Faith, Family, & Friendships

The weather here today is breathtaking. Clear skys. Dry, cool (60ish), and absolutely wonderful. It is the kind of weather that we don't see in Texas until early November. For me, this type of feeling in the air is always energy-giving and invigorating. Yesterday afternoon the guys sat in the backyard to just be outside while they played a PSP football game together. Later they told me they had to come inside because they were 'getting too cool.' (Can you imagine...'too cool'...in August?) The weather has been a blessing in it of itself. I open the windows whenever possible so that I can smell the coolness...it smells wonderful.

It is noon here and so far today's treatment has been relatively uneventful compared to yesterday's. Dr. Thaller decided to split up Brad's injections into 2 doses to help control his reaction today. So far...so good. Brad experienced some minimal shivering and minimal fever but we are still waiting to see if he experinces a second round of shivering from the second injection. The nurses and Dr. Thaller have been so intuitive about Brad's needs. Yesterday he had them running. It was comforting to see how quickly they responded in that instant.

On another good note, a young Greek woman who was here receiving treatment from Dr. Thaller back in June is here again with us this week. When we were here in June she had to be carried upstairs and held as she walked from room to room. It was so encouraging to see how well she was getting around this week. She was walking around the clinic unassisted this week with a big smile across her face. It was really nice to witness her improvements.

Thank you for the prayers for sleep. Brad slept 5 hours last night which is considerably more than he has slept in a number of days. I think he feels more tired today, but most likely due to the fact that he was finally able to give his body the rest it so desired.

It is unusually quiet at the clinic today and spirits are low. Ingrid, the receptionist who works in Thaller's office witnessed the death of her boyfriend yesterday in a motorcycle accident. It is so terribly sad and it is hard to see how much the staff is suffering from this news. Please pray for Ingrid and her family. I believe to understand that her children witnessed his death also.