Jason's pain is tolerable today. He felt good enough to shower and shave this morning, which is a great improvement over how he had been feeling even a few days ago. We will have a follow-up appointment with the nephrologist in two weeks and also another CT scan to follow up on the "spot" or lesion that was discovered on his left kidney. Jason is very optimistic regarding his recovery, while I am probably more cautious just because of all he has been through.
God's presence has been so evident in our lives over the last few weeks. Right before Jason got sick, I had started a Bible study entitled "Loving God With All Your Mind" by Elizabeth George. The timing of this study had to come from God because one of the first things I learned in this study came from Philippians 4:8. Elizabeth emphasized that many of the things we allow ourselves to become upset about aren't even true or real.
If Jason and I allow ourselves to get stressed and upset worrying about what could or might be wrong with him (things that might not be true or real), we will miss the JOY and PEACE that he has for us TODAY. We should only deal with what we know to be true. Following the Scriptural principle of thinking on what is true and real has protected us from undue stress and hardship during this recent trial.
When we saw Jason's specialist in La Jolla back in 2001, he gave us a very grim prognosis as far as Jason's future. He believed that, at the rate Jason's disease was progressing, he would not live to be forty. Jason has to take such a high level of steroids, that the doctor knew the results couldn't be good. While he couldn't predict what the exact cause of death would be, he knew that the steroids would attack Jason's major systems one-by-one. We have already seen evidence of this progression with Jason's 40% bone loss, type II diabetes, and pituitary and adrenal function decrease.
Every time Jason has a major health crisis, we both wonder if this is the illness that will kill him. It has been like waiting for an ax to fall. However, we have both grown in Christ since his original diagnosis and, instead of stressing about what we do not know, we are choosing to deal with only what the Lord has given us to deal with today--what we know to be fact. The result has been a peace that we have not experienced through any of Jason's prior illnesses.
We left the hospital yesterday still not having all the answers we were seeking. But, we know that God does have the answers and that, as His children, we are being sheltered by Him. He has met every need we have had during this crisis (many times before we even asked him), and we trust that He will continue to do so.
I want to thank each of you who have allowed God to use you as vessels of ministry to our family. We have had meals cooked, home and car maintenance/repair, child care, financial contributions and more. May God bless each and every one of you for your faithfulness and caring.
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