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Adventures in Movement

For the past several weeks I had been longing to take Naomi—the boys, too—but especially Naomi, to the farm/petting zoo in Candia, N.H. Well, today, just three hours before they closed, we got everyone together and headed to Charmingfare Farm.

We had been there in the past for their hay rides and bonfires on a couple of church activities. This time we were able to explore the whole farm. That’s right, I said, “we”! I made it through, and saw all the animals, too, I walked the whole way. Of course I was a bit sluggish by the end, but it was worth it. We had a great time. We were also able to get tickets for a pony ride for each of the kids. They loved that. We have loads of pictures and video on all that took place. Watching the kids feed the animals was great as well, especially the goats.

On the way home, I suggested to Doug that we call the Sohmer family and see if we can visit. It’s so rare that we make it up to their area. So very glad we were able to drop in and say hello. I was thinking it was going to be a short visit, but we ended up hanging out until 9:30. How impressive is that! We got to meet their newest family member, Gabriella Danielle Li Ying Sohmer. What a sweetie. Doug took lots of pictures of her, too. She’s newly adopted, just two weeks or less now, from China. What a wonderful story they have to share. It was indeed a great blessing to be with the Sohmers again. Thank you guys for your hospitality, too. Love you.

Not so bad for me, it’s nearly 11 p.m. and I’m doing quite well, and for all of that the praise goes to God. What a blessing to be able to do more than just the “little things” again. For all that have been praying for us, thank you. 🙂

Sunday morning came and I was able to join the family and go to church even after a busy day on Saturday. Last week and also today, I decided to go to junior church with Doug and help teach. What a blessing! I haven’t been in class with the kids in many, many months. Hearing their sweet voices singing praises … how I’ve missed being with them, too. I had hoped to go on another shopping trip this afternoon, but the pain was back and said to me, “Yeah, right.”

To be with my church family, to hear preaching (in person), to give prayer requests and to take those that are shared, to give praise and to hear how God is working in the lives of other members, to be able to give and receive a hug and words of encouragement, to be a blessing and to receive one. To all of those things, I give thanks and praise to God for each opportunity that I am able to partake in a service.

[Note from Doug: While Nichelle was feeling better, I was worse than I’d been in years. More on that later … We’ll try to get pictures up tomorrow night.]

Another great day on Monday. Last night at about 10:30 I finally layed down to rest a bit and realized that I had gone the entire day, even with a much earlier start to my day and worked and cleaned without the need to nap. I’m of course thrilled. Keep the prayers coming. 🙂

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So he reached for the wrong can … he’ll be fine!

One day this past week, David wanted to make a fried egg for lunch. Which is not a problem; both he and Isaac have been making them for some time now. After this particular time, I had come out to the kitchen and found the can of air freshner close to the stove. So, I calmly asked David what he had sprayed the pan with to make his egg. He was puzzled, and then when I had shown him the can, he realized he grabbed the wrong one. It was so cute. I asked him how he was doing and if his egg tasted funny, but he didn’t seem phased at all by the Cinnamon Sticks “flavor” he had with his meal.

Naomi has been adding extra drama to her tears by covering her eyes when she cries to over emphasize her grief. One of her great lines of late has been, “It’s OK,” or “Don’t worry, I can do it, I’ll be fine,” no matter what the situation may be.

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Moving, walking, running … little things for some, but not to me …

How wonderful it was to wake up yesterday morning feeling no pain and being energerized!

This week in school for the elementary grades is “spirit week.” Each day the kids get to dress up according to the predetermined selection of ideas. “Hats, glasses and slipper day” was yesterday, and today was mixed-match day. Yesterday, I was able to run downstairs and lie on the floor looking for stuff under their beds, helping the kids locate items that were deep underneath. That, of course, is a big deal. And I was able to get back up without help. On Sunday night, although in some pain, I was able to help Isaac make a meat eating plant (pitcher plant) for costume day. You’ll see the outcome [Doug: Pictures coming tonight.] and he won second place, too. I was thankful that I was able to do that with him, too. David was a fireman, and he had the costume for that, easy work there. Today being mixed-match day, the kids needed assistance buttoning up their clothes backwards, wearing weird ties, suspenders and a bow tie, I believe from the 70’s. Ah, the ties may have been from that era as well. [Doug: I’ve kept a couple of boxes of “costume stuff” for the past nearly two decades. Weird ties are easy to find at any thrift store.] It was great fun. Doug did take pictures of their final results, and I’m sure will get the pictures posted soon. [Doug: Nag, nag, nag …] I’m still feeling well, too.

