Winkie and I met with Dr. John Winsor, recommended gastro-intestinal surgeon and professor of surgery at Auckland University Medical Center. He gave us some interesting news. The first thing he said, is that Winkie is at this time able to use his abdominal muscles! True, they are still separated, and only surgery will correct that, but he said that the actual muscles are usable! Winkie practically got a new lease on life! Of course, with any strenuous use of that area, he will get a bulge, but since the open space is so large, there’s no risk of hernia strangulation. When the bowel goes through a small opening in the muscle wall layer and gets stuck, that is where the danger comes in. But since Winkie has a large space, there’s nothing really for the bowel to get stuck on. Winkie is free now to exercise (he is of course, still quite weak, and far from being able to get back out on the tennis court- we’re not even letting him drive yet), get well and basically get back into life. You can imagine what mentally, being told by a specialist that all those things you were told before that you shouldn’t or couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to do you actually can do would do. Winsor also encouraged him to take time to heal up, get well, and think about all the different surgical possibilities that lie before him. It seems that he has a number of options, but needs to decide if he wants to go through the public system (is free, but takes time, and particular surgeon is not guaranteed) or go private (you can pick your surgeon, but it costs you). If he were to go private, he could pick what type of surgery he wanted (apparently, the same basic purpose can be attained through many different ways- Winsor laid out several- with or without mesh, if with, which kind of mesh and where it’s put, if without, which muscle layer is brought together- there are so many options). Winsor told us, however, if we want private, it will cost us about $10,000NZ. Dad has a lot of time to think about it, and mull things over in his mind. He also will have time to work on written material, and, as I’ve found out today, is planning to do at least 4 more books- Volumes 2 & 3 of Divinity (The Nature and Character of God), an updated version of Youth Aflame, and a small counseling-type book.” William Pratney

Posted by Israel Anderson