75%

It is good to be back home.  I sure do love my little family.  I was able to rock Emily, Heidi, and Garrett to sleep last night.  Since Sunday I had seen the children for only a few minutes Monday morning and and hour or two Wednesday night so I had been missing them.

I am still not 100%.  I feel like I have about 75% of my strength.  I was up and about most of the morning, but it has felt good to sit in the recliner for most of the afternoon.  As Tamara posted yesterday, my official diagnosis (this time!) is Erythema Nodosum.  In 30%-50% of the cases of this condition, including in my case, the cause is never known.  In most cases, this condition will "spontaneously resolve" in 3-6 weeks.  I definitely feel better than I did earlier this week, so I think I am on the mend.

I do not have much soreness or stiffness in my hands, wrists or elbows so that is good.  I am hoping to be able to work all, or at least most, of next week.  Fortunately, if I can sit up, think, and type, I can do my job even if my ankles are a little stiff and sore.

One of the good things to come out of this experience is that now I know I am in perfect health.  My heart, lungs, brain, nervous system and eyes are all in very good shape.  And I don't have any of the infections, viruses, or other conditions that they tested for.  I am not sure how many tests they ran, but I an sure that they drew around 40 vials of blood!

We are looking forward to our Sunday Morning Fellowship Meeting tomorrow.  An experience like this sure helps a person to get refocused on what is most important.  One thought that has been very real to me is that God has a plan for each of our lives.  Instead of asking God to heal me, I have been praying that His will would be done.  I know that He only wants good for His children, but I also know that He often uses the hard experiences to work into us the qualities of His Son.  I want Him to use this experience to do this for me and for our family.

There was a lot of waiting while I was in the hospital but I think my time as a patient taught me to be a little more patient.

As I type this, Laura, Abigail, and Charlotte are out moving and feeding the 100+ chickens we are raising for meat.  They have been such a help!  When we were looking for a place to build our house, we wanted to get enough land so that we could have a few animals.  We hoped that caring for animals would help our children develop a good work ethic.  I guess we got our wish!

Thanks again for all of the cards, calls, comments, and emails of encouragement.
-Todd