On one of the days that I was unable to get the kids from school, Isaac and David were eager to watch a new movie that Doug had bought for Isaac the night before, and Naomi joined them. John hung out with me, and we talked for—what I was amazed at—the entire length of the movie. We were just talking about a lot of things/issues. It was great to spend that length of time with him and hearing what God is showing him. What a blessing.

After Naomi got up this morning, I went and sat down with her in her room and just had a praise and worship time in song. I sing along with CDs that we have, but I haven’t just belted out song after song by memory in such a long time. How I long to be back in choir again and singing specials, but for now, I pray the songs continue to come back to memory again, so such a time or praise can be had again.

Something else I was able to do was play with Naomi yesterday in the backyard with her on the swingset/gym set with the monkeybars and “clubhouse.” She is now able to climb completely up to the clubhouse and get down without help. That part is at least 7 feet high. That’s pretty impressive climbing skill for a 2 1/2 yr. old. [Doug: You should see her climb down the center of the ladder assembly; she hoists herself on both arms, legs flailing, and pretends-screaming.] Naomi also for the first time yesterday used the monkeybars. I was under her, of course, for assistance if necessary. She was able to do three rungs by herself. Oh, she also scales the poles on the indoor gym equipement we have. Her upper body strength is amazing, too. I think Doug took pictures of those. [Doug: I have video of the clubhouse climb, but no pictures.]

Doug again, has been amazingly helpful and quite busy. Doing all he can for us. He joked with me that God has blessed me with all the grace. He’s given it to each of us in different ways and I can see that in the kids and in Doug. They have each had to go through a lot, and with more to come, a couple of good days so far, but…. Many people will say, “I don’t know how you can do it,” and that can be said to each person in my family—but the answer is the same, in my eyes anyway. It’s by God’s grace and that alone. For the kids to go about and do things, at times for themselves or just with little help, not having a Mom to do the typical Mom things I once did, can be hard, and the same goes for Doug. The things he’s taken on and does great with are excellent.

This past Saturday, Phil was up visiting and he and Doug went out in search of a new TV. [Doug: We weren’t really searching; I’d already done the research via Consumer Reports and a number of other online product reviews. Conclusion: The 34″ Sony WEGA HDTV is amazing, and, although smaller, exceeds plasma TVs by a huge amount in quality, at a much, much cheaper price.] They found one and it’s awesome. I got to operate it yesterday for the first time. Hadn’t been out of my room since Sunday, except to get a couple of things and then return. It’s also been great seeing Steve Deyesso again, too. He was around one day early enough to pick up the kids for me. David remembered his face, but couldn’t come up with the name. Naomi played the shy girl for a while, but finally came around. Now when he visits, she’s her typical sweet self and goes right to him.

I thank God and praise Him for the grace and strength He has given through this illness and again thank the many of you who have helped for your care, many prayers, and for the assistance you given.

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How God answered prayer…

First off, I need to thank each of you for prayers. The way God answered was that He brought us to a doctor that not only listened to the massive list of symptoms but also had questions for us. One of which was why I was taking iron tablets. I told her that I am anemic and she wanted to know why. Doug and I looked at each other and thought, hmm, well, I’m not sure why? (Her question was whether there had ever been an underlying cause determined for the anemia.) She was very thorough and up front and also gave an explanation of why some doctors may have passed me on, mainly due to the extent of the work they would have to do in order to properly diagnose and care for me. Doug and I were quite impressed by her and her honesty. We were told that if she can’t help me, she will do all she can to direct me to someone who can.

After our lengthy interview, when it came time for the physical examination, Doug was about to enter the room and she basically said it wasn’t necessary and that he could wait in her office or back in the waiting room. When all was set, she started off by asking me about our relationship and if Doug is adding any stress to my life. I told her what a great husband I have and what a tremendous help and support he is to me. She then told me that she sensed that and that it was great for him to be there with me, too. Typically, her patients’ husbands tend to leave these visits up to the wife (seeing that she’s a reproductive endocrinologist), and figure that they are all set. Also, many times when the husbands do go to the appointments, she finds that they are not so helpful. Needless to say, she was quite impressed by the care of my husband.

