Jim

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24 April 2009

Epidemic (?)

Well, here we are again with a sudden outbreak. A sudden outbreak of news stories about Mexico, predicting disaster. This time, it’s the mysterious "respiratory illness" that Mexicans and tourists leaving Mexico are being warned about.

So what’s the story?

Certain cases of a mysterious respiratory illness have been showing up in s (no, not just Mexico)

Certain cases have been serious – so far Mexico has linked 68 deaths to the illness.

No one is sure what it is exactly, which is one reason why people are concerned.

The news is actually a few days old already, but recently the top federal health official announced the closing of schools in the Federal District and State of Mexico (we live in the latter). He encouraged people to follow common sense hygiene and to avoid large gatherings, etc.

Now, from what I’ve heard so far, I have two comments. First, this is big news. Second, this is not big news. Let’s go with the first:

This is big news

It’s not a new thing for people to be concerned about a new flu pandemic. It’s a very real concern. Flu pandemics in the last century killed millions of people, and there’s reason to believe that a new pandemic could be just as dangerous if not worse.

Anytime something new breaks out, and we don’t know what it is or where it comes from, it’s reason for concern. It’s right for people to be on the alert, and for researchers to be studying, etc.

The illness, whatever it is, is causing deaths. If we can catch them early, we can save lives. If people think it’s "just the flu", they won’t be watching for something more serious. The news outlets are performing a valuable function.

Obviously, this is very serious for those who have the illness and their families.

This is not big news

From another standpoint, at this point it’s no reason to panic.

I’ve seen news sources with higher and higher numbers. If a newspaper says "1200 in Central Mexico being studied as possibly having the unknown illness", what does that mean?

It means 600 people got a sniffle, saw the news and panicked. 300 got a nasty cold and went to the doctor. 200 got the flu and went to the doctor. 100 got a serious flu bug, and may actually have the rare illness. If 11,000 people in Mexico actually got the disease, that would be .01% of the population.

So no, we’re staying indoors afraid of getting the illness at this point.

So far the highest number I’ve heard is that 68 in Mexico have died. As serious as that is (see above), and I’m sure those numbers will rise, these are still extremely small numbers compared to the millions of Mexico.

Also, research so far seems to be telling us that the virus is not as serious as it could be – in other words, it wouldn’t be a lot more serious than a normal flu bug (but more people would get it).

So, with good reason, Canada’s chief public health officer announced today that there’s absolutely no reason why Canadians should be discouraged from travelling to Mexico. From that standpoint, this is not serious.

So in the end, Mexico and the United States need our prayers as they deal with what appears to be a new strain of the flu. It could turn out to be more serious than it already it. But from what we know so far, neither country is in the middle of a disaster, and life is going on as usual (but without school. After all, we don’t get "snow days" here, we need something!)

23 April 2009

Two Cities, Two Doctors, and One Jim

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise 0

The two cities are Puebla and Mexico City. The two doctors are a neurologist and my regular doctor. The one Jim is me.

So here’s the story. I decided to do double-duty while in Puebla, and go see a new neurologist.

Actually, I haven’t seen a neurologist since moving to Mexico. A neurologist is generally who you see to be treated for migraine. I’ve received treatment from another doctor, and have had some self-treatment based on research I’ve done, but I haven’t been to a neurologist for a while.

In case you’re not familiar with migraine, it’s a neurological disease (even if you are familiar with it, it’s still a neurological disease). You can read lots more about migraine here.

Somebody’s head (MRI results). I don’t know whose, but it’s not mine. My MRI results are still in Puebla.
This guy/girl looks all good to me.

I actually went with a specific question (I was looking for an unlikely diagnosis of an incurable problem from someone probably not qualified to diagnose), but didn’t really get the question answered to my satisfaction (no surprise there).

However, I got a bunch of tests – the standard neurological checkup, an electroencephalography (EEG), and a magnetic resonance imaging exam (MRI) (gracious me, those take a long time! Especially when you have a severe headache at the time. I have new respect for people who get MRIs. Leave a comment, and I’ll respect you.). The EEG could be done at the doctor’s office, but the MRI was across town in the hospital.

After all this I returned to the neurologist, feeling very much like the lab rat I am. He was helpful, seemed competent, although completely devoid of a sense of humour.

He prescribed 3 medications for me to try, and told me to call him in the "morning".

For those of you unfamiliar with chronic illness and specifically neurological issues, the "morning" for a neurologist is generally several months.

Because of the way migraine treatments work, you need to try them for several months (3 is a good number) before you have any idea if they’re going to work. If you have some success, it may be partial success, or dosages may need to be changed. Or the medication may do nothing at all. Or it may work temporarily.

This isn’t a pessimistic point of view, it’s simply the reality of this type of medicine. It’s the same with other things such as epilepsy, for example. If you expect to take two aspirin and be cured the next day, you’ll be disappointed.

So you might not want to ask me if it’s helping until sometime in October.

I’ll probably see him again in September or October.

