Tuesday Flew by

It was all quiet when I got up. At 7:30 I went to OGT with 12 bouquets of flowers.  One grand daughter (who  came to help) was carrying out her flowers and asked," Is there cilantro in it?".  I thought that was pretty cute that she recognized the smell.  Denny had me get 40 pounds of Foodpride pork at $1.39 a pound.  I got some other groceries, also. Brooks helped me slice cheese for wrap lunches.  Phillip had a Doctor appointment this morning and he stayed in town to get more blood work done.  Missy joined him for a while, but came back in time for kids to go to bed.  Thank you, Jesus they are in the States.  We fixed hotdogs on the bonfire for supper.  Plus smores for dessert.  Fun day!!  Evan was so happy that Luke is here to play board games with.

                                                            Hugs for the daughters:

Phillip's medical info:

As many of you know, we returned to the States three weeks ago.  After arriving we self-quarantined for two weeks.  During that time we also tested negative for COVID.  That is a definite answer to prayer.  We did not contract the virus during our travel. However, a routine physical exam this past Tuesday (June 23) showed that I (Phillip) had elevated heart stress markers and also signs of blood clots in my lungs. Following a night in the hospital, additional blood tests, a CT scan, leg ultrasounds, and a visit to the cardiologist it appears that my heart is fine.  However, I do have a number of blood clots in my lungs. As serious as that sounds (and is) let me first note our gratitude for the L^rd's presence in all this. Over the past year I can point to four unique events that we had labelled as "panic attacks."  In those events I had not been feeling anxious but had physical symptoms associated with panic/anxiety (difficulty breathing, heaviness in my chest, rapid heart rate, etc).  Following one event I visited the ER in Kathmandu in which my heart was ruled out as a cause of the symptoms. As the year went on I had more of these anxious feelings.  Things were slowly but cumulatively getting worse.  Again, psychologically I did not sense myself being anxious but I had physical symptoms generally identified with anxiety. Now, because of the COVID virus, we had essentially ruled out our planned home assignment in the US this summer.  We were beginning to make plans for next Spring/Summer when -- suddenly -- we heard of an unplanned, last-minute evacuation flight with a few remaining seats for Americans (the Kathmandu airport is closed and there are *zero* commercial flights coming or going). We decided to go for it. I had been planning on a physical exam during our time in the States.  But, over the past two weeks the physical symptoms of my (assumed) anxiety were only increasing.  I was having difficult sleeping.  I decided I had better get to the doctor. This all led to a doctor's visit which uncovered the likely underlying problem: a series of blood clots in my lungs. I do not like to think about what might have happened if we had stayed in Nepal for another year as my symptoms continued to worsen. During the past year the L^rd protected me from potentially far worse symptoms and effects of multiple blood clots.  He opened the door for an unexpected return to the US.  He brought me to some wise and competent health care providers who were able to read between the lines.  I am so grateful for all these things.  I am so grateful for Him. We have yet to determine the cause of the blood clots.  We are waiting for some test results.  I am taking blood thinning medication that should slowly and safely eliminate the clots.  I will also be wearing a heart monitor for the next month.  There are follow-up appointments next week.  We will go from there. I am writing because we want our friends, supporters, and partners to be aware of our situation.  And we invite you to join with us in thanks and pr@yer.  We are so grateful to the many of you who pr@y.