Gemstone777

15 minutes ago, shanee said:

Praying now  Gemstone777

Thank you Shanee for taking the time to let me know that you are praying for/with me!  I appreciate you, and hope that you have a blessed week!  ~ In Christian love, Gem

3 hours ago, Lavender said:

Praying for you.

Lavender, thank you for praying for me!  I feel so blessed to have you and the others praying for me.  I hope you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.  God is good!  ~ In Christian love, Gem

3 hours ago, Wayne222 said:

Hi Gem i will be so happy to pray for you. I pray you find the right doctor. I had bronchitis too. It was bad. I know how you felt. May God bless you and he is always with you.

Thank you Wayne for your eagerness to pray for me!  That's encouraging and doesn't make me feel like a burden!    Although I'm not happy that you were sick too, I appreciate you sharing your experience with bronchitis to relate to me.  Yes, thank you for praying for the right doctor, I really hope to find a good one.  God is always with me, and I'm so thankful for that!  May God bless you too!  ~ In Christian love, Gem

7 hours ago, KPaulG said:

Praying

Thank you KPaulG!  I hope that you had a happy Resurrection Sunday!  God bless you!   ~ In Christian love, Gem

7 hours ago, Abby-Joy said:

In agreement...in Jesus' mighty name!!!

Thank you Abby!  I appreciate you fulfilling the Scripture that says:  Romans 15:30-31 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.  May God richly bless you!  Love always, Gem  <3  

9 hours ago, wingnut- said:

Praying

Thank you brother for your faithfulness in caring about me and others!  Love ya, Gem

11 hours ago, semper.fi said:

Lord God Almighty, we ask You to do Your Mighty All in Gem's life. We will praise You now and we will praise You later. You are Jehovah Rapha,   the Lord our Healer. You are our Provider and our Rock, the lifter of our head, the keeper of our souls. You created us, You hold us together, and You work Your goodness in us. You are our shelter in the storm, our song in the storm, our peace in the storm. We lift our sister to You and entrust her care to You. Thank You, Lord, for the beautiful light she is in this family.

Thank you Graham for that beautiful, encouraging prayer!  May God bless you for your kindness!  In Christian love always, Gem

5 minutes ago, patrick jane said:

Our prayers are with you. God Bless you !!!

Thank you, that means a lot!  God bless you as well! 

1 Samuel 16:1,6-7, 10-13, & 19

1) The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

6) When they entered, he (Samuel) looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7) But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[b]God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

It appears that along with God cautioning Samuel to not look on physical appearance to determine the character/abilities of a man, He was also foreshadowing that none of the expected sons would be chosen to be king.  Kind of like that old saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” 

10) Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11) And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and ^[d]bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12) So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13) Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

It’s interesting to me that Jesse didn’t even line his son David up as a possibility for Samuel to be instructed by God to choose him as king.  I mean I get when other people underestimate an underdog, but his own dad in a sense didn’t believe that he had a chance to be selected.  It’s also a reminder to me that sometimes we look for approval in other people (parents, siblings, friends, spouses, coworkers, etc.) but the appreciation we desire is found in God alone.  David was overlooked by others, but selected by God!

19) So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” 

So in verse 13 he was chosen to be king, but by verse 19 he is found back in the fields tending to the flock as a shepherd boy.  At first that sounds crazy that he would be anointed to be king, but sent to do remedial work back in the fields.   But in this time of waiting, he had character building and development to do that would help him as king.   That’s why preachers are often referred to as shepherds caring for their flock because there is skill and leadership involved in taking care of a plurality of animals or people.  Think about it, David had to fend off wild animals, and that could have prepared him for battle and not to fear.  After all, he did kill a bear and a lion!  1 Samuel 17:34-36 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep.  When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock.  I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth, and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”  Also, I find it interesting that there is no indication that he was impatient while waiting to take over as king, but that’s probably because he was satisfied with where God had placed him.  So often it seems like most of us (myself included) try to rush our times of waiting, but there is a purpose in our time of waiting. 

8 hours ago, KPaulG said:

Praying.

How's everything going now??

Continuing to heal, but doing much better!  Thank you, and have a blessed weekend!

4 hours ago, Annette said:

Keeping you in prayer Gem  

Thanks Annette!  <3

Hi!  Thanks to everyone that has been praying for me.  I am glad to report that the swelling is down, praise the Lord!  Within the last 2 weeks I've lost a total of 20 lbs., which I would imagine a lot of that would have been whatever was causing the swelling in my abdomen.  I am most appreciative of all of you that have been faithfully praying for me, shown concern/love, and checked on me.  Reminds me of the verse in Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  I hope that you all have a blessed day!  In Christian love, Gem

On 3/12/2018 at 11:27 AM, Neighbor said:

Again sorry for the problem you suffer. Praying for diagnosis and excellent treatment and cure.

Left side dominance without excess fluid in the abdomen cavity to be drained  sure screams out to this layperson the possibility that  something is wrong in the descending large colon. BUT- I am sure all the doctors have checked out the possibility of Crohn's and diverticulitis, and even food allergies. Again it reads as though you are suffering far too much  for a lack of diagnosis. Praying that the cause will be found and handled successfully very soon.

