Friday, July 13, 2012

months

Months. it's been months. and I have absolutely no excuse other than that I have had no blogs a’brewin’. And I still don’t, but I figure that you would like to hear from me. Maybe I figured wrong, but here are some bits and pieces from the past few months.

Robyn was baptized. It was amazing. At the beach, and my dad and my sister got to come up for the event. I was actually able to walk out into the water with her and Charles and I held her hands as he dipped her down under the water. I, of course, was crying like a baby. It was beautiful. Dad was only able to stay for one night, but he had enough time to fix the brakes on our car, so it is now drivable again. He never gets to come and just relax, there is always something to fix, but I think he likes it that way.

My sister got to stay for a week and help me out. Wow, I can’t tell you what a huge help she was. It made such a difference having her here. And at night, after the kids went to bed, we got to hang out. We talked lots of wedding details (she just got engaged) and we taught her one of our favorite games, Settlers of Catan. It was so fun. I helped raise her, and now here she is, an adult that is about to get married, hanging out with me. Weird.

For the Fourth of July, we just had a lazy day. That night we went to our favorite place for fireworks, 2nd ave pier. Our good friends MJ and Jackie met us there, with their kids JJ and, Robyn’s best friend, Rosemary. We had such a great time, eating watermelon, doing sparklers and watching the huge fireworks. They set them off the end of their pier and you can just lay back on the beach and let the explosion of color fill your entire vision. Last year Finley screamed and cried, this year we brought headphones and she was fine. A little ingenuity and she loved it.

We just got back from another trip to DC. We decided to go a little early and take the kids and stay with our friends from college, Klon and Tracy Kitchen. They have kids the same ages as ours, plus two more, and we have such a good, albeit chaotic, time with them. On Tuesday the 10 of us headed to the National Zoo. Tracy and I spent most of our time counting 6 little heads, making sure we didn’t lose anyone. We saw an elephant, Finn’s favorite; prairie dogs, Robyn’s and Charles’ fav; and my fav: the best, by leaps and bounds, gluten free pizza I have ever had. I will go back, for the pizza alone. We loved the giant panda, petting the horses, the huge snapping turtle who looked as if he could snap your leg off, and the Kitchen children’s favorite, the naked mole-rat. It was such a great day.

The next day we visited Dr. Jemsek. It was a disappointing visit in that we thought our last infusion was to be my last, but he wants me to do one more. God has once again provided a way for us to get my meds at a much discounted rate so that I can even receive the treatment. There was lots of good news too. I am gradually getting better. I am more mobile, I can get around by myself. My balance is almost completely back, and I am doing daily physical therapy homework. I still don’t have much stamina, and my pain levels aren’t decreasing, which is a little worrisome because we have tried almost every pain med in the arsenal. I am trying another one this week, which I had tried before. It helped with the pain last time, but caused severe depression, so I was taken off of it. Dr. Jemsek is hoping that my brain chemistry has  changed to the degree that it will not cause the same side effect this time.

Charles and I leave for Sweden in about 2 and a half weeks. Charles will be performing the wedding ceremony of one of our dear, sweet friends, Kate. We consider her one of our daughters and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. This last round of IV antibiotics throws a little monkey wrench in it, but what are you gonna do? I’ve taken my IV pole to the movies, surely the airlines won’t mind, right?

Well, I guess I had more to say than I thought. Lyme disease continues to be part of my every day life, but I am learning to not let it rule my days. I have a disease, but that doesn’t define me, I am a lot of other things besides that and I will continue to lean on my Savior to hold my hand through the hard times and laugh with me during the good ones. I hold tight to one of Robyn’s memory verses, Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

3 comments:

  1. I'm so glad that you are seeing some restoration. Brooke, you have the most beautiful faith and spirit. You are so strong because of the Spirit within you, and you are brave. I just love you! Keep on keepin' on!
    Sharona

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loved seeing you at the beach and also in church...blessings on you..Carl

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Brooke, its jerome. I only remember you as that bright and spunky little girl when I attended dear Old State and had the privledge of living with your family my senior year. What a woman of faith you have become. You are an inspiration to so many as you obviously lean hard on the King Jesus through these tough times. Keep holding on, He is the anchor that never fails through the fiercest storms.
    Love you sister

    ReplyDelete