Update on Medy Cruz

My wife Remedios "Medy" Cruz was discharged from Makati Medical Hospital on July 3, after spending 46 days there, 9 of them in ICU. She still has a bile leak from complications during her original laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the subsequent jejunostomy roux-en-y, but since it will take about a month more for the bile leak to close naturally, there was no point staying in the hospital and risking hospital-acquired pneumonia. She has a colostomy bag (an ostomy pouching system) to catch the bile. She also still has pancreatitis, due to the large number of antibiotics she had to take when she was fighting for her life (and which have been discontinued, even if her white blood cell count is still below normal). Although we still need a nurse to dress her wound, take her vitals, and give her daily injections, she at least has the fresh air of our village and the comforts of home to make her feel better. So far, God has answered our prayers twice by helping her survive two close calls. Her doctors now tell us that they thought she had very little chance of survival, so we can clearly attribute her new life to miracles wrought by, among others, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Piat, Our Lady of Manaoag, and Pope John Paul II, to whom various Catholic prayer groups addressed their petitions, as well as by Jesus himself, to whom my sister Loree's Christian prayer groups appealed directly. We still need prayers for the bile to stop leaking, as well as for her entire body to return to health soon. As soon as she recovers completely, we shall have an ecumenical service to thank God for everything, including the time we spent in the hospital, which was, of course, all part of a divine plan we can barely understand. As for me, since I am still caring for her, I still cannot resume my hectic schedule and have had to beg off from various speaking, writing, teaching, and other commitments. Thank you for your continued concern and support.