6 pm

Call it an extreme YO YO or call it an extreme ROLLER COASTER ride but whatever you call it, Irene’s really struggling today.  The nausea is RAGING at 9+ following dialysis today.  She’s tustling and longing for that comfortable position.

Hoping for that better tomorrow…and leaning into her favorite verse:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Thanks for caring,
Dave

Thanks for your prayers!

8.4

That’s Irene’s red blood cell count.  It should be 12+. 

She’s been on high levels of Epogen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epogen for weeks.  They increased the dosage today and she’ll probably have a blood transfusion next Wednesday if the numbers don’t trend upward.  The lower red blood cell count has a HUGE impact on her energy level.

The nausea is RAGING following dialysis treatment today.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

7 p.m.

Thanks for checking in.

Irene experienced another needle infiltration today causing dialysis treatment to be cut short.  She’s icing the wound this evening and wrestling with intense nausea.

Hopefully her pattern will be consistent…with a recovery tomorrow.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

9 p.m.

Thanks for checking in.

Irene’s experiencing a very rough evening.

Leg CRAMPS following dialysis

RAGING nausea

INTENSE lower back pain…again.  She is flopping like a fish out of water trying to find a comfortable position.

Hoping for a better tomorrow.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

8 p.m.

Thanks for checking in…!!!

Irene’s symptoms are already diminishing.  Her headache is gone and muscle/back/leg pain is significantly less painful.  It appears the the meds are taking hold…!!!  She was even able to enjoy lunch with Victoria McCharen today…a huge breakthrough given the way she’s been feeling over the last week.

We’re still believing God for a full restoration…and healing of her body.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

7.30 p.m.

Thanks for checking in.

Irene called me this afternoon because dialysis was cut short again.  The technical team would not let Irene drive herself home because of underlying symptoms being aggravated so I picked her up (fortunate to be working out of the home office today) and took her to the Urgent Care unit @ Dominican Hospital per the dialysis team’s instructions.

After 7 days of a 24/7 horrific headache, even increased nausea symptoms, back and leg pain, Irene was diagnosed with an infection that is now being treated with antibiotics.  IT will hopefully clear in the next 7-10 days.

She had a C scan today (because of the onset of the headache) just to make sure the brain function is normal and that something else wasn’t going on.  The report said that her brain function is normal but Irene wants it redone because she doesn’t believe it! 

Another day on the surreal journey. 

Thanks for caring,
Dave

2 p.m.

Irene was treated this afternoon by Dr. Buford McCharen of Aptos Core Care, http://www.aptoscorecare.com. 

“Buf” and his wife, Victoria, have become friends.  They’ve been very encouraging to us; anyone living in the Monterey Bay region would benefit from the Aptos Core Care treatment protocol. 

Here’s a quick YouTube reel about their practice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeeKQ6dNPpA

Thanks for caring,
Dave

6.45 p.m.

Thanks for checking in.

Irene’s had a massive headache for 5 days in a row.  She’s also had significant ham string pain in both legs for the last 2 days.  The nausea has been raging 24/7. 

At the insistence of the medical team tending to her needs at dialysis today, she agreed to consult her primary care physician.  I drove her to the late afternoon appointment.  Dr. Adam Yarme, representing Dominican Medical Foundation examined her and said that Irene could either closely monitor the symptoms this weekend or go to the hospital ER for a battery of tests.  She obviously opted for the former;  she’s now resting at home.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

6 p.m.

Thanks for checking in.

Irene experienced a BIZARRE morning. Extreme DIZZINESS caused her to stumble from side to side as she got her day going. It has never reached this degree of concern. It eventually leveled out...and of course, she didn't tell me until this evening after she had driven herself back and forth to dialysis. She reported that by mid morning she was doing better and felt strong enough to drive. Thankfully the dizziness is not present now.

She's having a really rough afternoon on other fronts...reporting that her face seems more DRAINED than usual; the nausea RAGES...she's trying to REST and RECOVER.

Hoping for a REBOUND as she tustles this evening.

Thanks for caring,
Dave

A New Year’s E V O L U T I O N…adjusting our lives to KNOWING HIM more deeply…to TRUSTing and OBEYing His Purposes.

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image.
A. W. Tozer

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 3-9