Quick update on Molly, upcoming surgery, and the rest.
Molly's health: Please continue to pray for her. She is now experiencing nausea at times and is having some issues with her vision. I believe neither are too surprising with Chiari, but as the symptoms mount so does her pain, discomfort, frustrations, and tears. She is really struggling emotionally with all this. Just in case, Molly will talk to the Neurologist on Monday to keep him up to date on her new symptoms. That way if he notices anything odd we can deal with it right away.
Kid Story: Jack, our 8 year old autistic son, is one of those kids who just never seems to notice the problems of others. He lives in his little world and is rare to have compassion. Tonight, completely on his own initiative, Jack was helping Molly walk around, hand around her waist, looking at her face to see if she was in pain, asking if she was doing ok, etc. It really touched Molly. What a great kid, and what a wonderful experience for us during a difficult time.
Spirituality: Now is one of those times that John Piper's "Don't Waste Your Cancer" takes on a special meaning. I mean, I thought it was "special" enough to have my Mom die of cancer in April and learn my lessons there. But God is continuing to use pain and difficulty and fear to teach us about His goodness and mercy, so we read on and continue to trust Him. I'm thinking of writing a "Don't Waste Your Chiari" article, but who knows???
Place?: As Molly's surgical consultation with Dr. Yamini at the University of Chicago approaches on the 18th, we have also heard from Mayo Clinic in MN. They have her scheduled to be up there on July 2nd for a consultation. They would schedule a surgery several days after that. That means we would have to make one trip for the consultation, return home, and go back up at a later date. With that news, we are most certainly planning on going with the University of Chicago unless the consultation there doesn't go well or we feel uncomfortable with them. Then we would go to Mayo as a backup.
Stocking Up: We went to Sam's Club yesterday to stock up on paper plates and "even-Steve-can-make-that" food for post-surgery time at home. I've heard of the nesting idea with child birth, but Molly seems to be experiencing it with surgery.
Steve: You aren't going to believe this, but about a week before Molly started to experience symptoms from Chiari 1 Malformation I was at the doctor with back pain. The doctor thought it was just muscle issues. It almost completely went away and then returned, and it's worse. I now have significant pain. On the day we went to Sam's I started to experience numbness in my left arm. I made it to the doctor again yesterday and he thinks I have a pinched nerve. Unbelievable. When it rains it pours. Neither of us have a history of any major medical issues, and now we are getting it all at once. I have really battled the idea of telling anyone about my stuff because I can deal with the pain in order to help my wife. But I thought it was stupid of me to be quiet about it when some could be praying for me.
Next: Molly has to have another MRI next week. She is dreading it, as expected. If anything new pops up, I will let you all know. Thanks again for praying.