Morley Update 2011 #40

Everyone,

JOY TO THE WORLD! Thanks to all of you who have been holding me up in prayer with my arthritis. Last week continued to be quite a trial. My days looked like this - at 2am I would awake in terrible pain and would barely be able to walk to the kitchen to take some ibuprofen. Then about 6:30am I would wake up hurting so bad that I could not stay in bed. My neck was very stiff and it was very hard to even get my feet over the edge of the bed. Getting dressed was agony - trying to struggle into those elastic stockings that go from toe to hip was difficult, I could barely bend my knees enough to get them over my toe and my wrist hurt when I tried to pull them on. I remember one morning just bursting into tears and feeling like I could just not take it anymore. Once I was up I would slowly and painfully walk to the kitchen past my husband who knew better than to ask how I was feeling. I would take my medications and struggle to get sat down with my feet up. If I forgot my glasses or something else I would ask Kent to get them for me because I could barely stand the thought of getting up. After a few hours I could function but I could not walk without pain and getting up and down (even though Kent has raised both of our couches) was always an ordeal. On Tuesday I went to the doctor for my appointment. The Ultra Sound of my calf showed that the thrombosis had cleared however the doctor doing the test (who is the same doctor I saw while in the hospital) said "Your knees are bad. The baker's cysts behind them are bigger and you have been bleeding into them again. There is also a LOT of fluid around your knee cap in the front." I told him I knew. When I saw the rhuematologist I told him how bad things had been. He checked me and said "We need to change your medicine. We decided for a start to leave me on the Enbrel but to add another pill of cortizone - I was already taking one in the morning - at night. He also decided to up my methotrexate which I don't take until tomorrow. I saw the other doctor who said that I still needed to be on the blood thinners for a couple more months and that I should keep wearing the stockings. I went home not feeling very hopeful.

That night I took the cortizone pill and went to bed. I woke up at 5:30 and thought "Hmm my neck is not feeling too bad. I realized my knees were not hurting much either. I decided since I was awake to get up and call my Mom since it would be evening in Oregon. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up and walked to the bathroom - very little pain. I then got dressed with no trouble and walked to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and take my pills - again almost no pain. I got sat down in my chair and put my feet up "Oh no, I forgot the phone" Not a problem - I'll just hop up and get it and sit back down. By this time I was practically feeling giddy with the joy of it. When Kent walked sleepily out of the bedroom an hour later I jumped to me feet and did a little jig saying "It's a Christmas Miracle!!". He looked at me like I had lost my mind. I said "Look - I am walking no pain". He couldn't believe it. We both went to our computers and worked for a while, instead of me saying "Honey, could you get me some more coffee?" I got up to get myself some and poured him another cup as well. When he went to leave I got up to kiss him goodbye and he said "Well this is just a real nice development. I went the whole day feeling good and took nothing for pain. This morning I awoke feeling even better than yesterday. I am "walking and leaping and praising God" - okay maybe not leaping but I think I could if I wanted to. Thank you all for praying and for standing with us during this time. It will be a Merry Christmas at our house this year!

Last Friday night we had our community group of believers over for dinner. I cooked Persian food for them. I made a dish that they serve for special occasions called Zereshk Polow - a rice dish with saffron and barberries. It is quite a process to make this dish. You soak the rice for several hours. Then you rinse it and boil it for a few minutes and rinse it again. You take a bit of the rice and mix it with some oil and yogurt as well as a little saffron water. You put this in the bottom of the pan and pile the other rice in a pyramid on top of it. You poke some holes in the pyramid with the handle of your wooden spoon and pour more oil over it. Your wrap the lid in a kitchen towel so no steam can escape and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. This forms the tadig which is the crusty bottom that is a special treat and served on a separate platter. You then turn the heat as low as possible and let it continue to steam for at least another hour. When the rice is ready your take the zereshk (barberries) and fry them for a minute or two in a little oil and sugar. You mix half the rice with some saffron you have steeped in hot water which make it a lovely yellow color. Mix the barberries with this. On a platter put a layer of plain rice and then a layer of the yellow rice studded with red berries on top. It is a beautiful dish and the men were very excited when they saw it - one said "I have not had this since I left Iran". I also made chicken and vegetables cooked with saffron, tumeric, paprika and other spices. Cucumber and tomato salad and Arabic bread rounded out our meal. I set the table with my Christmas dishes and we had a lovely evening. The men left with us saying "Cristmas Mobarak" and them wishing us "Merry Christmas" as well.

We will have the week off next week but hope to have some more people into our home now that I am feeling better. Thank you again for being part of our lives and this ministry. We love you all and wish for you a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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