MegaMinds...update

Currently, I am being held for ransom by a ruthless and conniving bacteria found in my spinal fluid during a tap.  It hasn't stated the terms for my release yet, so for now, it's winning because of it's sheer will to stay silent.  It has made it's home in me - rude little critters.  


Meanwhile, my supporters are doing all they can to try to knock it out before it has it's own way.  I am tethered to an IV pole where they are putting large doses of antibiotics into my system.  


This is what I know about the perp at this time:


#1 -- it's a wimpy bacteria.  In spite of it thinking it's so tough, it's still considered a wimpy little thing.  No wonder it works so hard.  It must keep up it's bad act.

#2 -- googling wimpy bacteria, I came across these:
(I don't think Wimpy was quite what Doctor Frim had in mind so I will continue to search.)


#3 -- Diary of a Wimpy Kid - ummm...nope


#4 -- and then I gave up:(  Nothing popped up that was an easy read.  


The wimpy thing appears to be winning or else he escaped while the getting was good.  But, unbeknownst to the wimp, I have mega-minds on my side.  bruahaha!

Today, there is supposed to be a meeting of those mega-minds.  But, as of 10:05 AM, Monday morning, the minds are not of 'one-mind.'  My neurosurgeon believes there is no infection but the infectious disease specialist still think there is.  We will see who wins this debate.


I won't be the winner if they decide my shunt needs to be taken out yet it's also the safest thing to do if there is indecision.  In my quest to find a doctor who could figure out what was going on with me, I was led to the University of Chicago, where some of the best and the brightest work miracles every day.


It is truly 'big for a reason' - people come here because they get results.  And I'm praying that the doctors become super intelligent with superior reasoning skills to stop this would-be intruder in it's tracks.  It's been in me before and knows his way around. 


And because my friend, Mari, included a picture of her cutie doctor on her blog, who, " speaks very good English, but with a thick accent. His smile, humor, and semi-sweet dark chocolate complexion..."  I will do the same:)  


I continually perplex Dr. Frim.  In that perplexion, I'm sure it's making him stronger (or else he wants to wring my neck, not really sure which.)


And so...I'm still in the hospital...waiting...waiting for my team of megaminds to come together in a logical conclusion to this crazy conundrum.


P.S.  So...the latest - I am now home as of last night late. Jim braved the rainy, windy, 50 degree weather to save me.  3 hours there for him and 3 back with supper in between.  What a guy:)


The MegaMinds decided to send me home with no antibiotics to see what my body does.  So far - I'm feeling GREAT!  Best I have in a long time.  Hoping I get to stay home and not make my way back to Chicago.  I seem to be there for the holidays way too often.


I am sprung from the pole (IV) and feeling fine:)  Thanks for all your prayers and concern for me.  And so my life with IH continues...  It's ups and downs, triumphs, and failures.  I'm so grateful to have caring and megaMind-ish doctors who just love a challenge (that would be me:)  

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Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce

I received two books in the mail this week and could hardly wait to start reading them.  Of course, this one I chose to read first because of the topic.  Amy Inspired, written by Bethany Pierce, is about an aspiring writer suffering a bad case of writer's block.

The book is written in twenty-nine year old Amy's point of view with her thoughts and feelings, however horrid or messed up they are.  I kept looking at the back cover to make sure it was actually from Bethany House.  This book is unlike any other Christian book I've read.  It's real.  Full of real people with pasts they aren't particularly proud of and all trying to make their way in a world that appears to cater to married couples.

"My mother had always instructed me to live life before settling down, settling down requiring a seismic shift in one's energy, from adventure to nurture.  The fault in her admonition was the assumption that meeting a man marked the end of the journey.  I grew up thinking the single life was the rising action and marriage the climax.  Every writer knows climax is followed by denouement: in other words, it's all downhill after the wedding."  (p. 94)

The author goes right to the edge and pulls the reader back again, much like our lives are played out each day - with each choice we make and every memory from our past that haunts us and shapes our futures.

The book touches on many different issues: divorce, cancer, new babies, cutting, death, sexuality...  If you are an avid reader but get tired of the feel-good, everything-turns-out-right-at-the-end in so many Christian books, I recommend you check out this author.  I certainly will be looking for other books written by Bethany Pierce.

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