A Day

It started out to be a rather good day.  No big rush.  One doctor's appointment in the morning, a chicken wrap at Dairy Queen (even passed up ice cream!) for lunch, then home for a quick rest stop before going to the second doctor’s appointment.

That was the important one.  The neurologist who would tell us about the test from last Friday that checked for Myasthenia Gravis.  That was our concern.

Until we heard the sirens.

With the Possum Kingdom fire still uncontrolled only 50 miles away, the drought leaving all of our plants crunching under foot, we knew wildfires were possible.  There simply isn’t enough water.  Lake Bridgeport is fifteen feet below where it should be, but today water had to be taken from the lake for the fire.

We saw the smoke when the sirens drew us outside. Smoke was billowing, but not far enough away.  We weren’t certain which way the wind was blowing, but it didn’t matter.  There was nothing we could do. So, we left the cats, dogs, goat, cows, donkey and our home with Second Daughter, who was keeping an eye on which way the wind was blowing and Beloved Husband and I headed into Fort Worth to the neurologist. The diagnosis was confirmed. Myasthenia Gravis.

There is one more CT scan he has requested, so another trip to the hospital some time in the next two weeks, then back to him to see if the medication is working on Beloved Husband’s symptoms. 

In the neurologist’s waiting room, Second Daughter called – the fire was moving north, away from us, but people we knew were in the path. Oddly enough, in a waiting room of about fifteen people, six of us were either from the fire area or had family there.  We spent a lot of time with texting, phone calls and web searches to find out what was happening.

We were safe, but fielding a lot of calls from people checking on us, and we were making calls checking on friends.  Oddly, even when I thought our home might be at risk, I was calm.  We were doing all we could, and it could not be enough if the flames headed our way.

It was not enough for our friend Cece and her husband.  They lost their mobile home and the new home they were building.  There was no time to save anything.  We’ve offered them our loft, but there were others in the church who have opened their homes, too.

We also learned yesterday that Second Daughter has to have spinal surgery, fusing between two sets of vertebrae, with a titanium butterfly patch screwing her head on straight!  I had that same operation (same doctor) several years ago, and First Daughter (same, same) just this last February.  Genetics!!!!

We had a call from my husband's Ohio brother-in-law (I wrote of him as Obil).  I mentioned in blogs back that his wife (Osil) had survived Hodgkins only to have problems thirty years later from the radiation.  Her heart valves are failing and within a week they will replace them.  Without that replacement her time with us would be a couple of months at most, though the surgery has many risks.

Anyway, our prayer list has grown in just a day – Cece and her husband, for strength to see them through their loss and rebuilding; Second Daughter, that her surgery and recovery mirror mine and her sister’s; our sweet Osil's heart and the operation to keep her with us longer; and Beloved Husband, as we adjust through his medication and the progression of this disease.

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: (1 Samuel 12:23a KJV)