Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Last Month

Well, here we are. End of Peter's spring semester...that is so exciting! He has had three great classes, profs and a great load of homework this semester :) He is finishing his last paper which is due on Monday (he is in good shape for that). Tonight he is working (catering) and I am at home resting and doing some dishes ...etc.
The last month has been good and challenging. The Lord continually sustains us, and the last month has been a time to highlight His strength in our weaknesses!
My body...oh my body. Well, let's just say I haven't been feeling too great. My lung function had dropped (due to a mucus plug in my left lung which caused pain and made it very hard  to breathe)about a month ago, so I started on 2 oral antibiotics (Cipro and Minocycline). Then a week later I still didn't feel well, so they started me on a continuous infusion IV pump-Cephepime (I will post pictures soon). Then a week later (been feeling pretty bad for a few weeks now) my lung function still hadn't changed, so they switched me to a different IV antibiotic (Zosyn). Then like four days later...added another IV antibiotic (Tobramycin) on top of that. Also...I was on a nebulized antibiotic called Merrem.
So, to say the least, My body hasn't been lacking exposure to proper drugs to treat my infections...it's just, those drugs haven't been able to kick the bugs. So, now it's been probably about 5 or 6 weeks of feeling below base line and I kind of forget what "well" felt like. hmmm. Well, I know the Lord knows just what is perfect for my body and my bugs, so we are trusting that He will sustain me each day and help us figure all of this out. Two weeks ago I was taken off all of the antibiotics (except the one that I'm on all of the time- zithromax). They put me on a new nebulized antibiotic (colisitne) and started me on steroids. I'm done the steroids, and feel no different.
       The way it feels is like I have a bad flue probably... I don't know. I need lots of sleep, and when I'm awake, I do a lot of sitting. Breathing is harder. The way I can gauge how I'm breathing some days is noticing how much I think about going up the flight of stairs to get to our apartment. Some days, I approach the stairs and zoom right up, other days, I choose not to go out because I just don't feel well, and I really don't want to face the stair case. Peter always helps me and helps push my bottom up the stairs so that it makes it a little easier for me.

Well, that is me...
Peter, on the other hand, has been pushing pushing pushing so hard! I  am so thankful for the strength the Lord gives him! God is so faithful to His children. He gives us strength in the morning and rest at night! Peter works about 20 hours at the preaching center here on campus (planning conferences, doing audio recordings for a radio program as well as a quarterly audio journal...etc). He is a full time student, with a bit of homework (hehe...a bit?). And on the weekends he does catering (sometimes Fri and Sat night, sometimes just one of those). The place he works catering is a wedding venue so he arrives in the afternoon at around 2 or 3 for set up, and then stays until it's all cleaned up and get home around midnight or 1am. It's a hard job, but Peter is superb! I think he is a favorite ;)

 Please join in praising the Lord for His great provision this semester! It is so neat to look back and see the Lord's great hand working! He is so faithful!

 Join us in thanking the Lord for His grace as Peter balances all of these things.

Please pray for continued perseverance especially for Peter as he finishes his paper amidst a lot of hard work! Also, that he will have the energy he needs to help me throughout my days too.

Please pray for me to have strength each day for all that the Lord has for me (work, sleep, doctors, staying home...etc)

Thank you for reading this long post :)

You are loved!
In Christ's strength and joy,
MF