Free for 3 YEARS!!

I got the green light on Friday to not return to the cardiologist for THREE YEARS!!! What a super-relief that was.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, see this.

I was very worried about this appointment because I had been having really high heart rates (as in, 215 high) when I work out. I didn't think it was my valve, because they just don't become stenotic that quickly, and my cardiologist doesn't think it is either. I am now free to workout as much as I want to, the only restriction being that I have to be able to lift whatever weight I'm working with at least 10 times. There is a tendency for the aorta to dilate in patients with bicuspid aortic valves so he just wants to make sure I don't lift such heavy weights that I increase the pressure for the aorta to push against.

He said that he doesn't expect any changes in 3 years either, so that's definitely a positive. He thinks that I'm looking at having to have the valve replaced in my 50s. I asked him if it is a possibility that the valve will never stenose further and I can keep it forever--he said he has some patients that that has happened with but the valve replacement in the 50s is much more likely.

Before I want to get pregnant (NOT any time soon!) I have to check in and make sure all is well, before placing the demands of pregnancy on a gimpy valve! Otherwise, I'm a free woman!! The Lord is good!

To Togo I Go!!!

                                                                       

Dear Family and Friends,

As many of you know, the last year and a half have found me in the whirlwind that is Physician Assistant School at the Medical University of South Carolina. I am now well into my clinical year, and it has been a privilege to begin serving others through medicine. Last Spring, the Lord placed a desire on my heart to serve on a short-term medical mission trip in 2014, and I began to pray through several opportunities. I never had a sense of calling until early this Fall, when I heard of a medical team going to West Africa. After many weeks of prayer, the burden to be a part of this ministry exponentially increased.

I am thrilled to tell you that I will be traveling to Togo, West Africa from February 26, 2014 to March 9, 2014! The team is made up of twenty medical professionals, sent by Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC. We will partner with Pioneers-Africa to bring medical care to eight remote villages of Togo that are largely unreached by the Gospel. The Togolese people face diseases such as HIV/AIDs, high blood pressure, malaria, parasites, and anemia, as well as complex orthopedic injuries, disfiguring burns, and untreated tumors and malignancies. Services provided will include a medical clinic, dental clinic, pharmacy, medication counseling, glasses station, HIV education, and counseling on the management of illnesses such as dehydration, fever, and headache.   

Many physical needs will be met, but the people of Togo have even greater spiritual needs.  They need the good news of great joy that is the Gospel; it is the only thing that can free them from the bondages of idolatry and voodoo that ensnare their souls. The Togolese people need to hear 1 Peter 2:24 that says, “He [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” May the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of these people to show them the eternal life that is offered to them by the Father through the blood of our perfect Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, shed for us on the cross.

As part of my commitment to the mission team, I must raise financial and prayer support for this trip. I humbly ask you to consider financially supporting me as I go to Togo. The total cost per individual is $3,400; this money will cover visas, flights, surgeries, medications, supplies, and cost of living in Togo. Donations can be made by check payable to “Seacoast Church” (see enclosed form) or online at http://www.seacoast.org/longpoint/missions/view/43/ (click “Support” on the right toolbar > “Pay as guest” > choose “Catharine Wingate” from the drop down menu of team members).

Finally, I covet your prayers above all else. This list of requests is by no means exhaustive, but please pray for the following:

• That the Lord would open ears to hear the Gospel and prepare hearts to receive it (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
• That the light of Christ would go before us and shine brightly amidst the darkness of idolatry and voodoo (John 8:12), and that His victory over the sin that declares all guilty and condemns all to death would be proclaimed boldly (Isaiah 52:13-15, 2 Corinthians 4:5-6).
• That the Lord would be setting apart those patients that have the greatest needs (Proverbs 16:9), and that we would rest in His sovereignty over the physical and spiritual needs of those whom we will be unable to treat (Psalm 19:1-2, Psalm 22:27-28).
• That the Lord would provide physical health for the team, safe transport of all necessary supplies, and unity and grace among team members in the midst of physical and spiritual challenge (Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 2:3-5).

