This year has certainly been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Annette & I due to my autoimmune disease diagnosis (Scleroderma & Raynaud’s) approximately two years ago.
As I’ve shared previously (Health Update, Health Update #2) it has been confirmed that I also have some permanent lung damage (hence why I need to sit while preaching on Sunday mornings).
The medications I was previously on were not necessarily doing what they were supposed to do, and earlier this year in amongst all the upheaval of Covid lockdowns within New Zealand, the respiratory specialist convinced my rheumatologist specialist that I need to go on a more intensive drug programme to help improve my overall health and wellbeing not just for the now but also long term; hopefully preventing the damage to my lungs getting any worse.
This has meant a high dose of steroids to try and clear any lingering inflammation in my lungs and also help stabilize my breathing and energy levels, and to undergo a course of chemo over a period of 6 months.
As I’m sure you can appreciate there are good days and not so good days, and some really rough days in between where I will feel as if I’ve been hit by a bus as I continue to serve the Master in these unprecedented days.
The latest infusion has certainly been a bit harder to take than previously, thankfully I haven’t had any majorly adverse effects to date. Although added to the latest dose of chemo I have reached the halfway point with regard to tapering off of the steroids, as the respiratory specialist doesn’t want me on them for a prolonged period of time as they can have significant side effects long term.
Unfortunately, within a few days I was needing to up the steroids to counterbalance the chemo as it doesn’t fully take effect for a week or so and as such I have been struggling a bit of late with energy levels and breathing.
I think I am just about starting to come right, time will tell 🙂
However, in all of this I was reminded just the other day (via the Help End Scleroderma facebook page) that I need to ‘just do what I can today, it will be enough’.
I wonder, how many of us need to be reminded of that today?
We can so easily get caught up in the busyness of life, and the hectic nature of our day to day lives that sometimes we just need to be reminded to slow down and only do what we can do for today; not getting to worked up about all the stuff that we haven’t been able to accomplish – the coulda, shoulda, woulda have done stuff if everything was normal.
If this year has taught us anything – normal is something that we more than likely will not be returning back to for quite sometime and that is OK! After-all there were some aspects of normal that weren’t exactly good for us – but that’s a whole other story.
Over the past few months or so there has been a few people that have been providing practical and emotional support for Annette and I, and we thank you immensely for that as it has been greatly appreciated. Also there are others who continue to provide ongoing prayer support, again Annette & I thank you as we continue navigating this difficult period in our life and ministry. You are truly a blessing and may God continue to bless you each as you willingly give of yourselves to support others in there times of need.
To find out more about Scleroderma & Raynaud’s check out this page it has a number of links to groups and organisations that are raising awareness of this rare disease.
The life and times of Perry... 