Tuesday, 13 May 2014

A Minor Delay


Alright, time to catch y’all up to speed here.

Tomorrow morning at 6am our flight is leaving America, but not with us on it.

After having a whirlwind week of tests, doctor visits, procedures, and fundraising events, I was just ready for some normalcy. So I think I pretended the pain wasn’t there anymore when I tried to convince everyone that I was ready to head back to Zambia on time. [Pretty sure that’s what fear is. Escapism from the tough stuff even if its tremendously valuable and worth it; the pursuit of comfort. Yikes.]

With one bag fully packed, progress was being made, yet something inside me just felt unsettled.  Yes I could go back trusting God to heal me or manage the pain and that would be alright, but what if God was opening doors to receive healing and treatment through doctors here in America so that I could be fully healthy to be fully effective in Zambia? I’m pretty sure the latter was the case, because within a couple minutes, a doctor here in Raleigh opened up a space so that I could be seen immediately.

Side note: I have pretty extreme anxiety when it comes to anything medical related. I’ve passed out at the eye doctor before. Normal right? I used to be really embarrassed about it, but now I’m at the point that I could wear a t-shirt with it printed across the front and not really care. Yes it’s weird. No I don’t know where it came from, though I know having retired nurses surprise-stab me with a Hepatitis B shot during middle school gym class didn’t quite help with the whole thing. I can live over in Africa, survive just fine in dangerous and uncomfortable situations all by myself, but you will never find me alone at a doctor’s office. Crazy, huh? So all that mumbo jumbo to say- doctor’s visits are really hard for me. Procedures, blood tests, all that fun stuff pretty much knocks me out for an entire day.

So as exciting as it was to get to go to another doctor yesterday, it’s hard. But I am so grateful for God providing this much-needed appointment to continue testing to find the source of this pain. I am so appreciative of a medical team (and family) who knows my fears and is caring towards me.

To get fully caught up, here’s the deal: The doctor needed more time than 36 hours to find the source of my pain. So he’s calling for a series of pretty serious tests to narrow down the search. Tomorrow morning is a CT scan, Friday morning an upper endoscopy, and a gallbladder test to wrap it all up next week.

Should everything go according to plan, Wyatt and I will be heading back to Zambia on May 24. We are thankful for open seats on the exact same flight plan just pushed back a few days.

I really am so glad to have the opportunity to receive excellent healthcare while I’m here, and that this issue arose during my time here so it could be attended to properly. Somehow I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  So praise God for that.

I’ll try to post another recap after these tests have been done, and after I’ve re-watched every Julia Roberts movie as a means of bringing my nerves back down to normalcy after each day of tests.

In the meantime, it would mean so much to us if you wanted to join in praying:
- Praising and thanking God for His provision through doctors who care and whom He gifted in the field of medicine
- Prayers for peace that surpasses all understanding and an overcoming of a fear I’ve battled for over 10 years
- Prayers for thorough tests and wise doctors to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan
- Prayers for eyes and hearts that see and know that God is good and trustworthy and has plans far greater than we can fathom
- Prayers against any bit of discouragement that tries to creep in
- Praise for Elina, our in-country director, who keeps CiH running in our absence and loves those ladies just like Jesus does 

Thank y'all for your prayers, encouragement, checking in, and for being pretty amazing. God is truly glorified through y'all. 

Love,
Amy (and Wyatt)

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