Excitement Builds in Wichita, KS

Last Sunday at Lance's church in Wichita, KS, they had a special outdoor service in the morning called "Watermark" in order to get together all those saved recently. You can see the details and pictures at his blog listed on the right side of mine.

Wow! I have never been in a service where over 150 people were baptized on one day. Lance was really excited that he got to baptize his daughter, Ellie, who trusted Christ last year. His excitement is contagious and his visit on Tuesday and part of Wednesday set my soul afire as well. We used to think a church that baptized over 200 souls per years was a great distinction; now this many in one day is remarkable.

The way they have a worship service is very different from my roots, but I like what I see in the results!

Health Note: I woke up with a rash on my legs this morning, which indicates the beginning of the infernal itching that I had 6 monts ago to alert me to my sickness. I am still seeing good control of pain through medication and vibration. I am able to do a few things still: Lance and I played 15 holes on Wednesay, did a little recreation before the Senior Citizens Center meal, followed by my usual bridge group. The night before when he came I was having a fever and aching, but a lot of that went away, just to have him hang out with me. It is so great to have a loving son, who isn't afraid to share it with me. Pray for him during this time of parting, and also pray for Wanda as she has gone through this before, but it is still sinking in.

Results from Prayer at the Ninth Hour Yesterday

Here are the results:
1) For those who were praying for instant and complete healing, that did not happen. I was feverish at 2:30 p.m. and continued to be for two more hours.
2) For those who were praying for my pain to be lessened and manageable for me, that has happened today. This is the first day in a long time that I don't have additional pain and my food has digested so far.
3) For those who were praying for God's will to be done, it is. I don't know the next short-term goal for me yet, but I will continue to teach adult Sunday School class. I will continue to go to recreational activities.
4) For all of you, I am appreciative of all the time spent in prayer for me over the past 6 months. God has blessed at every turn, and I find that taking pain medication without nausea, without diarrhea, and without constipation, that I consider that a minor miracle!
5) The next mountain that I know will be good to flush out the toxins from the liver and its surrounding system is to drink over 90 ounces of water per day. I usually am like a camel who can go for days without water. Now that I am sweating, and the medications dry me out, I have tried my best over the past several days to drink at least half of that amounf. Pray that I can drink it like medicine if nothing else.

One week results:
* After starting a round of shot and oral antibiotics, there hasn't been any improvement in the regular fevers that I have.
* I keep taking pain medication on a regular schedule, and add to it a few things when fever hits.
* My doctor calls this "tumor fever" as opposed to that caused by a bacterial infection, so she didn't believe the antibiotics would work and the fact that they did the last time was coincidence.
* My personal schedule is severely limited because I don't know when the fever will hit and when it does, I don't function very well.

* This Sunday, my last substitute sermon will be about the times when people in the Bible prayed at the ninth hour and something miraculous happened in their lives. Of course, my emphasis is on the fact that at that very hour when Jesus was hanging on the cross, He cried, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This appears to be the only recorded time that God did not answer, because Jesus has to pay for our sins without any divine help.
* I don't believe that prayer works according to some ritual, but the thought that several might pray for the same thing at the same time intrigues me.
* If you want to participate, then this Sunday at the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), I am going to encourage my church to pray for a miracle for my physical body. I would appreciate all my internet friends joining us at that time. Pass it along to anyone else who would like to pray at that time for a specific answer to prayer.
* I am hanging onto the knot at the end of my rope.

Results from Doctor's Visit
* 2 daily shots of 1 mg rosefrin
* oral antibiotics prescribed as a follow-up
* Thusday had highest fever for some time, 104 degrees and it lasted from 5:00p.m.-8:00p.m.
* We had Denny and Evelyn Nelson come out anyway and watch a DVD of Lance's church service, where he preached on humility. Then they bowled on our video game while I watched from bed. By 8:00 p.m., I felt like playing the last game.
* Friday brought better quality of life until fever of 101 hit about 3:00 p.m. We had planned to go to the Despers to play bridge, so I told Wanda not to call it off if my fever broke by 6:00 p.m., which it did. We got ready to go and enjoyed our friends for about 3 hours of intense bridge.
* Saturday, I trimmed the yard with a stringline trimmer, and then the fever of 99.4 hit me about 12:30 p.m. lasting until 2:30 p.m. Now we are resting and watching some of the Olympic events and the bullriding from Mexico.
* Tomorrow, I am scheduled to preach at Clearlake, and I am taking a backup plan of playing Lance's DVD if the fever hits early as the pattern seems to be developing.
* I appreciate all the prayers in my behalf; don't stop.

