Bit of an Update

Well, it's been awhile. Most of which has been spent dealing with the insurance company, medical group, and the doctor's office. Bottom line, two "speciality pharmacies" were disallowed but finally we -supposedly - have an OK for one. The Ribavirin pills are in the house. Still waiting for the injectable. We hope to start John on the treatment on July 13, a Friday. We won't know for sure until we have the Interferon in hand.

More Worries

Well, the visit to the cardiologist today did little to dispel our fears. Although telling us that the echocardiagram was good and that there was no more damage or enlargement to the heart, the doctor also started talking about scheduling surgery. How a heart that - in the doctor's own words - is working normally and is strong and healthy needs surgery is beyond me. I realize that the mitral valve is not working correctly, but he himself said that surgery should not be done now. Then he does a 180 and starts talking about calling in a surgeon. I sometimes wonder if doctors truly know what they are telling us, or are they just trying to keep us coming to see them.

Well, it is in the Lord's hands. God is the best physician of all - He can heal anyone of anything. And He will heal John.

Church Service

We had a great worship service today. Everything from the music to the sermon was just right. Everyone left feeling great and refreshed. Days like this are rare and special. Today our Pastor finished a series of sermons on the book of Romans. The book ended on just the right note; encouragement for the church to keep on - no matter how small we think we are. God has kept our little flock together all this time for a reason. He must have a special job for us, but it is up to us to figure out what it is.

It could be as simple as one person who needs to hear the gospel and we are the ones chosen to tell them. You never know. But God does.

It Begins

Wednesday my husband had a liver biopsy in preparation for his Interferon/Ribivarin treatment. The last few days have been horrible. Nothing had prepared me for it. Not the doctors, not the literature, not the information on the internet. Nothing. We were told that it was a minor procedure, similar to the colonoscopy he'd had the previous week. We were expecting that he would have a little discomfort, but not the full-on pain that he experienced. And I was not expecting that I would be allowed to stay with him until they actually performed the biopsy. Which meant that I was with him in what resembled a ICU ward. But we survived.

It has been three days now and he is finally feeling almost normal. He still has soreness; so much for it being a minor procedure. Well, maybe for some it is. I read - after the fact - that pain is experienced in only 30% of patients. Guess he's in the 30%.

He was hurting so bad last night that I found myself spending a Friday evening basically alone, trying to be quiet, while he slept. I was worried, and depressed. And lonely. I wonder now if that is a preview of the next six months as he undergoes this treatment. I have a tendency to depression lately (probably from my diabetes) and I wonder if I am going to spend the next six months alone and depressed. Someone told me that I need to remember the end result, that John will be cured of the hepatitis, but that is easy to say when they are not the ones going through it.

Well, this blog is about my faith, and I guess it is going to be tested in these next few months. I barely passed test one, so let's see how I'll do with step two.