News From My Brother In Missouri

On a much lighter (not to mention HAPPIER) note, I also received an email from my brother Lyne (or Leonard as he prefers it today), who's NOW a LICENSED MINISTER in Kansas City, MO (He moved there from Waxahachie, Tx after receiving some sort of degree while in TX). He's married and is expecting his first natural born child in a couple of months (his wife, Suzanna is 7 1/2 months pregnant and they have an adopted teenage daughter). He's younger than me (he's 33 and I'm 37). Anyhow, his email was full of news (some of it I had heard before, but never blogged about it till now) so I'll try to summarize some of the things he said in his email. :-)

First off, Suzanna is 7 1/2 months pregnant, but they're kinda hoping for a New Year's baby as that would just make the event just that much more special. I can just imagine him spending ALL of New Years Eve in the Delivery Room of the local hospital doing the same song and dance of Bill Cosby's "Push 'Em Out....Push 'Em Out....Push OUT" while she's gasping for air. :-)

Okay, maybe that's putting it on a little thick (and it probably won't happen like that anyway given the odds of being so lucky to have a New Year's baby to begin with), but you get the point. :-)

The only downer to this is the fact that it's a high risk pregnancy. Out of deference to her (my sister-in-law I have yet to meet I might add), I won't go into why this is. But she's made it this far, so I think it's reasonably safe to say that she's a real trooper who'll wait it out until THE day comes. :-)

Three days before they found out she was pregnant though, they purchased their first home in the K.C. area. They did this as they were pressuring their Ministry goals. My brother also has an "ordinary" job working as a marketing person for Cingular Wireless (Not sure what kind of marketing he does though).

To give you an idea as to the kind of person he is, here's an excerpt from the email he sent describing their marriage and their adventures so far (DISCLAIMER: I have permission to blog about the email and he chose to have me not leave anything out, though I won't quote the entire email as it's quite long and redundant :-))

Our marriage is strong and has proven itself to be quite an adventure. However, life as you know has its ways of throwing "curve balls" and Suzanna and I have not been exempted; especially as it relates to medical issues. Shortly after we were wedded I contacted vertigo or what is more commonly know as dizziness. Of course the doctors put me though a serious of tests in attempts to find the answers. From CAT scans to ENG, EEG, MRA and two MRI of my head and all they found was a great mind, ah, ah, ah. In the course of this past year they sent me to just about every kind of specialist they could find, neurologist, ENTS (Ear, Noise and Throat Specialist), and two inner-hear specialists. After a year of suffering with vertigo I was final sent to an inner ear surgeon. He re-did some tests and did some more new ones this past mouth. These tests finally revealed a definable problem. The doctor said, "it's all in my head" (ah, ah) or to be more specifically it's in my inner ear. I have a type of Meniere's disorder called "Cochlear Hydrops." This diagnosis is very consistent with my symptoms: episodic dizziness and ear pressure, hearing loss, passing out and "tinnitus" (ringing in my ear). CH or Cochlear Hydrops in English is simply an abnormal amount of fluid build up in the inner hear. This fluid in turn is pushing against my vistibular nerves. It's these nerves that help keep our body in balanced, which explains why I'm dizzy. My dizzy condition is propitiates as my body heat rises. Meniere's disorders are very tricky to diagnosis and it's still a possibility that I may loose my hearing in my right ear which is where the Cochlear Hydrops problem was found, but it's still in the early stages so the doctors are hopeful about their ability to help me. Treatment of all of this is the same as all other forms of Meniere's disorders. First of these treatments are medication and diet (no salt, no caffeine) to see if we can get my body to heal itself. If this dose not works then there is one of three surgical procedures that can be done. This means there is still a long road ahead for me in this area. Our lives have been seriously altered as a result of this issue and have caused much stress in our lives as we both prepare for the new family arrival. But in the mean time continue to pray for God's healing power.

Can ya tell he doesn't write email very well?

He's been married for over a year now, but guess what he got for a One Year Anniversary "Gift", courtesy of some IDIOTIC COOK from one of the local Applebee's Restaurant ....

A One Way trip to THE EMERGENCY ROOM after an ALLERGIC REACTION to honey which was put on the ribs that he ordered (he didn't order the honey) which triggered his asthma (sp?) that almost caused him to have a NEAR FATAL HEART ATTACK!!!! I told him in a reply email that he should consider taking LEGAL ACTION against Applebee'sbecause they put his health in danger.

I have yet to hear a response to my reply email, which I sent yesterday.

Suffice to say, since he has been married, neither he nor his wife are strangers to the Emergency room staff. Though, as anyone who's spent time walking in their shoes on a similar basis would imagine, IF they had to visit the Emergency Room, THEY WOULD RATHER NOT BE THE PATIENT. :-)

So indeed, life as a married person has been an adventure for him in his first year, although there are many things he would just assume forget. :-) Here's to hope that his 2nd year of marriage is filled with more joyous adventures than not. :-)

Well....That's the good news for today.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat