Slappin Da Bass!

Well today has been one of the best days since I've been out of the hospital.
This morning when I got to church, I walked into the sanctuary to see the worship team practicing for the service. When the worship pastor realized that it was me, he just said, "Craig! Wanna play the bass?"....and of course I said yes. So, I got to play for the first time in about 4 months (mainly because of school), which I really enjoyed. I also got to share with the church everything that I've been going through.
Then After the first service, I handed off my bass to Chris because I had to go home and start my IV. Shortly after starting my IV, my old youth pastor came by bearing a huge cooler full of Stripped bass that he was going to deep fry for me and my family. It was absolutely amazing! We had fish, homemade cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, and good ol' Dr. Pepper. We talked about all of his cool stories, stories of how crazy all of us kids were, and much more.
Now I'm just hanging out at home waiting for some friends to come over so we can have a small bonfire and roast some marsh mellows. It's been a great day. Definitely one of the best since I've been home.

Last but not least, I've been trying to shoot the ground hogs that keep digging under our sheds, but I've missed every time. We just got a new .22 and we're still trying to get it sighted in....I guess I should bring the 30-.06 out of retirement.

June 24

Sorry for not updating the blog for a while, but I've been pretty busy doing absolutely nothing haha.
Over the past couple of days I have been trying to get back into the swing of things, but it's a bit difficult since I have a picc in my arm. Having this in my arm makes it pretty hard to do about anything. I can only lift things that are less than 10 pounds with it in, so I'm more or less limited to doing nothing but sleeping, reading, and just relaxing....which is exactly what I've been needing for the past two months or so. Also, over these past few weeks, I've learned a lot about being patient. The antifungal medication that I'm on requires 6 hours of my day (every day) of me being hooked up to an IV. And if you know me, I cannot sit still for that long. In order for me to through each session, I have to constantly ask for patience and try to get my mind wrapped around something else.
As for the meningitis, I have no more symptoms of pain, weakness, or anything of that sort. Yesterday I went to the hospital to get another Lumbar Puncture and everything went extremely well. My spinal fluid was no longer a burnt orange color, but it was crystal clear (which is what it's supposed to be) and it only took the doctor one try to get the puncture in the right place...which made me very happy.
Now I'm just waiting to get the results back from the lumbar puncture to see how much longer I will need to have this picc in my arm. I'm fairly confident that it will be 4 weeks or less, and not 6 weeks like they originally expected.

Also, this morning when I woke up, I got on my email to find that Seth Bolt (the bass player for NEEDTOBREATHE) had emailed me! He just wanted to encourage me and let me know that I'm not going through this alone....and that they were keeping me in their prayers as well. That was pretty cool hear that. He even sent me two songs, one of which is going to be on their new album that comes out this summer, and another one that he and a friend wrote called, "Gates of Fire". He even said that he wanted to dedicate that song to "The fighter in me". Awesome stuff!

Well that's all I have for today. I'll try to post stuff sooner, so that you guys can stay informed.

Prayer requrests:
Headaches from the Lumbar puncture
That the picc won't bleed all the time
That I can continue to be more patient

Thanks:
I'm alive and doing well!! haha
The doctors are all surprised by how fast I'm healing
Getting to spend more time with my family

Monday, June 20

This weekend was filled with some ups and downs. Friday, we all anticipated Craig would be going home on Saturday, however, as it turned out the home health company couldn't get Craig's medicine delivered to his house until Tuesday (the 21st).

That being said, CRAIG GETS TO GO HOME TODAY!!!

He'll be in the hospital this afternoon to get his Anti-Fungal (an IV that runs in his arm through his PICC for 6 hours, every 24 hours). Once the IV is finished we can head on home!

In honor of being able to go home, here are a few pictures we took documenting Craig's stay! Enjoy!

The first night in the ER, when Craig was hypersensitive to all light and sound. Note the shades (even when all the lights were out).

Spinal fluid that sprayed onto the floor (across the room) from Craig's lower back when they spinal tapped him. EW.

Craig with our parents in the CCU after they found out he wasn't contagious!

Craig's first day at "his place", his new room on a regular med floor after the CCU.

About all his was eating for the first few days of the week.

Craig and his crew owning these hospital halls! :] We appreciate our friends, SO MUCH!

Sitting up in his chair, eatting some veggie chips and talking to one of his many callers!

All wrapped up to take a shower!

EATING BREAKFAST, TODAY! Praise God, he didn't feel nauseous or throw up anything this morning!

We will continue to keep you posted on Craig's recovery at home!

