The Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Deuteronomy 13:3
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Knower of our weaknesses, there is trouble everywhere. Even our hours of pleasure are commingled with hardships and threats of despair. With much thanks for your grace, we rest forever loved and blessed in your ever-presence every day. Amen.
I have been so flooded with wonderful blessings lately... but as this prayer shares truthfully... in this life we are so susceptible to hardships and threats of despair thanks to the wiles of the devil in this world. I am so incredibly thankful for the grace and love of our EVER-PRESENT God... Especially as he revealed himself through Jesus, our Savior... who gave us his "paraclete" - the Holy Spirit, to live within us... to strengthen, encourage, comfort, lovingly guide us to know him more and glorify God - making him known to all the world!!!!
Oh dear... God, please give me the grace and discipline to make it a priority to share more of the blessed thoughts you've filled me head with for the building up of your Body, my brothers and sisters in the family you have magnificently created... and are continuously shaping to join you in your redemptive plans for this broken world..
I love you, Lord... and I lift my voice... to honor you, oh my soul, rejoice! Take JOY my King, in what you hear... and may it be a sweet, sweet sound.. in your ear.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Keeping the main thing the main thing...
So, just after I posted the post right before this one... I read this:
Paul wrote, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.“ - 2 Timothy 4:5
Paul calls Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” We say it so often: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Cultivating a constant burden for the lost and striving toward consistent witness keeps the heart in touch with the heart and mission of Jesus, who came to “seek and to save those who are lost.” It is easy to get so absorbed in keeping the aquarium that we lose our passion to fish for men.
Yup...
And... I've also been thinking a lot about the whole "fishing" analogy. I won't exhaustively type out all of the thoughts about it now - but I challenge you to think about the "fishing for men" analogy. ;) PLEASE post comments with your thoughts if you have the time to share. :)
Okay... now I'm going fishing... ;)
Paul wrote, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.“ - 2 Timothy 4:5
Paul calls Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” We say it so often: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Cultivating a constant burden for the lost and striving toward consistent witness keeps the heart in touch with the heart and mission of Jesus, who came to “seek and to save those who are lost.” It is easy to get so absorbed in keeping the aquarium that we lose our passion to fish for men.
Yup...
And... I've also been thinking a lot about the whole "fishing" analogy. I won't exhaustively type out all of the thoughts about it now - but I challenge you to think about the "fishing for men" analogy. ;) PLEASE post comments with your thoughts if you have the time to share. :)
Okay... now I'm going fishing... ;)
Livin' Out Love... we better be sharin'!
**Warning - this isn't a "nice and tidy" worded e-mail... this is a product of my word bursting important thoughts. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered to scour through it and re-word it much better at this time... but I'm sick of withholding the blessing of sharing these thoughts with you. So I pray this is encouraging to someone!! :) **
Recently, I have been blown away by the opportunities I've been given to explain my faith to new friends who don't yet know what it means to have a personal relationship with God...
And as I've been sharing with them, and then shared the stories of the joy of sharing with them with others - it has reminded me of our need to practice speaking the amazing truth of the Gospel. Not only should we share with those who don't know and don't believe it yet, we should also share with those who "already know" because... guess what, the mercies and truths have this beautiful way of being fresh and vibrant each new time you hear them (because it's ALIVE!!). AND, as you're sharing, wow - you just keep seeing things in an exciting new light yourself.
What a beautiful gift - and what beautiful pictures and analogies the Holy Spirit brings to mind as I've attempted to share and explain the reason for the hope, joy, love, and peace that spills out of me. I am praying all of you will ask God to help you take advantage of the privilege to share your faith in words - and may you be filled with the confidence and boldness and clarity you need when you need it... and even if you seem to think you lack the understanding, and the right words to explain, may you resist the devil lying to you in that moment trying to distract you, making you feel like you can't be used to communicate truth to someone. Oh, because, please, everyone, (and i'm saying this to myself even more than anyone else) REMEMBER that we are the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit - the presence of God to be shared with others - to point to Christ, to make that glorious truth known...
