Week 9

First of all, a few things I need to say.

Happy Birthday Dad!  I love you.

Drew is now a National Honor Student!  Forgive my bragging, but we are so proud of him.

Thanks to everyone who have been providing dinners for Drew, I can’t say how much of Blessing you have been and two more weeks are opened on the calendar at take them a meal, click here if you wish to sign up.

The last thing before I update you on Tracy, Is THANK YOU to all of you who have donated hotel rooms to me, I have had over three weeks of lodging donated!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Now on to the journey.

Sorry it’s been a while, but to be honest I haven’t been up to blogging.

Tracy is doing well; her occupational and physical therapy treatments have been very good.  Her ECT treatments have all been good too; it’s just that they haven’t had the visible effects that they have had in the past.  The doctors say that it is normal not to see the benefits at times and to not be discouraged.

Tracy has had plenty of visitors this week.  Bill and Albert DeFluri showed up on Sunday; Drew and I missed them as we went to Woodside Detroit, the new church our church started in Detroit late last year.  I know I am a little partial but it was so good to be there, Drew and I really needed it, as it was the first time we had been to church since Thanksgiving!  Highlights of the evening were Cliff’s sermon, The worship team, sitting next to Adam and Rene Simon and not even realizing it and then my heart swelled more than the Grinch’s when Rachel and Kristen, Barista’s from My SoRoSbux, came over to see us and more importantly to let me know that they were praying for us.  I cannot express what this means to us, but it is your prayers that are carrying us every day.  We came back to Ann Arbor recharged.

Monday was Tracy’s 13^th treatment.  It went well.  But I lost that energy from the night before.  I was worried as Tracy was not responding as well as she had been last week when Kay and Sarah (her mother and sister) who were here for a couple of days last week.  I regained that energy in the evening as Jerry and Bekah Hines came out and took me to dinner and brought me an overwhelming gift!  Jerry and Bekah are our churches High School pastors and they brought a bevy of gift cards and cash for various places to eat and plenty of Starbucks caffeine, approximately $400 worth!  WSM leaders, I can’t thank you enough, it was very humbling to know that you would you give so generously.  

Tuesday was good as we had 2 more visitors, Debbie Paquet and George Newcomer.  It was good to have friends as Tracy spent most of the day sleeping, which is becoming a trend and leading to sleepless nights for her.

On Wednesday we had two more visitors, Lisa Harrison and Sarah Hartfield.  They showed up shortly after Trace’s treatment.  Which was another good one.  But, Tracy continued to sleep a lot.    Wednesday was also the day the doctors started talking about transferring Tracy to the 9^th floor, we moving on up, to the top!  Not sure when this will happen but they feel that Tracy’s medical needs are lessening.

This was one of the devotions I read on Wednesday, I had received it overnight but had not read it until a friend and customer, Jeff Bolin, sent it to me.

Regaining Our Balance January 18, 2012 Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn READ: Ephesians 6:10-18 Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. —Ephesians 6:13 For the last few years, my wife, Marlene, has suffered from inner-ear problems that cause her to lose her equilibrium. Without warning, something inside her ear is upset and she becomes dizzy. If she tries to sit or stand, a condition called vertigo makes that impossible—and she has to lie down. No amount of effort can compensate for the power of the inner ear to disrupt and disturb. An active person, Marlene finds these unwelcome episodes frustrating. Sometimes life is like that. Something unexpected upsets our routine, and we are knocked off-balance. Perhaps it’s bad news about our job being eliminated or disturbing test results from our doctor. It may even be an attack from our spiritual enemy. In each case, our emotional equilibrium is hammered, and we feel as if we can’t stand. Those moments should cause us to turn to God. When we feel we are losing our balance, He can help. He provides spiritual resources to help us stand. Paul says, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). When life knocks us off our feet, we don’t have to be frustrated. With God’s strength lifting us up and God’s armor protecting us, we can still stand strong. —Bill Crowder With patience in His love I’ll rest, And whisper that He knoweth best, Then, clinging to that guiding hand, A weakling, in His strength I’ll stand. —Pentecost We can endure anything if we depend on God for everything.

Thanks Jeff, it really hit home.

Thursday was a bad day for me.  I woke up to realize that this all this hospital stuff started 4 months ago!  Tracy’s first overnight stay was October 20^th.  I had not slept well the night before, but did sleep fairly sound after making sure Drew was up and getting ready for school and checking on Tracy’s night.  So I slept until around 9AM. 

I got to Tracy’s room around 10AM and she was not very responsive.  I was concerned about how things were going, (nights turning to day and vice versa in sleep patterns and her lack of responsiveness).  So I went and met with a couple of her doctors to discuss this.   They told me that it was the Ativan (Drew did too) and that this was all normal and not to be alarmed.  They had lowered her Ativan to 8mg a day.

Later Thursday afternoon Tracy was doing much better.  She is still having trouble remembering some things, which it tough for me.  But we know God is still at work and that His timing is perfect and mine is anything but.

Please continue to pray for Tracy strength as she is not gaining any weight and needs to.  Pray the same for Drew, as he has had to grow up way to quick and for me, sleep and patience.  I want you to know that it is your prayers and the Grace of God that gets us through this journey.

As I close this, I promise I will try to be better at posting to the blog.

God Bless and “Never Give Up… Never Ever Give Up!”