Follow-Up - 6 Weeks at Home

Tomorrow will be 7 weeks since D's seeding. I haven't posted since we've been home because life has been like a roller-coaster. We started out at the top, D was feeling great and we brought little E home from Florida with us for a visit. After the 2nd day at home, we realized that D was in for a long recuperation. To make a very long story short, his symptoms were severe enough that we made a couple of trips to the ER, a few visits to the Urologist, calls to the Dattoli Clinic, etc. ~ you get the picture. E stayed with us for 3 weeks and then B came up and stayed a few days before they both went back home. It was a nice visit, but poor E had to be bored to death ~ she was pretty much "home bound" with 2 grumpy grandparents.

I think I must be the most naive person in the entire world. For some crazy reason, I thought there would be no side effects from this treatment. My thoughts were definitely contrary to the manual / paperwork that we received at the Clinic, but I try to always stay optomistic.

After the seeding side effects began to subside, D's blood pressure continued to rise. It was staying around 160/100 most of the time. He had absolutely no energy and no quality of life. Out of our first 5 weeks at home, he may have had a handful of "good" days. FINALLY, the doctor changed his BP meds last week and he is beginning to return to normal ~ whatever that is. LOL! He is still staying away from crowded places trying to avoid the flu and viruses. But, he is getting out and about. We even went on a fishing trip last Friday. I can always tell how D is feeling by whether he wants to fish or not.

D seems to have grown closer to the Lord during this ordeal. He is spending more time in the Word and praying. I wish I could say the same for myself. This thing has really challenged my faith. I still trust God and love Him, but all of the "encouraging" words that I tell other people when they are going through "stuff", just hasn't seem to penetrate where I've been walking. I'm not trying to be a whiner here, just being real. God has shown me many, many areas in my life that need His gentle correction. I pray that years from now when we look back on this period in our lives, we will see a time of stretching and growing and we will be able to see good fruit in our lives. I think of the scripture from James 1:2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. I am definitely not there yet!

A friend posted a challenge on Facebook to come up with one thing each day to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season. It's been slim-pickin's from me. It seems easy for me to be thankful when things are going my way. Give me a challenge and Boo Hoo, poor me. But, I am beginning to realize again that I do have many, many things to be thankful for:
I am thankful for good friends who have lifted us up in prayer during this time. I am thankful for friends who speak the truth in love. I am thankful that we are 2/3 of the way through this process. I am trusting the Lord for a complete healing for D and I'm very thankful for what He has already done.

If you've been around me since we've been home, I am especially thankful for you and thankful that you didn't tell me to SHUT UP ALREADY! I have been absolutely obsessed with D's health situation. Thank you for your grace and mercy.

We plan to go back to Florida on December 22. If you don't mind continuing to pray for us, we would really appreciate it. Specifics: Traveling mercies; D's treatment ~ no complications and no side effects (I'm still optomistic); all details to be worked out with no problems concerning condo rental, radiation treatment, etc.; pray that my heart would not grow calloused because of weariness and tiredness.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We love you and are very thankful for you!
Plans are to update the blog while we are away.

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3