“No, No, I am not getting sleepy”…… followed by the words “blah, blah, blah, blah”.     “I want sleep broth”  when asked if he wanted chicken or beef broth.  “Women drivers!”  spoken when his bed hit the door jam several times as his hospital bed was being navigated into the room after surgery – and his ‘driver’s’ just happened to be women. “Yaana!”  - a Mongolian word for “Oh, No” as he was being moved around in bed. These were some of the words spoken by Richard prior to or just after coming out of surgery with a new knee.  From the last comment it was clear that even when Richard was on drugs his mind was on Mongolia. Of course, Richard does not remember saying any of these statements, but Sally is my witness so he cannot refute the truth. Funny the things one does not remember the day of surgery!

Thank you for your many prayers, phone calls, cards and support during Richard’s knee replacement. The surgery went very well and we are so thankful! The nurse had him out of bed standing within 3 to 4 hours after surgery and the look on Richard’s face was priceless. He felt no pain and could make a 360 degree turn (with a walker of course) and he had stability in the knee that he had not felt since his basketball injury in 1969!!! He was rejoicing by dancing a little jig while the nurse and I quickly tried to get him to lie back down! My comment after he stood for the first time was “Wow, you are much taller!!”As the anesthetic started to wear off, he could feel knee pain from the surgery, but not from the bone on bone pain that he had felt for so long. Recovery was all uphill from this point.

Richard was released from the hospital on February 2 after receiving a new knee joint on January 31. We focused on his recovery from surgery and on his knee rehabilitation. Richard spent many hours in a knee exercise machine prescribed by the doctor, and I kept the ice machine going, the meds on time, the home health nurse schedule and helping Richard maneuver around. I later became (and still am) his at home rehab coach and he is doing very well. We have been so very blessed to have such wonderful friends who helped with such things as sitting with me and Sally during surgery, visiting and helping in the hospital, helping prepare our recovery home, providing dinners to keep Richard and me going and of course Sally who made numerous Wal-Mart runs for us. God provided an amazing home for us, transportation, skilled doctors, nurses, physical therapists (one of whom has worked with us in Mongolia) and wonderful friends here and around the world who have been praying for Richard’s recovery. Thank you, thank you!

A wonderful plus in staying longer than expected was that Richard, Sally and I were able to celebrate my Uncle Sam’s Birthday month of March – he turned 99 years old!!!! How exciting that we could see him on Father’s Day (when I was here in June), in January and now for his birthday month. Please pray for him as he recovers from a broken vertebra in his neck after falling out of bed a few weeks ago. But he was able to return home in time for his birthday celebrations to begin. God is so good!

Our scheduled departure from Tulsa is April 3. We will be in Seattle with Christian Veterinary Mission until April 7 and land in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia April 8 (Easter Sunday). This has been a wonderful furlough which lasted longer than we planned. But on Super Bowl Sunday while Richard was exercising his knee, I asked if he would rather be in Seattle with a bad knee watching the Super Bowl (our original plan) or in Tulsa recovering with a brand new knee as we watched the Super Bowl. Of course, without giving it a thought, he quickly said Tulsa with a new knee! It is God’s blessing to be able to return to Mongolia with a new knee, new strength and no pain. Thank you again to each of you for your prayers and encouragement.

As much as we will miss family and friends here, and the ability to talk to John, Riann and George frequently and be with Sally almost daily, we are excited to return to our Mongolian family and home. Sally and I just recently Skyped with Bayaraa and Turuu the couple staying in our apartment taking care of our dog Toby. I have a feeling that Toby has lost his English since every word Sally and I spoke to Toby, Bayaraa seemed to translate! So we are either returning to a very smart, bilingual Sheltie, or one who will need an English refresher course.

Everyone in V.E.T. Net has definitely been busy with veterinary Master’s Training, University Bible study and English classes, training for church leaders, preparing for spring veterinary continuing education training classes and outreaches to the countryside. In fact, our first day back will be during a veterinary CE training to veterinarians from the Gobi Desert regions.  We look forward to writing you soon with an update on what God is doing in Mongolia through V.E.T. Net.

Thank you again to everyone who sowed into our lives in so many ways while we were in the States. God Bless each of you!

Serving Him Together,
 
Mary for Richard, both returning to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Easter Sunday, 2012; John, Riann, and Baby Boy Ballenger due June 2012, (USMC) Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; George (Los Angeles, CA), Sally (Tulsa, OK)

P.S. The pictures are:

Richard, Mary and Sally prior to going into surgery

Richard and Mark, the therapist, rehabbing Richard’s new knee

Wonderful house that God provided for us to recover from Richard’s surgery

The day before departure with Sally and Richard washing the car God provided

Glory be to God!!!