Winter

While we may not have snow and freezing temperatures, it is our rainy season now and so most of our days are overcast and wet.  In early January, Ivan was feeling some discomfort in his neck.  This has been a recurrent thing ever since a car accident about 3 years ago.  It seems to come and go and usually with some physical therapy/massage it will go away.  This time, it did not go away and on January 22nd he suddenly had shooting pain from his neck, down his left arm, and a numbing/tingling in 3 fingers on his left hand.  Obviously, that was concerning, so he went in to see a doctor and started to get some tests done.  At night, the pain was so strong he couldn't sleep and decided to go to the emergency room to see if they could give him something for the pain.  A good friend of ours was staying at our house that night and kindly took him to the clinic in the middle of the night.  

This set off a series of events... unsurprisingly they immediately checked his heart and ran EKG and bloodwork.  Surprisingly, the cardiologist on call came back saying that Ivan's heart was NOT okay and he needed immediate heart surgery to get stents put in.  We were shocked and unsettled.  Due to some delays with our health insurance provider, the day was dragging on without much change.  Ivan (and I) felt like the diagnosis of his heart was sudden and rash.  Friends urged us to leave this clinic and get a second opinion.  We made our way to another, more reputable hospital and went through all the tests again.  This time, the diagnosis was that Ivan's heart was fine and nothing to worry about and that his pain in his arm was connected to tendonitis and he was referred to a specialist.  We were relieved to hear that he did not need heart surgery and at the same time horrified that the first clinic had been pressuring him into a completely unnecessary surgery!  

After meeting with a specialist, we got more clarity that he has 2 herniated discs (C5-C6) and this was the cause of his pain and discomfort and affecting his nerves in his left arm.  Since, then Ivan has been getting physical therapy and meeting with doctors to confirm whether he will need disc replacement surgery.  As of now, the specialist thinks he may be able to avoid surgery by focusing on physical therapy and in about a month we will do a follow-up appointment to check the progress.  

This has been a challenging time but we are so thankful for the many people who have reached out (both locally and far away) to check in on Ivan (and me) and pray for us.  We are reminded to continually trust God through every circumstance.  

Plans for the last several weeks quickly changed into rearranging our schedules around doctor's appointments and physical therapy openings.  I am so grateful to work from home and the flexibility that has allowed me in our day-to-day.  I continue to homeschool Benji and he is devouring books (this is when I long for local libraries but the Libby app helps).  February flew by and I can hardly believe it's already March!  

I joined a virtual BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) group in January and have been enjoying meeting with the group of women weekly on zoom to discuss the study.  Again, grateful for technology that allows for community across miles.  We just signed Benjamin up for recreational soccer in our neighborhood and I am praying that he will enjoy it and make some friends, too!  Spring is on the way!

Benji did a great job rock climbing!

We found this nest and eggs, exactly like this, in the fallen branch of a tree.  Isn't it amazing how the eggs fell out but still preserved?