Tuesday Night

A giant cockroach greeted me as I opened my un-packed bag to retrieve a pair of pants. After a couple of swats in its general direction, I decided it wasn’t worth my energy.

We returned home Monday afternoon to find that our phone bill had not been paid since we were gone on the day when it was to be paid. Thus we had no way of calling people or using internet. We paid the bill yesterday and today they turned our phone back on.

Now I sit writing to tell you of the encompassing weariness. We left Manado after the first day of the week for planning. We returned after a week of classes had passed. Now we are struggling to play catch-up. Lesson plans that we haven’t had a chance to make have to be turned in, classes have to be taught.

They did allow me Tuesday to prepare. Unfortunately, they did not allow Matt the same luxury. The even more unfortunate part is he is teaching 26 classes a week (a bit more than the 18 that they promised us in the enticing come-teach-at-our-school e-mails), none of which have textbooks. Half of the classes have books ordered. The other half requires Matt to make up a curriculum and find resources to implement it—without any time to plan.

In health news, my leg is generally less painful. I am walking with the aid of a cane and wearing an ugly white stocking that causes unsightly bulges. The leg is still very swollen and stiff. I am taking blood-thinning medicine every day, which the British chemistry teacher informed me that it is the same chemical as in rat poison.

I am supposed to have blood tests run twice a week and email the results to the doctor in Singapore (abbreviated S’pore). I went yesterday to the lab in Manado, where they stabbed me with a giant needle to steal some of my blood. The nurses in Singapore really spoiled me. They knew how to take the blood without it hurting or leaving a bruise.

When the lab called last night with the results, it was two hours later than they said it would be. We were awakened by the phone ringing. Matt answered and struggled to understand complex series of numbers and medical terms in Indonesian. He hung up unsure of any of the results. The school had told us that they could pick up the results in the morning, so we didn’t worry much. They just now got them to us (7:30 pm).

Breaking News: Within the time of writing we have already received a response from the Doc stating that her blood levels are good and that she needn’t return to the Manado lab to repeat it until next week, which will allow for the veins to recompose themselves.

In case you can’t tell by the tone of this post, we’re more than a little tired. I normally attempt to self-edit this sort of thing out but I suppose the good folks who read this far actually care how we feel. We feel better than we did. The night before we flew to Singapore Melody was sicker than I’ve ever seen her and we were both more scared than I can recall. She looked deathly ill the next day before we got on the plane but slowly improved.

Tonight she was showing off how she could walk without her cane (which she’s been using since she cast off her wheelchair sometime last weekend). We’re still letting all the new info about her genes and predisposition to blood clotting sink in as we search the web for more info hoping to learn how this will change our lives. We’re tired and struggling to do the things we need to do to get through the day. If not for the gracious aid of people like the Wee family (our hosts in Singapore), and Sonia, our wonderful helper, I’m not sure what we would have done.

Last night was my first really good night’s sleep in a while and that makes a great deal of a difference. It’s been a long couple of weeks. To all those who have been praying, we thank you deeply. God was truly with us through His people in Singapore, as He is with us here. Remembering that and trusting him are the challenges. Thanks for your comments and emails and phone calls. We missed our friends and family most last week and many of you reached out to us then.

Special thanks for the Wakefield family who helped connect us with Grace Baptist Church who took great care of us. Thanks to those who responded to our pleas for advice. We’re still doing our best to make decisions we can look back on as the best possible ones at the time. Thanks to Ben Wakefield who came down from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he happened to be bumming around. He spent the better part of a week with us when we desperately needed someone to listen to and be with us.

Check out the new photos from Singapre on the .Mac site.

Melody then Matt