Michelle in Hospital

Dear friends,

Since arriving here in Brisbane, our ability to communicate has been a little more difficult, but I am hoping to get this email out tonight to everyone if I can find an internet café open late that I can get some access from.

The MRI and doctor’s visit happened today pretty much as scheduled (just a little late). When we went into the doctor, he began our visit by opening up the MRI results and reading them. He was surprised to see that it definitely looks as if Michelle has had a stroke in conjunction with her migraine headache last week. That being the case, the doctor has decided to admit Michelle to monitor her and to do some testing. He feels one of the arteries in her brain may still be having spasms, and he wants her monitored to ensure she doesn’t have another stroke. They will also be doing some major tests on her heart, lungs, and the artery in her brain he is watching. Those all may be taking place tomorrow, so the doctor is hoping we will still be able to stick with our scheduled departure from here on Friday.

I am not going to lie; it has been pretty emotional this afternoon getting this news. The big fear of whether Michelle will ever get to the point of being able to see normally again and get away from the tingling feeling on her left side is very real. After some praying, some crying, and some reflection on truths in His Word, we have found ourselves very thankful that the results of the stroke were not worse. They certainly could have been. We are still praying for a full recovery for Michelle, and there hopefully will be some measurable improvement in her symptoms, but we know He will give us the strength for whatever He has planned for us. It is just sometimes hard to see what the plan is along the way.

Please be in prayer about the testing going on over the next few days…that they do not find any new problems. Please also be praying for Michelle’s symptoms to begin to subside as we get further from the date of the stroke. We miss our kids an awful lot and sure hope to be able to return to them on Friday!

Love to you all!
Lyle for Michelle too