Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A beautiful fall day in Spokane!

Hello friends,

It is a beautiful fall warm day today. This is one of Spokane's best ones! This morning Greg and I went to a meeting of leaders where we discussed having a city-wide missions conference. When we talked about what time of year to have it, and we all agreed that winter is the only good idea. It is dark here in the winter, so why not go to a conference? Now we are beginning to meet for prayer about this and to figure out how to ramp up (gear up) to do this in Spokane. Another thing that is being done in Oregon is a kids' missions camp. We got to hear about that program and it was so exciting that we are hoping we can also bring that idea into reality here in Spokane. I am getting a lesson ready for October 8th's Kids' Country Club featuring Ghana. I stopped at the library to get some books to use in my curriculum writing.

Our time in Montana last week was very good. The Prairie Bible Institute students seemed tired as they had just rafted for 5 days, but they still appreciated the testimonies and teaching we and others did for them. It was a good time to connect with the PBI leadership folks too.

We have had two of the five townhouses of Moody Bible Institute girls over for dinner this week. So we have gotten to know 11 of them better. And you can't get more satisfaction than cooking home cooked food for college students. They are so sweet! A few of them are planning to come and help out at our church Ghana night next week.

I was invited to a women's retreat this weekend and it was wonderful! The speaker gave us lots to think about amidst much humor. I got to know many from our church and several other churches better. Jesse and Greg survived fine without me, but don't want to make it a habit.

Tomorrow I am scheduled for a CAT scan of my kidneys and bladder since I have blood showing up in my urine. It is enough to cause him concern and has been happening for quite a while. My doctor said he has to figure out what is causing it, and it could be serious. I know that they will be using a contrast. It is scheduled for 4:15. I will let you know when I get results. I know something strange is going on in my abdomen. It feels strange intermittently. My INR was 3.7 yesterday, so still too high. And I have a swollen area behind my left knee where one of my clots was. The thinking is that it is a fluid cyst caused maybe by my compression stockings. I have to ice it twice a day. I can still go walking, but only a mile for now.

I am getting ready for a trip to Denver October 14-21. I will be teaching kids on Sunday when I am there. I am working on Dalit curriculum to take with me to give to the Dalit Freedom Network also. I am working out my schedule and figuring out where to stay and a car to drive while I am there, etc.

Allison was on skype with us last week. We were able to see each other and talk for over an hour. It was wonderful to see her. She is adjusting and enjoying her time there. Laura just moved since her roommate is getting married this weekend. Jenni calls to tell us about good grades. Jesse just wrote a proposal for his trip to Africa in the spring and turned it in to the short term missions guy at Partners International. He plans to go to Senegal and Mali in late January-May.

I am still working on a pictorial newsletter, so watch for that sometime soon. Blessings- Nancy

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Montana- Here we come!

Dear friends,

It is the end of Saturday afternoon and dinner is cooking. Today I did lots of cleaning and switched the porch decorations to fall colors. I held off as long as I could, but the weather is beginning to change, and I have to keep up with the neighbors, right?

Also today, I got things ready to take to Montana. Greg and I will be doing 4 hours of missions training with 15 Prairie Bible Institute students who are preparing for a mission trip. We are doing much of what we did this summer at a Christian camp near Spokane. We will share our stories, do a few skits and demonstrations, share media and our passion for the lost. Our time with the 13 students this summer was amazing. We received encouraging feedback from them and the camp leadership, so now we are taking the "show on the road." The hardest part of planning our 4 hour time, is trying to figure out which things to do, when we have 100+ hours of things we could do. I think this is what defines missions mobilizers. I can hardly put on paper the depth of passion I have for doing these kinds of trainings. And we live in a city full of college and university students...Hmmmm...

Tonight we are going to meet with the girls (Moody Bible Institute mostly freshmen) who live in our townhouses. We are making plans to have them over to our house for dinner in the next few weeks. Tonight we are deciding of the name of the townhouses. We would like to ask you to pray about unit #6. One of the former tenants has a lease through the end of October, and at this point we don't have a waiting list on that unit. We can't afford to have her move and flip it unless we have new renters lined up. We see God's hand in having her there with her 2 children. They have gotten to know the Moody students who have been genuinely loving them in a way that seems to be new to them. So what is the Author intending for this situation? Thanks for praying with us about this.

