February, 2007

Sunday, February 4th, 2007.  I realize that many of you thought that this protracted two-and-a-half month silence meant that I had damaged my fingers while trying to repair a radiator fan, or that instead of leaving presents for me, Santa Claus had actually taken my mind from me over the holidays (just like what happened to Spock's brain on "Star Trek"), or that something serious had happened here.  Thankfully, none of those things occurred.  I simply lapsed in my reporting duties.  Thank you for your patience and for continuing to pray for Christie and for our family.  I will try to catch up generally on what has happened since you last heard from us. 

We had a great time with my sister and her boyfriend over Thanksgiving.  They drove up from southern Oregon and we really enjoyed all of the time to talk with them.  Then, I was thinking that things would slow down between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but that is a classic blunder I seem to stumble into every year.  You would think after living through so many holiday seasons I would realize that there is actually no such thing as "relaxation" during those weeks.  I think other grown-ups suffer from the same delusion.  Possibly, it is a mythical concept that hangs over from our childhood.  Though I was looking forward to having some rest, the holidays--as they have been for so many years--were packed with activity.  But it was enjoyable activity.  Our kids got to play in the snow quite a bit.  I got to teach at church two times (here are the transcripts of those messages).  Christie did lots and lots of baking.  Her family did lots of eating.  And, at the end of December we traveled to Spokane to see two very good friends get married. 

In January, Christie's arm became a crisis.  It actually was a crisis long before that.  Since September the pain in her arm had been gradually getting more complicated and intense.  It was  a boiling mixture of nerve and tissue damage from the radiation, swelling caused by having no lymph nodes, and calcific tendonitis.  The pain was only exacerbated by the consistent lack of sleep.  She had not slept well since August and, after four solid months of sleeping hardly at all each night, she, naturally, was "fixin' to lose it."  Because this pain and sleeplessness trend had been continuing for so long Christie's endurance was flagging and I was becoming more and more anxious about trying to figure out what could give her relief.  Finally, we met with Dr. Smith in early January and I proposed that we admit Chris into the hospital and give her a general anesthetic so she could sleep for three or four days.  The doctor's eyebrows raised a little, but she was actually willing to consider it as a last resort.  What she did actually do was prescribe something much more serious for Chris to take at night to help her sleep.  On the way home from Wenatchee that day, my wife was rejoicing that now, finally, she would be able to sleep.  We filled the prescription.  We arrived at the house and she took it right away.  She went upstairs to bed right after dinner thinking that she would be oblivious to the world for seven or eight solid hours.  It was a low moment when I went up to check on her an hour later and found her completely awake.  It didn't work.  But then it did, the next night!  As a direct answer to much prayer and the wise counsel of Dr. Smith, Christie slept very well (comparatively) for the next two weeks!  The great thing is that she slept.  The even greater thing is that as a function of more rest and God's grace and (we theorize) a very firm set of loving but very painful hugs a friend gave her around the shoulders early in the month, her arm relaxed and almost stopped hurting completely!   With those two issues in a much better state, my wife feels like a human being again.  She has baked more pies in the last month than she has in several years.  She can do otherwise mundane (but for us amazing) things like raising both arms quickly over her head, push-ups and sleeping on her left side.  Praise the Lord for His provision! 

Meanwhile, Isabella continues to be a source of joy and wonder for our whole family.  When we think of all the months of God's merciful protection over her during countless infusions of chemotherapy, during surgery, and during all kinds of other cancer-related procedures, we realize that Isabella is a living testimony that God is gracious and merciful and full of compassion.  In these past few weeks she has mastered several skills.  She can do a sort of crawl. She likes to pull up on the furniture, stand there smiling for two or three minutes and then bawl until someone helps her down.  She can eat Cheerios with her fingers.  She can hold her own bottle.  And the best thing she has started recently is what we call the "Ray Charles."  She sits in her high chair after a meal and rocks her head from side to side three or four times and then stops and smiles.  Then she does it again. As you might imagine, she keeps doing that over and over for ten or fifteen minutes and, by the width of her smile, you can tell she is really proud of herself.  Here are some pictures of that kid so that you, too, can admire her powers.  Also you will see a picture of our son admiring the man in the orange shirt with the "big truck."

Please continue to pray for Christie.  She continues to have Herceptin treatments every three weeks until May.  She also continues with her physical therapy each week.  The biggest concern (as I have likely said before) is recurrence.  We thank God that a scan she had in Seattle two weeks ago looked nice and clear!  Thanks for praying!