Kristina's been dealing with some pretty substantial health issues for the last week or ten days, and now that we finally have a solid diagnosis, we're due an update for the Big Wide World.
For the big-word geeks: idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Another older terminology is pseudotumor cerebri. Basically what this boils down to is that Kristina has a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in her head, and that mimics the behavior of a tumor. This diagnosis makes sense of all the seemingly disparate and steadily worsening symptoms she's had over the last several days.
The nerves in the back of Kristina's eyes were badly swollen for several days, and they are now damaged. About her sight, she says it's like looking through a really thick piece of white tissue paper. So, severely impaired. We have a few follow-up appointments scheduled next week, but what we've heard from the doctor so far is that we'll just have to wait and see if, when and to what extent her vision will return.
She's had some complications from yesterday's spinal tap (which she turned all the way to 11, I'll have you know), so she's been ordered to lie flat as much as possible for at least through the weekend, and possibly for as long as a week. The doctor also ordered heavy caffeine consumption: a cup of coffee per hour for five or six hours a day until these symptoms fade. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ;)
Lots of folks are asking if and how they can help. Short answer: I don't know. Kristina's mom has flown in from Charlotte... THANKS, JEANNE!!! Kristina's going to get bored, so visits from sweet friends are always welcome. I think we'll be able to keep on top of housework, food, etc., at least while Jeanne's here. I think she's planning to be here for as long as we need her, though, so...there you go. If you want to do something for us, we're probably not going to turn you down, but we're also probably all too frazzled to tell you what we need. Just ping us if you have some ideas. Email, text, call, Facebook, Twitter, IRL...you get the idea.
We welcome your prayers, with this one request: There's nothing wrong with hoping and praying that God will show His bigness by fully healing Kristina's vision. We want that, too. But more than that, we want Him to show His power by giving us joy in His Lordship, in His constant goodness, regardless of circumstance.
Sometimes He doesn't heal. And we want to live like we believe that's good.