Angels In Voice

We went from having cooler rainy weather to spring weather.  This week it's been so warm with temps in the mid 80's.  It's the end of February and we have all the fans going in the house and the air conditioner is about to come on any minute.  I am really not ready for the warm weather yet.  

Everyone here is doing well.  Candice and dad are feeling a lot better.  Dad lost nine pounds from being sick.  Mom, Jody and I were very fortunate and thankful that we didn't get it.  Candice goes for her three month follow up at Mayo clinic on Monday as well.  She is scheduled for lab work tomorrow morning.  She will have a CT scan and an MRI done Monday morning and has a follow up appointment with Dr. Mulligan that afternoon.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

I'm still dealing with the throat congestion from a sinus infection that I've had now for over two months.  I called Dr. Radford, our Pulmonologist, two weeks ago and she prescribed two rounds of Zithromax.  I finished taking it and haven't noticed much difference.  I scheduled an appointment with her for Monday morning after we're through with Candice's tests.  I really hope and pray we can get to the bottom of this, as it's still a struggle for me to sing.

These past two weeks we've been working on some new music for our upcoming HPS benefit concert which will be held Friday April 3rd at our church.  We enjoy working on new songs and playing around with different harmonies.  Candice and I are really excited about the upcoming concert.  We are also flying to NY for the HPS conference three weeks from now.  It will be so wonderful to see our friends again and meet some of the new HPSers who will be attending for the first time.  We look forward to attending the conference each year with our parents.

We also have been working on music for Good Friday and Easter.   It's all coming up so quickly.  I really can't believe we are saying goodbye to February, it just doesn't seem possible.  Please keep us in your prayers this coming week.  We're trusting God for a good clean report.  We will let you know how everything goes next week.  

Proverbs 3:5,6 NIV

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge  him, and he will make your paths straight.

We are enjoying the beautiful rainy and cooler weather today.  I love days like this.  It's refreshing for a change after having 70-80 degree weather last week.  It was getting to warm too fast and I'm not quite ready for that weather yet.

The results on Candice's lab work came back negative for cocci from the blood work, so it is not Valley Fever.  We were beginning to think it was more allergy related because her cough was more of a dry cough and it wasn't consistent.  She started feeling better last week and has had more energy the past couple weeks.  Early Saturday morning about 1:30, she woke up feeling very nauseous with stomach cramps.  Not long after that she started vomiting and had horrible diarrhea.  She vomited every half hour as well as going to the bathroom every hour.  Neither one of us got any sleep for about five hours.  I woke our parents up as well.  Mom gave Candice a little soda, but she was unable to keep it down.  I know she was very miserable. Finally, after six o'clock the vomiting stopped and we were able to sleep for a few hours.  She woke up around 9:30 and she was running a fever of 101.5.  She took some Tylenol and it went down.  Later that evening she ran another fever.  Her immune system is so suppressed that she has to be very careful when it comes to flu's and viruses.  She was really sick with diarrhea all day Saturday.  We couldn't get her to eat very much, but we did get her to drink some.  We were more concerned about her becoming dehydrated.  Yesterday she started feeling a little better, but very exhausted.  Last night dad came down with the same thing around 9:30.  He was dealing with the same issues all night and today he is still in bed and feeling terrible.  We're praying the rest of us don't get this.  I have been feeling very tired the past few days and I'm still having chest and throat congestion.  I'm also praying that this clears up as we have a lot of singing events coming up that we need to be preparing and practicing for.  The Lord is in control and HE knows our needs.

We met with two new doctors last week, Dr. Beck an Ob/Gyn and and Dr. Suppiah an Endocrinologist.  Both doctors were very nice and neither of them has heard of HPS which didn't surprise us.  They were interested in hearing about it and willing to help us any way they can.  Dr. Suppiah, the Endocrinologist ordered fasting lab work and a dexascan which we have scheduled for this coming Thursday.  We are anxious to see how the osteoporosis is.  We both have gained weight and exercise more frequently now since our last dexascan four years ago.  We're praying that the osteoporosis hasn't caused more damage and that we have remained stable.  

Thank you for your continued prayers for the two of us as well as our family. 

Happy February!  WOW!! Where did January go? It just doesn't seem possible that we are already into a brand new month. We want to thank you all for your prayers.  We have some wonderful news to share with you.  Dad went for his bladder scope Monday morning and we're happy to say that he is still clear.  His next follow up will be in six months.  Praise God!!  Mom's follow up appointment with her eye surgeon went well on Monday.  Her eye is healing very nicely.  The doctor told her she was a great candidate for this type of surgery and she has responded exceedingly well.  It's amazing at how much better she can see out of the right eye.  Her next appointment will be in three weeks.  She is hoping to get a prescription for some new glasses which she will only need for reading purposes.

Our brother Jody had his defibrillator replaced Tuesday morning.  It was an out patient surgery so he came home that same day.  He is slowly recovering, but each day he is getting stronger and able to do a little more. 

Dad and I went and picked up my Ct scan report on Wednesday.  Overall it was a great report.  My lungs were clear and there was not much change compared to my last Ct scan two years ago.  There was no mention of Pulmonary Fibrosis, so I'm trusting that it hasn't changed from the last scan either.  Dr. Radford, our Pulmonologist, has requested to see the films.  I'm still having some coughing and it is taking me a long time to get over this chest congestion.  We both feel it's best to rest and take care of our health needs.  

We haven't yet received Candice's results from the lab work yet.  The test takes a week to get the results so we should hopefully hear something with in the next couple days.  This week she did not have a fever thankfully, but she is still coughing and having tightness in her chest.  She is scheduled for a follow up at the Mayo Clinic March 2nd.  We are praying that it is just allergies.  Our weather has been very warm here and there is definitely a lot of sickness going around.  

This past week we spent a lot of time cleaning through closets and dresser drawers.  Mom and Candice cleaned through our entire closet and reorganized everything.  Then Candice and I went through and reorganized a couple of our drawers.  We plan on having a garage sale this weekend.  There are so many things we don't wear or use any more.  Mom was mentioning last night how good it felt to have nice clean closets. We are very happy we got a lot accomplished!  

Candice and I have a couple of doctors appointments scheduled for this week.  We will be seeing some new doctors.  We pray the appointments wil go well and that we will be successful in educating these doctors about HPS.