Thank you for partnering with me as I go to Togo. I look forward to writing you again in March and telling you all that the Lord has done!

In Christ alone,

Catharine Wingate

                                                                                   

                                                                                   

It's been a while, friends.

I have received my White Coat--the official transition from didactic year to clinical year. As the speaker said at our White Coat ceremony, that jacket is "a cloak of compassion and a blanket of humility." I'm striving to make that true of my career in medicine.

As of today I've finished with my Internal Med and ER rotations. I loved Internal Med and I enjoyed ER. I went into medicine dreaming of a career in emergency medicine. . . Reality Check: it's not all it's cracked up to be. I learned so much and it is a lot of fun to stitch up a face now and then, but I think I've discovered that I would rather be a master in a single field than a jack of all trades.

I've loved being in Columbia these past months. The love and fellowship I've found here have blown me away! Dare I say, I want to be here after graduation next year?! Those are scary words to me. But, I made my first move yesterday and put out "feelers" for a job here. I felt so old, so professional, and so stinkin' vulnerable. I told my parents it was worse than dating. . . it might be true.

The patients I'm seeing are changing my life. I feel so inadequate to help these people and so honored that they are allowing me the opportunity to try. 

Life means so much

That is the title of some song, somewhere, but I don't have the energy or care to google it right now---sorry 'bout it.

But that title is the truth: Life means SO much.

Life is to be celebrated. Each day and each breath is a gift from God.

As I participate in caring for my grandfather (along with my grandmother and my mother, and my father on weekends) life means so much. It is crazy busy always. There is always a hitch in the plan of the day. There is always (unfortunately) a new medical complication arising. But there is always laughter and smiles, hugs and kisses, an abundance of stories and memories. It's so good and so hard.

My personal worries and concerns have shifted from me and my future to my family and its future. I love school still but it means nothing to me any longer to miss a class or get a few points off on a test if it means TIME with my grandfather. I will struggle in a little over a month when it is time for me to head out on rotations---oh, what will I do? Even now I am beseeching the Lord for wisdom. Do I switch them so that I will be here rather than in Columbia as I had planned? I don't know.

The Lord has planned my steps and knows my grandfather's future. He will guide me and I cling to that. He has given much joy in these hard days. He has provided manna from Heaven in many different ways since June 7th. He has blessed us beyond all measure.

This process is changing me drastically. It's almost hard to keep up with the changes in myself. I am keenly aware that the Lord is sculpting me right now--I flinch awaiting the next strike of the chisel yet I long for it because He is making something beautiful, I know I am not created to be a shapeless block of stone.

A phase of life I never wanted to see

Last Friday morning my grandfather suffered a severe stroke.

Miracle after miracle occurred. From the time my grandmother found him and got me to the time he was in the Interventional Radiology suite was less than 2 hours. He had a complete (100%) occlusion of his right carotid artery that then went up and completely occluded his right Middle cerebral artery--if you don't know that means he had basically no blood flow to the right half of his brain. This resulted in a complete left sided paralysis, slurred speech, visual field defects, the whole shebang.

Another miracle occurred and immediately after they removed the clot his motor function to his left side returned. Over the next 3 days in the NeuroICU his motor function returned to almost equal with his right side, his speech improved and he no longer slurs his words, and he doesn't even smile with a droop. MIRACULOUS!

This is what I put on FB on Friday afternoon and it remains true now:
The Lord has worked miracle after miracle in the past 12 hours, too many to even put into words--my precious grandfather had a severe stroke last night and he is still with us! No matter what the road ahead looks like we face it with a keen knowledge that today has been a day of Ebenezer in our lives for "Till now The Lord has helped us" (1 Sam 7:12). "You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told" (Psalms 40:5)! Hallelujah, How He loves!

Unfortunately the stroke still took a toll on his body and seemed to make other conditions he had previously worsen. Though he is now home from the hospital he remains on oxygen and will be probably for the rest of his life--when he is not on oxygen he becomes so hypoxic that he quickly becomes confused. He is also facing many cardiac issues that were found while he was being monitored in the hospital.

