Popeye and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Well, just when we thought things were quieting down in the ol' Black household here in Sherwood, lo and behold, I found myself out of school for nearly a week and in the hospital for a few days. While I was at school last Monday, my elbow starting tightening up and by early evening, I had a high fever and couldn't get warm. After seeing my primary care physician in Sherwood, she started treating me for an infection, but my arm continued to swell from my elbow to my fingers. If I had drawn an anchor on my right arm with a black Sharpie, it would have been a dead ringer for Popeye's.


By Thursday morning, we decided I was going from bad to worse, so we headed for the emergency room at the Providence Hospital in Newberg, where I was treated for some form of "cellulitus" (infection of the skin). After a couple of I-V's of vancomyacin (a heavy-duty antibiotic used to treat resilient staph infections and such), we finally got the blood test results back and discovered that I actually had a "Group C Strep" form of cellulitis. So, once my temperature stabilized, I was sent home on Saturday with oral penicillin, vicadin, and ibuprofen.

These last couple of months, with all the family health issues, have seemed filled with pestilence and other challenges. When I was laying around in the hospital, I was encouraged by several verses from the Psalms, notably this from Psalm 41:3:

"The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health."

Tim

Mom's House on the Market!

Sabrina and I spent last weekend in Eugene putting the finishing touches on the house. Despite a toilet that consumed about half a day's energy (a VERY long story!), we were able to get everything reinstalled after the carpet and vinyl flooring had been laid.

You can check out the MLS listing at this link: http://ellengroen.mywindermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.ListingDetail&ListingID=18591613

We'd appreciate your prayers for a quick sale and a sense of calm in the midst of everything.

On the medical front, Mom has established her connections with a primary care physician in Sherwood and a new oncologist, Dr. Keith Lanier (http://www.oregonhematology.com/)
Today, I'm battling what I think is tendinitis, so I'll be spending time with a doctor today--oh, joy!

Back to School!

Today marked my first day at school with students. Just before Labor Day, I had done some setting up in my classroom, participated in meetings at Bridlemile, then traveled down to Eugene to finalize the move (of my mother) up to Sherwood. I had almost thought that the ball had been dropped with the Uhaul I had to pick up in Junction City, until the auto detailing shop proprietor's wife showed up unexpectedly and walked me through the rental while talking to her husband in another state via telephone. It seems he was on the road to deliver a motorcycle to someone in Las Vegas and someone hadn't informed him that my online Uhaul reservation had to be addressed. Anyway, I considered it divine intervention that she "accidentally" drove up to run an errand. I sure appreciate how the Lord delights in addressing the "nitty-gritty" details for his kids (especially when they are under immense stress!)

We finally got everything packed up, drove up to Sherwood, and got everything unloaded by Saturday evening. We're slowly "de-cluttering" the garage with trips to the storage unit and talking friends into taking extra mattresses and other items off our hands. I'm hoping by winter we'll be able to actually fit a car in the ol' garage.

Mom is doing relatively well. We have turned our downstairs office room into a bedroom, and there's a full bathroom right next to her room. She has made contact with her primary care physician in Sherwood and will see her new oncologist in Beaverton this coming Friday.

Thanks again to all of you who keep praying, writing, calling, and/or keep mom (and all of us!) encouraged. It really means a lot to all of us!

In case you're interested, here's a couple of websites you might be interested in. The first (http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/TBlack1/) is my new classroom website, and the second (http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/pages/bridlemile/index.htm) is our school website at Bridlemile Elementary School.
Tim