I had six tubes of blood drawn for numerous tests. Some to re-do what has been tested in the past, but others to do what hasn’t been considered yet. I go back in approximately six weeks or sooner, depending on the results. I will call her office on Monday to make a follow-up appointment because her receptionist was gone for the day.

Ah, I forgot to mention that the pain did kick in a great deal while sitting in the waiting room, I was uncomfortable on the trip down, but yikes! did it increase. I was ready to lay down on the floor, because no position in the chair was helping. That lasted for quite sometime, but thankfully stopped. Doug went to grab us some lunch nearby, and brought back a chicken shish kebab wrap and a felafel wrap from a Lebanese restaurant, the Phoenicia, at 240 Cambridge Street, just a block away from where we were. Awesome food! I was only able to finish half of my sandwich, but, by the time the appointment was done, we were both hungry and headed back to eat there. [Doug’s note: I was amazed Nichelle felt up to walking the one-block distance to the restaurant. That put her health—at least at that time of day—better than average, although we did have to walk very slowly.] It was absolutely delicious. We couldn’t finish it all of the food—Felafel, tabooly, meat pie, and spinach pie—and brought plenty back with us.

I do need to thank Sandy, Trish, and Cindy for taking care of our kids for us, too. Thanks again for all that you did for us today.

Doug’s Impressions:

I actually had a little speech planned for Dr. Hall, but didn’t get to use it. Essentially, I intended to ask that she leave no stone unturned to find out what was wrong with Nichelle, and if she believed things were out of her field or specific area of expertise, refer Nichelle to a doctor she knew would do the same. To my delight, Dr. Hall declared almost exactly that, right at the beginning.

We spent a long time in the preliminary interview. We covered a lot of ground. I felt at times like, given the immense amount of information we were trying to convey, that we weren’t communicating perfectly (there are a couple of corrections/clarifications we need to make), but Dr. Hall took all the relevant records from us, and intends to read them. Dr. Hall said Nichelle was, “very observant”: Possible translation—In our increasing desperation to find answers, we’re becoming hypervigilant, and noticing unrelated symptoms which might be meaningless in a larger context. I’ve noticed a little bit of that in Nichelle’s online research. She’ll locate and pass on to me documentation on illnesses that match on one or two symptoms, even though the overall pattern does not match at all. One of the hardest questions to answer was what the most pressing problem is. Do we go back to the odd and persistent fibromyalgia-type problems? How do we divide the fibromyalgia pain from the odd and debilitating symptoms (many of which are pain-related) that occur now?

We still don’t have any real answers. Dr. Hall is not convinced that the problems are endocrinological in nature. (We all believe that they are not all caused by endocrine problems.) It is clear to her that there is not one single diagnosis that would cover everyting. She is also considering some things that have not been looked at, such as an autoimmune disorder, or a hemoglobin problem such as spherocytosis. She also asked quite a few questions about what cortisol tests had been done. I was particularly impressed with her willingness to look at some of the items that we tend to now take for granted, such as Nichelle’s anemia. I can’t remember a test that Nichelle has had that didn’t show anemia, but I don’t think anyone has ever looked for the cause, just as I don’t think anyone has ever followed up on why the anemia hasn’t responded well to iron supplements.

The tests Dr. Hall ordered required drawing six tubes of blood. We wait for the results, and for a follow-up with Dr. Hall some weeks hence.

Nichelle is in very poor health today (Saturday).

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With a thankful heart…

First off, I’d like to thank Debi C. for lending me the book by Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier; what I’ve read and re-read has been a blessing and a huge encouragement.

A portion of a song that came to Amy C. while amidst great pain and a desire to be with her Fellowship, “Thou hast not that, My child, but Thou has Me, And am not I alone enough for thee? I know it all, know how thy heart was set Upon this joy which is not give yet. And well I know how through the wistful days Thou walkest all the dear familiar ways, As unregarded as a breath of air, But there in love and longing, always there. I know it all; but from thy brier shall blow a rose for others. If it were not so I would have told thee. Come, then, say to Me: My Lord, my Love, I am content with Thee.”

