Long Update :)

Last night, my mom sent out another update, the only difference is... this one is really long. So, tighten your boots straps, and prepare for a long letter ahead (this is what my mom wrote, except for some things I changed to keep out personal information & of course I highlighted the good suff):

"For those of you who want just the facts, we really have no news to give so if you want to stop reading now, you can. (Ha! Ha!) For those of you who like reading my books, I mean emails, then here we go. If I haven't miscounted, we have seen at least ten different doctors from different departments. We have seen at least six different therapists from different departments as well. They are being very thorough with their diagnostics and have been evaluating his abilities as well. He has gotten the lumbar puncture, thoracic MRI, chest x-rays, bone marrow biopsy, swallow test in radiology and a bladder scan. They have gotten numerous blood work as well. So far they are saying he has three new lesions on the cervical spine and I think two on the thoracic spine (along with the three on the brain stem and one on the corpus callosum of the right ventricle.) The bone marrow biopsy has yielded nothing so far. There are a few more tests on it that will take a little longer to get back. One doctor indicated that his protein might be high and he also said, "They found some cells, some white and red cells too, but I'm not sure if it's anything yet." So, who knows what that means at this point. They are once again having neurosurgery look at his MRI's and tell them if they think they should try a biopsy. However, none of the doctors think they will want to warrant the risk, especially since he has always improved with steroids. They did begin steroids last night so hopefully we will see some improvement each day. This morning he woke and said that he could see better but it only was right upon waking. Then things were double again. His speech has been clear a few times off and on today but the rest of the time it's hard to understand him. One doctor said that's a good sign that the steroids are going to improve the symptoms again. One therapist got him up and had him walk a little down the hall with a walker and her holding a belt tied around him. He almost toppled over several times. An occupational therapist came and got him up and tested to see how well he is doing as far as would he be able to go home like this or not. They all said that he will have to go to the rahab if the symptoms don't improve. I told them that I don't plan on that happening (but we'll see what God has planned). His cognitive abilities are not right. His memory is pretty good. He was able to do some math correctly, although not all. However, he sometimes says things that don't make sense. He was quite certain that our daughter, Eldarwen, was here this morning. He said he was quite impressed with how professional she was acting. However, when she poked him in the arm with a needle he jerked his arm away. Needless to say, it was a lab tech trying to draw his blood right after waking him up at 7:00 am. He got mad at me when I kept telling him that wasn't Eldarwen. He said, "Yes it was. She's right in that bathroom." When the tech left out the door, he thought Eldarwen went into the bathroom and would come out any minute. After a few hours, he kinda admitted that he was wrong and it wasn't Eldarwen, but he still says he's not completely convinced. ???? He's said several things like that as if he's confused, but then other things he's real sharp about. We did get a few hours sleep this morning, but not much. Between him and the night nurse and tech, we didn't get much. He was constantly wanting me to do something for him and wanting to tell me something. However, I had to get up and get real close to his face to try to understand him. Also he's been messing with stuff constantly. He can't seem to keep his hands off stuff. He has to wear his CPAP mask at night yet he keeps taking it off constantly so the nurse told the tech to stop in every time she passes by and if he doesn't have it on she has to make him put it on. However, all she does is say very loudly, "Sir, put your mask back on. Put your mask back on." over and over until I get up and help him put it back on because he can't do it himself right now. Also, the nurse turned on the alarm on the bed in case he tried to get out of bed on his own, and every time he'd roll over, the alarm would go off and it is very, very loud and he moves around constantly. Finally, the tech changed it to go off only if he sat up so that helped a little bit. However, if he had too hard of a time turning over it would still go off. They better not do that tonight! They might get to see a new side of me. ;) He hasn't tried to get up yet on his own so it's not necessary. So, we are waiting on a few test results: chest x-ray, lumbar puncture, more blood work, rest of bone marrow biopsy. And we are waiting on the steroids to clear up these symptoms so we can go home instead of going to the rehab. I may have missed telling you about something because I'm very tired and I've been interrupted a dozen times since I started typing this email. I just wanted to send word since I'm sure you've been wondering. I know you are all frustrated for us with the fact that they have not been able to get a diagnosis. However, maybe the Lord is trying to teach us all about having faith in Him -- faith that He exists and is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him, faith that He truly does hold ALL things together, faith that He is sovereign and in control of ALL things, faith that He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us even though the storms are raging and it seems as if we are all alone, faith that can move mountains. We want you to know that we have complete faith that the Lord is in control of everything and no matter what happens to any of us at any moment, He will use it to the good of those who love Him. His kingdom is eternal. This world as we know it and our bodies are only temporary. His kingdom being advanced is more important than our physical comfort. Being a person who has complete faith in the Lord, I know that He must have a kingdom purpose for all of this or it wouldn't be happening."

Well, there ya have it. That's mom's book, I-I mean e-mail. lol jk =D Esara, Caldirwen, Narthea and I are very, very excited because we are going to go up to the Hospital with some friends to see mom and dad! Yippee! Narthea keeps saying, "I don't want to go to work today," but unfortunately, she doesn't have a choice. (In case you didn't know already, she works babysitting an 8 month old boy 4 days a week). Don't worry, we're leaving to see them after she gets home from work at 4pm. Well, I hope you all feel updated. (After reading that long e-mail, how could you not?).

~Eldarwen Failariel~