The fever is back...
...as of yesterday. It started at 11:30 a.m. and didn't break until 2:00 p.m.; then after I got home, it started at 5:00 p.m. and broke at 8:00 p.m.; sometime after I went to bed, it started, because I woke up at 1:00 a.m. in a sweat, so that fever had broken, and it started again this morning at 7:00 a.m. and has broken about 8:00 a.m. The temperatures have varied from 101 to 102 degrees.
...so I have another appointment with Dr. Girouard to see if we can take some other antiobiotics. The last 3 shots lasted 10 days. Maybe I need the shots plus some oral follow-up antibiotics.
...resulting in higher bilirubin in my urine and increasing jaundice again. I am hopeful that we can find some regimen to keep this under control, because the fever is accompanied with severe pain, that isn't controlled by the regular pain medication.

Improving...
...since last Monday, when I started a 3-day shot regimen of 1 mg rosefrin, and antibiotics. I had been running fever each day for 15 days.
...so much this past week that the jaundiced skin is lessened, the urine is clearing up, and my eyes are less yellow; indicating that the infection was in my liver.
...by getting rid of the prescription enzymes, which were causing painful intestinal gas. I even stopped taking the OTC enzymes; I am trusting my own digestive tract and watching what I eat even more carefully.
...even though I have lost weight down to 170 lbs. I am using suspenders to keep my pants from falling off my hips.
...enough to preach on Sunday morning and make it through with plenty of energy.
...enough to complete a plumbing project, digging up the line going to our grease trap and replacing the elbow. The hole was dug by Denny Nelson and his grandson, Zack Nelson. Without their help, I couldn't have completed the project.
...but giving up working at Sears this past week. I need to conserve my energy for what I enjoy. I did tune two pianos last week, so I have some funds continuing to come in.

Go, Pokes!

It's that time again; disappointing football seasons at OSU. Now this year, we have no expectations, so any win will be exciting.

Ron, Linda, and Jim, we can still be thankful for basketball, wrestling, golf, and baseball. These have traditionally been reasonable teams for us.

I feel better today, but I had 99.4 degrees of fever this afternoon. I guess I need those antibiotic shots a while longer.

Doctor Visits Needed
* After my chilling spell on Sunday, I went to see Dr. Girouard on Monday. She increased my pain medication; ordered prescription enzymes; and started a round of antibiotic shots. They seem to be helping, but the jaundiced skin and the high bilirubin in my urine are still there.
* This week will be spent going back and forth to the doctor's office. Another shot today for the third one.
* I am still losing weight, but that is a good thing, isn't it? I am still considered overweight for my height, but my face sure looks sunken. I have very few now saying that I look good.
* I did go to our Goldenagers recreation night for 3 hours last night, since I was feeling better. Today we go to the Beaver Senior Citizens Center to eat and play bridge or pitch.

Health Updates
* I fought throughout the weekend with fever and fever blisters on my upper lip, in my nose, and on my tongue. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to sing for Krista's wedding. With much water and prayer, I was able to make it through, but on Sunday morning during the preaching, I started chilling and running fever. When I got home, my temperature was 102.8 degrees.
* This morning the chills/fever hit at 8:30 a.m., so I didn't go to work. We went to the doctor to check out the chills/fever. She gave me an antibiotic shot and another tomorrow. She increased my pain medication, because I had begun to take it every 4 hours. She has written a prescription for enzymes; she doesn't feel they will help, but I wanted them. My over-the-counter enzymes aren't helping with the digestion problems. I can't eat much of anything, so I am drinking Glucerna and Boost for meal replacements.
* Sorry, I haven't felt much like blogging or doing anything else. I worked 3 hours on Saturday before the wedding; I taught Sunday School yesterday. Some day this week, I have two pianos tuned.