A Painful Break

For anyone who is still checking this blog, I wanted to let you know that Cheryl broke her hip last week.  She was at home alone and was in the garage.  She tripped over a hose and fell on the concrete. She was in too much pain to even move, but PRAISE GOD, she had her cell phone in her pocket!  She was able to call 911 and they came and got her.  The first few days were terrible as she was in excruciating pain, even after surgery.  But, we are seeing small steps of improvement every day and we praise the Lord for that.  She is in a rehab center in Bakersfield and the Physical Therapist says she'll be here for up to 2 weeks.  So, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving a little bit differently this year, but we still have MUCH to be thankful for.  We rejoice for the life and hope we have in Jesus Christ that far extends circumstances.  Thank you Lord for this indescribable gift!

Rejoicing in His goodness,
Cheryl's Family  

And There was Much Rejoicing

I have to apologize to all of you!  I guess you could say that I've been too busy rejoicing with my mom to remember to update her blog!  She's doing awesome!  They just turned her device on that will begin to send the "reminders" to her brain to produce dopamine.  She's being slowly weaned off her medication so that they device can begin to do what it was meant to do.  The device was just turned on Friday and we can already see how much it is helping, which causes us to look with anticipation to how she will continue to heal.  She is getting her appetite back, she's sleeping through the night (and sleeping in!), and her tremors are becoming less and less frequent.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement.  Our Heavenly Father has been so faithful to answer those prayers and to care for Cheryl.  We know that no matter what the outcome would be, He is still SO worthy of praise.  So, we thank Him that for now He's chosen to teach us through healing and not more hurt.  To GOD be the glory!

Love,

Cheryl's Family

Unexpected outcome....

Hey everyone,

Cheryl went in for the last procedure yesterday and we were definitely not expecting how much more painful and difficult the second surgery would be compared to the first. Please be praying for my mom. She's been in extreme pain and discomfort. She can hardly keep any food down. It's been a rough couple of days. Please also pray that we would be able to contact the doctor...we've had trouble reaching him to see if there is some different pain medication we can give her. It's hard to see her in so much pain and we pray that this will pass soon. Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers. Cheryl definitely needs it!

Continuing to trust,
Cheryl's family

Last Procedure!

I wanted to let you guys know that your continued prayers are continuing to be answered. It shouldn't come as a surprise to us knowing that "whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Matthew 21:22) We serve a good and faithful God who truly hears our cries. I will share with you one of the ways He has done that in the past few days.

As we said before, there is still one more step in this process before Cheryl will be able to experience the effects of the surgery that will help alleviate her symptoms from Parkinson's Disease. That procedure means putting a device in her chest just under the skin that will connect to the wires that have been placed in her brain. This is an outpatient procedure, so she will be able to leave the same day. Cheryl has been trying to schedule this procedure without success, as most of you know how difficult it can be at times to try and work with doctor's offices. The doctor kept telling her it would be after Thanksgiving. But, then it was discovered that he will be out of town after Thanksgiving. Then, there was an attempt to move the date of the surgery up, but there was complications with the insurance. After many difficulties, everything was resolved and Cheryl will go in TOMORROW for this final procedure! We are so thankful because this means she will be able to experience the effects of the surgery even sooner than expected! God truly does work all things together for good, even though from our limited perspective it seems as if everything is going wrong!

The surgery is at UCLA tomorrow, November 18, at 2:30 P.M. Please be praying for the following:
1)For Cheryl as she goes in for this final surgery
2)For a quick recovery
3)For the lasting benefits from the DBS surgery
4)Most of all, that God would be glorified and praised in us no matter what the outcome

Praising our great God,
Cheryl's family

Next Steps...

Hello all,
Well, we've made it through! It's been a little over a week since Cheryl's surgery and we continue to praise God for how quickly she has recovered from something as critical as brain surgery. He is so faithful to His children. We praise Him for doctors that can help restore our earthly bodies that are "wasting away." But, He keeps us in a place where we still long to be made new in Him. He's so much more concerned with our soul, but still loves us enough to care for our body as well. We take heart in knowing that "though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Many of you are asking, "So, what's next?" Well, there is still one more procedure in this process before Cheryl can experience the full benefits of this surgery. This next operation is an outpatient surgery in which they will place the device under her skin in her chest that will connect to the wires. This is the device which will send the stimulation to the brain cells. This final procedure will take place sometime after Thanksgiving. Cheryl will begin to see the complete results of the surgery by Christmas. Praise the Lord! What a wonderful Christmas blessing.

We cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers, support, and encouragement through this time. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Cheryl's recovery and for the lasting benefits of this surgery. For those of you who already know Cheryl, she will hopefully be able to do lots more the next time you see her. And for those of you who have yet to meet her--if you meet her on this earth, she will be able to shake your hand and squeeze it tight. :) And if you don't meet until heaven, it won't matter because she'll have a brand new body anyway! Again, THANK YOU for everything. We love you all.

Praising Him,
Cheryl's family

True Beauty

The always-beautiful Cheryl Klopfenstein.

And, yes, she knows I put this picture on the blog

but she wanted you guys to see what she looks like!

This verse has never been more clear to me than it is now:

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeing, but a woman who fears the

LORD is to be praised." -Proverbs 31:30

Update from Cheryl!!!!

I want to thank EACH and EVERY person on and off the prayer schedule that has prayed and continues to pray for me. From the way things went on the day of the surgery I could really feel the support. One instance in particular--when I got a CT scan that I didn't know I was getting and they had to tape my head down (I'm very claustraphobic), I thought I was going to "fall apart" but felt complete peace instead and was able to make it through! As well as wearing the steel frame on my head without any medication (until the time for surgery).

During the surgery, I experienced what it will feel like when the device is fully installed and working (there is still one more step before the process will be complete). It was an incredible feeling to know that without any medication, I could function and control my body movements without stiffness or shaking!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!! The doctors promise that by Christmas, I will begin to experience the full effects of this procedure. What a great Christmas present! Thank you Lord!

As for recovery, besides a little headache and vomiting from some of the medications, things are going pretty well. Most amazingly, the doctor released me the day after the surgery! Wow! I'm back at home now, which is so much better than a hospital room.

I also want to point out the amazing support of the men in my family--at first my 2 sons had agreed to shave their heads with me, but now ALL the men in my family (including 2 grandsons) have shaved their heads as well! Now they can have cold heads too. :)

God is good and the family of God is very precious to me. To everyone who came to the hospital, to people who couldn't come but were praying, friends that have encouraged and supported me, even to people I have never met that have been praying---THANK YOU. No words could EVER express how grateful I am to each one of you. I love you all!

Love,
Cheryl