Thank you to Eric and Juana Quinlan for giving me a CD by Twila Paris, entitled, “He is Exalted.” My favorite song—although I love listening to them all—but the one that has stood out the most is, “God is in Control”:

This is no time for fear
This is a time for faith and determination
Don’t lose the vision here
Carried away by motion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
God is in control

History marches on
There is a bottom line drawn across the ages
Culture can make its plan
Oh, but the line never changes
No matter how the deception may fly
There is one thing that has always been true
It will be true forever

He has never let yo down
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me

Another thank you to Beth C. for sending us the sermon by John MacArthur, entitled, “The Role of Suffering” from II Corinthians chapter 12. It was such a powerful message. One of the points he made was that trials serve many purposes, such as the following: To test our faith, to wean us off of worldly things, help us focus on eternal hope, to reveal what we really love, to teach us to value God’s blessing, to enable us to help others who suffer, to produce endurance, to humble us, or to break our confidence. They produce the broken and contrite heart God wants us to have. Another point is that God uses suffering to draw us to Himself. Suffering has a way of increasing and intensifying our prayer life. In II Co. 12:9, “… My grace is sufficient for you …” God doesn’t remove the issue of pain or trouble, but increases the grace He gives. He gives comforting grace in the midst of a trial. Encouraging grace in the midst of pain. A confident grace. In Deut. 33:26 it says He “rides through the heavens to your help.” There will always be sufficient grace to every issue. God doesn’t promise to remove your trouble, pain, etc., but promises to overwhelm it with grace. How wonderful is that? How wonderful, awesome, and powerful our God and Saviour is!!!!!

My God has given me a wonderful husband, who is stronger than he realizes. I thank Him for such a man that is faithful through it all. My kids are indeed a joy and a blessing, most of the time. From the silly things they say to the serious questions they ask. One of my favorite times with them is just sitting and listening to them sing along with the music that plays. What a joy to hear them sing praises to our God. He’s so very good. His provision for us, His loving care, His guidance and His continued mercy. One of my favorite verses is: Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are more valuable than many sparrows.
—Matthew 10:29-31

I praise God for His love that is shown through family and friends, with their continued prayers and words of encouragement and the many helpful things they do. Thank you to each of you. Thank you for showing me God’s love and your love, too.

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Millions and Millions? (Answers in Genesis – MVBC Conference)

Yesterday evening the boys and I attended the Answers in Genesis conference hosted by Merrimack Valley Baptist Church, featuring Dr. Ken Ham. (See event details, including driving directions here.)

There are two more sessions this evening. I highly recommend attending. Dr. Ham is an excellent presenter, and teaches in ways that are both fascinating and amusing.

I’ve now attended three different Creation Science conferences: Dr. Ham’s presentations are on par with the excellent work of the Institue for Creation Research. (There is a third, very well-known Creation Science presenter I’ve seen whose seemed to go off-topic at times, and who left me feeling he was a bit loopy when he did so.)

There were a few things which were of particular interest to me, although everything was interesting:

  • Not a single point mutation ever studied has resulted in an increase of genetic information: They have all (all that we have studied so far, at least) removed information. It turns out that the things we dread, like bacterial resistance to antibiotics, are due to genetic information being lost from the strains. (In one specific example, mutation removed the ability to produce an enzyme that converted the antibiotic to poison within the bacterium, making a particular antibiotic ineffective.)
  • The explanations of how specific breeds of dogs show subsamples of a more genetically diverse gene pool were excellent. He referred to his wife’s expensive-to-care-for hypoallergenic poodle-type dog as, “my wife’s degenerate, mutant dog.” I have always been fascinated by genetics, and enjoyed this part of the presentations immensely.
  • During an explanation of 14C (Carbon 14) dating versus K-AR (Potassium-Argon) dating, Dr. Ham presented a find from a mine in Australia, where samples of fossil trees (not petrified) were found embedded in the bottom of a basalt layer. The layer was K-AR dated at 36 to 45 million years old, while the wood was radiocarbon dated to about 45,000 years old. They can’t both be correct, especially as 14C isn’t supposed to persist in measurable quantities for more then 100,000 years.

Dr. Ham has blogged about this conference himself here.

Enjoy.

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Pain

(See related posts: What’s Wrong with Nichelle?, The Twins Are Back: What’s Wrong with Nichelle, Continued, and Life Is Swell; or view all posts categorized as related to fibromyalgia.)

Beyond the significant swelling, Nichelle’s life seems to be defined ever more by pain. On Valentine’s Day she had a “good day”—the pain was only mild for much of the daylight hours, and she enjoyed being able to do some work around the house. By suppertime, though, her pain had started to return. Walking became markedly difficult. By 9:00 or 10:00 the pain was steady and even more severe.

