Update on Rachel's Health

Last month in our prayer letter we asked for prayer about Rachel's health.  So here's the scoop if you're interested....

One night, back in the beginning of November, Rachel began to get that yucky achy feeling that usually comes with the flu or a sinus infection.  She remarked to Jason that she would probably be sick the next day, and boy was she right (unfortunately).  

About 2 a.m. Rachel woke up with a fever and the worst headache she has ever had.  As the fever and headache slowly decreased in severity over the next three days, she was left very weak, dizzy and lightheaded.  We thought that she was just dealing with a bad case of anemia (something she had struggled with before) and began taking vitamins and eating more red meat.  After about a week her strength began to return, but the dizziness and lightheadedness remained.  As we waited and prayed, it became apparent that God was leading us to seek medical attention.  

So, two Saturdays ago, we took Rachel to a private clinic here in Blagoveshchensk (with the help of a translator).  After seeing a general practitioner and having a blood test, they decided that she was not anemic even though she had the symptoms.  After hearing a short health history, they did an ultrasound of Rachel's neck (very weird) and had her talk to a neurologist.  The neurologist seemed to think that the problem was in Rachel's neck and that 3 of her disks were pinching the artery that gets blood to the brain.  She said that the fever and headache Rachel had back in the beginning of November triggered it all.  So she prescribed 3 medications for Rachel to take, and ordered some x-rays of her neck.

After researching the prescriptions, we found that one of one of them contains a drug Rachel is allergic to, and all of them only take care of the dizziness and not whatever is causing it.  We also had the prescribed x-rays done, and while they showed a herniated disk in Rachel's neck, we were assured that it would not cause the symptoms she is dealing with.

Shortly afterward we contacted a pastor friend in the States who does work in the field of neurology.  After giving him a detailed report of Rachel's ailment he gave us a different diagnosis than the neurologist here in Russia. He was sure that the fever and headache were viral meningitis and that the dizziness and lightheadedness are orthostatic hypotension caused by some form of meningial inflammation.  He told us that if the the infection is no longer active, the side effects should clear up with time. So there seems to be nothing we can do now but wait and pray that God allows the dizziness and lightheadedness to leave.

Please pray that we will be culturally sensitive during all of this. It's hard trying to get the doctors here to understand and trying to understand them in return.  And it's hard having the only doctor who understands be thousands of miles away!  But we know God has all of this for a purpose.  One good thing is that everything is soooo much cheaper here than in America!  Everything we did at the private clinic and the medications together only cost $100.  We were both amazed.  God is good.  We will try to keep you all updated.  Thank you for your prayers!