Cliffs notes: Amelia's infection

He will make plain my duty when the time comes, and until then it is not my concern. We make our lives insupportably complex by disobeying Jesus' command to take no thought for tomorrow. Planning for tomorrow, when planning is necessary and possible, belongs properly to today. Worrying about tomorrow belongs nowhere. The Lord gives us daily, not weekly, bread. He gives strength according to our days, not our years. The work, the suffering, the joy of each day are given according to His careful measure. ~Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering

It became apparent to me that an abridged version might help some understand what Amelia is battling currently. As a nurse, I struggled with this all the time: immersed in medical jargon and mumble-jumble on one side of the door, and trying to make it clear without "dumbing it down" for the patient on the other side of the door. Apparently, I've lost some of that skill in my own personal version of medical chaos. I will try again here. Hope it helps! Here goes:

The fluid surrounding Amy's spinal cord has bacteria in it. The bacteria is rare and causes a slow-growing infection. The doctors at the U of M aren't willing to treat the infection because they feel it could be a contaminated sample. Aaron and I disagree: we feel Amy does have this infection. We are going to pursue treatment with IV antibiotics at another hospital.

Prayer requests for this week:

• Doctors in Eau Claire will be willing and able to give Amelia the IV antibiotics she needs
• Amelia will respond to the antibiotics and the infection will be killed
• The antibiotics will also cure Amelia's throat infection, which she has had since last July
• Amelia will be able to eat and gain back weight she has lost. In the past month, she has lost 4.5 pounds, and she is struggling to have the energy and desire to eat
• Amelia will quickly regain skills and brain function she has lost in the past 5 months
• Our marriage and our children will grow and flourish against all human odds under this continued stress
• Relationships at the U of M will be spared even though we are choosing something different than they recommend
• People will see the witness of Jesus in our family through what seems now to be a never-ending trial