Larry Update

  Several people have asked how Larry's doing and there's been some changes and tests done. So I think it's about time for an update! Besides the fact that my house is quiet right now (I know.. shocking eh!) , I really have no excuse not to write for a bit. (well... besides the fact that my floors need sweeping, laundry needs to be changed over and another load folded, etc...)

*I'll throw in a smattering of pics, since it's so much more fun that way. I'll show off Nathan today :)  *

So a few weeks ago Larry finally got "the scope" done. Until that point the dr's didn't have any answers for him at all and kept saying that we just needed to wait for the results of the scope. At that point, they were fairly certain that he had an ulcer and maybe sometimes else besides. They said that the symptoms were really bigger then just one issue. They tossed around the idea of IBS, (which we understood as "we have no idea what you have so lets call it IBS! lol) It was all very unnerving really, not having a clue what was going on, yet seeing him so sick. Anyways, that's all old news, you probably knew about.

Now the scope... well, after waiting an extra 4 hours (with no food or drink for a day before that) the scope happened. I was actually hoping to hear it was an ulcer or something nice and fixable like that. But... everything came back clear. They said his stomach and bowels were just perfect, no cysts or polyps or anything! Well, that's good news!! But... partly if felt like scary news too... The dr told us that if there truly was an issue in his body, that the mystery is now far greater and much more difficult to find. Nice. All the simple tests had been done. And after talking to a dr back at home here we got the impression that pretty much they wait and see if he gets worse now or better. More waiting. Nice... again.

Nathan "reading" to Emily

So, being that I'm a bit of a worrier (trying not to be!) I did ask if there was any other way to make sure that cancer was crossed off the list. This was my biggest worry because of his past history and because I think I'm a little paranoid since a young husband and father in our community died last year after they told him this thing and that and they didn't think he had cancer..etc... I actually brought that up with the dr and he told me that in this other fellow's case, he was misdiagnosed. Oh, good to know! Are the same people checking over Larry's tests??? At the time, Larry wasn't doing well either, so that was unnerving too. It seems that the scope set him off and the pain was terrible again. Anyways, after bringing that up, the dr suggested that we do an MRI, to really check everything out. So, we wait for that.

Tuckered out (note the food on his head!)

But in the mean time... Larry is actually improving. A lot! Now he's had good times and not so good times before, but the past few days have been the best in a long time! Either it's just another wave of a good time, or hopefully, he's getting better!

He's been seeing a nurtipath (like a naturopath, but focus's more on personal nutrition and she is also a biochemist, so she uses a lot of chemistry type stuff to test the body) for the last three weeks and maybe it's helping. She was able to nail now a lot of what was wrong with him just from looking at her tests (Larry won't tell them too much info, he likes to see what they can figure out, lol, crazy guy). Anyways, we're thinking that perhaps it's a combo of both. The scope had everything cleared out of Larry and it probably made it easier for natural stuff to work then too. He saw her again yesterday and she's seeing improvement. And since he's feeling improvement, we agree with her! Her guess is, that his body literally crashed (back in November) from lack of enzymes. She's given him a bunch to help with this and so far...so good. We'll see! But I'm soooo thankful for the good days right now! Seeing him in pain is awful... Seeing him in pain and knowing he's pushing himself to go to work is awful too.


                            Nathan, sitting on top of our piano, longingly wishing he could be "helping" Daddy

The interesting and really, beautiful,  part of hardships is the growth. It hurts so much. Or maybe I'm just a whiner. But still, I'm sooo very thankful (later) for the hardship because of the lessons learned in them. This has really really really really... ehem.. really, stretched me on the issue of fear. It was really scary, the thought of facing a life without Larry. Well, it still is. I think most anyone would say that about the idea of loosing anyone you love. But, for me... fear can grip me pretty easily. And it did. I cried every day. Everyday... (thank you pregnancy hormones!) I worried and fretted and wondered  and what if'd. And I realized that the problem was way to big for me... and I couldn't live like that anymore. I hope I won't pick that up again either. I decided that I needed to plan on Larry being well, that this is just a bump in the road and yes yes, perhaps try to ignore the issue slightly, but... at the same time, it wasn't ignoring the issue... It was focusing on the good and on God's goodness. It was actually really hard for me to accept that God really wanted good for me, for us. That he didn't want to make me a widow to make me more holy cause I don't have enough self control to bring that about on my own. Thus, the past post about it being more about loving God, then doing everything right.. So, even though the journey for me wasn't through physical pain, like Larry's... There felt like a lot of pain. Larry had to endure both! And we both see good in the growth, and in the pain... And hopefully... we're gonna start looking back on it now! When Larry went through cancer I used to always tell myself over and over... "Someday this is just gonna be a memory and it won't hurt then" That is now a memory... I hope we're now on the path to this being a memory too! I'll try to keep you all posted. Either way, I'm so so very thankful for the good days Larry is having right now!