Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Doctors

I don't get doctors. They want to know "Every single detail of anything" because it could be related to something serious with the SCT. So when Jim tells them, they analyze it, and they file it in the "no big deal" to "this could be big" bin, and then basically tell us this: "Forget about all that ails you, the pain, the neuropathy, the 25 pounds of water, the pain, the GVHD, the itch, the.....IF THE CANCER ISN'T BACK, it's good. Well, that's kind of hard. Jim feels like he's cancer free, so that he can be tired and lay around with back and neuropathy pain. There is sooooo much I can't and don't want to get into here, but as for prayer, pray for a COMPLETE HEALING for Jim.

At therapy on Monday, they fitted Jim's shoes. I asked them if there was anything we could do to teach him to respond to the right sensations. They therapist said that the nerve damage tells the brain that a feather is a knife, so a friend that I made in OT, Fran, suggested the following: Yesterday I went to the store and bout 7 bins, and into each one, I put the following. Pillow filling, smooth rocks, rice, pinto beans, cut up rough raffenae(sp), soft plastic shards, and flower petals. I also bought him some scrub pads for dishes. Jim needs to rub his feet and hands into these things to try and teach his brain what sharp is, what soft is, etc. Who knows if it will work, but the sheet from the bed feels like a bed of nails, etc., so nothing feels good or is easy for him....or me. :) Oh, look at the time...

Us

5 comments:

Rachel said...

Hello dear friend, it was so good hearing from you. (I'll respond real soon!) I guess this is what they mean by the cure being worse than the illness! Well, not totally but I agree that Jim now needs to be healed from all the crap that his body has been through. Without the "crap" he would have died but with the crap he still has a lot of pain and illness to deal with. It's almost a no win situation. We will pray. Thank you for giving us direction in prayer. It is really helpful to know a bit of what is going on.

ALL my love
Rachel

Anonymous said...

Hi Gloria and Jim,

Thank you for the update. We will continue to pray. Hannah has no sensation below the knee. The other day, there were red blotches all over my mom's white carpet. We thought the kids had spilled something and I was trying to get the kids to fess up. It turned out Hannah had cut her foot and it was bleeding quite a bit. She had no idea. Grrr. We scrub her legs pretty vigorously with a bath scrubby every time she gets a bath. It's supposed to stimulate the nerves and keeps her from getting blisters and has even helped year-old scars to virtually disappear. I wonder if that would have any benefit for Jim. We are in Cincinnati until May. The For Sale sign is on the lawn. We'd appeciate your prayers for our move.
Love,
Amy (for the Smiths)

Anonymous said...

Hello Sister and Jim,
I want to say thank for taking the time to update us. I will continue to pray for that complete whole back to his old self Jimbo and for your peace of mind and health also.

love and miss you both so much.
Dad is good was with him this morning xoxoxox

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Gloria. We will double our prayer efforts for you and Jim.

When we struggle, this passage comes to mind:
2 Corinthians 12:9 - My grace is sufficient for you.
[Quote- L.B. Cowman]
"I pictured a thirsty little fish who was concerned about drinking the river dry with Father River saying, "Drink away, little fish; my stream is sufficient for you." I also envisioned a mouse afraid of starving after seven years of plenty, when Joseph says to him "Cheer up little mouse; my granaries are sufficient for you." Again, I imagined a man high on a mountain peak, saying to himself, "I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I am afraid I will deplete all the oxygen in the atmosphere." But the earth says to him, "Breathe away, filling your lungs forever; my atmosphere is sufficient for you."

We are praying that His grace will be the balm that gets you through this difficult time and that God will bring Jim to a complete healing.

Maddy and Sam

mary jo said...

We will be praying for normalcy even if it's a new normal. God bless You and give You both strength. I'm going to read psalm 139 right now. He made Jim and He can remake the things that need it and I'm praying for that. Love,MJB