Oh God, PLEASE, HELP US!! :) It's all about you and for you... and it's SO neat that you've invited us to participate in the joy and even the struggle of the process of pouring out your love to humans - filthy, unholy, defiled sinners... until you came along to replace that with your righteousness - amazing grace.. amazing love... amazing. Amazing God, we love you, oh, but help us love you and know you ever more and more!! ;) Thanks for your faithfulness to us even when we are not faithful to you. In your precious name we have the privilege to pray and talk with you, and I say, thank you, right on, uh huh... AMEN!! :)
Recently, I have been blown away by the opportunities I've been given to explain my faith to new friends who don't yet know what it means to have a personal relationship with God...
And as I've been sharing with them, and then shared the stories of the joy of sharing with them with others - it has reminded me of our need to practice speaking the amazing truth of the Gospel. Not only should we share with those who don't know and don't believe it yet, we should also share with those who "already know" because... guess what, the mercies and truths have this beautiful way of being fresh and vibrant each new time you hear them (because it's ALIVE!!). AND, as you're sharing, wow - you just keep seeing things in an exciting new light yourself.
What a beautiful gift - and what beautiful pictures and analogies the Holy Spirit brings to mind as I've attempted to share and explain the reason for the hope, joy, love, and peace that spills out of me. I am praying all of you will ask God to help you take advantage of the privilege to share your faith in words - and may you be filled with the confidence and boldness and clarity you need when you need it... and even if you seem to think you lack the understanding, and the right words to explain, may you resist the devil lying to you in that moment trying to distract you, making you feel like you can't be used to communicate truth to someone. Oh, because, please, everyone, (and i'm saying this to myself even more than anyone else) REMEMBER that we are the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit - the presence of God to be shared with others - to point to Christ, to make that glorious truth known...
Oh God, PLEASE, HELP US!! :) It's all about you and for you... and it's SO neat that you've invited us to participate in the joy and even the struggle of the process of pouring out your love to humans - filthy, unholy, defiled sinners... until you came along to replace that with your righteousness - amazing grace.. amazing love... amazing. Amazing God, we love you, oh, but help us love you and know you ever more and more!! ;) Thanks for your faithfulness to us even when we are not faithful to you. In your precious name we have the privilege to pray and talk with you, and I say, thank you, right on, uh huh... AMEN!! :)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Slip and Slide, TAKE TWO!
**Quick disclaimer... I ran out of time to read over this for edits, and the pictures were giving me fits, so hopefully I'll update it to a more readable and well-laid out version ASAP.
Unfortunately... my slip and slide adventures haven't ended since my last post.
Oh on, in fact, they have intensified, haha.
You can find all my bruise pictures on facebook if you hunt through to the end of one of my albums... but so start this lovely post, I'll just include the big kahuna for you here:
On that note... let me tell you about a few more slip and slides!
Naw, wait, how about a success story first! I climbed a couple of mountains while out at the campsite property this August... and the first one, while I acquired plenty of scrapes because of the thorny bushes on our "path," I actually didn't have any major falls or slips! And here was my rewarding view at the top! :)
And after climbing this... and sweating profusely... a few people crazily on a whim decided to run our "treacherous" rocky path (that took us an hour to get there on!) back to camp, and the others of us hopped in the boat.
BUT.. then me and a friend couldn't ignore the calling of the cool water beneath us... soooo, we jumped out about here... and swam back for some... 15-20 minutes! :) I'm working on my triathlon skills. Where's my bike! Ha, how 'bout mountain biking down this next mountain?!?!... yeah right!
On this one, I wasn't quite so lucky with the slipping and sliding... It was SUPER steep, and although the path was more clearly defined, it was quite a challenge to avoid rock sliding! The hike up went quite well, I must say. We pushed ourselves too, and made it in less than 40 minutes! I'll admit there was plenty of huffing and puffing (and a bit of crawling) involved by the end... but I assure you, this was the easy part!
It took us just as long, if not slightly longer, to make our way down! I so wished there was snow on it... haha. A couple of the boys with us RAN on ahead, and oh my goodness, I had visions of them rolling all the way down into a pool of blood at the bottom. They were NUTS I thought! But nonethless, the rock slide surfing was going pretty good for me, and I was keeping a pretty good pace. Everyone "fell" (that is, slipped enough to pretty much just lean back and go from 90 degrees to 80 degrees with rocks on your back, ha) atleast a few times... and I'm proud to say I just fell once... but oh goodness.. that once gave me another big honker of a bruise, and another aching twist in my low back... shoot. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up in that moment... but I just kept pressing on and finally made it down to level ground. Then we rode the boat over to the pick up point... and rather insanely, hopped out of the boat to let guests be taken over, and proceded to run the hiking path over to the property. It was one of those exhausting but incredibly good feeling runs... and at the end, jumping right into the sea was definitely a reward well worth it all! :)
The other slip and slide stories are less glamorous... but just as painful (or more!) unfortunately.
