Well, the good news is that I don’t have tuberculosis. Through the bronchoscopy the pulmonologist was able to determine that I don’t have TB. Now they are doing cultures, blood test, and more to try to figure out what I do have. Or did have. Or who knows?!? So, no more wearing a mask to the doctor’s office. No more skipping church! I’ll post more soon.
Monthly Archive for March, 2006
[republished from our e-mail update]
In our last update I mentioned that we are all in great health. Perhaps I spoke too soon! A couple days later during my physical exam my doctor detected something wrong with my lungs. He ordered xrays of my lungs and they looked strange. So he sent me to the hospital to have the radiologist look at my lungs, and then they ordered a CT scan, and pretty soon I found myself sitting in a small room in the public health building wearing a mask. Even though I didn’t have any symptoms of tuberculosis (fever, night sweats, headaches, “productive” cough) my xrays looked like those of someone with tuberculosis (TB for short). TB is very common in Africa and would definitely be something that we could pick up from being in the same room with someone who has TB and is coughing. Public health basically ordered me to stay at home rather than risk infecting anyone else. On Monday we got the results of a skin test which were negative for TB. That’s good news but still not 100% certain that I don’t have tuberculosis. Since no one else in my family is testing positive for TB there isn’t really a concern that anyone else might have contracted it from me.
This morning Hilary and I met with a pulmonologist who asked me my “history” trying to find out what else I might have been exposed to. He also made plans to do a “broncoscopy” in which he is able to take samples from my lungs that might show us what is happening in my lungs. While at this time there is no way to know exactly what the problem is it is possibly some sort of fungus infection that will require a long course of medication, probably from 9 to 18 months. So at this point we are looking for a house to rent and trying to deal with a rather drastic change of plans.
As you might remember we were scheduled to return to Mozambique on May 1. The earliest we will return now is probably the end of October. We will stay long enough to do whatever kind of treatment is required. If I do have TB it will require a strict regimen of pill-taking. In fact I will have to visit public health Monday through Friday so that they can verify I have in fact taken the pills. If it isn’t TB then I will not be contagious but will be taking some very strong medicine that has quite a lot of side-effects.
The good news is that the Nyungwe Bible translation is in excellent hands during our absence. Our long-time partners and friends, Mikael and Jeni Bister are working in Tete and will make sure that translation continues. Also the churches and translators are well-organized and motivated and will keep things moving forward while we’re gone. I can do some checking of translation by e-mail while I’m here in Oregon. I’m also considering doing some graduate study in the coming months. This has been a goal of mine for a long time but I’ve never had the opportunity. Perhaps now is the right time!
Don’t worry about my health. I feel perfectly fine even though the doctors keep telling me how sick I am! But there are some things you can pray about:
- Pray for that doctors might diagnose and treat the problem with my lungs.
- Pray for healing!
- Pray for a good place for us to live and the furnishings required.
- Pray for wisdom in selecting graduate studies to pursue (if that’s the right thing for me).
- Pray for the financial burdens caused by medical expenses and housing expenses.
I have found the words of Psalm 34 to be especially meaningful right now. Here are the first three verses:
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
Isn’t verse 2 a beautiful thought? “Let the afflicted hear and rejoice.” The Lord is the one we can have confidence in during this time. Glorify him with me.
Yours,
David