Anemia
We don't normally put personal information in our newsletter but I hope it is okay to share a personal health update with you. I share this with you so you will be informed and be able to pray effectively for us. We also desire to serve in a way that is transparent.
For the past year I have been dealing with some health challenges. Simply put, I've been experiencing fatigue, slow cognition, and regular dizziness for the past year. Some days I can only work at a snail's pace and my cognition so slow that Lisa has to repeat things multiple times before I'm able to understand her. The dizziness has been a real challenge also. Some days I'll feel light headed more times than I can count often from something as slight as bending over.
In October I really started wondering, "What is wrong with me?" By God's grace I finally found some answers. In November Lisa and I went to the doctor to get a full body evaluation and my blood panel came back showing that I am anemic. A light bulb went off immediately.
Anemia can have many causes but I think that for me the cause is nutritional. I've just not been eating enough food. The good news is that this is easily remedied. Fortunately, earlier this year I put in a new kitchen under our house and so I have the space to prepare large bulk meals which can be frozen. We've never tried this approach in Thailand before but it is starting to work well.
Over the past couple of months I have at least doubled my regular food intake and I am starting to feel so much better. I also eliminated coffee from my diet and in a couple of days all my dizziness went away completely. So I think perhaps coffee has been affecting me a lot. I feel my energy is returning slowly. I think I'm back up to about 60% full strength. On the 5th of January we went back to the doctor and my blood results came back in the normal range. I've very grateful to God that my body responded so quickly.
I feel a bit foolish for letting the food situation get so bad but I'm grateful to God that He brought us some answers. (Lisa has been so patient with me!) Thank you for reading and praying.
