The Day to Day

Joe and I wanted to let you all know a little more specifically how I’m doing health wise these days so that you all can continue to pray for me more specifically. (Thanks so much for being faithful friends in doing that!)

Many of the symptoms that I’ve had still remain; things such as extreme fatigue, weakness, unstable and staggered walking, headaches, back pain, trouble handling multiple stimulants (such as a couple people talking in a room at once), violent and involuntary convulsions, my voice sounding slurred, etc. Although from reading this list it may look like nothing has changed over the last couple months, I’m happy to say that I do believe that overall I am doing better. We just have to take it day by day and at times it’s hour by hour. My symptoms are so varied and spontaneous. We thought for a long time that there was a method to its madness. We assumed that if I rested then I would feel better and activity would make me worse. But as time has gone on we’ve realized that it’s pretty much unpredictable. As my mom says, it appears my body is on some kind of cycle. Some mornings I will wake up and feel great and other times I’ll feel horrible and it doesn’t seem to correspond to what I did the day before. There are also some days where I will feel pretty good in the morning, rest and do nothing all day, only to have violent jerking and shaking come back by the time dinner is ready.

But I’m soooo grateful that I do have some days where I am feeling more “normal”. These are great reliefs for me. I love and treasure the days where Joe comes home from work and I’m doing well enough to go out somewhere with him. In fact just last night we were able to go out to a really nice restaurant with Dad and Mom Catoe and I was even able to stagger and walk into the restaurant leaning on Joe. We got to leave the wheelchair in the car for the first time! (BIG excitement!!)

I think I can guess at the questions that are probably in your mind now, “Ok, so do the doctors know what you have yet?” or “My friend had similar symptoms, have you tried XY and Z?” I wish I could answer your question with something more satisfactory then “no” but unfortunately I can’t. I’ve had numerous tests and blood work done and everything is continuing to come back normal. I’m tempted many times to get really discouraged when I hear these same words over and over, “Well, we took at look at the results and everything looks fine.” But I’m learning that these are actually times to be grateful and to rejoice. God is allowing us to know through these results that my symptoms are NOT various things and that there is still much hope that I will get better one day. We may not know what I have but God does and the Great Physician is caring for me. He holds me in the palms of his hands and I’m in faith that he will reveal what is going on and heal me at the appropriate time.

So continued prayer requests would be that my various doctors would have wisdom on where to direct us (we are currently looking at several different avenues to pursue next), that Joe and I would continue to depend on God and trust him, and that we would be patient, content, and joyful as we continue to walk through this trial and wait upon the Lord.Thank you guys for keep coming back to this blog to hear how I’m doing and then praying for Joe and I. This season is a long haul and we’re so grateful that you are sticking with us through this. Your prayers mean a lot so thank you!