It's All Related

The big bonus on Wednesday was when they arrived at the doctor's office, they were a bit early and they saw Dr. Matthews before the scheduled appointment time. He told them that he and Dr. McLanahan had been in surgery together that morning and for some reason the two doctors were talking about Paul. When Dr. McLanahan found out that Paul was going to be in town, he told Dr. Matthews to have someone call over to the office and tell them to fit Paul into the schedule at Dr. McLanahan's office. We had an appointment scheduled on Tuesday, which we were told was the only opening in a very tight schedule. So to get this extra appointment in the same day was so wonderful. It meant we would not have to take another day off and drive up again 6 days later! The other huge blessing was that Paul's headaches had steadily increased and he was in a lot of pain. To have to have waited another 6 days would have made for a very long week for all of us. There are so many things to be concerned about when Paul's headaches are so severe and constant - over drainage of the brain fluid, infection, increased brain pressure, blockage of the shunt system. Paul was becoming more and more lethargic with each passing hour, so it was a good thing he was able to see both doctors. They did adjust the shunt again and said it would take up to a week before it would be working consistently at the new adjustment. The issue of brain fluid still leaking from the left nostril one to two times a day is still not conclusive of the leak not being completely repaired. It might be the accumulation of fluid behind the orbital area by Paul's left eye due to the surgery. It is probably working its way out through the sinus cavity. It will be so wonderful if that is the reason. It means no more major surgery! That is our daily prayer for Paul.

Dr. Matthews is working on the nerve stimulation and regeneration and we have about 6 more appointments for that process. I misunderstood when he told us that when the nerve is given this jump start, if the nerve were still intact we would see quick recovery. Actually, it will take longer than my interpretation of 'quick'. I had sent a long list of questions to Dr. Matthews and he told Jon to tell me the answer to all of them is, "It takes time - up to 6 months". He said it is too early to do the surgery to put the gold weight into Paul's eyelid - we need to wait to see if the nerve will start to do its job. It's too early to do the plastic surgery on Paul's lower eyelid or to expect the eye to be in place right away. And so we wait. I'm not kidding............we are getting so much better about this 'wait' stuff!! We are going to get a follow up appointment with the opthamologist here in Atlanta, so he can monitor the health of Paul's eye. The eyelid is still stitched closed and it concerns me about how the cornea is doing. I can barely get any of the eye gel in. Paul's eye is tearing a lot more, but he can go long hours in the day and not tear. I don't want to go wrong after all this time. Too many hours have been spent in the last 16 months keeping his cornea lubricated and healthy!! In the first 11 months, I was changing the tape and gel every 3-4 hours and was so happy to hear all that effort paid off with a healthy cornea, even though Paul's eye was not providing any fluid on its own. It is great it is tearing much more, but it isn't consistent.

Paul had a good weekend. He had a headache the whole time, but it was a low level one. He went with Jerry on some errands to get the things needed to take lunches and hot meals to the approximately 35 people who live under a bridge downtown. He helped make the lunches and then went down there with Michael and Jerry and met with some other people from our church. After that, they all went out to dinner.

Sunday morning, Paul was really wiped out, having gotten home after 10:00 PM on Saturday, so he slept while we went to morning Mass and he went at 6:00 PM with Jerry after Jerry got home from work. When he came in later, he was talking about musicians and got on line to show us a video of his favorite guitarist, John Petrucci. He becomes very animated when he talks about music and then he went to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's site and showed us the concert he hopes to attend very soon with his friend Susan. Jerry is taking him to a George Winston concert in March, so he went to that site and listened to the video of George Winston playing a classical piece. He then found Christopher Parkening (not sure that is spelled correctly) and listened to him playing the classical guitar. All this interest started after he had opened up a folder on his dad's computer with his name on it and it contained some music Paul had played before. There was a recording of a classical song he had recorded in his dorm room and sent to us one evening to critique. It was so beautiful and we had been so excited he was doing so well in college in the school of music. Hearing it again was so good. Paul remembered the piece and remembered why he had sent it to us - the particular part he wanted us to comment on. It was a variation on the piece and he heard a way to play it differently in his head and recorded it that way. Last night, there was a look in his eye as he sat listening to it again. He looked at me and then sighed a bit. He shook his head and said, "And I gave this all up to try my luck at being in a band and touring. What was I thinking of?" I reminded him that God gave him the gift of music and it will always be a place where Paul will find joy. He loves to listen to music, mostly classical and also Dream Theater (who are all classically trained). I told him that God may have 'laid him down in green pastures' so that Paul's focus would be on God and music may be a way that Paul will bring Him glory later on in his life. Paul smiled and said, "Maybe so."

Later, I was sitting by him and he was in a lot of pain. I silently prayed that he would never lose his focus on God, now that he seems so in 'tune' with Him. Even if he fully recovers, I prayed he would not move away from the spirituality he has gained. The world can pull us away from God if we aren't being watchful, as it is so subtle how we can drift away. I asked Mary to hold Paul closely to her heart and keep Paul in the Light of Christ, no matter where his life leads him. I hope when he regains more use of his brain and has greater independence, he doesn't leave what he has learned behind him. No more than 3 minutes later, Paul opened his eyes and prayed out loud that God would help take the pain away. He begged Him for some relief and then said that he hopes that even if he recovers, he will never lose his love of God. He knows he has changed in that way and he prayed he would not lose it after being made well. I was so shocked to hear him say out loud the very thoughts I had spoken in my mind moments ago to God. I know that God was letting me know He had heard me and He will answer my prayer. I know it to be true.
I told Paul how I had just finished praying for the same thing and he smiled and said, "Wow, you must be related to me somehow."

Everything that has happened to us is related ...............to God. Each day shows us some little sign of that.

God's peace and blessings to all our relations...........all of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Love,
Jon and Rebecca