Dear Pastor and Brethren:
Health Difficulties
I had been living and preaching under the burden of atrial fibrillation since about the middle of last December and did not know it. I remember having begun to slow down in my activities but thought that such was the ramification of living with congestive heart failure. I was slowly but progressively getting worse, so finally I went to my cardiologist early for my regular six month checkup. He discovered the above faulty cardiac activity and immediately called the cardiac electrophysiologist in Tulsa who gave me an appointment the next day. He immediately scheduled me for an upgrade to my pacemaker and an ablation process that would deaden part of my heart to enable it to be controlled entirely by the pacemaker for proper beating. He promised me that this procedure would greatly improve my quality of life. The only drawback is that I had to wait until the 9th of May to get the procedure. Before undergoing this procedure I had to have an echocardiogram that indicated that my ejection fraction had fallen to IO percent. The ejection fraction is the percentage of force that the heart pumps to force the blood into the rest of the body. The average is 60 percent. So, I underwent this procedure in May. Please remember Roxanne and me in your prayers as I recover. The electrophysiologist says I cannot use my left arm much for six weeks in order to give time for muscle growth to affix the leads to my heart so they will not pull out when using my arm. My cardiologist says that it will take from 6 months to a year for my ejection fraction to rise to about 30 percent. It is the low ejection fraction that keeps me from being active and causing fatigue. Please ask the Lord to restore my ejection fraction to at least 30 percent so that I might have the energy to return to the pulpit and play the piano for His honor and glory.
Mission Activities
While the above is progressing in my life, the mission work continues to develop under the preaching of Bro. Dick Gaches. My dear wife who is bearing a heavier burden by doing what I cannot do anymore, continues to teach Sunday School. The singing is now a capella because there is no one else to play the piano. I was able to attend, for the first time since my operation, the last Sunday in May, and the congregation did pretty well without piano accompaniment. There were eleven in attendance and Bro. Gaches did a good job of preaching the Word. Brethren, by the grace and permission of the Lord, I am not a quitter. We need your continued prayers and support for the glory of the Lord in this mission endeavor.
By His grace and in loving gratitude,
Tim and Roxanne Parrow