While deep cleaning the guys bathroom trailer... I slipped on the steps right outside the door. The steps and the bottom of my flip flops were slick and wet, and I had my hands full of cleaning supplies so I couldn't catch or steady myself. I looked just like a goofy cartoon whose feet sweeps out from underneath him and they land on their butts usually breaking through the stairs, a bucket of water on their head, and little birdies flying around... I didn't break the stairs, but they definitely left their colorful imprint on me (like I said, those bruise pictures can be found buried in my facebook albums if you're curious enough!)! I didn't have a bucket of water on my head, but I did have the little toilet cleaner brush basins fall over onto me. Thank the LORD we had just FINISHED cleaning them and filling them up with CLEAN BLEACH instead of ... well, yeah, you know, lol. AND, as far as I know, there were no stars or birdies around my head... now bees and flies - highly likely, LOL. Oh... and I still finished cleaning the bathrooms... and ate a chocolate bar as a reward for myself! :)
And... just like last time, with the slip and sliding down the streets or up the stairs stories... now I have to ashamedly add bus steps to that. Good grief, I didn't realize I was so clumsy. But sure enough, bout lost my flip flop underneath the bus the other day while I was trying to climb up onto it with my hands full of grocery bags and my big envelope of cat scan x-rays. Oh, wait a site I must have been. This time it was the old ladies looking at me with the look of concern trying to help me get up onto the bus!!
Which reminds me... old ladies slipping and falling... yeah, just the other day on my way to work, one fell down in front of me. I actually missed it because she was behind a car, but after hearing it and walking around it... and seeing her laying on her back on the ground, eyes clothes, hand up over her head... I was scared she had dropped dead! Thank goodness she saw and heard me when I stuck out my hand, asked if she was okay, and could help her up. It was fun to understand her Greek words of gratitude and thanks. :)
Okay, that's enough rambling on this slip and slide saga for today. I'm off to fly on a plane to Ireland, woohoo!! Hopefully I don't slip and slide there, ah!
Unfortunately... my slip and slide adventures haven't ended since my last post.
Oh on, in fact, they have intensified, haha.
You can find all my bruise pictures on facebook if you hunt through to the end of one of my albums... but so start this lovely post, I'll just include the big kahuna for you here:
On that note... let me tell you about a few more slip and slides!
Naw, wait, how about a success story first! I climbed a couple of mountains while out at the campsite property this August... and the first one, while I acquired plenty of scrapes because of the thorny bushes on our "path," I actually didn't have any major falls or slips! And here was my rewarding view at the top! :)
And after climbing this... and sweating profusely... a few people crazily on a whim decided to run our "treacherous" rocky path (that took us an hour to get there on!) back to camp, and the others of us hopped in the boat.
BUT.. then me and a friend couldn't ignore the calling of the cool water beneath us... soooo, we jumped out about here... and swam back for some... 15-20 minutes! :) I'm working on my triathlon skills. Where's my bike! Ha, how 'bout mountain biking down this next mountain?!?!... yeah right!
On this one, I wasn't quite so lucky with the slipping and sliding... It was SUPER steep, and although the path was more clearly defined, it was quite a challenge to avoid rock sliding! The hike up went quite well, I must say. We pushed ourselves too, and made it in less than 40 minutes! I'll admit there was plenty of huffing and puffing (and a bit of crawling) involved by the end... but I assure you, this was the easy part!
