Susan is doing much better this morning. She was very weak when she first got up but after her beloved coffee and French Vanilla creamer, and a little backrub she's perked up. She is sitting at the window watching the birds and waiting for her bacon, eggs and grits for breakfast. She says this makes her sound like a pig, but I'll actually end up eating most of it. She keeps talking about doing laundry later today. Fat chance.
Berny Schulman, a longtime, close friend of ours from Orlando called this morning to ask how we are doing. People are praying for us all over the country. We are truly blessed!
My friend and co-worker Vernon Tanner lost his mother this weekend. It was a difficult passing for her and Vernon's family. Our situation pales compared to the grief Vernon and Karen are experiencing, so we are focusing our prayers and thoughts on them this morning.
Susan says she would love to use the free time she has to pray for others. If you have prayer requests, you can post them here or send them to susan4jack@gmail.com.
Jack
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
It's been 3 weeks
Good morning, friends and family of Susan Bush. This is Jack writing. I am going to use this blog to keep you all up-to-date on Susan's mysterious condition, our plans and progress as we seek a diagnosis and cure.
Most of you know the history, but I'll recap quickly for anyone who wants to get up to speed. On Sunday January 10, after our weekly church service, Susan began to feel weak and was having difficulty standing. She had to be helped to the car, came home and laid down for the rest of the day. That was the first of many "episodes" she's had where she experiences a rapid loss of muscle strength throughout her entire body. She does not pass out, get dizzy or confused but does have difficulty talking, opening her eyes, writing and at times breathing. She's worked 1 or 2 days since then. She has good and bad days, but the condition seems to be getting worse. She's been unable to sit up at the desk for more than 30 minutes or so this week. Reading can be frustrating because of difficulty focusing on close objects. Even conversation can tire her out.
The last episode happened yesterday (Friday 1/29) afternoon. Susan felt weak all day. At about 4 PM, after lying on the couch watching a movie, she started to feel short of breath. Kipper was at home studying, and at 4:30 he carried her to the car and met me at St. Mary's emergency room. She was as bad as I've seen her when she arrived, almost unable to speak or support her weight at all. The ER docs determined her breathing was fine after a couple hours of observation and a chest X-ray. She began recovering after about an hour in the ER, and at 8 PM she was much better, so they sent her home.
This morning she is still weak but doing much better, sitting up and walking around the house.
We've had a lot of tests done for a lot of different disorders, but so far everything has come back negative. That means some things such as MS or a brain tumor are unlikely to be the cause. Until something comes back positive, though, nothing can be completely ruled out. The symptoms are similar to myasthenia gravis, where the immune system attacks the body's neurotransmitters, compounds in the body that transmit nerve impulses.
On Monday Feb 1 we have an appointment with Dr. Michael Rivner in Augusta at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Rivner is a national expert on neuromuscular problems. There are several other neurologists at MCG that he can refer us to if he cannot help Susan. We also have an appointment at the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday 2/2 as a backup in case MCG doesn't seem like they are going to be able to help. We've talked to several friends in the medical community and have sent Susan's medical records to the family doctor that treated us in Lake Mary, FL before we moved to Athens. I am hopeful that we'll have a diagnosis by the end of next week, either from MCG or The Mayo Clinic.
We have heard from many, many people who love Susan and want to help. Our local church family (Crossway Fellowship Church) is providing meals and has helped out around the house. They have been fantastic! We have had meals delivered for two weeks now and are being very well cared for.
Please continue to pray for Susan. We believe in the power of prayer to Jesus Christ, our savior, who is both willing and able to save us from the power of sin and death. We would love to see Susan healed miraculously, so please pray to that end, but also please pray that the doctors treating Susan will find a diagnosis and cure. We also need prayer so we can walk through this with faith, hope and love no matter the outcome.
Thanks again to all our wonderful family and friends. We love you and will do our best to let you know what's happening!
Jack
Most of you know the history, but I'll recap quickly for anyone who wants to get up to speed. On Sunday January 10, after our weekly church service, Susan began to feel weak and was having difficulty standing. She had to be helped to the car, came home and laid down for the rest of the day. That was the first of many "episodes" she's had where she experiences a rapid loss of muscle strength throughout her entire body. She does not pass out, get dizzy or confused but does have difficulty talking, opening her eyes, writing and at times breathing. She's worked 1 or 2 days since then. She has good and bad days, but the condition seems to be getting worse. She's been unable to sit up at the desk for more than 30 minutes or so this week. Reading can be frustrating because of difficulty focusing on close objects. Even conversation can tire her out.
The last episode happened yesterday (Friday 1/29) afternoon. Susan felt weak all day. At about 4 PM, after lying on the couch watching a movie, she started to feel short of breath. Kipper was at home studying, and at 4:30 he carried her to the car and met me at St. Mary's emergency room. She was as bad as I've seen her when she arrived, almost unable to speak or support her weight at all. The ER docs determined her breathing was fine after a couple hours of observation and a chest X-ray. She began recovering after about an hour in the ER, and at 8 PM she was much better, so they sent her home.
This morning she is still weak but doing much better, sitting up and walking around the house.
We've had a lot of tests done for a lot of different disorders, but so far everything has come back negative. That means some things such as MS or a brain tumor are unlikely to be the cause. Until something comes back positive, though, nothing can be completely ruled out. The symptoms are similar to myasthenia gravis, where the immune system attacks the body's neurotransmitters, compounds in the body that transmit nerve impulses.
On Monday Feb 1 we have an appointment with Dr. Michael Rivner in Augusta at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Rivner is a national expert on neuromuscular problems. There are several other neurologists at MCG that he can refer us to if he cannot help Susan. We also have an appointment at the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday 2/2 as a backup in case MCG doesn't seem like they are going to be able to help. We've talked to several friends in the medical community and have sent Susan's medical records to the family doctor that treated us in Lake Mary, FL before we moved to Athens. I am hopeful that we'll have a diagnosis by the end of next week, either from MCG or The Mayo Clinic.
We have heard from many, many people who love Susan and want to help. Our local church family (Crossway Fellowship Church) is providing meals and has helped out around the house. They have been fantastic! We have had meals delivered for two weeks now and are being very well cared for.
Please continue to pray for Susan. We believe in the power of prayer to Jesus Christ, our savior, who is both willing and able to save us from the power of sin and death. We would love to see Susan healed miraculously, so please pray to that end, but also please pray that the doctors treating Susan will find a diagnosis and cure. We also need prayer so we can walk through this with faith, hope and love no matter the outcome.
Thanks again to all our wonderful family and friends. We love you and will do our best to let you know what's happening!
Jack
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