Greetings all,
It has been a month since our last update. This last month seemed to fly by being now at the end of the semester at Messiah. Home dialysis has had its ups and down this last month, unfortunately more downs than ups…. I think it has been harder on me than it has been on Nate, although he may beg to differ. Nate “hooks up” to the machine each night and the good news from the doctor of a couple of weeks ago was that he could shorten the time that he has to be hooked up to the machine during the night… instead of 9.5 hours, he only has to be hooked up for 8 hours. The downside is that he is still adjusting to the discomfort of two liters of fluid being pumped into his abdomen and then pumped out 4 times a night… the machine clicks on and off and hums a bit, and the abdomen distention sometimes wakes him up and makes it hard to get back to sleep. Furthermore, the machine at times sets off an alarm which tells Nate that there is some blockage in the line or some obstruction and one night there were a total of around 20 false alarms in one night. Thankfully he has had only one night like that, but nevertheless, it has been and continues to be an adjustment. We little realize how precious sleep is until we have to do without it! Thank God for the restorative nature of sleep, and even more so the sustaining power of God when you don’t get it!
As for the progress toward a kidney, Nate still has to have some physiological tests and tissue tests and the appointments for those are not for another month (although I hope he can get in sooner) so those of you who have signed in and have volunteered to be tested for compatibility will have to wait a while until all of Nate’s tests are in. I admit I get a bit impatient when I see what all Nate is going through and wish things would happen sooner than later, so I have been having lessons in patience this month. I am reminded of a verse in the Psalms that was a verse I had taken to heart back in graduate school days, “But as for me, I trust in YOU, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand” (Ps 31:14, 15), truly, OUR times are in His hands! No better place to be!
As of today, it has been rough because Nate has had a high fever and chest congestion for the past two days that have further challenged us. We went to the clinic this morning to make sure he did not have peritonitis and then to the family doctor to check that it wasn’t pneumonia or anything else… chest x-rays, blood work, extra dialysis were all part of his morning. He is still not sleeping that great and his body is just compromised and the effects are being realized. He missed his three finals today and that just adds to the challenges. Never a dull moment… we are still hoping things can soon become normalized, but it won’t be this week! Thanks for your support and prayers. It is so important to know that we are not in this on our own and that there are no surprises to God. Keep up the faith!
Shalom,
John