It took us just as long, if not slightly longer, to make our way down! I so wished there was snow on it... haha. A couple of the boys with us RAN on ahead, and oh my goodness, I had visions of them rolling all the way down into a pool of blood at the bottom. They were NUTS I thought! But nonethless, the rock slide surfing was going pretty good for me, and I was keeping a pretty good pace. Everyone "fell" (that is, slipped enough to pretty much just lean back and go from 90 degrees to 80 degrees with rocks on your back, ha) atleast a few times... and I'm proud to say I just fell once... but oh goodness.. that once gave me another big honker of a bruise, and another aching twist in my low back... shoot. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up in that moment... but I just kept pressing on and finally made it down to level ground. Then we rode the boat over to the pick up point... and rather insanely, hopped out of the boat to let guests be taken over, and proceded to run the hiking path over to the property. It was one of those exhausting but incredibly good feeling runs... and at the end, jumping right into the sea was definitely a reward well worth it all! :)
The other slip and slide stories are less glamorous... but just as painful (or more!) unfortunately.
While deep cleaning the guys bathroom trailer... I slipped on the steps right outside the door. The steps and the bottom of my flip flops were slick and wet, and I had my hands full of cleaning supplies so I couldn't catch or steady myself. I looked just like a goofy cartoon whose feet sweeps out from underneath him and they land on their butts usually breaking through the stairs, a bucket of water on their head, and little birdies flying around... I didn't break the stairs, but they definitely left their colorful imprint on me (like I said, those bruise pictures can be found buried in my facebook albums if you're curious enough!)! I didn't have a bucket of water on my head, but I did have the little toilet cleaner brush basins fall over onto me. Thank the LORD we had just FINISHED cleaning them and filling them up with CLEAN BLEACH instead of ... well, yeah, you know, lol. AND, as far as I know, there were no stars or birdies around my head... now bees and flies - highly likely, LOL. Oh... and I still finished cleaning the bathrooms... and ate a chocolate bar as a reward for myself! :)
And... just like last time, with the slip and sliding down the streets or up the stairs stories... now I have to ashamedly add bus steps to that. Good grief, I didn't realize I was so clumsy. But sure enough, bout lost my flip flop underneath the bus the other day while I was trying to climb up onto it with my hands full of grocery bags and my big envelope of cat scan x-rays. Oh, wait a site I must have been. This time it was the old ladies looking at me with the look of concern trying to help me get up onto the bus!!
Which reminds me... old ladies slipping and falling... yeah, just the other day on my way to work, one fell down in front of me. I actually missed it because she was behind a car, but after hearing it and walking around it... and seeing her laying on her back on the ground, eyes clothes, hand up over her head... I was scared she had dropped dead! Thank goodness she saw and heard me when I stuck out my hand, asked if she was okay, and could help her up. It was fun to understand her Greek words of gratitude and thanks. :)
Okay, that's enough rambling on this slip and slide saga for today. I'm off to fly on a plane to Ireland, woohoo!! Hopefully I don't slip and slide there, ah!
An "inconvenient" adventure, TAKE TWO!
So... how about a quick update on my doctor situation? :)
Basically, if you'll skip down to my last post and analyze that diagram of random letters and numbers... you can pretty much just add 5 "C-11's" to the end, haha. + calls and texts to 09.
I did have to go back and have another CATscan... but thankfully I didn't have to pay for it. For fun, just to add even more extra adventure, on my way there I hopped on a different random bus going in the same direction to see if I could still find my way there... it went way past the road my other bus goes on, but I walked a few blocks in the RIGHT directions from the other bus stop, and still found the place. Boo-yah! I was so proud of myself!! :)
This time it went much quicker as well... haha, but almost too quick - I didn't feel like I had to pass out this time - maybe because they let me lay down the whole time instead of moving from room to room and sitting in different chairs after they inject me with medicine, hehe - BUT, they did squirt my blood all over the place and popped my blood vessel where they stuck the IV in... oops!
Anyhoo... the next day I went back again to pick up the results. I couldn't read them, of course... but it was a longer report than the last time, so I assumed they at least saw something this time! The secretaries in the office that night weren't the same ones that I'd started to become friends with, and they were a little less willing to help out a poor, dumb, English-speaking girl, haha. So I decided it really didn't bother me to wait another day to know what was wrong with me!
On the way home, however, I drove through an area where I'd been to another doctor a couple times before, so I got off the bus and walked to doc R5's to see if he could see anything in the results, or at least read them for me! Turns out the office was completely torn apart, ha - must be remodeling, and no one was around... *sigh. Abandoned... I just laughed, and bought some chocolate from the kiosk before walking back to the bus stop to go... not home, but to a friend's place for some fun, lol.
