It's a Flare

We had to finally move our bed to let more air through the loft.  This will be her domain for coming weeks.  

          She arrived this weekend from her check-up in Manila.  It is confirmed.  Her Lupus is active and the manifestation this time is Vasculitis.  We have no choice but to resort, for the time being, to the usual Lupus staples of steroids and that anti-malarial medicine, Hydroxychloroquine.

           During her last confinement in 2013 at the UST hospital the problem was her immobile intestines; and her confinement prior to that,  the lining of her lungs were inflamed (Pleuritis).

          This time her blood vessels are inflamed.  That's why for weeks now she has had terrible pain in her arms.  She describes it as sudden and prolonged pain,  like a flash of electric current followed by her fingernails being pulled out. Sometimes it feels like her bones are being drilled.  Merely squeezing a toothpaste tube is a painful task for her.  She's awake almost all night.

              Now we need to make adjustments again so she could recover.  The first order of business is to move our bed for better ventilation.  In the coming weeks this will be her domain.  No work.  No computer shop.  No cooking.  No cleaning.  No youth ministry.  And that is the thought that drives her to tears.  She cannot do the things she has been doing the past years.

          Thank God for a relatively pain-free 5 years.  Her flares used to have a 2-year pattern.

          We appreciate the prayers of our friends.  Pray for Nerissa's quick recovery and that she will not feel useless during this time.  Pray that I can make  necessary adjustments also.  Pray the verse below for both of us.  God has time and again proven faithful.  We continue to depend on Him as we always have.


"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."  (2 Cor. 4:16-18.  ESV)