Also, though he looked at the MRI results, the experts weren’t done anilyzing them. So I’ll head back to Puebla in a week or two to pick those up.

When we returned to Ixtapaluca, I made an appointment to see my doctor here. The thing is, I was feeling nauseous almost all the time. Taking a stab in the dark, after a couple of weeks I figured that probably wasn’t normal.

I saw Dr. Lechuga (Dr. Lettuce) on Monday, and he and his nurse were properly shocked at my stomach and prescribed a strict diet (no chilli! *gasp*), and several medications to try to cure me.

I have another appointment with him in a couple of weeks.

So, how d’ya feel, Jim?!

You’ve heard the expression the cure was worse than the disease? Well, I’m not sure now what the symptoms of the disease are and what the symptoms of the medication are! 😉 My stomach is, I think, starting to feel better though.

In another couple of weeks, the medications will (hopefully) have petered out to only one or two. One is a preventative medication (one I will take every day to prevent migraine attacks), so it may take me a while to get used to it (if I do).

So basically I’m just really tired and out of it (no kidding! you say). It’s probably from the medication (ya think?! you say). I’m going to try to get a little more sleep and see if that helps.

Caffeine doesn’t seem to help. Maybe a finger in the electrical outlet once and hour would do the trick (you know, neuro-electric therapy. Can I get a prescription for that?).

That’s the basic story of two cities, two doctors, and one Jim.

20 April 2009

Wall leaks – 2009!

Jim Practical matters 0

When we came home from Puebla, our living room walls looked a little different than they had before:

Yes, it looks like it’s time for some leaks again. Those are huge wet spots on the wall.

We’re not sure where they come from, but we have a theory. Behind that wall is another house, which is vacant. I don’t think they have their water turned on, but they do have a window open.

So the theory is that water is getting in that window (we’ve started getting a little rain once in a while – it’s getting close to rainy season), sitting on the floor and seeping down into the wall and ceiling. Quite a mess!

We’re going to try to track down our neighbours (who we’ve never met – I don’t think they’ve visited the house since long before we moved here) and let them know that there’s a big problem.

(Why not just close their window, you ask? Well, I may do that. However, they need to know the problem because their house is likely in worse shape than ours. Second, once we close the window it will lock and we’ll never be able to open it again. It might not dry with the window closed. The window is covered by bars and won’t be easy to close. I’ll also need use a ladder to get onto my roof, hoist it down and use it to get down to their roof, then somehow climb over the side of the wall to reach the window….)

19 April 2009

Back from Puebla

Jim Mexico, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise 0

Good evening, everyone!

I just wanted to stop by to let you know we have returned from Puebla. We had a wonderful time, thanks in a great part to the generous hospitality of fellow team members, Chalo and Beth Sandoval. It was great to get to know them a little, and some of their family. We learned a little more about what they’re involved in – such as the Christian publishing house Ediciones las Américas, and a church plant, for example.

We enjoyed meeting some of the people of their church today. Shari and I had the opportunity to share a little and sing a couple of songs.

It’s really interesting, actually, how different ministry is in every part of Mexico (and we’ve only seen a few parts). Of course some of it just has to do with different people being involved in whatever is going on. But every area has a different mix of rich and poor, different schedules, different types of work, different challenges. It was good to visit the O’Brien family in San Juan del Río recently too (I believe I have a few pictures up now from that trip).

Of course, whenever we leave Mexico City, we notice how BIG everything is. Things are pretty crammed together here in Mexico City, and if you want a big space you pay big bucks, if you can find a big space!

We had a chance to stop in to see the Blycker family too (there were many more we wanted to see, but didn’t have a chance – maybe next time!). We had a fun night with them – I’ve got some pictures I’ll show you later.

I spent quite a bit of time with doctor-related things. Maybe I can tell you more about that later (still need to visit another doctor tomorrow, I think – maybe I should wait until I can give the full story!).

Anyway, thanks again to Sandovals for showing us around a bit (and putting up with us), and your hospitality. And thanks to their church family for the warm welcome. 🙂 And thanks to the Blyckers for the fun evening – and the pizza ….

12 April 2009

Sunrise in Ixtapaluca

Jim Mexico, Ministry glimpses 2

This morning just before 6am we joined others of our local church and went up to Samuel and Aurora’s house (literally up on a hill) for a time of worship – remembering the One who conquered death.

We had some times of singing around the campfire, and read a little about Resurrection Morning. Martín shared some thoughts, and many other people shared about what the resurrection of Jesus has meant in their lives.

Afterwards we had some breakfast. Nathanael kept trying to get people to give him the breakfast with the hot salsa, and no one would – finally I got some for him. And an extra glass of juice.

Sunrise 7:46am
We all stayed around and talked for a while. Our family left a little earlier than we would otherwise – Hannah and Nathanael were pretty tired (as it turned out, Hannah had a fever), and as you might guess I got about 2 hours of sleep last night, and couldn’t speak English, never mind Spanish! Who knows – maybe there are people there still.

