Message from the Pastor

Message from Msgr. Mike Yarbrough:

First of all thank you to all the many wonderful, wonderful people from Holy Trinity, St. Matthew and beyond who have given me much support in my recent stay in the hospital. Thank you for the flowers, thank you for the cards and gifts, thank you for the support, and especially thank you for the prayers that help strengthen me in this time.

I thought I would give you an update of what took place medically so that people are clear of how I got into this situation. After two months on sabbatical I started feeling tired and listless. I was not eating as much as I had been. I looked ashen to myself when I looked in the mirror and from there I got weaker. Finally feeling very weak I asked to be taken to the hospital. They took me to the emergency room at Brandywine Hospital in Pennsylvania. I was then admitted to the hospital. I thought it was my colitis acting up or flaring up again but doctors found there was a blood infection. I asked where this came from and the Dr. said either my heart or from the knee replacement I had two years ago. I said, “but that was two years ago is it dormant or what? They never told me, but they decided to deal with my blood infection first. After about two and half weeks of antibiotics the infection cleared up, but I am still on antibiotics. Doctors will decide when and where to place the new knee again. The antibiotics helped to clear up my blood infection. It wasn’t my heart. They tested that too, but it was the knee replacement where the infection was started. Once that was cleared up they decided to deal with the colitis. They decided to give me a liquid that you take that is Gatorade based so it wasn’t too bad. After that first night they checked and said “well, it’s still not cleared up. We are going to have to give you another liter,” I had to do two liters of that stuff and ended up not cleared so they gave me an enema and a rectal tube to help clear up the rest of the colon. They did another colonoscopy and once that was finished they discovered my hemoglobin was low, under 8, they gave me two pints of blood. I held on to the blood as long as I could but then I passed it. I couldn’t hold it any longer. They gave me two more pints, and again I held it for a while and then just passed it. Well after ten pints of blood they decided they had to remove the large intestine because this wasn’t working. So they removed the large intestine, I have an ileostomy, which is a colostomy on my side. I no longer have a large intestine. I have an incision on my lower abdomen to help that. The stoma from my understanding from my doctor can be replaced in my rectum, if I wanted to do that; but that’s down the road. So that’s the state of the condition and we are still waiting in the next couple weeks to decide if I am ready to receive another knee and or a new knee and of course, when that takes place, that is another six weeks of rehab that I will have to do. Again I thank you for your prayers, I thank you for your support I thank you for the continued gifts of your presence in my life. Together and with the occupational therapy and physical therapy that I am doing here, I hope to get my strength back and hope to get back in the saddle again. Thank you again for everything. May God continue to bless all of us, not only with good health but with the gift of His spirit to guide us, Thank You.