Rick is having BRAIN SURGERY. On October 3, Rick is having BRAIN SURGERY. Wow. I never thought I'd say that. How many times do you joke that something isn't that big of a deal..."it's not like its BRAIN SURGERY or anything....." We've joked like that a lot over the years.
For 11 years now, Rick has had to deal with his body literally rebelling on him. On my 29th birthday, Rick was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) at the age of 34. Shocked is an understatement.
By God's grace, the last several years, Rick has managed well with exercise, diet, nutrition, medication and most importantly prayers. Rick has believed for a very long time that this was not going to be permanent. In the last few years, for both of us, our faith in Jesus Christ has literally held us up day by day. It's one of the few things that for me has been a powerful "side effect" of Parkinson's. If I wasn't literally driven to my knees in desperation, I can't imagine where we'd be today. The Blood of Christ has freed us from fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and all the other awful things that come with PD.
So how did we end up here? In January 2010, Rick had ankle surgery to repair a torn tendon from the excessive amount of tennis he had been playing (yes, he was still actively playing tennis...one of the few sports his body didn't rebel against). As he recovered we starting noticing a strange limp. I assumed that it was from him overcompensating from the other ankle. The limp progressively got worse and we realized it was more than that. One of the downsides to PD medication is that over time, it causes side effects, and one of them is called "dyskinesia" or "dystonia". It's super annoying to Rick. It's in his leg. What it does is cause his toes to curl up and then he has no control over the movements that start. When he walks it literally looks like his knee is going to hit his chest. It's uncomfortable & embarrassing. He's done with it.
We went on a medication journey this spring to try and see if adjusting medications could fix this. It was not a pleasant experience for Rick. They lowered his medication to see if that would help, but all that did was leave him unable to function. After many months of "tweaking" medications, he's at a high functioning level, but the "dyskinesia" has progressively gotten worse. We've been praying about this for over a year.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) says:
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We've done what verse 6 says.....and we've received what verse 7 says!
So...my plan with this blog is to explain to all of you what is coming, what we're expecting, experiencing, and where we put our trust.
The BEST is yet to come! - RPOJC
With all our love, In Jesus Name!
Traci & Rick
For 11 years now, Rick has had to deal with his body literally rebelling on him. On my 29th birthday, Rick was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) at the age of 34. Shocked is an understatement.
By God's grace, the last several years, Rick has managed well with exercise, diet, nutrition, medication and most importantly prayers. Rick has believed for a very long time that this was not going to be permanent. In the last few years, for both of us, our faith in Jesus Christ has literally held us up day by day. It's one of the few things that for me has been a powerful "side effect" of Parkinson's. If I wasn't literally driven to my knees in desperation, I can't imagine where we'd be today. The Blood of Christ has freed us from fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and all the other awful things that come with PD.
So how did we end up here? In January 2010, Rick had ankle surgery to repair a torn tendon from the excessive amount of tennis he had been playing (yes, he was still actively playing tennis...one of the few sports his body didn't rebel against). As he recovered we starting noticing a strange limp. I assumed that it was from him overcompensating from the other ankle. The limp progressively got worse and we realized it was more than that. One of the downsides to PD medication is that over time, it causes side effects, and one of them is called "dyskinesia" or "dystonia". It's super annoying to Rick. It's in his leg. What it does is cause his toes to curl up and then he has no control over the movements that start. When he walks it literally looks like his knee is going to hit his chest. It's uncomfortable & embarrassing. He's done with it.
We went on a medication journey this spring to try and see if adjusting medications could fix this. It was not a pleasant experience for Rick. They lowered his medication to see if that would help, but all that did was leave him unable to function. After many months of "tweaking" medications, he's at a high functioning level, but the "dyskinesia" has progressively gotten worse. We've been praying about this for over a year.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) says:
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We've done what verse 6 says.....and we've received what verse 7 says!
So...my plan with this blog is to explain to all of you what is coming, what we're expecting, experiencing, and where we put our trust.
The BEST is yet to come! - RPOJC
With all our love, In Jesus Name!
Traci & Rick
Rick,
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with this procedure! Sounds like it is well worth the effort.
Traci, Thanks for blogging this, you're the best!
K & B Mueller