The Unknown!

Awww, the unknown...don't we all love it?! You would think with all of the things we have gone through that it would be such an easy thing to handle. Well, I guess Brian handles it really well. For myself, well it pretty much drives me crazy. LOL I just like to have a plan. Good grief, I have a spread sheet that forecasts our estimated future expenses and income. I am such a dork! God is definitely using this time to grow me in the area of trust for our future!

Most of the job application deadlines have closed and Brian received 4 interview requests out of the 9 he applied to. That is pretty good actually. Some students only received 2 or 3. This economy has definitely affected those "recently graduated" available accounting positions. Three of his interviews are next week and then one interview is the following week. We would appreciate your prayers. The competition is fierce and some of the jobs would require a move. That is huge for us as it's not very easy for us to be able to move with my illness. However, if an Atlanta position opened up for us, we would really consider the opportunity as it would get me closer to my doctor and we would be near my sis at the same time! Phoenix is another possibility for us, however that would be going in the opposite direction of my doc, so that would be a hard decision to make.

Personally, I am trying not to dwell on the "what ifs" as far as what we will do if nothing is offered. Brian seems to handle that part a bit better than me. I am so proud of him and the wonderful job he does at interviewing! He will be an incredible employee, it's just hard to get that initial foot in the door. If offers are extended after multiple rounds of interviewing, we should know by mid to end of November. God has always provided for us and we know He will come through this time also (I am working on rehersing that in my head daily!). Thank you so much for praying!

As far as a health update, I am doing much better than I was on Sunday and Monday. My last blog post was written in the morning/early afternoon and I wasn't feeling great towards the end of my treatment segment, but everything was pretty tolerable. However, after my last dose of this drug called Flagyl, I experienced a horrible herx reaction (the definition is in the link, "About Lyme", above) to the medication. My head felt so pressurized that it literally felt like my brain was being pushed through my skull. I know that is kind of a vivid picture, but I seriously can't describe it any other way. There was not pain, thank goodness, but the pressure was so bad that I had a hard time focusing and walking around. I called the nurse asap in the morning and she said it was probably brain inflammation (that is a pleasant thought) from the die-off reaction of the bacteria.

Here is a bit of education so you can understand. The Lyme bacteria is encased in a biofilm or small sac-like cell. In order for the antibiotics to work effectively, Flagyl is used to bust the biofilm open. When this happens, inflammation can occur. It is an incredible unpleasant and scary reaction (can cause seizures etc), but the nurse said as long as I can feel it decreasing and not getting worse, it's not cause for concern. She said my doctor would probably adjust medication in the future so the repeat of my severe episode doesn't happen again. The pressure slowly decreased and finally last night, I could no longer feel it. My next treatment segment will be Wednesday, October 14th, however I have a phone appointment with my doctor on October 12th. Medications and my treatment plan will be adjusted at that time. Current prayer requests would be that the symptoms of my treatment would continue to subside. I have noticed some minor cognitive issues popping up after this round, however my doctor had warned me that this might happen. Please pray that those will be kept at bay. Also, please pray that I can get some sleep at night. The more treatment I do, the worse the insomnia gets. I have become too good of friends with 2AM. Ha! Thanks for your prayers!

Finally, I did end up getting hired for the Phone English Tutoring job assisting Koreans with their conversational English. I will be working 4 to 5 hours in the afternoon/early evening, but the pay is not very good. You only get paid $2 per their 10 minute lesson. If you aren't full (which my schedule is not), then you do not make very much. It does beat having to do my old job, so I am thankful for that. We are praying hard that God will open up another part-time work at home opportunity in the future that would help me earn more consistent income for our family. If anyone knows of anything, let me know! I start on Sunday and I am a bit nervous. The training was not very extensive and you have to smash in a lot of things in 10 minutes before you can move onto the next student. I am just going to do my best for the Lord as I know that is all that matters. He will take care of the rest!

Well, that is our update for now! I can't believe it's October already. Things seem to be flying by!!! I hope you are enjoying this wonderful fall weather. You are in our prayers!! Blessings!