In a room...

It was a really LONG day of waiting at U of Chicago, but Matthew finally was admitted to the hospital in the early evening. The doctors are still trying to determine the cause of the current problems he is experiencing and will need to do a few more tests/procedures. After the day of sitting and waiting (which can be a bit discouraging), we were so thankful that he was put in a single room, and that he had a very kind and caring nurse. Matthew's mom is able to be with him for support as well, which is a blessing. The doctors gave him some pain medication and will be giving him a dose of steroids to help reduce the swelling and aching in his joints. He is having an x-ray of his belly tonight and tomorrow will have more cultures and some scopes. Hopefully these tests will provide the information the doctors need to proceed with a treatment. We are so thankful for the wonderful care & support from all of you....our family, friends, neighbors & work colleagues. Thank you for loving and helping our family through this journey!

Back in Chicago

This is Amy posting today : ). Matthew & I are at U of Chicago waiting in the doctor's office. The plan is to admit him to the hospital....but we are still waiting at this point. Matthew has had some health difficulties (not related to his crohn's), the past few weeks. A sinus infection....swelling in his feet and hands...fatigue... There have been doctor's visits in Holland, antibiotics, a trip to the ED at Holland Hospital and even a new Picc line put in through IV Radiology. And yet, there is still something not quite right.....so we headed to Chicago today to see Dr. Hanauer. The decision was made to admit him to the hospital and run some more tests... And so we wait... We will update more once we have some information. We are grateful for the prayers.

It has been a long time

It has been a long time since I posted anything. I am not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the hard work I've been doing.

When I say hard work, I'm not necessarily referring to my paid position, but the reflection going on in my head. It's hard for me to write when you don't feel confident on what you would state. Don't get me wrong, I've had lots of ideas that I started to turn into real thoughts, but then I would get tired and the thought would pitter out; or the weather would turn to 80 degrees and I would spend time outside; or I guess I just would slow myself down to ponder and not find the time to complete any one idea, and turn it into something I felt comfortable sharing in perpetuity.

Maybe you are wondering what is he talking about? Well, in the fall of 2011 I was challenged by the UPMC staff to 'reinvent Matthew' and I've been working on it. It's the hardest thing I've ever done because no one can say when you are successful. I can slow down, take one day at a time, smell the roses, worry about myself, pick a different saying and feel good. Or I can do some really important work, and feel good. I may only work part a day, but if its a yucky subject I can come home miserable and start to feel bad. I can find tons of enjoyment from my children at a swim meet or bball game, and they can drive me nuts later the same day.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm attempting to identify a rhythmic beat to my life that works more than one that doesn't. And that is only done by trial and error with success determined by how one (and who) evaluates your life. Each day is a new one and I'm still working to figure out they rhythm that works.