I went to the anticoagulation clinic yesterday and my INR was 3.9, which is high. It is supposed to be between 2 and 3 and a normal level is 1. So we made some adjustments and hopefully it will come down to where it should be. My legs have been sore, but I have still been able to walk in the evenings with Greg. Yesterday I got some new understanding from my chiropractor. My neck has been hurting a lot and I have had some days that I have to take migrane medicine due to headaches. Mike explained that at the left side of the base of my neck, where they did radiation 2 years ago, there is a lot of scar tissue developing. The scar tissue is grabbing onto my neck muscles and pulling on them. That makes my muscles sore and my neck go out of place more often. I have been going about one time a week. I think I am functioning at about 60% of what I was able to do before my cancers.

Jesse has healed very quickly. He was back to school in 5 days after his appendectomy and was participating in his tumbling class in 7 days! He had his post-op appointment and the doctor said he seems fine.

Well, it is time to go. Blessings to you! Nancy Fritz

Thursday, September 04, 2008

My boy had his appendix removed tonght!

What a day! My friend Mary who is visiting, and I have been enjoying our time together so much! We have gone to the South Hill Botanical Manito Gardens for a picnic, went downtown for "Pig Out in the Park" on Monday night, we sat and talked with Greg last night, we have slept in and had coffee and tea together. Nice, relaxing...

Today I found out that Jesse had been naucious during the night. He had stomach pain that went from the middle and settled on his right side. And that kept getting worse. Mary looked online and we figured he was tracking with all of the appendicitis characteristics. So I took him to the urgent care center, and when the doctor walked in, it was his friend! Jesse works sometimes at a certain Starbucks store, and this nice man had come in last week and they had talked for 10 minutes or so about Jesse going to Africa and about their faith. Steve Johnson had also been to Africa, so they enjoyed their conversation. Jesse had no idea he was a doctor or where he worked. And Jesse could have been given one of 3 dotors today, and ended up with his"Starbucks Buddy!"

After getting examined there, from noon to 3:00, with 95% certaintly that it was indeed appendicitis, our insurance carrier made us go to another clinic for a CT scan of his appendix. We were there until almost 5:3o, until the radiologist had read the scan. Jesse was able to sleep for a while until we got the word that he did have appendicitis. In another 1/2 hour we were at the hospital and heading for his room on the 5th floor.

He still felt awful and it was sad to see him in so much pain. He met all the doctors and answered all the questions they had and finally at 8:00 they did the surgery. It took about 1 hour. Dr. Olson said that half of his appendix was inflamed and infected and that it was so great that we brought him in before things got worse. Jesse did well and was awake afterward when Mary and I headed back home. Greg had come too, and we got to be with Jesse while they got him ready to go in. All his doctors were excellent and kind and did a great job.

Tomorrow they expect that he will be able to come home. The procedure was laprascopic which makes it much quicker healing. His dreams of X-country this fall are gone, but he should be able to participate in his tumbling PE class in 2-3 weeks, and ease back into school and work as soon as he feels able.

We are so thankful that this happened now and not next spring when he hopes to be in Africa for several months. God is certainly looking out for Jesse and showed that in so many ways today! I think I will send Mary to Coure 'd Alene tomorrow for a restful day by the beautiful water.

I got to instant message with Allison a little tonight from South Korea. She has her own classroom and is getting into the swing of it. She is struggling with the very spicy food. She sais she is doing OK, but I know she is lonely and doesn't get the computer line into her appartment until September 20th. I know she would appreciate your prayers.

Well, I am tired, but really wanted to get this news into my blog so you could pray for my boy to heal quickly. Since Mary is a hospital Chaplain, we were pretty excited that we could take her with us to do all the praying and encouraging she is so great at in that setting. That was ironic to have here here when this happened to Jesse.

I wish you a good sleep the next time you are planning to do that. And thank you for your prayers and concern. God Bless you! Nancy Fritz 509-990-8465