Praying for CC

"The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you."
One of CC's favorite quotes-

This is the beautiful Cecelia Collins, hence the CC. My name is Carol Childress, so I am CC as well. Cecelia was a student of mine way back when (we called each other CC!) We have become "reunited", reaquainted on Facebook! We have been sharing. I have been so inspired by her story, I asked if I could share it on my blog. She said, "I would be very honored. I am very happy to share my story with anyone and it would be great to be able to tell my story to people who would maybe be inspired by it. I was actually clinically dead twice and I am here to talk about it. God is the giver of my life and I need to let anyone and everyone know that. You can tell whomever your heart desires."

And those of you who know me.....here I am....telling away!!!!

CC is awaiting her 15th surgery in 5 years and has asked for our prayers. She is so grateful for getting her life back, and being able to spend time with her husband again is totally worth it, but she does have complications. Her weight was 505 lbs. on surgery day. She was so heavy that they had to do some special stitching in her abdomen. She will never be able to "have" her own children. The complications from the stitching would either kill the baby or take her life. She attributes her greatest weight gain to the time following the loss of her father. He was killed in a motorcycle accident, on JUne 20, 1998....one day before Fathers' Day. She said, "I not only lost my dad but my best friend that day...food became my friend to the point that I gained so much weight I could barely walk. Since that first gastric bypass surgery, CC has undergone 13 more surgeries to remove excess skin from her stomach, thighs, arms and breasts. A total of almost 60 lbs. of skin was taken off of her. Before surgery she was taking 29 medications. Today she has lost 275 lbs. and takes just the vitamins and minerals necessary because of the bypass.

On "Choose Joy", I have been telling so many stories about myself, my family, my weight loss, my health, losing my mom, the 13 weeks in the NICU for my grandsons....trials, tribulations, lows, highs, loss and regained life and health. This girl comes along and tells me, "I sat here and cried one day as I read your blog. You have actually been an inspiration to me in my kind of rough time right now. I try each day to live for God but also the blessings and teachers my earthly father left me. Often times I find it hard to cope, and then I read you blog, and I realize I should rejoice in the fact that I had my father at all, and now I need to live my life for my Heavenly Father. And I LOVE your music. It is so beautiful, sometimes I just let it play and just sing and sing and sing....LOVE IT! I am actually looking for a really good version of "How Great Thou Art". That was my dad's favorite song."

A new note just in from CC after she read today's post and heard the awesome song, "How Great Thou Art" I found in honor of her Dad-
"I can see my dad now..... a little man with giant tears in his eyes. And to think he is with that God that is so GREAT!!! I am crying like a big fat baby and I LOVE it!!"
Glad you love it, Cecelia!

WOW.....powerful words and what a blessing to know that I can be of help to another in this journey of life.

A couple of shots from high school in the art room!





CC has gotten her life back! She is married to a firefighter/EMT, Ryan, she works at a trauma center, and they have built a new home in Des Moines. She loves her flowers in the front yard and she has a painting she has done hanging in their bedroom. They enjoy their puppy, Chloe. She continues to have some complications from her surgeries, and in an email below, she is asking for our prayers.

CC, you look amazing! I am so proud to have been your teacher, and I am so happy you and I have found each other again. I will pray for you and your upcoming surgery. May you have all of God's richest blessings! Love, Mrs. C.

The following is an email sent to me recently along with all the photos of Cecelia:

Mrs. Childress:

Here are the pictures from my surgery. I was 505 lbs. then. I also included a picture of me on my wedding day which I was not far from that weight at that time. And then I included a couple of pictures right after my surgery and 1st day out of ICU and first day out of bed, first "meal" and ready to go home. I also enclosed a picture of an open wound I have had since August from another surgery but related to the gastric bypass. The white spot you see in the middle of the picture is the only thing holding my bowel in. Weird hu?? I cannot eat enough protein to heal. Maybe you could keep me in your prayers that I do not have to go through a skin graft. It is a long and painful process. I am not a candidate for cadaver skin because I have to many alllergies and reactions to things so they will need to harvest my own skin. Ihad a surgery back in August and 3 weeks after my surgery the entire incision broke open. It was 9 in ches long, 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep. I had the wound vac on for about 5 months and finally had to take it off because it kept plugging up. Well within the last month I have had to be on steroids and since that my open wound has broken back open. So I saw the surgeon yesterday... and she says we just need to go back to the OR and cut out the area that is open ,clean it all out good and put it back together. She will be using a suture that can stay in up to a month and I will have an abdomen binder I will have to wear for 6-8 weeks to hold things together. She said since I had the tummy tuck it really cut down on my good blood supply to that area and my tissue is "junk" . So it is just not healing. So they are going to try this and pray that it works. I have it on the 18th. Please keep me in your prayers. I am very nervous and discouraged. I hope we can keep in touch!! And I am still loving your blog!! Thanks..what a gift. :)

Thanks,
CC