My mom is now in town to be with my grandmother and grandfather, and I'm helping her as much as I can, while my dad is traveling back and forth to Columbia so that he can work but also provide support.

My grandfather means so much to me and through this all he has been the sweetest, humblest, most gracious of patients. He is constantly telling me how much he loves me and how proud he is of me and how good it is just to hang out with me. None of us are taking for granted a single minute together and it is SO sweet it hurts. I hate facing the season of life and yet every day there is blessing in it because I know that we love each other more deeply and sweetly because Christ is in us. I once was facing the death of a friend's mom who was a believer and I couldn't stop my sadness and ache. I asked my dad why I felt so sad because I knew she was in Heaven and rejoicing with Jesus and he gave me the most gracious and profound answer. He said that we, as believers almost mourn more because we have tasted the sweetness of glimpses of earthly fellowship as it was created to be and we long to have that person back to experience it again; when you haven't experienced something like that, it's hard to miss it and mourn it when it's gone.

So right now I feel this whirlwind of contrast: the sweetest time of fellowship ever with my grandfather and the knowledge that this will only be a season and not forever. The whirlwind of caring for someone and being emotional and trying to soak it all in is exhausting, but many prayers are supporting us right now and people have been awesome at loving us and caring for our physical needs with food, errands, flowers, texts, phone calls, etc.

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. (For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.)"  -Psalm 27: 4 (5)

"Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." - Psalm 139: 1-6

"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:6

"Nothing in my hand I bring, 

Simply to thy cross I cling; 

Naked, come to thee for dress; 

Helpless, look to thee for grace; 

Foul, I to the fountain fly; 

Wash me, Savior, or I die."

- Rock of Ages

Oh my dear Rock of ages, you are indeed a cleft for me! 

The End of an Era

Tonight my grandparents informed me that they have renters moving in to the little house in the yard that my Brother and SIL lived in. I immediately became so sad. It really hit home that B and J were gone! :( It was such a blast living next door to them. So much of our lives were shared, and I'm just now realizing how much that was. It was such a fun time in life and I'm so glad that they are moving on to bigger and better things with their first home and their practice!!!

Here's to new neighbors! 

Photo Dump from my Phone!

Bryan and Jeanette at their Hooding ceremony--the Drs. Wingate, DMD!!!

Our Favors for their party!

At the party--their respective regalia holding hands!

The teeth with the flower--cracks me up!

And now onto my Bourbon tours. . . Buffalo Trace

Tasting! Bourbon cream and the Buffalo Trace Bourbon--both are my favorites out of all the tours!

Woodford Reserve Warehouse

Fermentation Vats

Beautiful Woodford Reserve

Daddy's Favorite Bourbon--I liked Buffalo Trace better though!

Break

Break has consisted of my grandmother's 80th birthday party with 80 of her closest friends at our home, Bryan and Jeanette's (my brother and SIL) hooding was the next week and then their graduation from dental school the next morning, followed by a rush back to Columbia and a party with 45 of their closest friends at our home that evening, the next morning I got up and was in Kentucky by noon to take on the Bourbon trail in a day! After 3 distilleries AND a home winery (whew!) it was back to Tennessee to finish out the weekend and then returning to Columbia the following Monday. Lots of traveling and partying but also lots of sleep, working out, reading and relaxing!! [Pictures to come!]

Tomorrow evening I head back to Charleston after Memorial Day with the family. Tuesday I hit the ground running with a full day of classes and on Thursday, my K9 nephew, Keller, will be delivered to my door for 10 days of fun (and lack of sleep for me) while his parents are in California for their graduation vacation [Pray for me--he's a big yellow ball of energy fun.]. I'm looking forward to the last 2 months of the classroom before rotations!

Sweet Accountability

I'm in the midst of exams (2 more left--woot woot), and that means SUGAR OVERLOAD.

Seeing as I'm going into healthcare it'd probably be best not to wind up with diabetes from PA school.

