Waiting . . . for doctors and God

Monday, November 28, 2011

I took advantage of the school break for the boys the week of Thanksgiving to schedule doctor and dental appointments for them so that they wouldn’t be constantly missing school (I didn’t let them in on the plan because you know what they would have opted for). In two days time, I logged about nine hours in waiting rooms and travel time! Brendan is now sporting braces on his top teeth, with the rest coming next week. Having never wore braces myself, I am trying to figure out all the “dos and don’ts” along with him. He also had a cavity filled, one that was probably missed by our Zambian dentist. (Don’t get me started on the quality of our Zambian dental work . . . a few weeks ago, Jason had to have an emergency root canal because the dentist noticed a huge abscess in one tooth. The Zambian dentist hadn’t cleaned out all the decay but put a filling over it and so it rotted out underneath. Jason hardly noticed it because he could watch Scooby-doo while it was being done. We are still watiting for authorization for a different rotten tooth to be pulled, the one that the Zambian dentist said he “couldn’t do anything about it.”) We also visited an oral surgeon for Jason who took a panoramic xray of his mouth and talked to us about his three missing permanent premolars. Early orthodontics are being recommended to keep spaces open for what teeth will eventually come down, otherwise his molars will keep creeping forward and crowd out the other teeth. My head is swimming with facts, recommendations, insurance ins and outs and what not.

Because running around to dentists, orthodontists, and oral surgeons wasn’t enough, we threw in a special trip to a hematologist. We heard about this microbiologist who studies blood from a friend here in Fresno. Even though we had blood tests done before we left Zambia, I wasn’t convinced that we didn’t come home from Africa with a few extra “souvenirs” that went undetected. My understanding of traditional bloodwork is that the labs are looking for a specific thing, such as malaria, and then indicating whether that is there or not. If there is something funky in your blood, it could go undetected because it is not specifically asked to be considered. The approach taken by the microbiologist is more holistic and looks at everything in the blood to see what is present instead of only looking for certain things.

This is an excerpt from the Hemalogix website:

Through one drop of blood from your hand, we can see your body’s red

blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, viruses and bacteria. We are able

to see stress, mineral deficiencies, vitamin deficiencies and lack of

oxygen to the body. We can see your body’s ability to digest foods and

how healthy your digestive system is. We can evaluate cholesterol levels,

high blood pressure and much more.

Because Brendan was the malaria champion in Zambia and had several bouts of giardia as well, we chose him to go first (insurance doesn’t cover it and it is not exactly cheap). Dr. Will took a drop of Brendan’s blood and put it under a microscope with the image appearing on the computer monitor. What we learned was utterly amazing. We saw healthy red blood cells but then several cells that had strange black dots, or nodules. This indicated that Brendan had a parasite called “Babesia” and Dr. Will took two books off his shelf to show us that the cell matched what was in these books. Apparently, what often happens with malaria is that a co-infection comes in at the same time. The malaria is treated but the co-infection goes undetected, such as Babesia. Brendan has had symptoms of allergies for a long time and we wanted to find out what he was allergic to. It would seem that the allergy symptoms are his body trying to fight off this parasite in his system, but he hasn’t been successful. I asked if there is anything we could do to treat it. There are ways to clear the parasite but Dr. Will went on to explain that cells have cycles, sort of like menstrual cycles. The cells open and close following barometric patterns and moon cycles. With this parasite, it would be ineffective to treat it right away. The way I understood it, the cells have closed down with the cold of winter but will open up in spring, when the weather turns warmer. That is when we want to attack it so that it can kill the parasite in the cell. So we will wait on that.

In the meantime, there are other issues to deal with. Dr. Will could also tell from this drop of blood that Brendan was not able to digest proteins. His digestive system is a mess, with the walls of his stomach shredded. This is most likely from the medicine that is taken to kill the giardia, not the giardia itself. The cells in his digestive system need to be repaired so that he can properly digest protein again. This will help build up his health and get him ready for the big battle in the spring: Brendan vs. Babesia. We came home loaded up with homeopathic pills (Detox-itall, Glutamine Plus and Gluco-Adapt for those of you who know something about all this). Knowing that the rest of the family is probably also worse for the wear for having welcomed Africa into our systems, we are also taking the Detox pills to cleanse our bodies of unwanted guests. Jason is exempt because he can’t swallow the pills. I have to get to a specialty store to buy the same thing for him in a chewable form. Eventually, when we save our pennies, the rest of our family will go to see Dr. Will and see what strange things he can spot in our blood. It sounds a little crazy, I know, and perhaps a little hard to believe. However, I believe this just saved us a lot of trips to the doctor and unnecessary experiments with allergy medications to help Brendan. Though I don’t profess to understand it all, I am a believer!

The rest of the Thanksgiving break was great and did not include any waiting rooms. We were in Pasadena visiting my parents for a few days. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Peter’s sister and family, long-time friends Ty and Annika, and my parents. We had a rousing game of kickball at the nearby park and a fun game of flag football. My favorite moment was when my nephew, Bodey, called a timeout for our team so we could pick a team name. After dinner, we got in a few rounds of charades and “The Name Game” with some hilarious names picked that kept us laughing. Friday morning was spent with a group of lovely friends from our Pasadena days. We had a yummy potluck brunch and there was lots of laughter as we all visited. The morning ended with another game of kickball in the park, something that was a must with the weather absolutely gorgeous. Grandpa got extra jewels in his crown for taking the boys to Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday while my mom and I went to IKEA and then had lunch out. I enjoy going to Pasadena to see my parents, visit old friends, driving familiar streets, but it also leaves me a bit depressed. I enjoy Fresno immensely when I am there and am grateful for budding friendships that are full of potential. But it is so wonderful to be with friends who have known you for ten to fifteen years and who share a history with you that has yet to be made in Fresno.

And now it is the season of Advent, of waiting to see how God will show Godself to us. We were reminded in church yesterday that God shows up in unexpected places and so we must wait expectantly, with our eyes and ears open, so that we don’t miss God coming near. I love being part of a church that engages in the ritual of Advent, that is thoughtful and reflective, that encourages me to be mindful of God throughout the week. It is water for my thirsty soul.