Tuesday, February 03, 2009

duke and back again

reva and i, with my brother norman as our driver, went down to duke again today. she had one last test, and another appointment with the neurologist. the news was a confirmation of the a.l.s. diagnosis, with some advice about things to make her more comfortable through the course of this disease. it was a lot for her to swallow. she is still in quite a bit of denial. when she asked the doctor how long she likely had left to live, he hesitantly told her, "probably about six months". he says that she has had the disease for years, and it is already in advanced stages.

i feel like a schmuck talking about my aches and pains when she is facing the final months of her life here on earth, but as i told another friend earlier this week, someone else's difficulties do not diminish the importance of our own difficulties. it can help us put hardship into perspective, but it is still hardship. so my difficulty is my back, again, and still. it has been hurting more and more over the past six weeks. and the pain medicine is working less and less effectively. i've taken a lot more of it, and have had to switch to something stronger. most of the time i do okay. i know when to stop and rest. i have lots of people helping me and taking care of me and looking out for my well-being (thanks to all of you...you know who you are!). they bring me ice packs, and medicine, and something to drink. i need to find a job with health insurance, so i can go back and see my doctor and decide if surgery needs to happen sooner rather than later. but i've done back surgery before, and i can definitely do it again, when the time comes. that doesn't scare me.

my brother norman is here at my home, visiting for a week or so. it's nice having him here. he was so helpful volunteering to drive to duke today! it is a 3 hour drive one way and there is no way that my back could have made that drive. he is looking for a job in this area, and if he gets one, then his family will be even closer by! that would be wonderful!

robert is fitting into my life and my circle of friends so comfortably! i am so enjoying getting to know him. we have wonderful times together, and very open, honest communication. i think we are setting a strong foundation, based on Christ, for our relationship. i'm so thankful that God sent him to me to be part of my life!

so there are many things going on. good things to be thankful for, and difficult things to petition God for mercy. his mercies are new every morning. great is his faithfulness!

1 comments:

mamadjay said...

Hi...
I'm sorry about Reva, but glad you were able to be there for her, and Norman for you both =) Take care, or let yourself be taken care of, and thanks for the visit =)
Deb

 

just write . . . | Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial License | Dandy Dandilion Designed by Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates