The last time I wrote I had mentioned that I'd planned, over this past week, to go back and reread last fall's postings to this blog to review where I was then and what I was hoping to accomplish by this journey I'd undertaken, but that didn't happen. I'd forgotten that Joely and I would be beginning school this week, and trying to get back into the swing of that left little time for other things. I still plan to do that, just not this week!

There have been other changes going on though, and at least they have been hopeful. As of Wednesday (September 21st) we upped my new medication (Minocycline) to a full capsule instead of cutting the dose in half, and I'm relieved to say that there have been no ill effects. That in itself is an improvement of sorts, because one of the pills I took a few months ago (Trimethoprim) just sort of knocked me down and hardly allowed me to get back up. I had such an adverse reaction to that pill we had to cut it into thirds before I could function again at all, and I never felt good taking it (which took over three weeks in total before it was done). This one has been different though, and easier to handle. It has even given me two evenings of better mobility, allowing me to get into bed without a struggle and even making it possible to roll over more easily once I was there. That might sound like a little thing, but trust me, it's not. I've have been steadily moving backwards lately, and rolling over in bed had again become as big of a challenge as it was last September before I went to Texas the first time. Putting on my socks and shoes was nearly as bad as it had been then too, or as bad as when I was on the Trimethoprim. It's a relief to take a medicine that might be killing the bad things in my system without my feeling like it's killing me in the process!

Needless to say, I have been a bit more hopeful this week than last, and that is also a good thing. I'm tired of struggling and constantly going downhill, and frankly, I'm tired of being tired! It is refreshing to feel an improvement of ANY sort, and I just wanted to share that. As I'd said last week, coming up on my one year anniversary of my revision still makes me wonder what I have to show for it, and how I feel about it. Some people I've been in contact with have had dramatic changes, and some others are in it for the long haul with slow improvements. As for me, I have often felt like I've been one of the few who have had little improvement and little to show for the time I've spent. It remains unclear how much improvement I might eventually have, but this week has at least lightened my outlook about that.

Let's pray things continue to improve from here.

Now that the excitement of preparing for hurricanes and dealing with their aftermath has faded (for us at least), the focus has shifted back to what's happening on the health front. My ability to walk has continued to deteriorate, and there is no good news to be seen there. We have been waiting since the end of May for an update from Dr. Huggins about the result from the DNA testing that was done in Texas when those two cavitations were cleaned out, a long wait that finally came to an end when Paul (sort of) lost his temper and demanded results. I have been steadily getting worse, not better, since we returned from that May trip, and I can barely move around some days, even with the help of the walker. My house is NOT handicapped accessible, and if I go any lower in this struggle the next step is a wheelchair. Then what? (Maybe I should have taken all the money we've spent on this and put it in to retrofitting my house?) Needless to say Paul has also grown frustrated about the long wait for answers since we last updated things (a conference call in June), especially since the information was available then but had not been reviewed yet. We are not trying to be difficult, but enough time has passed without any answers and/or direction.

We did eventually have another phone consultation with Dr. Huggins last week (September 7th), in which the results from May were reviewed and discussed. Another low-dose antibiotic was prescribed, this time one that I'm to take for nine weeks on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. Unfortunately I knew I was allergic to the first choice Doc wanted to prescribe, but another was found that should be equally effective. I began taking it Monday (September 12th), and was relieved to discover no ill effects. I am allergic to so many antibiotics that each and every time I take a new one it seems like playing a game of Russian Roulette: Is this one going to cause problems too? I'm relieved to say that so far that hasn't happened. Tonight I took my second dose with no ill effects, so at least an allergic reaction doesn't seem to be something I have to worry about right now. Doc said there was a boatload of nasty critters in that DNA sample though, critters that could have caused a whole lot more problems than just neurological ones. So in a way I guess I'm lucky; I haven't had any of the obvious heart, kidney, or other problems mentioned that could have arisen from these pathogens; only my ability to walk has been impaired (or is that 'more impaired'?). I'm pretty sure that's a positive, though the walking thing, or should I say the 'not walking thing,' might have somewhat skewed my ability to discern gradations in negatives. I have tried to look on the bright side as much as possible, and try never to dwell in depression, but I am rapidly closing in the the one year anniversary since we began this 'experiment.' I am wondering what I have to show for all the time, travel, and money we have expended, and wondering too, what I have to show for it? A month of better movement last November that never lasted?

I think next time I will be discussing that exact subject in more detail. I plan to revisit some of those posts I wrote last September and review some of the hopes and goals stated at the beginning of this journey.

I wonder how things will stand up under such scutiny?

Hurricane Irene turned out to be less than expected, for us at least, though I'm not discounting the problems she's caused all the way up the northeast for everyone else. We somehow ended up in a protected area as the storm split and went around us in two directions, traveling up the state of New York and into Vermont on the northwestern side and into Springfield, Massachusetts to the east. Other than 7 or so inches of rain, it missed us almost entirely with its predicted winds. Murphy's Law says it was because we'd made every necessary precaution we'd needed in advance! Many jugs and bathtubs of water were filled for emergency use, as well as batteries charged for flashlights in the event of a power outtage. That's something we seldom have to do up north except in the winter for blizzards, but somehow we accomplished what was necessary. And maybe that was why it split to the west and the east, and created havoc almost everywhere but around the New York/Massachusetts border where we live. Yes, we had flooding in our area and several trees downed, but our house is located in a high spot and mostly missed that too (we lost only one old, dead tree), though not everyone in our town was a blessed as we were.  So trust me, I'm not complaining, though it certainly was unusual.

Saturday night turned out to be a fun evening instead, as we played games as a family and waited for the power to go out. It never did, and we enjoyed listening to the rain and playing on the Wii we'd recently purchased. Instead of huddling in the almost dark, we played those computer games and went to bed at our normal hour. After the long buildup getting ready for this storm, this was anti-climatic in a good way. The following day was more rain still, but the conditions never worsened.

As for me, I'll be getting back to a normal blog next week, now that this weather excitement is over. I pray for those whose lives were not as uneventful, and hope for a rapid repair to whatever problems they may now face.

This will be the shortest entry to date as we "batten the hatches" and get ready for the coming storm this evening or tomorrow morning. We are not used to having the kind of weather that is predicted with Hurricaine Irene's arrival, and though we are miles inland, we are directly in it's expected path. This morning (Saturday) is our chance to do all the necessary things like picking up and putting away flower pots, furniture, etc., that could cause problems (Joely's jobs), making sure our generator can be up and running and getting last minute goods like milk and eggs that we're almost out of (Paul's jobs), while I'm in charge of kitchen work (food production and washing up every dirty dish). We don't know if (or when) the power will go out, though it's best to expect it will. From here we will be shutting down our computers and preparing for a lot of wind and rain, which means I won't be writing this week's blog until after the storm is past.

To those of you on the east coast who are in the same boat (so to speak), trust God to keep you safe and we will do the same.