Today we are Praising God for:

• HE GETS TO GO HOME - after 10 days!
• His immune system is back to normal and fully healthy!
• No morning sickness/nausea this morning!

Things you can continue to keep praying for are:

• Nausea - He's been getting morning sickness recently, however, this morning he rocked out his breakfast and has been praying against nausea and hasn't felt sick, once!
• PICC line - Craig's PICC line has been bleeding a very little bit. Pray for the PICC to heal up well, For Craig to remember his limitations with that arm, and for no infection.
• Essential vitamin levels - Recently his Potassium and Magnesium levels have been low (the Anti Fungal can deplete these vitamins particularly). Pray that they get to a healthy level so he doesn't have to take any more "horse pills".
• Later this week (Thurs/Fri) Craig will go back to the hospital for another lumbar puncture (LP). When they draw the fluids out again they will be testing to see whether or not the fungi is diminishing. If they are, Craig will only need his PICC for 4 weeks instead of 6. We're praying they are ALL GONE, no questions - to God be the glory!

Friday, June 17

Good Afternoon!

Yesterday afternoon Craig got his PICC line inserted. He was asleep for most of the day but some of his highlights were... playing Halo with Chris and getting a foot massage by his loving fiance (Ew).

He didn't get to eat a lot yesterday because he was sick to his stomach for most of the afternoon/evening, but today he's changed pain medicines and we're praying that helps curb the nausea and that his appetite will increase his strength.

Craig's excited that he doesn't have any more IVs in his hands - he'll be receiving all his meds through the PICC line in his arm at home for the next 6 weeks!

Can you tell he's getting bored? :]

We will continue to keep you posted throughout his recovery, hopefully, with more and more entries from the man, himself!

Craigs Picc Line

Today Craig has been given a PICC Line (A Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter).  PICC Lines are a form of prolonged intervenous therapy, in this case, it will be anti-fungal therapy.  With this PICC Line inserted in his arm the doctors will have direct and easy access to his blood stream.

As of right now, it appears that the PICC Line will need to be in place for around 6-weeks.

Medicine is a miracle.  A gift from God. 

His Mercies Are New Every Day

I read this on David Platt's Blog concerning the health of his Missions Pastor at his church, and thought it was very applicable to the season we are in right now.

"I closed my eyes last night with the assurance of God’s Word in my heart: “His mercies are new every morning”. We have said many times that prayer is not a vending machine. God is not obligated to answer our requests based on how “good” we are or even how much we pray. God extends His grace to display His glory in the same way that He allows us to go through difficult times with the same purpose; to display His glory.
 

Today, God, out of His infinite mercy and grace, has chosen to let us see a miracle in [Craig’s] life."

My prayer and peace through this season has been given by the verses found in Hebrews 12:11-13.

¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹²Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Amen.

-Chris

June 15, 2011

Wednesday 3:00pm

This morning Craig got knocked down to only 2 meds! YAHOO!

Our awesome Infectious Disease doctor told us this morning that his HIV test came back negative and that we're still waiting on about 2 more tests, but that he really believes that Craig's immune system could have been compromised by the intense stress of the fungus and/or his stress/lack of sleep.

So far this afternoon, Craig has been eating and feeling pretty good - taking walks, sitting in a chair in his room with his curtains open (little light or sound sensitivity anymore!). An elder from GCC came in and prayed over Craig this afternoon and anointed him with oil. He has been having bizarre skin blotching (which we initially thought could be a reaction to his meds - but after monitoring, we aren't exactly too sure what the rash is coming from yet, however, Craig doesn't feel itchy or ill, etc. when he develops it which is fairly regularly.)

Craig will be getting a PCC line in his arm tomorrow which will allow him to, hopefully leave the hospital before the weekend!

This afternoon our praises are:

-Most of Craig's tests have come back negative (Lymphoma and HIV)!!

-Went from 5 IV's to 2! He's been knocked down to only 2 meds.

-He ate a full lunch - he's hungry!

-He's had a great afternoon walking around and in very good spirits.

-His sensitivity to light and sound has diminished.

-Had the most incredible doctors and nurses - most of which have been in his life walk with him!

-Lung capacity is good and fluid free!

-Moving from IV medication to Oral medication (in preparation to go home soon!)

-"I have awesome people praying for me!"- Craig

This afternoon our prayers are for:

-This bizarre skin blotching. While it's not affecting Craig's well being -it's weird and slightly concerning

-His nausea and headaches would go away.

-His anti fungal would continue to kill those fungal critters. (He will be having another spinal tap in 2 weeks to check that all the fungus is gone... we're believing it will be!)