But then... my wonderful oral surgeon calls me that night. Now, back up just a second - I have to tell you about this last guy (O9 on the diagram, lol). He has been incredibly patient and helpful and concerned for me the entire time. He called up the CATscan place to make sure they'd let me go through another one for free, and to reiterate exactly the area and type of scan he had asked them to do in the first place. He has also been the best at explaining what could possibly be going on to me. And now... he listened to me as I stumbled through reading the Greek on the report to him over the phone. I sounded like a first-grader just learning to read, lol. He made me read it twice, ha.
It basically said that they can't see anything major wrong in my skull, but they do see the swelled area, and recommend getting an MRI next. My doc just said to wait until we both get back from our vacation times, and he'll have a look at everything and recommend what to do next. So, for now, I just keep living with this swollen bump in my lower right jaw... It hasn't been horribly painful as of late, just quite tender, so that's nice... but about every other week it puffs out my cheek bigger than normal, joy... cute, haha. :P There are worst things; I shall not complain. :)
Ah, in the meantime... I should be sending in all my x-ray/CATscan bills into my insurance company... whoops! Better get on that.
Until the next update... :) Keep praying the cause will be found so it can just all go away. Also pray that I'll think of some creative, good ways to stay in contact with all the doctors and nurses and secretaries... and to encourage them and thank them for helping me! :) Lord - let your light that's alive in me, shine on them. Help them ALL to know you!! :)
Basically, if you'll skip down to my last post and analyze that diagram of random letters and numbers... you can pretty much just add 5 "C-11's" to the end, haha. + calls and texts to 09.
I did have to go back and have another CATscan... but thankfully I didn't have to pay for it. For fun, just to add even more extra adventure, on my way there I hopped on a different random bus going in the same direction to see if I could still find my way there... it went way past the road my other bus goes on, but I walked a few blocks in the RIGHT directions from the other bus stop, and still found the place. Boo-yah! I was so proud of myself!! :)
This time it went much quicker as well... haha, but almost too quick - I didn't feel like I had to pass out this time - maybe because they let me lay down the whole time instead of moving from room to room and sitting in different chairs after they inject me with medicine, hehe - BUT, they did squirt my blood all over the place and popped my blood vessel where they stuck the IV in... oops!
Anyhoo... the next day I went back again to pick up the results. I couldn't read them, of course... but it was a longer report than the last time, so I assumed they at least saw something this time! The secretaries in the office that night weren't the same ones that I'd started to become friends with, and they were a little less willing to help out a poor, dumb, English-speaking girl, haha. So I decided it really didn't bother me to wait another day to know what was wrong with me!
On the way home, however, I drove through an area where I'd been to another doctor a couple times before, so I got off the bus and walked to doc R5's to see if he could see anything in the results, or at least read them for me! Turns out the office was completely torn apart, ha - must be remodeling, and no one was around... *sigh. Abandoned... I just laughed, and bought some chocolate from the kiosk before walking back to the bus stop to go... not home, but to a friend's place for some fun, lol.
But then... my wonderful oral surgeon calls me that night. Now, back up just a second - I have to tell you about this last guy (O9 on the diagram, lol). He has been incredibly patient and helpful and concerned for me the entire time. He called up the CATscan place to make sure they'd let me go through another one for free, and to reiterate exactly the area and type of scan he had asked them to do in the first place. He has also been the best at explaining what could possibly be going on to me. And now... he listened to me as I stumbled through reading the Greek on the report to him over the phone. I sounded like a first-grader just learning to read, lol. He made me read it twice, ha.
It basically said that they can't see anything major wrong in my skull, but they do see the swelled area, and recommend getting an MRI next. My doc just said to wait until we both get back from our vacation times, and he'll have a look at everything and recommend what to do next. So, for now, I just keep living with this swollen bump in my lower right jaw... It hasn't been horribly painful as of late, just quite tender, so that's nice... but about every other week it puffs out my cheek bigger than normal, joy... cute, haha. :P There are worst things; I shall not complain. :)
Ah, in the meantime... I should be sending in all my x-ray/CATscan bills into my insurance company... whoops! Better get on that.
Until the next update... :) Keep praying the cause will be found so it can just all go away. Also pray that I'll think of some creative, good ways to stay in contact with all the doctors and nurses and secretaries... and to encourage them and thank them for helping me! :) Lord - let your light that's alive in me, shine on them. Help them ALL to know you!! :)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
An "inconvenient" adventure...