That being said, I'm going on a 10 day cold-turkey dessert fast. This will be hard--my grandmother's 80th is on Friday and we're throwing a huge par-tay with beautiful, homemade goodies abounding. BUT it must be done.

So, I started yesterday at approximately 5 pm (my sugar gluttony ended on a high note with Chocolate pie that was warm and had walnuts in it -- delish.) and will be able to reintroduce dessert on Wednesday the 15th at 5 pm. There. I said it. Now I have to do it. Because it's on the great world wide web. Bah.

I'll let you know how it all goes. . .  

Clinical Rotation Assignments!!!

I will officially be a second year PA student very soon and that means CLINICAL ROTATIONS!! We got our assignments for our clinical year today and I am very pleased.

We have 2 weeks off the second half of May, then back to the classroom for June and July, then White Coat Ceremony and 2 weeks off, then 2 weeks of Clinical Administration training at a hospital in rural SC, and THEN we start rotations on September 3rd!!

Here they are:

Rotation 1 (Internal Medicine): Columbia

Rotation 2 (Emergency Medicine): Kershaw

Rotation 3 (Women’s Health): Columbia 

Rotation 4 (Surgery): Manning

Rotation 5 (Pediatrics): Sumter

Rotation 6 (Family Medicine): Sumter

Rotation 7 (Mental Health): Charleston

Rotation 8 (General Medicine): Charleston

WOOT  WOOT!!!

Resurfacing

Upon resurfacing this morning after the completion of my 10th exam in 21 days (Hallelujah!), an ugly situation was brought to my attention in the form of the Kermit Gosnell case. Heartbreaking evil. How have we strayed so far from the light that it is not outrageous to kill a baby as it exits the womb, or even as it takes it's first cries in this world? Oh Lord, help us. 

This article was so good for my heart to focus on when considering the acts of Kermit Gosnell. Here's an excerpt that spoke to my heart: 

"The Kermit Gosnell story is one of severed spines and seared consciences. A gospel of justification without justice cannot picture a holy God. A gospel of justice without justification ultimately leaves us all without hope before the tribunal of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ speaks of both justice and justification, and brings them together in a Man drowning in his own blood at the Place of the Skull.

And on either side of him, there were thieves."

Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer

Jesus draw me ever nearer
As I labour through the storm.
You have called me to this passage,
and I'll follow, though I'm worn.

May this journey bring a blessing,
May I rise on wings of faith;
And at the end of my heart's testing,
With Your likeness let me wake.

Jesus guide me through the tempest;
Keep my spirit staid and sure.
When the midnight meets the morning,
Let me love You even more.

Let the treasures of the trial 
Form within me as I go - 
And at the end of this long passage,
Let me leave them at Your throne.

Lord, Keep my spirit staid and sure and with your likeness let me wake. 

Study scenes

Block exams today and tomorrow. 4 hours of tests today, 4 hours tomorrow. Half-way. 

I think I can, I think I can. . . 

Stayed at my local Starbucks for 11 hours one day this weekend! I think it's a record. 

Encouragement. 

A break. Just enjoying the beauty of this wonderful city. 

Mims is One!

Mims is now one year old! She turned one on March 23rd -- crazy how this year has flown. 

Favorite Foods: Kraft cheese singles, Honey Dew Melon, Dog-cousin Millie's Mighty Dog

Favorite Pastimes: Chasing the Locals (i.e. Palmetto bugs); Road-trippin' in the car

Favorite Obsessions: Peppermint tea bags; Zip, the Cat-cousin who ignores her like it's his job

 Happy Birthday Mimsie!

After Ecuador.

Since Ecuador I've been lead by the Spirit to pray for what the Lord has for my life after PA school. I always assumed I would return to Columbia, get a job, perhaps a dog or a roommate, and faithfully serve the Lord through the local church, but Ecuador opened my eyes to the needs of those in other countries--spiritually, as well as medically.

