How did it get to be the end of July?

Where is this year going?  It's unbelievable that it's been 7 months since we rang in the new year!  I guess the old saying that "time flies when you're having fun" is true.

Yesterday was a long day with quite a bit of time spent in the horrible traffic we have here in San Salvador.  I made my way to Denny's yesterday morning to celebrate Kathia's birthday with several other women from our IDEM (small group.)  If not for the accident that snarled traffic, I would have been early.

Just after noon we ventured out to pick up our truck at the dealership after it's 24,000 kilometer checkup.  Jeff and Paula let us use their truck while ours was in the shop which makes it easy to pick ours up after they finish the work.  The traffic is always crazy at noon, but at least my stop at the bank to pay rent (early because of the Costa Rica trip next week) didn't take as long as normal.

Tuesday is our regular small group night and our leaders, missionaries Ryan and Keeley Blackstock, were back from their summer furlough to share their ministry and update their supporting churches.  Although we left a few minutes later than normal (due to the fact that we couldn't find Stephen's reading glasses,) it really didn't matter because it was one of "those" traffic nights.  You know it's going to be bad when the cars on the ramp you need to use are sitting at a dead stop and are backed up to the highway you are on..  Even though we've lived here three years now, we still haven't mastered this crazy city, so we have limited options for avoiding bad traffic.  We managed to bail out and go another way, but that route was crazy, too. We finally arrived at 7:45 after being on the "way" for over an hour. By the way, it's about 5 miles and without traffic takes less than 10-12 minutes.

Like I said, it was a long day with more traffic time than we like.

Not that kind of stitch!

Stephen helped me load up the truck with sewing machines and fabric so I could go to Hilo, Agujo y Biblia this morning.  As usual I can depend upon the guards at the church to help me unload.  It was great catching up with the ladies and showing them all the great baby things that were donated by several community groups at our home church.  We are going to give the baby things to one of the public hospitals here in San Salvador along with the baby quilts the ladies have been working on for the last 3-4 months.  We have completed more than 15!

Jeff picked up Stephen and they also came to church to load up one of the inflatables for an activity tomorrow.  The  inflatable storage area is small and the ceilings are low.  Unfortunately, a nail caught and cut Stephen on the top of his head.  Everyone says that head wounds bleed alot and, from what Jeff said, his was no exception.  I was inside the church so I didn't hear about it until after he was somewhat cleaned up.  Thankfully, Dr. Lopez (Koky) was in his dental office which is on the church property.  He promptly installed Stephen in his dental chair and stitched the wound closed.  After all, it's not easy to use a butterfly bandage on the head and I doubt you find many of those bandages in dental offices.  Stephen's last tetanus was in 2007; so he is good.  Koky prescribed some antibiotic cream which he will use 3 times a day.

That's just how we roll here in El Salvador!

Quiet Days

We've had a restful week since we returned to El Salvador.  We're back in the swing of things with our normal church activities including IDEM (Discipleship 2), Thursday night church and Sunday morning church.  I have Hilo, Aguja y Biblia this Saturday and Jeff/Stephen are taking the inflatables to an activity on Sunday afternoon.

William Flores, our worship pastor, has been on vacation since we got back so Stephen's "band" has not been playing.  William will be back on August 1, but we leave for the mission trip in Costa Rica on August 2 so Stephen's music vacation will be extended for another week.

In the meantime, we're enjoying the rest! 

Back home in El Salvador

We flew back on Wednesday, July 17, spent Thursday resting, unpacking, replenishing our food supply and going to church.

On Friday morning the three Hilo, Aguja y Biblia leaders (Ena, Maria Elena and Isabel) took me to breakfast for my birthday, which was on July 6 while I was in the states.  We went to the Denny's which opened on July 8.  The parking lot was full and there was a wait.  In case you're wondering, I didn't order a grand slam! They were very impressed with the food--I thought it was just like a Denny's in the states!  The thing about leaving at 8:00 a.m. to go to breakfast here is that you must be sure that you've cleared plenty of time on the calendar.  After we finished eating and visiting, I dropped off one of the ladies at church and made it home by 11:30 a.m.  Nevertheless, that left plenty of time to do laundry and update our expense spreadsheet with all of the receipts from our extended stay.

Quiet evening at home . . . . . . perfect ending to the day.

Cherry cobbler and homemade ice cream

We celebrated two+ weeks post-transplant for Elizabeth and Kristi with BLT's and corn-on-the-cob at my brother's house on Sunday afternoon.  Cherry cobbler, fresh peaches, strawberries, blueberries and homemade vanilla ice cream were on the dessert menu.  We even managed to fit in one game before the former patients were worn out.

