Caution: May Contain Nuts

He did it.

He got to the even dozen.

I think he can stop now.

Yup, that’s right. Timothy has malaria. Again. The poor guy is a mosquito magnet.

Monica cuddling her recuperating Daddy

Timothy has the distinction of having suffered this nasty, parasitic disease not once, but twelve times. So many times, actually, that it has become less interesting to me than the common cold. After all, you’re just stuck with the cold until it’s gone. You can treat malaria with a few pills… that is, if you catch it on time. And if you have the pills. And if you can keep them down. Did you know that your average medicine cabinet/ first aid kit doesn’t contain malaria pills? I can’t imagine living without them. Or, I should say, I can’t imagine Timothy living without them!!!

Timothy with malaria in a Sudanese hospital, 2004.

So when he came home on Monday, pale, clammy, and achy, croaking out that he might have malaria, I calmly tucked him into bed, gave him a glass of water, and waited for fever spikes (the sign that you have malaria, not the flu). By 9pm he was still holding in at exhaustion and lethargy, so I figured it was the flu after all. However, when I got up in the morning to find that he’d slept the whole night on Monica’s floor because he was too dizzy to make it back to bed… and when he had a few fever spikes… and a few other unpleasant symptoms… we called it official. Malaria times twelve. I pulled out the Coartum, filled his tummy with bacon, and continued with my day (the anti malarial works better in conjunction with fatty foods; poor Timothy gets as much bacon as he wants, but he’s too sick to enjoy it!)

Later I mentioned to a few friends that he wouldn’t be around as he was dealing with the migraines, fever, etc. To me, this is all completely normal malaria-like behavior, overcome after a few days of medication and rest. To other (normal) people, this is not good news. This is take-him-to-the-hospital news. This is will-he-make-it-? news. This is pull-down-the-shades-and- close-up-shop news. Apparently I have become a bit cavalier about malaria. Maybe it’s because once a person has had malaria eleven times, he is sharp enough to take the medication before he needs hospitalization, an iv bag, and a blood transfusion. I think this takes a bit more deductive reasoning than your average fever/migraine-ridden individual is capable of accomplishing, but Timothy is up to the task. A gift I very much appreciate, as I like to live with the confidence that my husband will make it through this disease again and again. After twelve times, I’m not fooling myself into believing that he has actually charmed the mozzy beast.

Actually, it’s not easy to diagnose malaria before hospitalization becomes necessary. This is because, in the early stages of the disease, it can only be detected by a blood test during a fever spike… and even then it sometimes doesn’t show up. By the time the parasite count is high enough to register as positive on the tests (especially the field tests, which is what most hospitals out here use), the suffering individual is already beyond keeping down any pills and has a few other symptoms contributing to dehydration and extreme fatigue. At this point, a good hospital is your only hope. I’m glad that Timothy has become so proficient at self-diagnosing.

We go through a lot of mosquito spray.

Having two small children in the house, we have layered on as much anti-mosquito protection as we reasonably can. We have bug zappers, “Doom” plug-ins, we’ve sprayed all the openings to the house, sleep under mosquito nets, and go to bed early. That being said, sometimes the little buggers get through. And it only takes one.

Please pray for our babies. I’m not so worried about Timothy and myself. If we get malaria, it’s painful, it’s ugly, but it IS treatable. If Monica or Frederick get it, first we have to figure out that they have it (“Frederick, where does it hurt?” still isn’t very effective), then we have to get them treatment before the dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea become… too much.

Please, please remember my babies when you pray for yours. We are doing what we can to protect them, we trust in God’s grace and provision for the rest.

We praise God that He has again enabled Timothy to realize the problem before it became life threatening. We praise Him that Timothy had the fore-thought to have Coartum on hand. We praise God for providing the means to protect our family, as much as possible, from malaria. His faithfulness alone keeps us, body and soul, from day to day.

God bless Coartum.

He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.

I never fully appreciated this verse until this recent trouble (what a mild word) with my hip.  As the pain daily grew worse, Timothy finally dragged me to the bed and said, “Lie down and don’t get up.”  With all the work and projects to be done around our home right now, not the least of which being a busy toddler, stacks of moving boxes to unpack, and ministry supplies to sort, this was an extremely difficult thing to do.  But do you know, the Lord sent me to a godly man who knew when to MAKE me lie down… who has continued to make me lie down when I most need it… and my hip is doing much better!!! Praise God for rest, and for the loved ones in our lives who make sure that we get it!

Rest is a blessed and holy gift that we so often forget.  It is easy in any field, especially ministry, to get lost in the many needs of those we serve.  The Lord has been teaching me that there is also a “time to rest”.

Timothy takes a few minutes to enjoy precious Father/Daughter playtime.

