Update from Charissa

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers. It has been a long time since I have posted. I am so grateful to my parents for keeping you all updated as they could. Though I'm not able to get online too often these days, please know just HOW MUCH it means to me to know you all are praying. I am fully convinced that God is using your prayers to carry me from one moment to the next.

This will be a short update, but here are a few praise reports:

• I have been able to continue at an increased feeding rate but am slightly below target goal.
• My weight is up one pound from last week (so we continue to avoid TPN at the present).
  
• I have had a small amount of motility.
• God has shown His incredible faithfulness in keeping me when I cannot keep myself. He is my Sustainer and the Upholder of my life (Psalm 54:4).

Many of my symptoms have worsened over the past week, and the battle has been quite intense. Yet every time I think I must give up, God carries me forward again and keeps me. I have never been more aware of how I cannot sustain myself.

The prayer requests from the last post still stand, but here are a few additional ways to pray:

• For the peace of Christ to rule and reign in my heart, mind, and soul.
• For wisdom as we meet with my GI doctor again tomorrow at 12:45pm.
• For endurance and the ability to press on through each moment.
• That we would know the clear leading of the Lord throughout each step of this journey.
  
• For increased motility.
  
• For relief from the increasing multitude of symptoms as God sees fit and especially the ability not to focus on them but rather on Him and "normal" things of life. He is merciful, wise, and good and up to so much more than I can see right now.

Thank you all. I am continually humbled and amazed that God would show me such love and care through each of you.

This is my prayer right now:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places. - Habakkuk 3:17-19

It doesn't matter how much is taken away as long as I have Him. And often I don't feel Him there, but the unshakable truth is that He IS still there, and His truth never changes. He has given me what I need the most - forgiveness of my sins - and because of that, I can trust Him to give me the lesser (Romans 8:32). Pray that I would grow in my expectation of His continued help and goodness which will never change, even though I change from moment to moment. He is steadfast and trustworthy - always.

The Update That Never Came

We have taken too long to update you about Charissa's journey since the last post following her surgery. Thank you for continuing to pray for her and for us during this time. We have definitely felt the effect.

Charissa was at Johns Hopkins for 11 days, and it was a rough road. She had many difficulties along the way: adjusting to the intestinal feeding tube (J-tube), stabilizing her electrolytes (requiring four blood draws a day), motility issues, and pain (which she couldn't really take medication for because of how it would affect her body in other ways). But God's overwhelming kindness and care were evident in big things, as well as little things. Whether it was a low time during the middle of the night or a painful procedure during the day or just feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation, God would often send another believer to encourage her on top of the wonderful encouragement and care she was already receiving from the nursing staff.

One evening when she was finding it particularly difficult to face the night, Charissa was surprised by the nursing staff to be offered a private room across the hall. It had the best view on the floor, looking out onto downtown Baltimore with its beautiful skyline at night. On top of that, they gave us a rollaway bed for someone to stay with Charissa where previously there had only been a standard upright chair. Her sister, Tiffany, was able to stay with her that night, and Bill and I were able to go to a local hotel which someone had anonymously paid for during our time at Hopkins. (We had been driving back to Gaithersburg each night between 1 and 3 am, then returning to Baltimore the next morning.) This was a huge help and made all the difference for us. We could also leave our car in the parking garage and take a shuttle back and forth to the hospital. Because Charissa had a private room, she was able to have many of her siblings come at different times and stay past visiting hours which was such an encouragement to her.

Charissa has been home a little over two weeks now, and the transition was challenging (stairs, no hospital bed, new routine, besides difficult physical symptoms). She is on 24-hour continuous feeding and they have slowly increased her rate over this time to gain more calories. She is not eating anything by mouth at this time so some of her symptoms have improved, but she is still dealing with many of her previous symptoms as well as a number of new ones. After the tube feeding began, her weight continued to drop but it has stabilized and is now starting to turn upward. She has had weekly trips back to her physician at Hopkins who is monitoring her very closely. She also has a home health nurse weekly and home PT three times a week.

The doctor's current plan is to see if Charissa can be restored nutritionally as much as possible before proceeding with more extensive testing. This is the main focus medically as well as for prayer. If she does not progress with the intestinal feeding tube, he will switch her to TPN (total parenteral nutrition by a central line) which he does not want to do because it has a high risk of serious infection. Additionally, it is not covered by insurance. So a few bullets for continued prayer:

• Tolerate increased feeding rate over next several days
• Increased motility in her intestinal tract as well as through her whole GI system
• Relief from the multitude of challenging symptoms she experiences on a daily basis
  
• That she will gain weight while on the feeding tube (and avoid TPN)
  
• That she will be able to tolerate small amounts of water by mouth and eventually add back in food by mouth without severe physical symptoms
• Increased physical strength
• Ability to sleep (many sleepless night because of her symptoms)
• Endurance to persevere
• Trusting God in each moment of this trial
  

We are so grateful to the Lord for each and every one of you. God has repeatedly encouraged us and carried us by your love and prayers. It is a tangible evidence of God's faithful kindness. Hearing and knowing that so many people have been praying for her has encouraged Charissa in those moments when it is hard to see His hand at work. Our trust is in the Maker of heaven and earth who created Charissa and loves her more than any of us.

Gratefully,

Bill and Judy

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" Psalm 27:13-14