Homer Joy is not only an outstanding song writer and country music entertainer but our Director of Cowboy Ministries. The following is a message from Homer to all his family, friends and fans regarding his recent heart transplant:
While being blessed to have sold 17 million copies of songs I have written. I find words right now, a miserable failure...
After all of your love, support, prayers, kindness, thoughtfullness and concern. For me to say simply, "thank you", almost sounds like an insult...
Trying to express myself and the way I feel toward all of you, is so far beyond any experience I have ever had, I hope my inablility to say anything, says more than I am able too...
When we made the last trip to Dallas, in myself I knew the time had finally come. Win, lose or draw, this was the "last time".... I could hardly breath, talk or even stand. I remember getting in the truck and leaving home. I remember we stopped at a Quik Stop on the way. I remember my wife praying for me as she drove. The next thing I remember is waking up in the Operating Room. For some reason, I knew exactly where I was at and what was going on. I remember rolling up on my right side. Since everyone in the room was off to my right. When I did that, everyone jumped toward me, I guess to keep me from rolling off the table. I remember thinking that if I went straight from this room to stand before the throne of God, I wanted all of these people to know, that it was O.K... I remember saying, "God bless all of you"...
The next day in I.C.U. The nurse from the O.R. Came to see me. She asked if she could ask me a question. She asked me if I remembered what I said to all of them in the O.R... I said yes, I said "God bless all of you"... The nurse looked at Suzan and I and swallowed real hard... "Mr. Joy" she said, "I have been in the O.R. For 21 years. After giving you the medication that I did, not only was it impossible for you to roll up on your side like you did, it is impossible that you could speak the way you did and doubly impossible that you could remember it now. But you said what you did with such conviction, I just had to come and ask you"... Suzan and I were both astounded at what she said...
The next thing I remember is waking up and Dr. Kuiper, my cardiologist, talking to me, smiling and shaking his head... "How Suzan got you here is far beyond me", is the first thing he said... "We looked at your heart and it was nothing but a big chunck of red meat, sitting in your chest. Somehow, it was dead and you were sitting there alive. The hard thing about working with you, is you always look so good, you always act like you feel so good. But, when we check on you, your a walking disaster area...Now, you have a 33 year old heart and we're not going to have to worry about you so much"
The next thing I remember, I woke up in my room.
I now have the all time record for getting out of the C.C.U and I.C.U., faster than any other heart transplant patient before me... Getting off the resperator the fastest, standing and sitting in a chair... I was off the resperator in 6 hours. Average time is between 24 and 48 hours. I would have gotten off sooner, but, "they messed up" and collapsed one of my lungs. Right after that, they stood me up and sat me in a chair. I was out of I.C.U. In 23 hours. Average is 48 to 72... I was doing really well and was set to get out of the hospital the following Monday. Friday, because I was doing so well, they screwed up again and cut me completely off of a medication that is supposed to be withdrawn slowly and in steps. My temperature dropped like a rock, yet Suzan was washing my whole body with ice water to keep me from burning up. For 8 1/2 hours, it was as if someone had poured gasoline all over me and lit me on fire... There was nothing they could give me that helped...With that, I didn't get out of the hospital until the following Thursday.
All of the "bad numbers" I am supposed to be having I don't have. All of the bad reactions I am supposed to be having, I don't have. One medicine I take causes me blurry vision, but I am off of it in October, so they said that will clear up. I am 10 times as strong as I have been in years and feeling better by the day. Praise be to God and all of you for your prayers... I am two weeks ahead of where I should be right now. They even let me come home for the weekend, even though it was only 15 days after my transplant... I have to go in twice a week for blood tests and every other week for a biopsy. Then it will be every month by the first of the year. After then it will be every 3 months...
God bless and keep each and every one of you. I am looking forward to the time that I can hug you, give you a kiss in the Lord and visit in person. The Lord has performed a miracle and all of you were a part. Please keep us up in prayer, as we do for each and ever one of you each day in ours...
All our love and prayers,
Homer and Sue
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