Hello from Seattle! This is just a quick note to let you know that Angela is back in the hospital. It is actually a good thing, strange as it sounds. No one has figured out what Angela has, and it has been difficult to make any advances on the case once we were out of the hospital because it is a slow process to go to one doctor's office at a time. Most of them were not taking on new patients. That meant a lot of phone calls to try and get appointments, and a lot of waiting - with Angela in constant pain. The pain over the last two or three days had also increased, which was enough to justify bringing her back.

She checked in yesterday, and in the course of the afternoon and evening was seen by specialists from five different fields. They also did an ultrasound, and discovered that she no longer has fluid buildup in her abdomen, which had been a cause for serious concern. She is still distended, but it must be from other, less serious causes. So, that was good news.

The gynecologist who saw her also came up with a theory that would explain her symptoms, something no one else has been able to do since every last one of her fluid and imaging tests have come back negative. She thinks Angela may have some sort of clotting disease which could have come into play after the miscarriage or by medication given after the miscarriage. It's only a theory, so they are doing further blood tests. They also started her on a blood-thinning medicine which will break up any clots around her pelvic area. We should know within a couple of days if this is working. This sort of disease could also explain her repeated miscarriages.

We appreciate your prayers for us, for our children (Annaliese turns four this Sunday), for our finances, and for the doctors. If you want to pray for the main doctors by name, they are:
Attending physician and internist: Dr. Scott Stuart
Infectious diseases: Dr. Frank Riedo
Gynecologist: Dr. Alisha Keys

These three have all said that they are somewhat obsessed with the case, in a good way, since they've never seen anything like it. We've been praying for doctors who would take this to heart and who would have the wisdom and understanding to find what is going on.

God bless!
Justin

Angela's Health Update

2007-06-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Since I'm getting so many questions about Angela's health, I decided to send out one e-mail to everyone. I'm sending this out to nearly everyone I know who speaks English, so some of you probably have heard all of this, while for others it will be new. I'll send out updates every few days at the most, basically if there is something new to report. If you know of anyone else who would like to receive these updates, please let me know. We love you all!
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Angela had a miscarriage on May 4, at about six weeks of pregnancy. She began having a sharp pain in her lower abdomen that never went away, even after the miscarriage was over. We went to the ER a few days later, and after doing an ultrasound to make sure the miscarriage was past, they told her it was something that would go away by itself. It didn't - it actually got worse, and a few days later she developed a fever. She was admitted to a small hospital on May 16 with sharp abdominal pain. Over the next few days she began swelling around her abdomen, and that spread to most of her body. At that point we moved her to a larger, more modern hospital, where a surgeon performed a laparoscopy (surgical procedure where they go into the abdomen with a small camera). They didn't see anything wrong, but found a lot of free liquid in her abdomen, which is called ascites. They thought she probably had lupus. They ran tests there on everything, all of which came back negative, including lupus.

At that point, a church in Seattle offered to fly us up and cover our medical expenses, which is frankly unbelievable, but we took them up on it! Angela, Annaliese and I flew up here last Wednesday on a private jet. Zach's passport was expired, so he stayed with my family and then with a friend from school. The trip was extremely difficult for Angela. The swelling and pain in her abdomen were acute, and she had so much trouble breathing they had to administer oxygen in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

After being admitted, they spent four days running and re-running every test they could think of, including X-rays, CAT scans, MRI's and everything else. They also drained a great deal of liquid from inside her abdomen and from around her lungs. The tests on everything came back normal. She was seen or her case was discussed by ten different doctors, including specialists in several areas. They could not figure out what is going on.

In the meantime, last Saturday, I arranged to have some friends of ours who were driving out meet me in Monterrey with Zach. I flew in, and we drove across the border with his birth certificate, then flew back up here. God provided for the tickets through the generosity of one of Angela's relatives. The kids are now with my in-laws in Richland, Washington, about three hours from here.

On Sunday, the doctors checked her out of the hospital but asked us to stay close. They didn't let her out because she was getting better, but rather because she wasn't in immediate danger and all they were doing was giving her pain medication, which they could do without her being hospitalized. The doctors have no idea what is causing the liquid in her abdomen or the pain, so they don't know how to treat it. There aren't really any more diagnostic tests that can be done at this point. They've even repeated a few just to see if maybe something new shows up, but everything continues to come back normal. Basically, they are just waiting for something to change on its own. Either her body will heal itself, or some symptom will turn up that will help them diagnose her. We are supposed to stay here in Seattle and have ongoing appointments with a couple of specialists, which we started this week. The pain is such that she has to be either lying down or sitting, so she is in a wheelchair when we go out.

The doctor at the ER last night said that this sort of thing can easily takes weeks or months to figure out and treat. We would appreciate your prayers for a quick recovery, either through God's work in her body or through a doctor with the wisdom to know how to deal with this. We believe God has a big job for us to do in Mexico (we planning to plant a church in the city of Guadalajara this spring), and we are anxious to get back down there. Pray also for our faith, as it is difficult sometimes to keep our eyes on the big picture when Angela has so much pain. And of course, pray especially for Zach and Annie in this time. They have been very brave, but it isn't easy. We love you, and appreciate so much your prayers and faith. We're looking forward to the day when we can give a praise report of what God has done.

Ironically, my twin brother's wife Coiya is in a hospital in Thailand. She was having severe pain and pressure in her head, and the doctors also do not know what is causing it. It could be her pituitary gland. Apparently she is better than when she was admitted two days ago, but that is all we know so far. They are missionaries in southeast Asia. Pray for her as well!

God bless!
Justin