Life can certainly be frustrating. Just when you think you’ve gotten to the top of a mountain, there’s another to tackle. I’m sure you’ve felt like that before. We’ve felt like that for about two years now, and that’s certainly how this week feels to us. Dave was working hard and making progress in his physical therapy and we were expecting to go home tomorrow, until a few days ago when he started having fevers. Each day the fever has gotten worse. The doctors (lots of them!) have been working to figure out the source, but haven’t found it yet. They have tested brain/spinal fluid, blood, and urine samples, and today he endured another 2 ½ hour MRI. So far everything is coming back normal and not exposing the source of the fevers.
In many ways that’s a good thing because it means that the problem is not the big, scary things like brain infection or leukemia. The neurologist also let us know that the MRI showed that the damage to the spinal cord seems to be the same as a month ago. This is another good thing because it means that the current weakness Dave is experiencing isn’t a result of further deterioration. We are forcing ourselves to be positive about the good things rather than depressed about the frustrating facts that David doesn’t get to go home tomorrow and that he feels really awful right now. Quite frankly, it takes a lot of determination and willpower, along with the strength and endurance that God is giving us because of all of your prayers.
Please pray that they find the source of the fever very soon… or that the fever goes away. It’s perfectly okay with us if it leaves and we never know why it was here! Please pray for renewed strength for the battle. Please pray for new peace in our hearts because with the “holes” in our hearts right now it seems like the peace is leaking. And maybe you could pray that God would patch up some of those holes. That’s not something the doctors can fix; it’s something we can only receive from God. We know He is our hope and our strength and our peace in this storm, but some of these days still seem very overwhelming.
We are not giving up. We are not letting this destroy us. But it’s big and hard, and we know more than ever that we can’t do this alone. We must turn to God daily for new strength and we need all of you and your encouragement and prayers.
Thank you to each of you who have shown us that you truly do care and are praying for us.
Carol
“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:5
