Miscellany Monday

And just in time. ;)

{1}

Dad is doing much better now that he has had 3 days of IV steroids (that's not all, though, he will be having a few more days worth). Tonight we had some family friends come over and pray with us. First we read scripture. The wife was saying how she strongly believes that dad is going to be delivered from this illness, as we all have been praying for and saying since day 1. Here are some of the verses that we read tonight.

{Psalm 18:2}

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

{Psalm 91:15}

"He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him."

{Psalm 118:7}

"The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies."

And get this: my dad read scripture too! A week or two ago momma bought him a large print Bible and ever since then he has been able to read his Bible. Dad has had trouble with his vision off and on throughout the last year because of his MS, so we are very happy that he is reading, after going for quite a while without doing so! He prayed too. And immediately my mom, Narthea and I started crying. It felt so good to hear him pray. Dad has also had trouble with his speech, so it's been a while since we've heard him pray aloud. I could really tell that God was dwelling with us tonight.

{Matt 18:20}

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

It was such a blessing to read scripture and pray together. Thank you God for the wonderful friends you have blessed us with who encourage us in our walk with you!!

{Hebrews 10: 24-25}

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

{2}

Next I wanted to announce a few giveaway's that I have found out about today.

First is Lindsay's giveaway!

Now, Awel's giveaway, which I'm not entering because I have already won a blog makeover by her. I just thought I'd let you know about it, though. :)

 And last but certainly not least, Eden's giveaway at Growing In Him!

click here


{3}
Random pictures from my family's 2009 Summer vacation.

{In case you didn't notice, I am in love with the letter box feature on Picnik!}

I was looking through all the pictures I took (close to 300) when my family and I went on a Summer vacation last year. We had so much fun! We went south, to the beach, and stayed a couple of days. While we were there we visited museums, had an awesome time with some friends of ours who lived there, and we toured a battleship and clipper ship. It was an amazing experience and I have to say it was the best family vacation we ever had! Ah, memories... :)

{4}
I haven't heard anything else about either of my aunts, or their condition. If you didn't read about that, you can click here. 

I still cry everytime I think about my aunt Sherry's health, but I am continually praying for her healing, and for her kids to trust in the Lord throughout the whole ordeal!

{5}
My friend Jillian's sister, Caitlin, just got married. You can go here to congratulate them! :)

Also, I have another prayer request for ya. I'm just full of 'em aren't I? :)
The wife of the couple that came over tonight to pray with us has some health issues concerning her kidneys. I'm not going to go into any detail because I'm not sure if she wants everyone to know all about it, but I just wanted to ask you to pray for her healing and comfort. She's such a trooper and, even though she has some medical issues herself, she persistently prays for our family, and dad's healing. She has been such an encouragement to us all. I would just like to ask you to lift her up in prayer. :)

 

Update and Two More Prayer Requests

{If you're confused, click HERE}

Dad isn't any better, but we are so grateful because we finally got his IV steroids (a few hours ago, when we should've gotten them two days ago), and the nurse came out to give them to dad. She's here right now. Everytime dad gets up he pukes. Mom did some research online and found out that with some MS patients puking is a symptom. It's rare, but it happens. We're praying that after dad gets these steroids we'll see some progress. He's very, very weak, we have to help him go anywhere, and like I said, he throws up everytime he gets out of bed. Please continue to pray for him!

Also, my mom called my Me-ma (my dad's mom) this afternoon and we found out from her that my aunt Sherry is dying (she's my dad's, step brother's ex-wife). I don't know all the details, but she has been battling cancer for years and apparently the doctors have been trying to give her some pills (I think it was pain medicine) and she keeps throwing it up. [If I heard my mom correctly] They put her on an IV to try and get some medicine in her, and they might send her home on hospice. Please pray for her 3 children, my cousins, to be strong and trust in the Lord. I won't give you their names, but my aunt's name is Sherry. God can do anything. He can heal my aunt right now if He wants to. We're just praying, praying, praying that God's will be done. I'm quite close to aunt Sherry's youngest daughter, who is my age and I know this will be (and is) very, very hard on her. She does not deal with loss very well, so please pray for her.

Now, the third prayer request. My Me-ma also told us that my other aunt (my dad's, other brother's wife) is going to the emergency room. We are not sure why, Me-ma didn't have time to explain, but I do know she has had severe health problems, in the past. Please pray that everything will be okay and the doctors will be able to help my aunt.

Thank you so much for the prayer and support through all that my family and I are going through! It's tough, but with God we'll get through it.

Please Pray

Can you please pray for my dad? He's not doing very good. Today he has been off balance, weak, and numb on the right side of his face. He's actually been off balance and weak for the last few days, but just today he told us the right side of his mouth is numb. He just got through throwing up a few minutes ago, and we're not sure why. Please pray that another lesion is not growing. Mom called the doctor this afternoon and he said they would send a nurse to our house to give dad a steroid infusion.

