Untraceable Paths: ...And Another

Early Easter morning, four and a half years ago, life for our family changed forever. I awoke to the sound of an otherworldly noise and Tina’s body convulsing uncontrollably. That event began us onto a path where we would discover that Tina was suffering from late onset Epilepsy. That path would include long periods of Tina being home-bound and a non-stop roller-coaster of trying to figure out which medications would strike the best balance between controlling her seizures but also limit the debilitating side-effects of chronic fatigue and loss of focus – that effort has only been marginally successful.

On July 14th 2010, our path took another turn when Tina underwent a five week long surgical procedure where doctors at University Hospitals in Cleveland Ohio implanted multiple electrodes into her brain in the hope that this would allow them to locate the spot in her brain that is responsible for her seizures and then surgically remove that spot in an attempt to control her seizures without medication. Unfortunately after 3 surgical attempts to locating this seizure focus, the clock ran out and the risk of continuing this procedure became too great, so they removed all of the electrodes, and sent her home with very little to show for our 5 weeks in the hospital.

When we left Cleveland two summers ago we couldn't imagine that we would go back anytime soon. Those five weeks in the hospital were very disappointing for Tina and difficult for our kids. However, over the course of the last year and a half, Tina's seizures have become progressively more frequent, and medications have become progressively less effective at controlling her seizures. So, after consulting with Tina's neurologists, it is clear that we are in for yet another turn in the path of life.

We will once again be making the trip to University Hospitals in Cleveland, and on Wednesday January 11th, Tina will once again undergo the same procedure to implant electrodes in her brain to monitor seizure activity in the hope that they can determine the physical location of her seizures and surgically remove it.

This is not a path that we went looking for nor did we anticipate how sharply our lives would change literally over night when four and a half years ago these seizures began. There have been days when we have wondered as to why these things were happening and what God was up to in this. What we have learned is best summed up by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Rome where he said that the paths that God lays out for us are "beyond tracing out." We may not understand this path or where it’s leading us, but what we do know is that we would rather follow God’s untraceable path than to follow any path we could lay out for ourselves. This blog is our attempt to bring others along with us as we walk along God’s untraceable path.

Friday, July 23, 2010

...And Another

Tina had another seizure several hours after the last one. It was nearly identical to the one she had earlier today. They did need to administer Ativan in order to bring her out of this one, so she is pretty doped up tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with some amnesia from it. The good news is that's three seizures today.

It is mid-night and yes we are still up. For some reason the night shift nurses the last couple nights want to wait until the last minute to change IV locations, give her meds, re-wrap her head, etc. Hopefully they're going to be just about done and Tina can get some sleep. Please continue to pray for Tina as these new type of seizures are more uncomfortable. Please also pray that this nurse standing next to me who 25 minutes ago asked Tina to stay awake for 5 more minutes so she could do something would quit screwing around and leave so Tina can get some sleep.

6 comments:

Johnny said...: Hey Bro
We are praying for you both...know that God is truly in control of everything. This is all going to turn out Great
We love you
Unkle John; July 24, 2010 at 12:22 AM
Anonymous said...: That's our girl! hey, Matt if the engineering or ministry don't work out maybe you and Tina could go on the road with a comedy act!! something to think about! You both are such a wonder and we are encouraged by your attitudes and faith in our Soverign God. love; July 24, 2010 at 7:54 AM
Anonymous said...: i love you, tina mead.; July 24, 2010 at 9:52 AM
Dana Linderer said...: Hang in there. You two are awesome! We are praying for you both.; July 24, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Aunt Marcia said...: Actually, I think the two of you should write a book about this journey. It could be an amazing opportunity to share what God has done and his faithfulness through it all. Love ya; July 24, 2010 at 2:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Tina and "Mikey"!! We have been following your journey through your blog and praying for you and with you guys. We are so proud of you guys and are truly humbled by your strength and courage!! We are continuing to pray with you for strength and peace. We can only imagine what patience it is going to take to have another surgery and then wait some more but we know you can do it!!! And we are also praying for your "kiddos" (Rick calls them that) as we know it must be very hard for them to be missing their mom and dad. We love you guys!!!! Rick and Kathy B. Thank you "Mikey" for making it so we can post without a Google account!!; July 24, 2010 at 10:56 PM