Happy EASTER!!

RESURRECTION SUNDAY! Doesn't the thought just give you goosebumps! Praise the Lord we made it to church this morning and to the dinner on the grounds at my dad's church.

Jeff is having more bad days than good lately. He goes back to the pain management doctor on Tuesday to discuss his options. They had started him on an arthritis medication, but it caused a bleeding ulcer in his stomach. Now NSAIDs are out. He is still on the aspirin to prevent clots.

Prayer Requests:

• for the VA to complete processing of the claim for Aid and Attendance
• for the upcoming appointments and medication reviews
• for peace for each of us as we continue through this time

PRAISE THE LORD!

We made it through the month of March with absolutely no Emergency Room visits. we did go to the Gainesville Urgent Care center, but that was just because Jeff's primary care doctor couldn't get him in and wanted him to be checked out. Turned out he has an ulcer.

Another praise, Jeff's next appointment isn't until April 28th!

Please continue to pray for Jeff's health as well as the pending claim. It is at the VA Rater and could be decided any day.

In Christ,

Michelle

Claim Update

Well, we got an update on the VA claim today. It seems the VA has a target date for deciding Jeff's case - MAY! That's FIVE MONTHS after the claim was "ready for a decision" and "went to the rater."

So, the letter writing begins. I've written both Florida Senators, our Representative, and VA Secretary Shinseki. Letters are in the mailbox and go out tomorrow.

Please pray that a call from one of the congressmen can get the VA to make the right decision.

UPDATE: 2011 Starting Out Rough

Well, as the title says, 2011 has had a very rough start for us.

To begin with, we had to move at the beginning of January. We were very blessed to find a house in our price range and in an area we wanted to live in that was also available for an early January move-in. But, as y'all know, moving isn't easy. Plus, it rained, so our planned one day move took three.

During the move, Jeff was sick. Not sure exactly what it was, but seemed like a virus or the flu. It was bad enough and lasted long enough, that I eventually convinced him to go to the ER. They checked him out, gave him some fluids for dehydration and sent him home. Unfortunately, he was back in the ER about two weeks later because his pulse was in the 150's. They got it down and sent him home.

On Sunday, January 23rd, I woke to find Jeff having a seizure. I called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital where it was determined he had a medication overload in his system. While in the ER, he had another much more severe seizure. His numbers dropped and he was intubated and moved to the ICU. Sunday night they called us back to the hospital and said they didn't think he would make it through the night. When I arrived back at the hospital his pulse was in the low 30s, his blood pressure was 53/37, with the ventilator maxed his oxygen saturation was dropping into the low 70s, and his kidneys had shut down. Thankfully people around the world were praying and he held his own that night. He was sedated until Wednesday afternoon and intubated until Thursday. But, PTL, he was allowed to come home only a week later. Unfortunately, another seizure on February 6th required another hospital stay, more tests and observation. But thankfully, that only lasted a few days.

He is now home. His medications and levels are being monitored by the doctors and they are now treating him for seizures.

Please continue to pray for Jeff and our family.

In Christ,
Michelle

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• For Jeff as he adjusts to the new meds
• For the doctors as they run more tests and try to find a medication combination that will work
• For the VA to finally give him the Aid and Attendance to help with our finances
• For Kimberly and Kathy as they continue in their college classes
• For Samantha and John-Michael as they continue in their homeschooling
• For me as I take care of Jeff and the kids

UPDATE: December 26, 2010

Well, another year is coming to a close. It's been a long, hard year for us, but we are very grateful to God for bringing us through it.

Jeff's health has continued to deteriorate over the last few months. We were able to keep the VA from declaring him incompetent to handle finances, which was good, but that's about the only good thing so far. Still no diagnosis other than the depression and sleep apnea. The VA is going under the assumption that all of Jeff's cognitive issues stem from his depression and sleep apnea. While this should help in getting him approved for Aid and Attendance, it's not helping on getting the problems treated or reduced. He's been through several different anti-depressants, none of which have made much of a difference. He did have a procedure earlier this month that was supposed to ease the pain in his lower back. Unfortunately, he has not received as much relief as expected. Another procedure is scheduled for January 3rd and we are praying that the combination of the two procedures will reduce his pain.

The VA is currently reviewing the case. Please pray they make the correct decision with regards to the Aid and Attendance.

A few weeks ago we learned that the person we're renting our house from had received a call from her bank. She has a reverse mortgage and they told her one of three things had to happen. 1. She had to move back in. 2. She had to sell the property. 3. She had to turn the property over to the bank. Since we are not able to obtain financing at this time, we will have to move. Thankfully, we have found another house, but between the first month's rent, security deposit and moving costs, we'll need approximately $3000 to move in. Please join us in praying and trusting God to supply this need.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Funds to move as close to January 1st as possible
• The VA to award Aid and Attendance
• Jeff's health
• sleep
• pain in lower back and knees
• stiffness in entire body
• continued headaches 
• overall feeling not well

Independent Medical Opinion

Today we go for an Independent Medical Opinion to contest the VA's proposal of Incompetency. This will be the first non-VA appointment in over two years.

UPDATE:

Been a rough week or so.

• Pain meds have been changed and increased, but still aren't controlling pain at a good level. 
• New meds (for other issues, not pain meds) are causing some difficulty breathing when Jeff lies down. Waiting to hear back from the doctor on that. 
• Numbness and weakness in his legs is continuing. Jeff is basically in a wheelchair anytime we go outside of the house. 
• Despite new meds, cognitive problems are continuing. Not sure what the VA docs will decide to do about this. 
• All-in-all, Jeff is still in pretty good spirits. 
• VA has received paperwork regarding our positions on their claim decisions. Now we wait (AGAIN!) to see what they're gonna say about it. 
• Financially we're still struggling. I keep thinking I see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it just turns out to be another train (IE: more bills, another setback, another issue, etc) Thinking of adding a "Donate" button to the page. LOL

Please continue to pray for us. Your prayers sustain us. 

Update: October 4, 2010

For the most part, Jeff is in a wheelchair now. He is able, with help from us, to move around the house, but for any trips outside the house he uses the wheelchair to get around. All of the tests have come back within normal ranges, so the neurologist decided that the cognitive issues were due to depression and sleep apnea. They are treating that now and we'll see what happens.

On another note, the VA recently added an adjustment disorder at 50%, but denied Aid and Attendance. We could really use the A&A, so we are filing a request for reconsideration based on new evidence. Please pray this is approved quickly.