Praises & Continued Requests

Friends, I have been overwhelmed by your care for me. I have truly been upheld by your prayers. And He has answered them in so many ways!

Praise reports:
· Over the past few weeks, I have noticed a marked difference in my overall strength and well-being. Experiencing a greater intensity of chronic fatigue symptoms a few days ago only served to highlight this for me, and my strength has improved today.

· My weight has been stable. I even added on a few pounds!

· I’m still able to eat every day, and in particular, I have been able to eat beef each day this past week for the first time in a few years! We hope it will help provide my body with some of the things it most needs right now.

· I have also been able to take in several sources of fats, a big step, as my digestive system doesn’t do well with these.

· God has been teaching me so much, especially that all this is resting safe in His Hands. I truly have no strength of my own.

What’s next?:
· The specialist at Dartmouth has received all my records and this Monday will be considering whether he can fit me in sooner, rather than at his first available appointment which would be in the fall. We will consider other specialists if this one doesn’t come through.

· I am continuing to work with my wonderful nutritionist and have been consistent with several new supplements that I recently introduced.

· I am continuing to see an incredible physical therapist.

· I am considering trying a few sessions of acupuncture to see if it will help with my GI motility and digestive issues.

Prayer requests:
· That my weight would remain stable at minimum and for the ability to continue to add on weight and hold onto it.

· That the foods I take in would begin to nourish my body and be assimilated rightly.

· For daily grace and strength to build a better & consistent routine.

· For wisdom as we pursue these next steps with the specialist, along with the present treatment I am under. The variables are too many for any of us to sort out, but God knows perfectly what is wrong and where to take me next.

· That I would learn better how to lean hard on my Savior and trust Him to carry me through each moment of my day.

· That my joy and peace would only increase and that God’s “good, acceptable, and perfect” will would be done.

Thank you for standing with me and helping uphold me when I am weak. It is incredibly humbling to be on the receiving end of such care from people like you. I look forward to sharing more soon!

Your present condition is from the Lord. He has not given you a stone, a serpent, or a scorpion. What He has given may seem hard, but it is for your lasting good. Trials may surround you, but God will bring good out of the apparent evil. Even now, infinite wisdom is fulfilling your wish. – C. H. Spurgeon

“Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.” – 2 Chronicles 20:15

Expect the Unexpected

Well, God has already answered many of your prayers. After examining me and looking over my bloodwork, my GI doctor feels it would be best for me to wait on TPN. From his perspective, their practice would typically not put a patient presenting as I do in for TPN due to the high risk of infection (especially due to my low white blood cell count). My liver and kidneys are functioning normally, my electrolytes are fine, and my clinical symptoms (other than weight) are not requiring this intervention. I am still able to eat and use my GI tract, and the longer I am able to benefit from that, the better.

He has recommended that I travel to see a GI motility specialist who is based at Dartmouth and consequently put in a call to him, asking for him to see me as soon as possible. We are presently waiting to hear back from this doctor, and once we have an appointment, my dad and I will be traveling up there to see him.

In the meantime, if my health takes a turn for the worse, we can arrange for TPN to be done through a PICC line and managed through home nursing care. My primary care doctor has agreed that what I have outlined above is the best plan forward from here.

I'm sure this is a surprise for many of you. It most definitely was for both me and my family! As I reflect on the verse at the top of this blog, which has been so close to my my heart over the past few months, I find myself in wonder at God's wisdom and sovereignty. I am the "blind," and He is leading me in paths that I have not known. He has promised to turn my "darkness into light." I am at complete peace that God will be faithful to illumine the path ahead and that He will continue to open each door ahead of me.

Thank you for your prayers. God is definitely using them to sustain me. And I will continue to be in need of them in the days ahead as I aggressively pursue working with my nutritionist and other doctors to eat well, sleep, take supplements, and get into a good routine, all while pursuing the possibility of working with this specialist at Dartmouth.

I will keep you all updated as I can and look forward to sharing more of what God does in the days ahead. Thank you again. It is such a privilege to have friends like you.