Listen to my journey with a crazy physical health issue I've been dealing with the last couple of months...
Beginning of May...
Off and on for one week, whenever I'm plodding down the big hill on my way to work, there is an odd, annoying sensitivity in my jaw/gums/teeth area of the back right side of my mouth.
A couple of weeks later...
One day there appears a very noticeable swelling in the "crevice" between my right cheek and jaw/gums. Hmm... wonder what that is?
I ignore it for about a week...
It didn't hurt too badly, but it bothered me a bit because it was obviously abnormal.
Then, let the pain begin...
I went to hug a friend one day that first week of June, and my face bumped their shoulder just in the "right" spot. OUCH!! I could no longer ignore the subtle dull pain that was now growing into a constant pain that continues to be swollen and irritable. For a couple days it became challenging to open my jaw as far as normal... eh, not good... hehe
So... the doctor marathon begins...
I first go to a dentist recommended by friends in the mission. Very nice guy who we'll call D1. He sends me to get an x-ray at a different place a ways up the main road... then I go back to him, and he can't help me so he sends me on to the first specialist...
Let's just make a diagram: (the initial represents the name of the place, a new line equals a new day, and the new numbers are a running total of the number of places I've been or doctors I've tried to contact...)
D1 => X2 => D1
E3 => R4 => F5
R4
P6 => O7?
O8?
P6
O9 => E10
C11
C11 => O9
C11
C11??
O7???
O8???
...........?????????
Alright, that may not make much sense to you, but it definitely does to me! Each of these symbols represents a relationship with a new doctor, dentist, endodonist, x-ray man, radiologist, cat-scan person, nurse, doctor's assistant, receptionist, pharmacist, periodontist, oral surgeon, or??... even a bus driver!! That nearly sums it up... :)
All this, and I still unfortunately have no answer about what is wrong with me.
I had been waiting to even post this story because I was hoping to finally have some sort of answer before I did... but it turns out the CATscan results I brought to the oral surgeon tonight are not complete enough to see the swelled area... soooo, yeah, there's a chance I'll have to get another CATscan... blah. :(
Some possible theories for this problem...
It could be related to the surgery I had to remove my wisdom teeth 1.5 years ago... (which I was fully awake for, what an adventure!... including not having enough numbing stuff (or laughing gas for that matter, sheepers!!) and totally feeling them start the cutting process, and nearly choking on a piece of tooth at one point... aaaand, then having the entire De Jong family pictures that night, haha! aaaanyhoo...)
The issue with this theory being the right one is that I have had MANY "teeth" people negate it by assuring that the tooth is vital. (a.k.a. - the possible damaged root isn't bad enough to cause this type of odd swelling infection(?))
If it is truly an infection of some kind, what else could be infected in that area? And why would it not have completely drained and gone away when one part did split open a bit and bleed and ooze some one night... or go away after I was taking antibiotics for one week...
Will I get another CATscan? eh? I have no idea... sure hope I don't have to pay for it again if I do!! I'll remember to eat a little more before I go this time so I don't have to almost pass out again!
This has been quite the process... but through it all I've
- developed even more confidence to handle stuff like this on my own,
- met a lot of nice doctors and other people,
- learned a bit more about how my insurance works,
- understood some new medical terms in Greek,
- conceded not to beat myself up for taking the time to deal with this "inconvenient" issue...
- and yeah, just a bunch of other good things have come out of this experience. And now I'll be able to recommend good doctors to people, and I can relate to others that have to have a CATscan or their teeth vitality checked or... the list goes on! :)
I like this prayer from an encouragement/daily scripture & prayer e-mail I get each day... May you come to know your Divine Healer intimately! :)
O Divine Healer, we thank you for the ways in which you transform our lives. Thank you for healing our bodies, minds, and souls. With lives transformed by you, we go out today to tell others of the wonderful ways in which you have blessed us. Amen.
Thanks to all who have been encouraging me and praying for me through this unique adventure... :)
Beginning of May...
Off and on for one week, whenever I'm plodding down the big hill on my way to work, there is an odd, annoying sensitivity in my jaw/gums/teeth area of the back right side of my mouth.
A couple of weeks later...
One day there appears a very noticeable swelling in the "crevice" between my right cheek and jaw/gums. Hmm... wonder what that is?
