Blogging By The Seat Of My Pants

Lovely Lurkers,

I have ten minutes to write a blog post. But I do love you dearly and want to give you an update, so I will blog - even if it has to be by the seat of my pants.

I finally have a health update. This process has gone so slow the last few months, that you would think I really do live in a sod hut out on the prairie, travel by covered wagon, and have to travel many miles in that covered wagon just to see the doctor.

Ok, I did have to travel many miles. Just not in a covered wagon.

But I digress ...

The new cardiologist has told me that my cardiac problems are not cardiac in nature.

Confused yet?

Me too.

In a nutshell, my stomach problem (gastroparesis) is somehow putting pressure on my heart when I eat, and thereby causing the heart to "jump," or have extra beats. The problem with this, of course, is that I eat like a bird as it is, and struggle to keep my weight to three pounds below the lowest acceptable weight range. So eating less, as he had the gall to suggest, is not really an option for me. At this point, I don't know what the options are, nor do I know for sure who to go see next.

Frankly, I'm not going to go see anyone just yet, as we are in a bit of a crisis mode. My mother-in-law (Jeanine) was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple of days ago. So in essence, I have been demoted. I am low man on the totem pole now. ;-) Her situation is much more serious than mine, and for the next couple of weeks, our time will be spent with her. Comforting her, spending precious time with her, and supporting her in her upcoming surgery. All of the family has been called in, and while it's a bitter-sweet reunion, it's an opportunity for us to all be together - something that doesn't happen very often.

So we will take this time to cherish her, and cherish one another. We don't know what the outcome of this will be. We do know that the cancer originated in the brain, and is localized. There is no other cancer in her body. Having said that, she has been told it is the same type of cancer that Ted Kennedy had. So we know it is serious, and that she is not out of the woods.

We are all a bit dumbfounded, feeling a bit lost, and like we've been hit in the head with a 4x6. But we know that all is under the control of our Lord and Savior, and we are trusting Him with one of our most prized possessions - our mother-in-law, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend -all wrapped up in one darn cute package.

See?

Here she is on our little outing this past Sunday. We're all cooped up in the camper, out on the prairie. Good times, good times...

I confess that I am not ready to start down the road to orphanhood.

I'm a young 37, and she's a young 68. I feel the need for parents, and she feels the need to be a parent. But as I said, we trust in One greater than us. Whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and Whose ways are not our ways. So we are leaving this in His hands, to do with whatever He wishes and desires. Perhaps Jesus is ready to have her home. More ready to have her home than we are to keep her with us.

So we rest in Him, and in the sovereignty of His good will.

I will keep you posted.

Love,

~Brenda