The Reed Report - Phil's Medical Journey

Denise and I packed on Tuesday. She had to buy some things. I had to take care of paying rent for our house for the next several months, all the while knowing that we had no idea how long we would be gone. Because my legs had become so large, I had to cut the right leg of my boxer briefs on the inside and outside, and then roll up the leg so it did not cutoff the circulation and make my leg hurt. Packing was very difficult for me. I climbed the stairs two times. Once to take care of the valuable cargo that we have and to pack it in both of our backpacks. The other was to take care of packing my clothes. This was a very hands-off and strange process for me. How do I know what clothes to bring? It seemed that with my large legs, I could not wear much other than shorts. (And oh, how I wished that I could have worn pants on that trip home.)  Denise showed me a pile of my clothes. I told her which ones to pack. It was very difficult for me (and for her) because she has NEVER been involv...

Meanwhile, I continued to get worse quickly. I could barely climb the stairs at home. Because I just sat on the couch morning, noon, and evening - and then slept in the same position (or nearly so) at night, I did start to develop a pressure (bed) sore. People, do not get them! They are horribly painful and take a long time to heal! I kept pressuring my doctor in Kiev to do something while we waited for the biopsy results. And he continued wanting to wait for those results before we moved forward with plan B. My swollen legs on September 14th As I started getting almost no sleep because of the nearly constant pain and discomfort, I rarely, if ever saw a Ukrainian in person or talked to anyone. And people around me (American and Ukrainian) were starting to wonder if I was a little crazy for not heading to American soil for diagnosis and treatment. For whatever reason, I was not ready to make that decision. On Monday evening, September 14, Denise and I had a major disagreement about my a...

Back in Krivoy Rog, my body continued to worsen. My legs were huge and just ached from having the skin stretched. And please do not touch them. I kept in contact with my doctor in Kiev, and he was adamant about waiting for the biopsy results before moving forward at all. Earlier massage had been a good therapy for me. At this point, I tried to get a massage and it was just painful. Now what could I do? Sleep was becoming more and more difficult. I could no longer lie on even my right side. My body was starting to hurt from sitting on the couch morning, noon, and night. The problem with the linear approach that the doctor was taking is that I was getting worse on a very rapid pace. He finally decided to put me on a weak diuretic, but there was really no noticeable movement of fluid. He also recommended that we see a cardiologist to get my heart checked out, just in case. That was something that made sense to us. Sveta to the rescue again. God blessed us with a friend and family when we ...

We have some really great colleagues, but one family in particular are very caring. He was ready to drive to Krivoy Rog to rescue me from the hospital on day one. I appreciated his heart very much, but decided it was better to just ride this wave out if I possibly could.  They were a huge blessing to us. I stayed with them whenever I was in Kiev for doctor's appointments or travel. And Denise and I are both so grateful for their bed and breakfast! After my hospital visit, I started cancelling (or postponing and then cancelling) all of my plans. I met with no one. I led no cell group. I did not preach (though I had several plans to do so). On Sunday, August 23rd, I drove to Kiev for two reasons. One, I had a doctor appointment the next day - and maybe more to follow. And two, Denise was flying in on Friday afternoon from America. There was some debate at this time whether she should just stay in America in case I had to go back there for diagnosis and treatment, but I told her that ...

One thing that I love to do after I get home from a trip is to take a nice hot bath to relax my muscles. And that is exactly what I did. After my bath, I went to bed, but I could not sleep because of the pain that was going through my body. Because I found some relief during my bath, I decided to try again - but the second bath did nt help and I found, much to my dismay, that the pain was actually getting worse. One thing that I have not yet mentioned is that my wife, Denise, was in America for two months (from June 27th until August 28th) visiting and helping her parents. Once she was able to fly to the US (after some COVID restrictions were lifted in June), we got approval for her to fly home, bought round trip tickets, and she left. So here I am, early in the morning of my birthday, laying on the couch in agony. I start thinking what could be wrong with me and, as things go, it seemed that I could possibly have appendicitis. 56 is kind of old for that, I thought, but I feel like I h...

Me in April 2014 Every story has a beginning, though u nfortunately, my journey does not have a clear beginning.   In mid-July, I was at the best form of my life at almost age 56, with a lean weight of 172 (had been 254 in mid-2014). I did a chin-up for the first time in my life. And I was proud (in a good way) of my successes physically, though my life change also included taking better care of myself in every aspect of life. About that time, I started having lower back pains/issues and I could not figure out what I could have done to cause it. Like so many other people who sometimes suffer from low back pain, tried to seek relief. I did the things that I could do in Ukraine (massage with a little "chiropractic" adjustment, ibuprofen, etc.). Nothing seemed to help.  Meanwhile, life and ministry continued. I led my cell groups, preached, met with people, even played ping pong with a friend - all with a sore lower back. July 18-23, I was at a camp in another city where we slep...