More Tests Tomorrow

Hi everyone, today was scheduled full, but I was just too worn out to make it so I had to cancel my appointments. Some of these things can just be done back home. Tomorrow, I have a 10am follow-up with my neurologist, followed by another GI procedure from 12:30-2:30. Can't wait to be done.

Yesterday I had my first iron infusion, and the side effects have been difficult. I will have 3-4 more of these over the next several weeks even once I'm home again. It may take a while before I feel the benefits but they will eventually come.

So grateful for each prayer. My picc line is no longer clogged. Thank God for answering that prayer.

Needing endurance for these final days. Geri flew home this morning, and another wonderful friend has taken over assisting me. God never stops providing. He is an unfailing Anchor in the stormiest of seas.

Still in Arizona

(Update copied from Facebook-sorry it's so brief and there are gaps.)

Hi friends, I cannot thank you enough for your prayers. God has answered more of them! A friend in the area who happens to be a nurse has some time off work beginning Thursday, so she has offered to come stay with me after Geri leaves this coming Thursday morning. I had an appointment with nutrition today and just received a phone call about a potential cancellation opening for tomorrow with allergy/immunology (the first available had been June 5th). Friday I have another unpleasant GI procedure/test, and I am still awaiting results from blood cultures. It's looking like I will stay through the weekend, but I have not yet booked my flight home.

Every day there are new mercies for the things I think "impossible," and God's faithfulness is amazing to watch. I also would not be honest if I failed to acknowledge how incredibly difficult it is to fight onward each day. Today was especially hard but His grace truly IS sufficient - again and again and again. It never runs out. Soooo grateful for each of you and your prayers. There are no conclusive new findings yet but God knows what He's doing. I sure don't. :) So glad He's in control!

Many Helping Hands

I just have to take a moment to list some of the ways I have experienced God’s mercy and provision through the care of others over the past few days.

• Geri’s husband, Mike, drove us to the airport after just finishing a two-day drive a few days before to bring his daughter home from college.
•  Hannah, Geri’s daughter and my friend, coming along for the ride to the airport and helping us with all the luggage.
• Mom packing until after 2am yesterday morning and then getting up early to do more.
•  Mom training Geri how to do my TPN.
• Geri investing all the time to learn. 
• My friend, Sarah, taking the time to help me go through clothes, taking me to CVS to get a new cane when mine started causing a blister, and then coming by before I left to fix my crutch with a new tip and grip support for the handle.
• Geri altering clothes so I’d have some things to wear in AZ.
• My sister, Tiffany, coming by last night to help me with my hair and say goodbye.
• My dad driving around to find me a new phone when my old one hit the wall yesterday.
• My friend, Rhoda, creating a prayer sign-up for me. My brother, Michael, helping me up and down the stairs.
•  My friend, Kathy, stopping by to say goodbye even though she has her own health struggles.

And at the airport yesterday...

• Geri was struggling with pushing our carry-on’s and handling my crutch and pillow while also supporting me.  After realizing that it probably would have been better to keep a luggage cart we suddenly came upon one that someone had left behind. God is so kind.
• When pre-boarding, one of the pilots offered to help us by taking all the carry-on’s we were struggling with himself so Geri could focus on just supporting me.
• Though the flight was supposed to be completely full, God gave us an open center seat so I could shift positions more easily.
• God gave me a VERY kind flight attendant.  Once she heard that I have trouble breathing while sitting and would need to stand as much as possible, she said that if the air pressure made me too uncomfortable, just to let her know and she would ask the captain if he could fly at a lower altitude. J  I never knew that was something they would consider doing. She also allowed me to keep my crutch for support right up until take-off. Then she stored it for me and offered to get it down whenever I needed it.
• The flight was long but uneventful, and God truly gave me grace to get through. When we landed, several of the flight crew told me they would be praying for me, and a kind member of the airport staff wheeled me to the baggage claim and then helped us get the luggage into the car.
• And the list goes on.... :) Thank you for praying! These are a direct result of your prayers.

Heading to Scottsdale

As I write these words, I am presently flying somewhere over the Midwest on my way to Scottsdale, Arizona. I did not anticipate this trip to the Mayo Clinic, but God surely did. And He has gone before me and ordered each step. For years, my grandfather has encouraged me to go to Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota, but I just didn’t feel it was the right time to travel somewhere else while I continued working with Hopkins. It has been almost two years since I had to move to feeding tubes and TPN and almost 12 years since my health struggles first began. A few months ago, I began considering whether it was time for me to look for additional medical help at Mayo or elsewhere and thought the Jacksonville, Florida Mayo Clinic might be the easiest of the three, but I wasn’t sure if it was the best medical fit for my situation or not. And now, through an amazing chain of events, I find myself headed to Scottsdale.

How did this happen? A doctor friend spoke very highly of the GI motility doctors at Mayo in Scottsdale and kindly talked with them about my condition. This past March I was able to get appointments with these doctors for this very week in May (it usually takes longer!). A kind friend from church offered to pay for my flight. Another friend began contacting friends in Arizona regarding help with housing and transportation. I was offered a place to stay with a wonderful family only ten minutes from the clinic! (They actually were active members of my church for over 20 years and had moved from Maryland to Arizona about six years ago, but I hadn’t kept in touch with them.) When I connected with them, I heard that they had recently been considering asking me if I wanted to come out to Mayo and stay with them but had thought to wait, knowing how many suggestions come my way. Then they heard I was actually looking to come! So God had already been making a way for me before I even knew it.

The final big piece was who could travel with me, prepare my TPN each night, and help me with daily needs. My parents both wanted to go, but the multiple needs at home between my handicapped brother, their own health, and more were just so great that it wasn’t going to work. We knew that if God wanted me to go, He was going to provide someone. A few days after it was determined my mom couldn’t go with me, another mom, Geri Carroll, offered to be my traveling companion. I was amazed once again at God’s specific care and provision for my needs. And it didn’t stop there! My church covered the cost of her flight, the Nam family offered us rides and the use of a car, and my dad helped me pull together all the medical records I needed to take.

I don’t know what God has in store for this week, and I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t acknowledge that I’m afraid at times. Sitting for five hours on the plane is almost impossible with my pain, and I’m not excited about doing a ton of difficult tests or sharing my story again and again with new doctors. But God has said “this is the way, walk in it,” and so by His grace, I am seeking to do that. I am overwhelmed at the way each of you has sought to carry me in prayer and continue to help me fight and not give up. This road has been long and hard and oh so wearying, but we have a God Who never fails us. And He is greater than all. I am excited to see what He has in store this week.