Family

…and when they were well they were healthy.

That seems to be the way it is around here, let me tell you.  I do have some excuse – the excuse of having young children, who are around other young children, none of which are necessarily fastidious about personal hygiene.

And if you have young kids, you also know that when the whole family gets sick, it’s a particular challenge.  Who’s going to care for who?  The person who is the least sick, I suppose.  And you may want to stay in bed, but you don’t want to have someone else (outside the family) watch the kids, lest they get sick too!  So who has time to rest and get better?

Anyway, I already told you we were sick a week ago.  We think we’re getting better, but improvement has been painfully slow.  Today I survived my first full day of school in … probably at least a couple of weeks.  I was exhausted, but I made it!  Hannah and Nathanael are finally showing some improvement today (although last Thursday was probably Hannah’s worst day).  Shari and I think we suffered some side effects from the medication, which we are now starting to get over.

But in summary, last week was extremely difficult.  This week we’re trying to jump back into things – not because we’re feeling better, but because we don’t want to delay forever.

Anyway, I’m not saying anything new or surprising, but I wanted to mention it one more time because the last couple of weeks or so really have been a monumental challenge, in a big part because of the way we’ve been feeling physically.  And we may be slowly getting better, but really things are dragging on…. we would appreciate your prayers for our health.  May the day come again soon when we have energy at least for the normal tasks of life.

Disclaimer:  There are lots of great things going on – I will try to get to those shortly (if anyone is still reading by then!).  For example, school (when I’ve made it there) has been going well, and there are some neat things going on with friends.  Stay tuned!

My long list of updates kinda stalled out there, but I’m back with a brief update this morning.

We would appreciate your continued prayers for my parents.  On Friday, my Mom was feeling weakness on one side of her body, and so she ended up in the emergency room.  She was with my Dad in emergency all day.  The doctor called for tests which took hours, then he wanted a specialist to see her, which meant another long wait.

Anyway, in the end she was sent home.  The tests came back negative, which probably means that the weakness was simply an "after-effect" of a stroke she had some time ago (excuse me if I skip the more technical explanations for now).

There are more tests planned for both my Mom and Dad, scanning this, that, and the other thing.  One next month, one still to be scheduled, etc etc etc.  These are related to a number of health issues.

My Mom is feeling a little better, but both Mom and Dad are tired out from the repeated trips to various places for tests.  They’re also trying to work out some financial issues, which is an added strain.

So that’s a praise and prayer – we certainly praise the Lord that things didn’t turn out a lot worse, but we continue to pray that the Lord would give patience, health and strength.  You’re welcome to join us in prayer, so you can see what God has planned with us.

Now, I’ve got to catch the bus ("ruta") to school!  I’ll continue these updates shortly….

Ok, now that I’ve updated you on school issues, let’s talk about health.  We just don’t have a lot of it at the moment.

Nathanael was the first, a little over two weeks ago.  His cough was horrendous, but we waited it out.  Then Shari and I got it.  Both in different ways – Shari more congested, sore throat, fatigue, and sore muscles.  Me – mostly the cough – a cough that made it a tad difficult in conversation class.  (I like to be able to say,"It’s nowhere near as bad as a migraine attack".  That may be true, but the problem is that these types of things tend to trigger the attacks, so many days I end up with both)

Finally, a few days ago, the bastion of health herself – Hannah – also got sick.  At this point Nathanael was starting to get a little better, but we had two new concerns.  Hannah’s cough kept her awake much of the night, and Shari seemed to be doing worse.  So we finally went to the doctor.

After doing a little research and talking to the doctor, I think we were wise to see him when we did.  However, I don’t like taking medication I don’t have to, and he sent us out with a sturdy list of what to take – different for everyone.

Going to the doctor here really is an all-day affair.  When everyone is sick, it’s hard to get them all out the door to start with.  Then the waiting room and the consultation.  Then buying the drugs.  I’m not sure I have ever been able to do it in one stop – we had to go two different pharmacies yesterday, and I still have one more place to go today.

Then figuring it all out at home, in addition to the medications we’re already on.  More than anyone that means Nathanael (those who get our newsletter know some of this story).  His medication is changing and becoming more complex, so now we have 7 days of doling out medicines – every day a little different, and every person a little different.  Some every six hours, some eight, some twelve, different dosages, some "required" and some "as needed".  My handy-dandy colour-coded chart is the only way I’m going to make it through this.

Anyway, as our friend Toby put it, we seem to have some kind of "bronchial thing".  Nathanael is on the mend.  Hannah is well enough to go to school.  Shari is about the same – in bed much of the day.

Strangely enough I’m feeling worse today.  I was feeling better yesterday morning.  I was heading out the door to go to school, when I realized that Shari was sick enough she wasn’t even going to be able to get the kids out the door.  I decided to take the week off school – I can do that and save the money for next week (Lord willing).  It was a tough decision at the time, but now I’m glad I didn’t try to go this week, considering the way Shari and I are feeling.  It will be all I can do to keep things going at the house, and take care of everyone else.

But I’m getting better at giving out the medicines – it took less than 25 minutes this morning.  And that was before I finished my nifty chart.

Here’s hoping that everyone will be feeling better by next week, and that we’ll be able to get back to a normal schedule.