Medical Update

There are times in life when God tests us, wondering how much he can give us before we fully give it all to him. Well folks, the past month has been a test of character for us. A lot has been happening that has kept us busy, made us worry, sent us to places we don't want to go, and challenged us, sometimes more than we care to handle.

Let's begin in the middle of October, since that's the last time I posted. Nothing too stressful to report, just the usual. It's just that our usual is quite full! I was in the middle of my volleyball season, majorly struggling to build a team (that's for another blog). Jay was doing his usual things at work, keeping himself busy. We watched the Houston's a few days while mom and dad were trying to recoop. During the week, besides not finishing up with our day's work until 6:00 in the evening, we have activities every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All of this we could deal with. It's our normal life routine! But there's more to add...

One of our best friends here in Germany has cancer and is going through chemo. We've been trying to help out the family as much as possible. Jon has been recovering, which means sleeping a lot. Angie got sick herself and ended up spending the night in the hospital also. We took the two little boys for a couple days, got them to school and a babysitter, and then back home to mom and dad. We can't do a lot for them, but we try to do what we can. They are special friends to us and we want to be there for them! On October 21st, I get an email from Jay in the middle of the day to tell me that Jon went to the ER because he couldn't breath. Come to find out he had a collapsed lung. He was going to be hospitalized and would be in for a few days. Jay said in his email that we should go see them that evening, after volleyball. I was at volleyball late because I had to get two gyms set up for a home tournament the next day. Being a new school, we had to make shift a few pieces of equipment to make things work. We got it all figured out thanks to a lot of duct tape!! Jay and I both parked our cars in front of the house at the same time once we were both done at work. I got out of my car and jumped in his to head to the hospital. We called Angie once we got there to ask if we could come up for a few minutes. She was just getting ready to leave for the night, so we quickly went up to say hi. Jon wasn't in a good state, so we gave him our love and walked out with Angie. She had already called for someone to come pick her up, so had to wait for her ride. We walked outside the hospital and were standing on the sidewalk waiting. Jay, Angie, and I were all standing there when all of a sudden Jay fell to the ground. He had his hands in his pockets and fell just like a tree. His chin was the first thing to hit and he bounced. Angie and I both looked down and at first, thought he was joking. It took us 2 seconds to realize that something was wrong. I quickly rolled him over and held his head. Wade, our friend that was coming to get Angie, jumped out of the car and came alongside Jay. He found Jay's pulse through his entirely tense body and started unzipping his coats. All I could do was stay at Jay's head and keep it from hitting the ground. Angie ran inside to get someone out there, who was out there within the minute. They quickly got Jay stabalized and onto a stretcher. They took him straight to ICU, where he stayed overnight and into the next day. That first evening was really rough. Jay had no idea what happened and why he was in there. I had to keep telling him over and over again. On Saturday, Jay was moved to the stroke unit. There they had him hooked up to a heart monitor at all times. We aren't quite sure why they put him in the stroke unit because he didn't have s stroke. It was a seizure instead. Jay was stuck in bed for the next three days, with cords hanging all over him. He wasn't allowed to leave his room, let alone the floor. He wanted to go visit Jon on the floor below us, but the nurses didn't like that idea. After multiple tests, his brain was cleared. He was then taken down to the cardio unit. After another day full of tests, Jay was finally released. All of the tests came back negative, showing no reason for what happened. Since then, Jay's been doing well. His face was pretty beat up for quite a while, but has since healed. The sidewalk definitely got the best of him.

Bruised shoulder...

We still aren't convinced that something isn't wrong. We continue to pray that all is well with him. Jay took a blood test last week and we're waiting for results. From there, we'll decide if we need a second opinion. Time will tell!

To change gears, I had my blood tested two months ago based on a doctor's request. I never heard back from the clinic with any results, so I made an appointment to check it out. All was clear, except for one thing! I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Not a big deal, just means I take a little pill for the rest of my life! I can deal with that! I looked at all the symptoms and so many of them made sense! Hopefully things will get better for me now!

We're still two very healthy individuals, just with a lot on our plate! But don't think that any of this will make either of us slow down! I certainly know that's not going to happen!! Too much to live for!!

Enough health news! Let's move on!