As we have made the transition to a permanent, settled life in Africa we have experienced a variety of, hmmm, challenges.  From Monica’s scary illness to the challenges of life in Africa to my immobility issues to the regular hurdles of ministry, we have had a bumpy few months.  However, the Lord’s presence has been with us so clearly and so graciously.  There have been times in my life that I’ve felt Him to be far away… but not now.  With all the challenges at hand, I feel His presence and provision more than ever.  I’ve found that in our most desperate moments, we can find His waters the most refreshing, His grace sufficient to calm our anxieties and worries.

I shall not want.

We have been so incredibly blessed with the Lord’s provision for our family. The container arrived with surprisingly, miraculously little red tape to negotiate (nothing short of God’s hand when this happens in Africa!) The items inside were safe and unmolested (although we are now fighting off the African termites). We have a home that is more than I ever could have hoped for and household items to fill it with (thanks , friends!!) We have a wonderful supply of Bibles and discipleship materials that will be used to spread the Gospel of His law and grace to the people of Africa. We are healthy and happy, doing the work to which we were called in a land filled with the wonders of His Hand. I can think of little for which to ask; I am overwhelmed by the graciousness and generosity of His hand. He is a good and generous Father, a gracious and loving God.

Monica rejoicing in the glory of God's creation: mud.

After several years of tenuous experimentation and elimination, we have finally figured out that Timothy is allergic to whey (the waste product produced in manufacturing dairy products).  In 2007 we narrowed the field to dairy… with a lot of exceptions.  After a lengthy detox adventure, we started reintroducing dairy products.  Over time I figured out that Timothy can have certain  dairy foods, but I couldn’t figure out the pattern.  For example, he can eat cheese, thus casein wasn’t an issue.  However, he has a problem with rind cheese (brie, camembert) and most soft cheeses (cream cheese, cottage cheese)… but not all (Boursin and chevre go down just fine).  Where is the pattern there, I wondered?!  He can eat good heavy whipping cream, but not milk, ruling out lactose (additionally, Lactaid never helped him).  Milk, ice cream, and cheap pizza are all sure fire reaction nightmares. 

Eventually, I had to accept that I had to carry a long, detailed list in my head of “can have” and “can’t have”.  It seemed very arbitrary, and it was frustrating to communicate to friends & family members (many of whom thought I was nuts and over protective, I’m sure!)

Then I had my epiphany.  The other day I made homemade cream cheese from raw milk (priceless treasure that it is).  I used the simple, old fashioned fermentation method.  After leaving the milk lightly covered on the counter for four days, I drained it in cheese cloth for 5 hours.  Both the four days and five hours were the outside recommendations I found on most recipes, one of which specifically recommended the long drain time for people with whey intolerance.  I thought, “Whey intolerance… how intriguing.”  Well, the cheese being successfully concocted (with help from my mother as pregnant ladies do NOT interact well with stinky cheese!), we cautiously watched Tim eat a few mouthfuls on crackers.  He loved the taste (kind of sour cream meets cream cheese), and time would tell the rest. 

The next day- no reaction!!!  No headache.  No lethargy.  No problems!!!

This successful reinvention of a product which had always been on the “can’t have” list sent me back to the article on cheesemaking.  I found myself Googling “whey allergy” and the rest is history.  Timothy has ALL the symptoms.  You see, a whey allergy is vastly different than most common allergies, especially other dairy allergies (lactose & casein).  Instead of your digestive systems saying, “Erm, ick, ouch, get it out,” producing bloat, cramps, etc, whey proteins are [improperly] digested, then absorbed as nutrients into the blood stream.  The body’s immune system sees the poorly digested whey proteins as invaders and attacks.  The more the allergy suffering body interacts with the whey protein, the more practiced it becomes and recognizing and attacking.  Thus, the reactions become WORSE instead of better, as your body wants to “nuke” the whey out as quickly as possible.  Side effects of this warfare include headaches (whey proteins and their attackers in the blood stream reaching the brain/neck), nausea (reaction to “invader”), gastro cramps (acid secreted as body is at war), blood shot eyes (warfare in head), lethargy, etc, etc.

“No whey!” has become the cry of our household (and the pun of many as we gleefully inform them that we have finally figured out the root problem of Timothy’s allergies).  Shopping is a bit of a hassle now as EVERY ingredient list must be CAREFULLY considered.  It is amazing where whey lurks.  However, good home cooking from all fresh ingredients (with the exclusion of milk) produces tasty, nutritious, and (most importantly for us) whey free meals.

So a”whey” with our problems.  Here’s to healthy happiness!

For more information about whey allergies:

http://www.godairyfree.org/

http://www.wheyallergic.com/

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/milk_allergy.html

Here it is.  I finally have a blog.  Of course, now I must remember to actually write entries.  If you look at my less-than-successful history of diary keeping, your hopes won’t be very high.  However, I am at least starting out with good intentions.  We’ll see where I go from there. 

I like the idea of blogging.  Where else can I “publish” my work and see it “in the flesh” (or rather, in the code) immediately?  After several hundred years of authors slaving to have their work recognized, our society has progressed to true liberality of thought.  I can write total garbage and see it in print in mere seconds.  What a great society we are!

World of blogging, here I come!