Dr. Red Duke - He makes me smile!

We love Dr. Red Duke!  He is such an amazing doctor with an amazing bedside manner and Texas twang. He makes me realize what all his generation has to offer and how they will be gone before we even realize it. He makes me miss my grandparents and brings back memories from my early childhood when I spent time with them.  It was brief, but they had so much to share before they passed away. I love hearing Dr. Duke say things like, "Scoot your fanny over here."  and  "No hill is too high for a billy goat."  As he put on his gloves he said, "Now that's probably what my mother went through each day putting her girdle on!"  He has such a good sense of humor. 

He shares stories about how there was no air conditioning back when he worked at Parkland Hospital and sometimes the patients would have heat strokes while in the hospital!  He said,  "If you heard a bath tub on wheels rolling down the halls, you knew someone had a heatstroke."   

He tells of his time in Alaska after his first year of medical school and how he wanted to go so bad that he bought a car and drove it the whole way and then sold it when he got there.   He loves Alaska and even got a license to do guided hunts there.  

He spent time in Afghanistan and India. He has such an appreciation for life and the beauty of God's creation. He speaks of how amazing God's design of the human body is and how so much of our body is made to take care of itself, including pushing drains (foreign objects) out, which is why we are here today!  Dr. Duke had to suture two of Samuel's drains back in because they are so determined to work their way out and the tape is not working.  He is also having some other complications related to still having six drains.

I asked Dr. Duke what the plan was from here. He said, "We just wait for healing."  He was a little less optimistic about waiting six months to go back in and try to make repairs and rebuild what can be. He said it will probably be more like 8-9 months.  We were really hoping to start having those surgeries towards the end of the year, but that may not be happening after all. I know God's timing is perfect though. Praying the time will pass smoothly and that I can keep my eyes focused on The Lord and not the chaos and stress of everyday life.  Blessings!