Doing Better

I know that many of you have been concerned about how we are doing since our last blog. As I had mentioned, Grace Lindeman's help restored some mental capacity to me to be able to understand what our needs are better and how to meet them. Prior to her coming, I had no idea that she was what I needed, and almost said it wasn't necessary, I was so in denial, expecting Andrew to get better any day like he had last year.

Also, writing down what I'm feeling and thinking also helps me to realize things after I write them. And so, a lot has changed since the last blog. We have since had another teenager who lives locally come a couple of times a week to make Andrew's juices and foods, and that has made all the difference in the world, freeing me up hugely.

Additionally, we realized since Andrew wasn't starting physical therapy until last Friday, we had a couple of days prior to that free. And so very last minute, Andrew and I, and the kids went away for three days to this place that was a row of cabins in Minnesota. It faced these green mountains with a river that ran alongside it. It was really kid friendly with a large green field in front of the cabins and a big playground. The first day we were there, we went with the kids to play on it, and Andrew said it was so nice just to focus on them and have nothing else that we have to attend to hanging over our heads. We were only supposed to stay until Thursday, but Andrew said he was so happy there, and he said that being happy must be better for his health than anything else, so he had us extend our stay until Friday morning and went to his physical therapy appointment on the way back from our trip. I, too, felt very refreshed afterwards.

I think one of the reasons we had that idea to go away was a few different people had said to us that even though we can't go on vacation for a few weeks like we would like to, we should try to go away locally as often as we can. Then, a check arrived in the mail from a friend saying the same exact thing. We figured we should probably stop stalling and just go.

And so we're going to continue our vacation again tomorrow after Andrew's physical therapy for two nights until Thursday. The kids are so excited because this time we are going to a bed and breakfast on a farm.

(Who would have ever pictured us actually setting out to go on vacation to a farm? I remember when we first visited Washington and stayed at someone's house who had horses and chickens and fresh eggs in the morning and we thought we had landed on some other planet. Even a couple of years into it, driving past some llamas on someone's front yard on the way to a friend's house, I thought I had entered a movie that was a comedy. In the end, our stay in Washington must have had its impact on us city slickers).

Additionally, Andrew's parents will be arriving this weekend, and his mom will stay on to help us and drive Andrew to his appointments.

The Lord is teaching us so much, which we will have to write about next time!

Thank you to everyone for all your love and concern and prayers. We know that much of the encouraging things that happen must be the fruit of your prayers.

And from Andrew:

1) I got some new system of pain meds two weeks ago that seem to be working better. Although I still suffer the narcotic side effects and withdrawal symptoms (extreme fatigue, tremors, weird moods) every time they start to fade, it is not nearly as bad. Now instead of going into withdrawal every other day, it is about twice per week.

2) Grace and I received two gift checks in the mail last week and prayed that the Lord would provide a relaxing place to go last minute for a short family vacation even though everything but hotels are pretty much booked solid. I called around last week and was about to give up, but then begged that God would provide if He willed us to go. Then it came to mind that I should call the two really expensive places anyways and see what they say. It turns out that those two places happen to have 1 cabin open the days we wanted last week and this week, and they miraculously are giving it to us at half price which fell into the price that we were looking for!

3) I haven't thrown up in a few weeks! The gagging still occurs, but for some reason I have been able to keep the food down and my weight is stable. The docs say that it is great that I'm not losing weight. They don't expect me to be able to gain for a while.

Requests:
1) Keep praying that I will be fully healed, and that the pain would subside. I will have my first cancer scan in mid-September.
2) Keep praying for encouragement for Grace and I. We are feeling much more encouraged this week.