So everyone is home resting, except me. I’m just stopping by to give you a glimpse of our wonderful morning, worshipping while the light broke across the horizon making everything look different and new. What a great time celebrating with Jesus’ Church!

I hope you had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday too!

The very day that I called on You
You knelt down by my ear
You whispered of Your love for me
And told me not to fear
For though my sins were plain to see
And though the devil schemed
You pleaded the case for my soul
And my life You have redeemed

Sunrise in Ixtapaluca, Mexico

12 April 2009

Odds and Ends about current Cottrill events

Jim Family, Mexico, Ministry glimpses, Practical matters, Prayer and Praise 1

As sometimes happens, there has been a lot going on and very little time to blog. So I’m going to break out of my usual pattern and just give you a quick random list of some of the things that have been happening. For your interest, prayers, whatever…

Rod Fry posted a brief video of the passion play in Ixtapalapa (which is, yes, close to Ixtapaluca). Here are my pictures and comments from 2007 (from the TV broadcast).

This year I’ve enjoyed reading, for the second time, The Cross He Bore by the late Frederick S. Leahy. I joined a "reading group" over at challies.com. Read what I had to say about this book last year.

Our church has been having some great services this month – Maundy Thursday (all night), Good Friday evening and Holy Saturday evening (which I just enjoyed). Tomorrow* we’ll meet at 5:45am for a sunrise service on Resurrection Sunday. I haven’t been able to make it to all of these due to health reasons, but what I’ve been at has been great!

Why then, you ask, am I still not in bed if I’m getting up that early? Well, the immediate answer is that I’m scanning receipts that I promised to get to the CAM office by today. I was sick in bed yesterday or I would have been finished then. It’s a routine matter for a year-end audit, but it means hours of work!

A longer answer might be that we are just generally SWAMPED at the moment, and probably will be to some extent until we start travelling in the summer. Recently I commented to someone that we all have the same time in every day – 24 hours. In that sense, everyone is busy to the same extent. But what are we busy doing? Right now we have so many things coming from so many angles, we are praying for extra wisdom as we set priorities and decide what to do and what to say no to.

Guess what? I put some new pictures and video in the photo gallery. There are even some pictures of the prayer time from the leadership Sunday as promised. Check out our Recent shots… album!

Nathanael got a bike for Christmas. It quickly broke. We finally took it to the repair shop and got it fixed – new inner tube, and new brake.  Cost? About CA$4.

I just got the van fixed. Cost? Almost a thousand dollars. I think I need to start walking more.

While investigating a minor matter, the CAM Canada office discovered a major matter – a change is being made to our income which means we’ll need to pay a much larger chunk of tax every month (current guess around 2-3 hundred dollars a month). We’re working on trying to figure out exactly how this is supposed to work legally, and how we’re going to come up with the extra money.

Last Sunday our clocks changed – spring ahead 1 hour.

We had a great trip to San Juan del Rio last weekend. We visited friends and learned a bit about the ministry there. I was quite sick half the weekend, but they had a very comfortable futon.

Speaking of health, the rest of the family has been doing pretty well.  Hannah was sick early in the week, but bounced back quickly.

I have to admit it, for me this is an interesting time of year to be in pain. It’s a reminder of how insignificant our pain is in light of the cross – His pain, our future hope.

You know, it’s so neat to see God raising up leaders here in Mexico. I really need to write more about that sometime.

We’re busy getting ready for our trip in the summer, and part of that is scheduling, another part is paperwork. Partly because of the trip, and partly because of the timing, there’s a lot of complex, red-tape, expensive, time-consuming paperwork to do. Not complaining, just explaining.

I hope to meet with our landlord Armando this month. Our contract is about to run out, and we hope he’ll let us stay in this house into the fall. We’ll need to negotiate rent and all stuff like that there.

This coming week is Neurologist week. Nathanael just had a blood test (he was very brave – they always have trouble finding his veins) and will get his regular 6 month checkup in Cuernavaca. We’re all travelling to the city of Puebla this coming weekend, and I’m taking the opportunity to see a new neurologist and possibly a neurosurgeon regarding my migraine attacks.

We’re looking forward to visiting Puebla for other reasons – seeing friends, learning about ministry going on there. We’re even looking forward to singing on Sunday (Shari and I). These trips to Puebla and San Juan del Rio are a part of the requirement of our Orientation Year.

The day before Resurrection Sunday in Mexico is a traditional day for water fights and splashing around in the pool. Hannah and Nathanael had a great time when some neighbours shared their blow-up pool with children on our street. It was probably the warmest day yet here – getting up to around 33C. This tends to be the hottest time of year, right before rainy season starts.

There you are – a glimpse into the lives of the Cottrills. Hope I can write more detail soon!  Now, gotta finish scanning these receipts.

*Note: I started writing this Saturday and finished it Sunday, so I’m writing as though it’s Saturday. It’s that tricky midnight thing.

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