday." You gave a little fourth grader someone to emulate, to look up to and to respect. I saw the light of Jesus Christ in you and I knew you loved your God. My fourth grade year was a huge year for me spiritually. It was that year that I fully surrendered my life to Christ. You impacted my life in a huge way. And still, many years later, you continue to impact it. Now, I'm a student at Northland Baptist Bible College, and I can still say..."I want to be just like Lauren Hickok...someday."
Press on Lauren. I know there is discouragement everyday, but in light of that discouragement put your hope in God. My favorite verses are Psalm 73:25-26,28 "Whom have I in heaven but You and beside You I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works."
Know that you are in my prayers. I'll be praying that God continues to heal, that the doctors have wisdom. That you will draw near to God during this time. That God would show Himself so real to you. That your desire and focus would be on Him completely. That you would find your hope, strength, and trust in Him daily.
I admire you Shea. May God continue to use you as a sweet smelling incense to glorify Him.
Lydia Hodak
Still praying for you.
Shea, Steve, Susan and Family, so glad to know that this major surgery is past! We'll continue to pray that healing will be complete and that you will find inner rest in these days and nights of waiting. Psalm 74:16.
In His Love, Sharon & Gaylard
i love you sheaa :]] still praying for youu! xox
Hello Hickocks
We apologize that we have not posted for awhile but you all are still in our hearts, minds and most importantly, our prayers. We praise the lord with you that all went well with the surgery and that you are home now Shea. Keep drawing strength that the Lord gives you and the recovery will be a blessed one.
God bless and we love you.
Keith and Kathy Shull
hello hickoks! we still think of you guys often and pray for your family. shea, for some reason, every morning when i am blow drying my hair you pop into my head. it happens every day. so you are always on my mind. :) thanks for the updates so we know how to pray more specifically. love you all so much! christian and jenni
Hey shea!
It's britni shea... I don't know if you will remember me but I went to the bridge a few times a long time ago and we talked a few times... I just really have wanted to get in touch with you for a long time because I want you to know how much you have impacted my life. I also want you to know that you are the most talented and beautiful person I have ever met. You also look beautiful in the picture posted with your mom! Your beaty shines through no matter what, even through bandages. I still listen to your cd that I bought off of itunes and cry because it is so powerful. I really wish that I could here back from you someday... because I really want you to know how much you have touched my life. God bless you shea!!!
-Britni shea
(404) 771-2322
britnishea020905@comcast.net
Bless you Shea: I was so touched reading the blog from your old fourth grade friend and seeing the imprint you made on her life. Who would have thought. It was good to see the picture of your mom, and I couldn't help but think how sweet you looked. I am still remembering you before the Lord. Debbie Miller
Howdie there Shea! Well I haven't blogged in a long time--been kind of tied up with my Dad's multiple hospitalizations but just had to pop in and say hi. I read your blog the night before your surgery and as I lay in bed that night I prayed for you and couldn't imagine how I'd feel if I were your parents. BUT, I do know that God's grace is sufficient for the moment (had to clean Dad's bathroom last night--we'll just leave it at that). So--anyway, as I lay there I asked God for a song or a verse. And then this song just popped in my head---"For She's a Jolly Good Fellow"--No kidding---I laughed out loud--I mean I'm an Elder's wife you know, and it just didn't seem very spiritual but SO fitting and I'm singing in my head that song but not just for you but for you whole blogging world and I thought about the part which said--"Which nobody can deny"--and in my head everyone was cheering that line like something out of "It's a Wonderul Life." Then the second song came to mind which was "Our God Is an Awesome God." Any I thought--OK God--this is like an 80's song and kind of overdone but You must have a message here so I started singing it in my mind (as Don was snoring). Then I realized why--the line "With Wisdom, Power, and Love, our God is an Awesome God." So that is how I fell asleep--praying for God's wisdom for the Doctors, Power for you to overcome and heal, and Love to saturate your family still--again--like new---like always.
Loved the pic of you and your mom--reminded me of when Don and I were 16--I was the star in the Christmas Pageant and he was Lazarus. He was all wrapped up--all over--all you could see was his eye--He didn't have any lines--just came forth and obeyed Jesus--I was so proud of him--someday I'll send you that picture. It's packed right now in a POD because we are hoping to move.
Well, the hamburgers are done and it like leading a pig to the trough so bye sweetie for now.
Karine for the Beards
Shea, it won't let me post your picture for you but go to http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w58/Crashmelinda/sheapic.jpg and you can get it!
have an amazing week beautiful!love you
Melinda
so i just looked, and that link deffanatly didnt work... so i'll try it again...
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/
w58/Crashmelinda/sheapic.jpg
there are no spaces in the link so just make sure you take out the space between "/" and "w58"
love
Melinda
Shea-
It was SO good to finally see that beautiful face of yours on the blog!!!! PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS PROVISION AND CARE!
As I thought over the definition of beauty, I thought to myself...man, has our society gotten that confused.
beau·ti·ful [ bytəf'l ]adjective Definition:
1. pleasing to senses: very pleasing and impressive to look at, listen to, touch, smell, or taste
When I think of TRUE GODLY beauty, I think of someone that is beautiful on the inside AND out, someone that draws people to them, someone that exuberates Love, Grace, and Gentleness, someone that others desire to hear (listen to), and are sweet to the senses by giving off an aroma of joy, passion, and excitement for Christ.
When I think of beauty as it was meant to be defined, I think of you, Shea.
Thank you for sharing your beauty with so many others around and for the impacts you have and are making on the doctors, medical specialists, nurses, surgeon's wives, rehab workers, 4th grade classmates, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, Pastors' wives, Elder's wives, complete strangers, music listeners, world travelers, hair saloon co-workers, little brothers, random bloggers, friends of your friends' friends, your mom and dad, bible study attendees, semi-truck drivers, and the list can just go on and on.
Sh·ea ['Sh-a']
Definition:
1. True Godly Beauty
We love you!
Chris and Kelly Shondelmyer
Just thinking of you guys. Wondering how Shea is doing, and reflecting on what a gift you have turned this situation into.
Wondering how Shea is doing..
5.29.07
I too, am wondering about you, Shea, how you are doing, when and what the next step will be.
It's been close to 4 months since there has been an entry.
. Even if no news is good news, still hope to see some updates soon!
I continue to think about you, and pray for you -
Ginny Snodgrass (Sarah's Grammy)
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