It's official...

Well, Ryan received his diagnosis: Lyme's Disease. You can read about it by clicking here.

Ryan has been not feeling well since he arrived in Denver for Federal Chaplain Training on August 2. He felt very achy and had soreness in his joints. He was so ill, in fact, that he was forced to miss some of his chaplain training. He went to the infirmary there and received some anti-inflammatory meds but they only helped some. Upon returning home to Texas, he got a little it better but then got worse again. He went to the doctor and after many blood tests, the Lyme Disease test finally came back yesterday (after waiting a week!) as positive. I am so thankful that we can finally move forward and treat what has been diagnosed. If the Lyme Disease test had come back negative, we wouldn't have known how much longer Ryan would be in pain, if it would get worse, etc. So, although the diagnosis isn't great news, it is a relief to have an answer.

We don't know for sure, but we suspect that Ryan contracted Lyme Disease when we were still living in Illinois. The last time he hunted was deer season '07, so late November. But Ryan has lots of hair everywhere so noticing a bulls-eye rash would not have been so obvious. Once we moved down here, Ryan DID have an increase in headaches, but we ust attributed that to living in a new climate.

So, Ryan is on a medicine called Doxycycline, 200mg, twice a day, for 30 days. He started the treatment last Friday, in anticipation of the Lyme Disease diagnosis. Unfortunately, the doctor did not tell us to avoid all antacids while taking this medicine, because antacids will bind with the Doxycycline and therefore the body will not absorb the meds. Ryan has been taking Prevacid, Tums, and Pepcid Complete at various times all weekend. Now that we have our facts straight, we are hoping that the meds start to work their magic - quickly! He hasn't shown a lot of improvement yet, but we're kinda thinking that had to do with the antacids thing.

It's never easy living in a new place, finding new doctors, new pharmacy, support people to help with kids, etc. But we're making it. We have some good friends who we can depend on if we have an emergency. We're blessed.

And, the kids did start school on Monday. They all seem to like it. I have a few issues with the school that Ryan says I need to let go of. I am going to try to do that, or else just find a way to talk to the teachers without telling them how to do their jobs.

That's all for now. We pray you all are doing well. Keep Ryan and his recovery in your prayers!