For those of you who don't know, and are new followers to my blog, my dad has MS and sometimes he has symptoms like this. Sometimes it lands him in the Hospital. When he has symptoms like this it usually means he has a new lesion growing, so we're really praying and hoping that this time is different.

Update

Hi there. I realized I haven't updated any of you on how my dad is doing. So, here's the latest email update my mom sent out (keep in mind, I'm changing the names and such, so that no personal info and is given out).

My husband had the MRI yesterday. Dr G. said there are no active lesions. I should have asked if he could tell how much the swelling had gone down and if there is still any shift but I didn't think about it. I am beginning a list of questions for him and those are on it. I also failed to ask about the blood test results so that's on there too. Also, I want to ask him if plasmapheresis could help my husband's current symptoms improve. I believe he'll probably say no since he did not see any active lesions. As far as the eye test is concerned, it was for optic neuritis and to see if there is any damage to the optic nerve and they saw no problems there.


Dr G. is referring my husband to a neuro-urologist at [a hospital that shall remain nameless] for a urodynamic study for his bladder problems. He said it is possible they can determine the exact problem and correct it. He also told us two things to do to help with his bowel issues. He said it usually takes about 8 weeks for that to work.


We talked to Dr G. for two hours on Monday and we still like him a whole lot. After we got home my husband said, "Why is it I can understand everything he says but I can't understand you?" (He wasn't joking!) The speech therapist and I told him it's probably a combination of things like the fact that there are no distractions going on when we are meeting with the doctor; he speaks loudly and articulately; and he speaks in a way that anyone can understand what he means. It could also be that the Lord is just making it that way because he's the doctor we are supposed to be with at this time.


Dr G. laid out the treatment options a little differently than Dr O. He mentioned the five first-line injectables which are:
Avonex
Betaseron
Copaxone
Rebif
Extavia

He listed Tysabri next.
 
Then he listed Cladribine and Fengolimod. After he listed these two, he put an "X" under them and said he doesn't feel comfortable with either of these drugs because there is not enough information yet on using them. Fengolimod is set to come out in about 3 weeks and Cladribine after the first of next year. He said we will know more about these two as time goes by. He also said that out of all the drugs available, he would consider Cladribine last on the list because once he gives it, there is no turning back. It suppresses your immune system for a year and you cannot reverse it.


At the bottom of the page by itself he then listed Novantrone.
 
He said that any one of the drugs might work for my husband and we have no idea which one might work. He said even though there may be a 35% chance of a drug working, my husband might be in the 65% in whom it won't work or vice versa. He laid out some pros and cons of each but said it is really up to us because we have no idea which drug might work for my husband. He did say that the first five have less serious risk but they also have a lower efficacy (chance of working). He said that Tysabri has a higher efficacy but with it you run the risk of getting PML.

I will say that I am leaning towards the Tysabri now after reading the patient comments and testimonials. If you ask my husband, he will say he is just ready to do it now! He does not want to wait around for the next lesion. Please pray with us that the Lord's will will be done concerning the treatment. I completely trust that He will build walls where He does not want us to go and He will protect my husband from the PML if He allows him to take the Tysabri and He will provide in every way for whatever path He has chosen. He has a perfect plan and in that plan there are God-scheduled opportunities along the way. We just have to see them as God-scheduled opportunities and nothing else. Dr G. did say that he does think we should try aggressive treatment first but that we can always give one of the less risky drugs a try first too because it just may be the one that works. He said it is completely whatever we feel comfortable doing. I say it is whatever the Lord leads us to do. Please be praying about the treatment with us and everything that goes along with that.

There is one funny thing from a couple weeks ago that I forgot to share with you. After we left Dr G.'s office the first time we met him, on the way home I asked my husband what he thought. He sat there for a few seconds and then said basically this: "You know when we saw the neuro-opthalmologist at [a hospital that shall remain nameless] last year? Well, seeing Dr G. was like seeing him." (That was Dr H. He was very thorough and tested my husband in many ways with lots of equipment.) He then said, "Well, seeing Dr O. is like going to the optometrist at Wal-mart." I laughed and laughed, and yet I was blown away by the profoundness of that statement coming from my currently communication-challenged husband!
Thank you so much for listening to me and praying for us and sending encouragement and everything else you do. We are truly blessed in many ways. Until next time . . . . . .
 
 
Please keep my dad in your prayers! Right now he's having a tough time. He gets sad a lot, and he's really having trouble understanding us, which frustrates him. Everyone is very emotional right now, and sometimes we feel like giving up, but God has a purpose for all of this. I used to be scared of what might come, but I've learned to trust God. I'm not afraid. Even though I don't know what tomorrow might bring, one thing I do know is God will be with us all the way. And it's such a comfort to know that. :)