“In A Way That They Do Not Know”

The verse at the top of this blog has become very dear to my heart in recent months. The way ahead is not always clear – in fact, it usually isn’t! – but at every turn God has proven Himself faithful to simply take me forward. Just one more step. One more step. And sometimes it’s a baby step! Learning to take that one step forward into the little patch of light that illuminates a place for my feet is all I am asked to do. I often wish I could see further ahead, but my God is so much wiser, and He gives me what I need when I need it and not before.

As I step out in this new direction that involves hospital procedures I’d not have chosen on my own, I know that I can rest assured that the same God who has led me this far will continue to lead me down this path, turning every dark shadow into light, smoothing out the rough places, and more precious than anything, never forsaking me. I pray that this precious promise is a comfort to your own heart today. This is the kind of God He is!

You may wonder how I can trust Him to do this – someone I cannot see or hear an audible voice. It is not always easy, but I can do so because He has already proven Himself to me. He sent His very own Son, Jesus, down from the glories and beauty of heaven itself. He left perfection to come walk amongst the brokenness of our world. He clothed Himself in our frail human body with all its capacity to experience pain and imperfection. For 33 years, He lived out a perfect life in my place. Jesus then willingly allowed Himself to be put to death upon a cross. It was there that He received all the punishment that I deserved for my sin against a God who is holy and perfect and good in every way. God, His Father, then raised Him to life, demonstrating clearly that Christ’s sacrifice for my sins was sufficient and my debt had been paid in full. Because He has given His life for mine, I am now adopted into His family as a child of God, and I have the incredible hope of spending eternity with Him one day in a glorious New Heaven and New Earth. And so, if He has done something so great and at such infinite cost to Himself, then why should I not trust Him to continue to lead me through the dark valleys of this life? This is my hope.

What's Happening With Me

Many of you may have heard that I will be admitted to Georgetown hospital either today or tomorrow morning to begin TPN or Total Parenteral Nutrition. This is the next step in a health journey I've been on for the past several years. For those of you who don't know, in recent months I have been unable to gain any weight and have gradually continued to decline. Doctors are unsure of just why this is happening in my body, but several of them believe that Lyme Disease is the underlying cause of my multitude of GI issues. Because of my low weight and frail state, I have been unable to begin antibiotic treatment, and my doctors have decided that receiving TPN is the next step. The hope is that I will be able to put on some much-needed weight, gain nutrition, and then be able to tolerate treatment of the Lyme and other unwanted microorganisms that have taken up residence. At this point, we do not yet know how long I will be in the hospital and what it will all involve, but there is a possibility of continuing the treatment from home at some point.

Today, I go to my GI doctor who will then ask another doctor at Georgetown University Hospital to admit me. I will have a central port placed probably near the clavicle providing access for a direct line into my blood system. There is a risk of infection, especially due to my low white blood cell count, so this is definitely an area for prayer.

So, that's the medical side of things. You're probably wondering how I'm doing. The simplest answer I can give is that the Lord is truly my Shepherd. He is the One who is calling me to walk down this path, and although I don't know what lies ahead for me, I do know that I have a God who has promised to never leave nor forsake me. He is all-wise, all-good, and all-knowing, and He has sacrificed His very own Son for me. I can trust Him with each step ahead.

I am deeply grateful for each one of you, and if you are receiving this it is because at some point in my life your life has had an impact on my own. I hope that this time in my life is able to somehow encourage you as you walk through your own trials. Life is full of dark valleys, but they do not have to overwhelm us if we walk with the One who knows where He is taking us.

My family will be keeping this blog updated in the days ahead with prayer requests and progress updates. If you have any questions regarding visiting or anything else, please contact my parents at galbraithfamily@gmail.com.

Thank you all for caring. Each one of you means so much to me. I look forward to sharing with you in the days ahead all that God does through this time! It will be amazing to watch. I hope you can join me in expecting great things!

GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. - Habakkuk 3:19