Not Quite Finished

We went up Sunday night for an early Monday meeting and tests. We were scheduled to return the following week for a follow up, but when we were meeting with the neurologist he moved our follow up to Wednesday (so we just stayed in Jacksonville and had a couple of dinners with our son and his family – bonus!) We got the test results on our phones very quickly but we needed his interpretation to understand all of the tests. 

The doctor was a Norwegian and he was unsure about the results but he did narrow it down to two things – ALS and PLS. He was siding with PLS because of the multiple tests done (the nerve test was normal as it was a year ago in Jordan). A couple of the blood tests made him think it was ALS but he sided with the PLS for now. In the MRI I had a neuron disfunction that is normal in both. He suggested a couple of medications that only 10% of people reported positive results on. 

He sent us to one of his nurses to do two questionnaires and it was a good thing. That qualified us to get the meds – but they are expensive!

The ALS has a normal life span of 3-5 years. The PLS has 20+ years. We are going back to the doctor at Mayo in three months to see how I am doing and then every 3-6 months after that. But there are another two specialized hospitals in Orlando that we are considering. It’s a lot closer.

I’ve been reading several books lately that talk about God teaching us something in our darkened and distant moments from him. The first one is Laura Story’s book, “When God Doesn’t Fix It”. The second one is Lisa Terkeurst’s book, “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way”. The third one is Kyle Strobel and John Coe’s book, “When God Seems Distant”. I just got an email today about Pastor Rick Warren’s sermon series “Where is God When it Hurts”. All of these books have, in different ways, helped me to deal with what God is doing in my life now. He is guiding me through other Christian writers to see that he is still in my life, even though he flipped it around on me.

As I was sitting in the neurologist’s office listening to him explain to us the test results, I was listening to God. I knew my wife was focused on the doctor – I wasn’t. I’m sooo grateful for my wife and all she has done to prepare us for these years of our life together. But I was hearing the doctor say things and asking God how will that work with you? What do you have for me in the future? How am I going to write this post to glorify you? On the drive back here I was praising him over and over (in my mind) for all he has done in my life, how he used us to spread his word and make disciples, and the ability to write posts. 

My wife got a couple of texts after she wrote some friends of ours. They said that maybe I am being “shoved” by God’s hand to talk less and write more. That may be true…