Elizabeth is scheduled to move in to her dorm at MU in about a month.  Kristi's daughter, Jensen, is moving in to her dorm at Nebraska at about the same time.  So, please keep praying for them as there is still a long way to go before they feel "normal" again.

Elizabeth still has to wear a mask when she's around more than a couple of people.

Winding Up

Today is our 22 day in the Kansas City area--already 8 days longer than we expected to be here.  We rebooked our plane tickets for next Wednesday, July 17.  It's been great to spend time with our families and friends.  We're planning one more homemade ice cream bash at my brother's home before we leave.  This is the perfect bookend to the initial bash before Elizabeth's surgery. 

From all accounts we've read and the Facebook pictures, the mission trip and VBS at Vida Nueva this week was awesome.  The super fiesta is Sunday and we are praying that many of the parents bring their children and, as a result, get to hear the gospel in person. 

She's Back (at home)

After 13 days at Children's Mercy, Elizabeth (and Ron/Jane) went home yesterday afternoon.  Of course, it's a little scary to be at home, away from the constant reassurance that everything is progressing as it should.  Please pray for the three of them as they begin this new phase of recovery.  Specifically, pray that she will regain her strength, that the kidney will "take charge" of her blood pressure, which is still higher than the doctors would like, and that she can begin to feel normal again.

She is scheduled to leave for her freshman year at MU in about a month, so we are praying for a month of consistent, continuous recovery.

Praying Elizabeth Home

We visited Elizabeth yesterday and she's ready to go home and praying that the doctors will agree.  Please pray along with us that this is her day to say goodbye to Children's Mercy and start the next phase of her recovery at home!

Change of Plans

We had planned to fly back to El Salvador today, but God had other plans for us.  Instead, I will have a minor outpatient procedure tomorrow morning.  We are so grateful that we were in the states so we could take care of this!  Not sure when we will be able to fly back, but it will likely be 1-2 weeks.

Now that we know this, we really need to do some shopping . . . . don't have enough toothpaste, prescription medicine, contact solution, just to name a few things.

I'd appreciate prayer that the procedure will go smoothly, without complications.

Recovery in Progress

My sister was able to go home from the hospital yesterday and "enjoy" her birthday.  She's feeling better (relatively speaking) each day, although the doctors told her she would probably feel like she's been hit by a Mac truck for 2-3 months.

Elizabeth is improving also . . . . little by little they are removing IV lines and meds and replacing them with oral medications to get her ready to go home one of these days.  Without the IV fluids she's now up to her new goal of drinking 5 liters of water per day.

Here's a picture of her with two special visitors, Royals players Wade Davis and Alex Gordon.

Medical lab error or power of prayer?

I heard from my brother last night about 10:30 and they are rejoicing!  As many of you know, yesterday morning Elizabeth (Liz) had routine bloodwork that showed her hemoglobin had dropped significantly.  In addition, the new kidney appeared to have stopped producing urine.  With these two "red flags," she was sent for a CAT scan and ultrasound.  We sent out a rather urgent petition for prayer.  Before the test results were available her surgeon told them that he wasn't "overly concerned."  We prayed, nonetheless.

Late evening, they repeated the hemoglobin test and it was NORMAL!  The lab said the earlier test was an error.   The ultrasound results showed nothing of concern.  In addition, they realized that the lack of urine was due to a small blockage in the bladder.  The kidney was WORKING, but nothing was exiting.

By 10:30 pm, she was getting ready to go for a late evening stroll and had been eating solid food.  So, I am pondering the question--Lab error or power of  prayer?  We don't have to know exactly what happened, but we can't deny we serve an awesome and powerful God.  Our God is healer! 

We're so grateful for your prayers and I will continue to keep you updated on her progress.  Today is my sister's birthday and she should be heading home this morning.

Transplant Update

This morning we found out that Elizabeth's kidney has almost completely stopped producing urine.  Obviously, this is not the news we wanted to hear.  She has had a CAT scan and an ultrasound, as well as several blood tests.  The blood tests are within normal ranges; the other test results are not yet available.

This could be the first signs that her body is rejecting the kidney or it could just be a temporary "wrinkle."  At this point, my brother said that the surgeon is "not overly concerned."  We are holding on to his optimism and God's promises!  Please pray that the kidney wakes up and gets back to work!