I ignore it for about a week...
It didn't hurt too badly, but it bothered me a bit because it was obviously abnormal.
Then, let the pain begin...
I went to hug a friend one day that first week of June, and my face bumped their shoulder just in the "right" spot. OUCH!! I could no longer ignore the subtle dull pain that was now growing into a constant pain that continues to be swollen and irritable. For a couple days it became challenging to open my jaw as far as normal... eh, not good... hehe
So... the doctor marathon begins...
I first go to a dentist recommended by friends in the mission. Very nice guy who we'll call D1. He sends me to get an x-ray at a different place a ways up the main road... then I go back to him, and he can't help me so he sends me on to the first specialist...
Let's just make a diagram: (the initial represents the name of the place, a new line equals a new day, and the new numbers are a running total of the number of places I've been or doctors I've tried to contact...)
D1 => X2 => D1
E3 => R4 => F5
R4
P6 => O7?
O8?
P6
O9 => E10
C11
C11 => O9
C11
C11??
O7???
O8???
...........?????????
Alright, that may not make much sense to you, but it definitely does to me! Each of these symbols represents a relationship with a new doctor, dentist, endodonist, x-ray man, radiologist, cat-scan person, nurse, doctor's assistant, receptionist, pharmacist, periodontist, oral surgeon, or??... even a bus driver!! That nearly sums it up... :)
All this, and I still unfortunately have no answer about what is wrong with me.
I had been waiting to even post this story because I was hoping to finally have some sort of answer before I did... but it turns out the CATscan results I brought to the oral surgeon tonight are not complete enough to see the swelled area... soooo, yeah, there's a chance I'll have to get another CATscan... blah. :(
Some possible theories for this problem...
It could be related to the surgery I had to remove my wisdom teeth 1.5 years ago... (which I was fully awake for, what an adventure!... including not having enough numbing stuff (or laughing gas for that matter, sheepers!!) and totally feeling them start the cutting process, and nearly choking on a piece of tooth at one point... aaaand, then having the entire De Jong family pictures that night, haha! aaaanyhoo...)
The issue with this theory being the right one is that I have had MANY "teeth" people negate it by assuring that the tooth is vital. (a.k.a. - the possible damaged root isn't bad enough to cause this type of odd swelling infection(?))
If it is truly an infection of some kind, what else could be infected in that area? And why would it not have completely drained and gone away when one part did split open a bit and bleed and ooze some one night... or go away after I was taking antibiotics for one week...
Will I get another CATscan? eh? I have no idea... sure hope I don't have to pay for it again if I do!! I'll remember to eat a little more before I go this time so I don't have to almost pass out again!
This has been quite the process... but through it all I've
- developed even more confidence to handle stuff like this on my own,
- met a lot of nice doctors and other people,
- learned a bit more about how my insurance works,
- understood some new medical terms in Greek,
- conceded not to beat myself up for taking the time to deal with this "inconvenient" issue...
- and yeah, just a bunch of other good things have come out of this experience. And now I'll be able to recommend good doctors to people, and I can relate to others that have to have a CATscan or their teeth vitality checked or... the list goes on! :)
I like this prayer from an encouragement/daily scripture & prayer e-mail I get each day... May you come to know your Divine Healer intimately! :)
O Divine Healer, we thank you for the ways in which you transform our lives. Thank you for healing our bodies, minds, and souls. With lives transformed by you, we go out today to tell others of the wonderful ways in which you have blessed us. Amen.
Thanks to all who have been encouraging me and praying for me through this unique adventure... :)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Slip and slide! :)
What a better way to bring my LOL blog back to life
but to tell a LAUGH OUT LOUD story:
This afternoon I was walking from my bedroom to the kitchen to get a drink when I noticed the tile floor under one of my wicker chairs in the living room was shinier than usual. I was pondering the reason for this as I continued on towards the kitchen, when all of the sudden I nearly slipped and fell onto my backside (for like the 5th time this week! ...those stories to come in just a moment).
I had just finished a load of laundry... and I had forgotten to put the water hose into the sink drain. OOPS!!! I have never been more thankful to NOT have carpet because there was water all across my bathroom, hallway, kitchen, dining room, entryway and living room, hahahaha... so yeah, basically everywhere but the bedrooms. Nothing was damaged because my floors were clear; they were just telling me that it was time to mop, lol. A few days ago when I was cleaning I had decided to ONLY sweep this week. From now on, I know what I have to do to quickly and efficiently mop the floors, LOL!