Thanks again for your concern and prayers!    I have a food allergy test May 4th which I will get the results same day.  So, if that is the problem I will know then.  If not, it will rule out one more thing.  Sometimes it's a long journey of ruling things out when they are unsure of the cause/medical mystery.  With Crohn's you usually lose weight, and I am having the opposite problem (unexplained weight gain,) on a 1500/2000 calorie diet and exercising 3 times a week.  I should be losing weight, or at the very least maintaining my weight.  I will keep trusting God and doing what I can within my power to try and take care of my health.  Have a blessed week!  ~  Gem

23 hours ago, KPaulG said:

How's everything going now?

Hi KPaul!  I've lost 13 lbs. in a few days, and the swelling in my abdomen has went down, so that's very good!  I was also able to avoid going the ER.  Thanks for checking up on me! 

2 hours ago, NOONE7 said:

Praying!!

Thank you Noone7!  You are a faithful prayer warrior!    

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Sorry that so far there has not been a useful diagnosis. Praying that you will be relieved of this condition. May God bring you comfort and healing, is my prayer.

 I also add a question; how do the medical people relieve the swelling, or do they? Does it just go away?

I ask as a close friend  is now having his abdomin tapped two to three times a week to remove several liters of fluid, all related to  his own liver and kidney failure. He is on dialysis three times a week. Several of the people at dialysis also have the same swelling problem he has.

I too suggest not waiting, when you have discomfort,  go get medical treatment of the symptoms! Don't let the symptom become the cause of other organ failures.

 

Hi Neighbor, thank you for your concern!  As far as the swelling goes,  my regular doctor/ER docs/& specialists (Gastroenterologist, OBGYN, Internalist, Endocrinologist, & OBGYN) have not been able to relieve the swelling.  I just have been dealing with it until the swelling goes away.  I spent a big part of last year going to a variety of specialists to help find out what was wrong with me to no avail.  That's why I've had all the tests (blood work, ultrasounds, CT scan, MRI, X-rays, and even an abdominal scope) done within the last year.  I just use a heating pad, drink Smart Water (which has electrolytes to try and prevent dehydration), anti inflammatory, and I am on a prescription water pill.  So I just tolerate the pain and swelling, and wait for it to dissipate, and pray for strength to endure the trial and healing if that's God's will.  The swelling is getting progressively worse, and I've had the current flare up for around 2 weeks now (sometimes worse than others.)  It's not that I'm avoiding going to be strong or even for financial reasons, I just don't know what more they can do to help me.  They say my kidney, liver, and other organ functioning is great.  They basically say I'm a medical mystery, and there's nothing that they can do for me.  

Lately though, I feel as if at times my stomach could burst and I've had sharp pains, predominantly on my left side.  I do have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome and had emergency surgery in 2011 to remove a 17 cm cyst and my right ovary.  In 2015 I had an ultra sound that showed multiple cysts on my left ovary, the largest being 3.9 cm. Towards the end of 2017 the ultra sound they did was inconclusive as to if the cysts had grown or dissipated.  One of the primary things it could be is ovarian cysts, but I've already done all the tests they would do to check on that.  Besides exploratory surgery (they seem to only want to do as a last resort,) I don't know what else they could do for me.  I have been very proactive in taking care of my health (especially this last year,) so as far as going to the ER or not maybe you can see why it's not a simple answer just to go.  If I thought they would help me, I'd go right away.  

I appreciate your prayers, as it's good to know we are not alone on our journey.  I hope you have a blessed day!   In Christian love, Gem

2 hours ago, shanee said:

Praying now  Gemstone777

Thank you Shanee!  I appreciate all the prayers and need them as I'm still not feeling quite right.

2 hours ago, BK1110 said:

Praying!

Thank you BK1110!  Feeling somewhat better today! 

10 hours ago, Ps37 said:

Praying for you Gem.

Thank you very much Ps37!  I am feeling somewhat better today! 

9 hours ago, wingnut- said:

I think it is always best to err on the side of caution if you are asking my opinion on that.  

That's my philosophy too usually...guess I need to take my own advice! 

24 minutes ago, Wayne222 said:

Praying ! Hope they find out soon. God bless and keep you !

Thank you Wayne!  God bless you as well!  ~ Gem

11 minutes ago, Abby-Joy said:

Praying now, Gem! 

Thank you!  <3

3 hours ago, wingnut- said:

Praying for you

Thanks Nut!  I haven't went to the ER yet, but I am contemplating going soon.  The ER nurse I disciple is on duty and it's possible she would be my nurse.  Just wondering if it will be beneficial since I've already had all the tests of my abdomen.  Appreciate you!  ~ Gem

5 hours ago, PersecutedOne88 said:

Praying that the doctors would very soon accurately find out the root cause of your medical problems. Praying also that your allergic reactions would go away for good. Amen.

Thank you for your prayer!  I appreciate it so much!  Have a blessed day!