October 23: Alive from the Dead

Fortunately, my wife wrote an update, too, so there's on less thing to write about.

Yesterday I was busy doing things worth writing about. Today, I'm writhing in pain, and it's difficult to find time or place to type. I have opted for now, mid-afternoon, standing up at little rolling table they provide for meals. It raises up high enough that I can type standing.

Friday night I was up most of the night with insomnia, caused either by the chemotherapy or the coke I drank after the spinal tap. I was trying to follow instructions I had received from a friend in Ireland for what to do after the spinal tap. He had been given a coke, so I asked for one.

Maybe it helped. Thank God that today there's no headaches, so I'm able to stand up.

I'm not sure why this spinal tap, which should have made the headaches worse, has resulted in no headaches. I'm sure it's partly because I did things as exactly right as possible after the procedure, but I'm chalking it up to everyone's prayers. Thank you so much, all of you.

Saturday morning (yesterday), I had one of the most delightful mornings ever. I talked with the lady who delivers our breakfast trays for at least an hour. She's a former drug addict who's cleaned up her life and become a Christian. She runs a home for mentally ill—disabled but functional—women here in Nashville. We talked and enjoyed one another's company. I got some friends to help with Christmas presents for the ladies in her home, and we made arrangements for me to visit here and there. I've been asking God for the opportunity to serve him here in Nashville somehow, and that's a great way.

We got to talking because she saw a copy of my book sitting out in my room. I had it out to give to a nurse who had asked about my book. When I gave her a signed copy she told me it made her weekend, and she promised to go to church the next day (which is today). It was fun. That nurse is Margie, and she's a blast. She's one of my favorite nurses here; we've had some pretty interesting conversations at times.

After all that, I got to talk to another one of the care partners, who told me about some struggles going on in her life and how she handles them. It was very encouraging. If you don't mind, take a moment and pray for her son, who is in jail, that God would turn his life around.

So the morning was beautiful, and my kids, my parents, and my brother came to visit in the afternoon. It was a great day.

By evening I decided it would be a bad idea to stay up most of another night. I got a lot done staying up Friday night, including a blog post on evolution and a podcast.

Last night, though, I figured I'd better get some sleep, so they gave me something called Adavan (sp?). It really helped for sleeping. The problem is, I woke up at 4 a.m. with pain in my hips, which immediately developed into a mean case of sciatica in both legs.

For those of you that don't know what sciatica is, give thanks to God. It's shooting nerve pains down your hip or legs. It comes from something happening to the sciatic nerve, and it's a common problem among human beings, especially if you work in an office.

I've been doing all sorts of things to deal with the pain. I've laid on the floor on a yoga mat on my back. I've done trigger point therapy. I'm on 10 mg of oxycodon at the moment. For a while it was really under control well, especially at the height of the previous dose of oxycodon. It's kicked back up now. They came in to take my vitals, and my blood pressure was 164/90 due to the pain. My heart rate is up from its typical 68 to 90.

The nurse just ran me through a couple of tests, and she's going to get a doctor, so I better wrap this up.

Thank God that there's no spinal headaches. I don't know how I'd deal with both! Walking helps a little with this sciatica.

Better go. Thanks everyone!