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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Our Hope Endures

This song, Our Hope Endures, by Natalie Grant, is special to me. It speaks to my heart. It brings back memories of when Mari sang it for a special in her church one day when I was there. It's my heart's cry.  Our hope endures the worst of conditions...

So many are hurting right now. A little boy named Casey, going through chemotherapy and his mama that walks each step with him. Friends getting over surgeries, others that live with chronic pain or looking for a diagnosis. Many with financial problems, hard decisions to make, young adults figuring out their future... So much. But God gives us hope and that hope helps us to endure it all. I honestly don't know what I would do without my faith in God.

"When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it." 

--2 Corinthians 1:7 (The Message)

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Within My Heart, Bethany House Book Review

I've just finished the last page of the book, Within My Heart, by Tamera Alexander, and the tears still fall.  Wow!  I think this is one of the best fiction Christian books I've read in awhile.

The book is about a young widowed mother of two boys trying to overcome the pain of her husband's death while taking care of their ranch in Timber Ridge, Colorado in 1877.  The book starts out a bit confusing but now that I'm finished, I see how cleverly she set up future scenes.

Rachel, thanks to her father, has extensive medical knowledge but because of his emotional abuse to her, she spurns any thoughts of becoming friends with the the young (single) physician in the small town - who, we learn, battles his own fears.

There is also an older couple, Ben and Lyda, who have their own struggles but cling to each other and God like there is no tomorrow.

Charlie Daggert helps Rachel on the ranch as much as he can while he helps out Ben in his shop and many other odd jobs.  This man is full of secrets and, as I read, was hoping they would be revealed, and they were.

This book is definitely a romance in every aspect of the word:  an older couple shows us how to love against all odds; a widower shows us how to love her boys and carry on after the death of her beloved husband; a young doctor shows us how to love God and give Him all the credit for his knowledge and accomplishments in his field of work; and it shows new love, full of fear but ready to keep loving the past yet love the future just as much or more.

What impressed me the most about this book was how the author tied up all the loose ends.  Not all at the end, either.  I followed her through each twist and turn and never quite had the path figured out, especially not the ending.  Wow!  Great book.  I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a good historical romance.  Her descriptions are a bit edgier than what I've read from other Christian romance authors but I liked it.  Very true to life.

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City On Our Knees, by Toby Mac

I have to say, "WOW!" I love this book, City On Our Knees, by Toby Mac.  Kids picked it up while it sat on my public high school desk, and marveled at its cover.  It is a pretty slick, hardbound book.  One kid even mentioned he loved that Toby Mac song.  It's awesome to see who the Christian kids are (and seeing them live out that Christian life.)

"If we gotta start somewhere why not here," on the front cover, says it all.  We are in this world - let's do something to make it better.  This book is a collection of short true stories of people - very young to old, from the past and current, who have or who are making a difference in our world.

As I read it, I wrote down page numbers of things I wanted to go back to write on. Page 129, I said, was my favorite.  I just now looked it up and it was the story of Charles Spurgeon and the orphanage he started.  One day he had no idea where the children's breakfast was coming from.  The kids all sat and they prayed at their empty plates.  Then someone at the door knocked....  I'll let you read that awesome story.  I'd heard it before but it still reminds me of the power of prayer.

"Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Spirit can teach us. Pray for prayer. Pray until you can really pray."  -- Charles Spurgeon

Another favorite, probably my most favorite of all, is about a woman during the Dwight L. Moody days.  She was sick and unable to go to church.  She prayed while homebound and her prayers blessed Pastor Moody in ways he didn't understand until he met her.  One thing this woman did was have a birthday book.  I think it was like a yearly calendar.  She had people's birthdays written in there that she wanted to pray for.  She said this, "Now, will you write your name on your birthday page, and let me pray for you until either you or I go home."  Wow!  That is a ministry.  This woman's name was Marianne Adlard.  What a powerful woman she was because she loved God and believed in the power of prayer!

These are all stories from the past but the ones in the present are awesome, too. I highly recommend this book.  It really is a quick read and it's set up much like a blog, very trendy.  It's great for all ages, tweens, teens, to us 'old people.'

The author has his own prayers scattered throughout, along with verses from the Bible that fit each story. I will end this review with his:

Prayer of Hope.

Dear loving God,

Help us to remember, when we begin to lose hope,

that all the darkness in the world

is just a speck in Your light,

a light that fills the universe.

when pain and confusion invade our lives,

Let us not rely on our own resources.

Instead, lead us to seek answers on our knees.

Lord, show us Your way,

Lord,lead us to Your destination.

We thank You for being our beacon of hope,

A beacon we can always see, if we will only look.

Amen.

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