Tonight was particularly troubling. Nichelle was feeling pretty good until late afternoon, and was looking forward to attending the midweek Bible study. At 5:30, she announced that she needed to get dinner on and then take a nap. By the time I left work, she determined that she wasn’t going anywhere. By the time I got home to pick up the kids for church, she was having severe pain in her left leg, and remained virtually immobile during the two hours we were out at church, because she (and Nichelle is not one to exaggerate) was afraid if she got off the couch, she’d fall down and not be able to get up.

About the time the kids were being put to bed, the pain became extreme. She took two of the pain medications she has been prescribed, but normally does not use. They didn’t do much. The pain in one leg spread to the other.

Then the head pains started. These were awful.

For ten minutes at a time, over the space of more than half an hour, Nichelle is racked with sharp head pains that almost defy description. Every few seconds she convulses, stiffly curling up, and manages somehow to stifle her cries of agony. Tears well up in her eyes. Her breathing becomes rapid. For a few minutes these pains subside, and then they return.

I kneel beside her, gently clutching her hand, my own body heaving with sobs I cannot control. “I love you,” she whispers quietly when the pains relent for a few moments. I weep even more.

After what the clock says is only an hour, the stabbing pains have passed. Nichelle sits up for the first time all evening.

Perhaps the rest of the night will bring some degree of comfort.

Editor’s note: Thankfully, attacks this severe don’t happen every day, but they do seem to come a couple of times a week, and similar attacks of lesser severity do come every day. The tiring, debilitating pain is there almost always, though. Nichelle took the kids to Wal*Mart on Monday night, for a very quick trip. When she got back she said, “You know, there’s no way I could make it through the [grocery] shopping.” (I knew that—it’s why I’ve been doing the grocery shopping for the past few months.)

Keywords: Fibromyalgia, swelling, severe pain

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Waste!

Am I wrong, or does this strike more of you as pointlessly wasteful?

Happy Birthday Dear Fido, Fluffy and Polly
Tue Feb 14, 2006 08:23 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – They already have their own designer clothes, health insurance and therapists. Now more and more American pets are enjoying their own birthday parties.

A surprising number of pet owners host birthday parties—complete with party hats, cake and guests–for their dogs, cats and birds, according to a survey released Monday by California-based Veterinary Pet Insurance.

The firm reported that 58 percent of its policyholders who responded said they had hosted birthday bashes for their pets.

Veterinary Pet Insurance, which marks the occasion by sending each insured pet a birthday card every year and a coupon for free food, said other surveys have calculated that about six million American dog and cat households celebrate birthdays.

Three Dog Bakery, a specialty store in upscale Newport Beach, California, gets about 20 requests a week for pet birthday cakes, said owner Sandy Deem.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

I have nothing against pet ownership, but it seems to me that when one is at the point of having birthday parties for pets, it’s time to evaluate spending habits. Imagine how many orphans the costs of six million birthday parties for pets would feed, clothe, and house annually, or how many missionaries the money could support.

Don’t even get me started on pet psychotherapy …

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Witness the Evidence, Ye Doubters

I wrote this in an earlier post:

We have been leaving our sleds out most of the winter as offerings to the snow gods. So far it has been working, although I had to correct the kids on making the proper offering. Scattering the toboggans about the yard is not the way to get the snow gods’ attention: One must place the sleds vertically, up against the deck or porch railing, as if ready for instant use. You don’t want to get rain all winter, do you?

I offer hear clear photographic evidence that such beliefs are indeed rational:

Above left: Our offering to the snow gods, carefully placed yesterday morning.

Above right: The same scene less than 24 hours later.

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I Ate It

NaNi has learned to joke. (As most parents know, this is an amazing and fascinating part of child development.)

A couple of months ago she was entertaining us by putting a 1/2-gallon pitcher on her head, and asking herself, “Hat?” and responding, “Noooooooo,” in her songlike voice.

A few days ago, we were looking for the handset to our cordless phone, when she piped up with “Where’s phone? I know. I ate it!” and openened her mouth wide to emphasize the point. Later she followed up with a variation including, “I swallowed it!”

The real kicker came yeterday. Our friend Mary Jo stopped by briefly, and I asked NaNi, “Where’s my cell phone?” She responded, as I expected, with, “I know … I ate it!” Then MJ asked her, “Where’s my cell phone?” Naomi replied, “I know … pocket!” and pointed to Mary Jo’s jacket pocket, where she keeps her phone.