In my prayerful consideration of what the Lord wants for my life, I have come to see the blessing of being single--I have the opportunity to do radical, time-consuming things with my time while it's not pledged in Covenant to someone else. I find it a challenge to be, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 7: 32, "free from anxieties" but I'm coming to understand the blessing of being "anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord." It's a joy to take my mind off my anxieties and turn it to what the Lord desires for His kingdom and how I can contribute now, even without a partner by my side.

This article on Desiring God was really good for me to read. 

The Lord Proclaims His Grace Abroad

The Lord proclaims his grace abroad!

Behold I change your hearts of stone:

Ye shall renounce each idle-god

And serve, and praise the Lord alone.

From the first breath of life divine,

Down to the last expiring hour;

The gracious work shall all be mine, 

Begun and ended in my power. 

-William Cowper

The Lord indeed proclaimed his grace abroad this past week! He moved in awesome and wonderful ways resulting in a handful of Ecuadorians receiving Christ, many hearing the gospel for the first time and being invited to Verbo, a church that is committed to preaching the gospel, and still others who are already members of the Body being encouraged and having a few physical needs met. There is so much to say and it will have to be saved for next week but thank you for your prayers!! This trip was literally life-changing and I can't wait to see the what the Lord brings about in my life as a result of it. 

Here are my photos! More to come later. . . 

Expectantly going

In the morning at 7, I will board a plane and head south to Ecuador.

For the next week I will be serving the people of Ecuador with a mass of dentists. My stethoscope, oto/opthalmoscope, and BP cuff are essentially accessories to the trip but I know that the Lord can do mighty things with an accessory!

Pray for safe travels, safe arrival of all equipment, and that the Lord would use our actions and words to bring glory to himself. I ask you to pray especially for me that I would be bold, that I would love like Jesus, and that I would stay healthy!!

"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." 1 Timothy 1: 17

Contentment, Excitement

Happy Valentine's Day! 

I woke at 8:30 this morning (we didn't have our first class!) and before I knew it a certain sweet little not-so-little kitten was nuzzling my hand--it was going to be a good day.

I walked downstairs and saw this:

Oh, the advantages of my garage having the same key as my brother and sister-in-law's house! ;-)

My brother is out of town but my sweet SIL snuck in and laid out an abundant Valentine's Day spread on my counter. She made red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips, and Keller (their lab) wrote Mims a little note on the card. My sweet brother thought ahead (he left town Sunday for a week-long rotation) and had another card for me and a pedicure gift certificate! He's always been really good at writing cards but I believe he topped them all this year. It said this:

I hope today is full of contentment in the present and excitement for the future!

That is what today was about for me. And that is why it was so good! My brother's hope for my February 14, 2013 was being fulfilled before I read that note and continued throughout the day because of that sweet reminder that hit the nail on the head. 

I have keenly felt the Father's abundant love for me today. I'm reading Leviticus right now (sludging through it) and have been keenly reminded of how incapable of good I am and how far I should be separated from the Father's goodness. The tediousness of the acts of sacrifice carried out by Aaron and the wrath of the Lord when the law was not followed regarding propitiation of sins continues to astound me. I have no idea the seriousness of the sin in my life, nor how the Father despises it. But he loved me enough to send his Son to live on this Earth perfectly and then bear the consequences of the sin of all humanity on the cross, ultimately conquering sin and death when he rose again on the 3rd day.    Because I have acknowledged my need of a Savior and asked Christ to come into my life, what God sees now when he looks at me is not the sin that makes him burn with anger but the Son that He loves dearly and has sweet communion with. Though my sin is still present and dangerous, I am washed in the blood of Christ and the Father delights in showing me his goodness. The stark contrast of His righteous, burning hatred of sin and His good and beautiful love for his children is what makes the Gospel so wonderful to me. 

With a Savior who has pulled me from the grips of darkness and evil, brought me into the light of Salvation, and continues to fight daily for me by pushing back the darkness that surrounds--how can I not feel abundantly loved? How can I feel lacking? I feel wonderfully surrounded by the Father's love for me!