For Better or For Worse

I had a grand vision when we got back from Seattle of spoiling Eric until he was completely recovered and we could get back to the "for better" part of our arrangement. Little did I know that January 2011 was going to be quite different than I planned. I think I accomplished about a day and a half of treating him right and then the wheel fell off completely. Instead of being pampered he ended up doing the pampering as I suffered through three days of fever that plastered me to any available horizontal surface. I was still awfully weak for several days after that so aside from asking him often how his chest was feeling, he wasn't getting much of the "better" part of our arrangement (so sorry dear!). I'm happy to report that in spite of my lack of ministrations he managed to make his way back to very nearly normal and was even able to go shoot some hoops a few days ago without much aggravation and he shot really well to boot! Yay!

We were both feeling pretty decent by the weekend of the 15th so it became shopping day because we definitely needed some things and it was time to get a barbecue of our own. We were standing in a store waiting in the queue to check out and the lady in front of us starts acting a little odd. She's talking to seemingly no one in particular and a surreptitious check of her ears found no bluetooth apparatus. It soon became apparent that she is talking to her purse or little backpack thingy and saying soothing words to it. Well now that's interesting. Next thing I know she looks at us sheepishly and says she's not crazy, she has two dogs in there. We're both thinking to ourselves, "Lady, claiming there are two dogs in that little thing is not helping your case any." Then she opens up the thing and sure enough, there are two dogs in there. Okay, I guess recognizing crazy people isn't our gift or at least not if it involves two tiny dogs in a backpack in a store.

We next went barbecue shopping. We became the proud owners of the "Down Under" brand or at least the box that contained one. Eric spent a few hours assembling the thing and decided it should start with a different instruction #1 that says, "Go get a nice, big, cold beer because you're going to be here a good long while and you're going to need it." He was successful and had that beer a bit later even though the instructions didn't call for it.

I had a hectic week of the 17th at work. I knew things were going to heat up in 2011 and it sure didn't wait long. I'm trying to get a big upgrade going and as we keep finding more "uh ohs", I decided it was like peeling back the layers of an onion - it just makes you cry more. I guess the good news is the days will go fast because the deadline for completion is far too soon.

Now it's back to the worse part. Friday morning I woke up awfully stiff and sore, but didn't think too much of it because once I got going it was okay. Saturday I woke up in the middle of the night with pain and stiffness in nearly every joint I possess and they were starting to swell. What?! It was really, really hard to walk, I had no strength in my hands, and I couldn't begin to make a fist. Thankfully, the walking part improved somewhat after a shower.

The Lord is pretty amazing about looking out for us in our troubles and when Eric called a medical center that was open on Saturday mornings they were able to take us right away (wow!). Even better - the doctor was awesome! He set up some tests to figure out what was going on and said the fever a couple weeks earlier was quite likely the trigger for this episode.

Soon after we got back from the doctors, the Skype phone rang. It was Eric's brother, Dave, calling to let us know Eric's Dad, Bill, is going to have major surgery on Tuesday. Poor Eric was completely torn with the feeling that he needed to be in two places at once. He really wanted to go back to Indiana for his Dad's surgery, but clearly I was needing him here. In the end, he decided to pray for his Dad from here (two hemisphere prayer coverage is good) and stay here and make sure I was okay.

After we tried to digest that news and since I was walking okay at this point, Eric and I decided to go to Newcastle with Ron and Pam to see the ministry they're involved with, YWAM. YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission and is a great organization with many similarities to Young Life in the states. I think the difference that stood out the most to me is that the schools here in Australia really embrace YWAM and actually invite them to come into their schools.

We next took off for Tahlee which is a huge site that YWAM has on the other side of the water from our house. We could get there in 20 minutes or so by boat, but by car it takes quite a bit longer. Sadly the long drive completely did my joints in and the best I could muster was the Tim Conway old man shuffle from the Carol Burnett show. Frustrating for sure, but I still think it was worth it because it was a fascinating place.

There were some wallabies peacefully eating grass by one of the driveways. At least they were until we went by. They hopped off to a safer distance and kept their eye on us. We stopped at the stand of bamboo they have and those bamboo are huge! We learned they have a 3-4 meter python (yes, like 10 feet+!) that lives in those bamboo and my less than bright husband decided to wander around the bamboo looking for it. I had to wonder if he was contemplating having to take care of me and thought being a python meal would mean he could get out of some of the "worse" part of the deal.

The good news (actually it's really bad news, but good for Eric since he was not in danger of being eaten) is we found out from Georgeena (sp?) who lives there that the python had gotten into the chicken coop the night before and eaten the three chickens! I guess some of the other residents carried the python off to the woods so he could sleep off the triple chicken combo meal for several days.

I was properly horrified by the outcome of the poor chickens and also that Australians pick up pythons and carry them places - ever! Right after that Georgeena told us that early that day a big goanna had gotten into another pen and killed a couple ducks. Georgeena had to go in and get the goanna out of there to save the other three! That seems equally crazy - just what is in that Vegemite anyway?! Georgeena said she hadn't yet mustered up the courage to go back in and clean up the mess in the pen. Well, of course not, she clearly had to use it all up on battling the goanna.

We saw more cool stuff and then dropped Ron and Pam off at their place and headed home. It was at this point that I realized I was in big trouble. I had to crawl up the stairs and, dang, it was painful. I got inside and dropped onto the bed feeling as though I had just run a marathon. Not good. Eric did a fabulous job of taking care of me although I couldn't tell if it was so much work he'd rather have been a python dinner or not.

Sunday was worse. The swelling was worse, the pain was worse, the stiffness was worse, and now my neck decided to join in on the stiffness action. I am so thankful for everyone's prayers as Monday morning held the first hope in this strange odyssey - the swelling was slightly less because my knuckles were showing signs of appearing again.

I was able to make it to the tests although I think Eric would have rolled me there if necessary. The body scan was interesting and based on Eric's research I think I'm still technically radioactive. The best part of the scan was I'm laying there with nothing but the ceiling and four fluorescent lights to contemplate and the next thing I know is I see the silhouette of a lizard on the other side of the light cover! I watched him until one of the panels of the machine obscured him from my vision. The lizard was gone by the time I could look again which was a bit disconcerting, but it was the last test so I just beat a hasty (actually, really slow) retreat.

The body scan films would be sent by post later so we paid the bill ($800+), and took the x-rays with us to take to the doctor. He took one look at the knee one and said "that's awful". So, while he doesn't have all of the test results back yet, I think that and a couple of the blood tests convinced him that starting with a real good arthritis drug was in order because that was one cause for sure even if it might not be the current cause. I already took the first pill and I'm actually hopeful I'll get to sleep more than 20 minutes at a stretch tonight and if I'm really lucky, the pain alarm will not go off.

Sorry to be so blabby about the health stuff - you'd think I was getting old or something (please, no comments from the peanut gallery!). I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who doesn't run from the "worse" part (except where maybe pythons are involved) and for all your prayers. Please keep Bill's surgery and recovery in your prayers. Love you all.