I promised more "slip and slide" stories... so here they are:
Last week at our ministry campsite, I woke up early with my sister and friend to climb up the mountain to watch the sunrise. We made it to the top of the fenced-in property line, but I was determined to go beyond it to the look-out point I had been to last summer. The girls waited by the fence while I ventured ahead to look for the path clearing. I didn't make it more than 10 steps before the "big sturdy rock" I was climbing over gave way beneath my feet. All of the sudden I was toppling down the mountain-side... OUCH! My awful fall ended with me sprawled on my back, feet-end up the mountainside, head-end down, and that darn rock planted on my right ankle - as if pinning me there upside down so all the blood could rush to my head.
Praise the Lord I was able to move the rock, get up... and actually walk, haha! I was sporting some nasty scrapes and a couple of rainbow-colored bruises on my thigh and back after that, but I was mostly just grateful for no broken bones or swollen ankles!! I took a picture of the thigh bruise - perhaps I'll post it eventually... it's not loaded on to this particular computer yet.
I said in my first story that it was like the 5th time that I had survived an unexpected slip and slide... here's why:
Almost every day while I walk up and down the hills in my neighborhood, I nearly fall down at some point or another - because the sidewalks here are so stinkin' slick... and my poor flip flops have absolutely no traction... SCHNIKEES!
After all of these slips, and twists, and turns... I'm really missing my chiropractor! But if finding myself a chiropractor in Greece turns out to be anything like finding a doctor to treat my swollen jawbone, I'm not sure I have the energy for it this month. Maybe I'll post my "endodontist adventures" tomorrow...
but to tell a LAUGH OUT LOUD story:
This afternoon I was walking from my bedroom to the kitchen to get a drink when I noticed the tile floor under one of my wicker chairs in the living room was shinier than usual. I was pondering the reason for this as I continued on towards the kitchen, when all of the sudden I nearly slipped and fell onto my backside (for like the 5th time this week! ...those stories to come in just a moment).
I had just finished a load of laundry... and I had forgotten to put the water hose into the sink drain. OOPS!!! I have never been more thankful to NOT have carpet because there was water all across my bathroom, hallway, kitchen, dining room, entryway and living room, hahahaha... so yeah, basically everywhere but the bedrooms. Nothing was damaged because my floors were clear; they were just telling me that it was time to mop, lol. A few days ago when I was cleaning I had decided to ONLY sweep this week. From now on, I know what I have to do to quickly and efficiently mop the floors, LOL!
I promised more "slip and slide" stories... so here they are:
Last week at our ministry campsite, I woke up early with my sister and friend to climb up the mountain to watch the sunrise. We made it to the top of the fenced-in property line, but I was determined to go beyond it to the look-out point I had been to last summer. The girls waited by the fence while I ventured ahead to look for the path clearing. I didn't make it more than 10 steps before the "big sturdy rock" I was climbing over gave way beneath my feet. All of the sudden I was toppling down the mountain-side... OUCH! My awful fall ended with me sprawled on my back, feet-end up the mountainside, head-end down, and that darn rock planted on my right ankle - as if pinning me there upside down so all the blood could rush to my head.
Praise the Lord I was able to move the rock, get up... and actually walk, haha! I was sporting some nasty scrapes and a couple of rainbow-colored bruises on my thigh and back after that, but I was mostly just grateful for no broken bones or swollen ankles!! I took a picture of the thigh bruise - perhaps I'll post it eventually... it's not loaded on to this particular computer yet.
I said in my first story that it was like the 5th time that I had survived an unexpected slip and slide... here's why:
Almost every day while I walk up and down the hills in my neighborhood, I nearly fall down at some point or another - because the sidewalks here are so stinkin' slick... and my poor flip flops have absolutely no traction... SCHNIKEES!
After all of these slips, and twists, and turns... I'm really missing my chiropractor! But if finding myself a chiropractor in Greece turns out to be anything like finding a doctor to treat my swollen jawbone, I'm not sure I have the energy for it this month. Maybe I'll post my "endodontist adventures" tomorrow...
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