Morley Update 2012 #15

Everyone,
Once again this is a little late. I had a bit of a set back with my health. In their quest to get my blood thin enough so I don't have clots, my doctors managed to get my blood TOO thin. When I called my neurologist to give her the reading yesterday which was 6.2 she said I needed to go to the hospital and be admitted in order to give me IV drugs to bring that number down. I went in and none of the doctors I normally have were there. There was a pathologist who spoke ONLY Greek and was questioning everything - why was I on blood thinner in the first place - my heart rhythm was fine, why was I taking meclizine, looking at my other drugs and rolling his eyes while arguing with the nurse in Greek. Then another woman doctor came in who spoke only a LITTLE English and she started arguing with the other doctor in Greek. Finally she said in English. You do not need to stay in the hospital we will just check your blood tomorrow and keep checking it until we get it where it needs to be. I told her MY doctor said I needed to be hospitalized. She said Do you WANT to be in the hospital. I said No but my doctor said I needed to have IV drugs to bring down my blood level. She said No, you should not take these drugs. Then she argued in Greek with the other doctor for a while. I told her I wanted to know from MY doctor that I didn't need to be in the hospital. So she rolled her eyes and called my doctor and talked with her in Greek. Then she said Your doctor is a little anxious for you but I still don't think you need to be in the hospital but if you want to stay you can. I asked if they were going to do anything for me while I was in the hospital and she said No. She said You can either lay in our bed or go home and lay in your bed it is up to you. You will need to have a blood test in the morning. I said Okay I would go home. When I got home I called my Neurologist and she said she was in agreement after talking to the other doctor that I should just keep getting my blood checked and could be home but needed to be careful and rest. SO I go in this morning for another blood test and we go from there.

Ministry News: On Thursday we had a special day. We invited 11 families (about 40 refugees -mothers, fathers and children) to a sort of health fair we set up. A local pediatrician, a local pediatric dentist and a local gynecologist volunteered their time. A church in our area has a great facility that they allowed us to use free of charge, They provided a bus to take the refugees to and from the facility and also provided a lunch. One of the doctors gave a talk on nutrition which was translated into Farsi. This also gave us an opportunity to open up the Scriptures and see why God cares about how we treat our bodies. Each child was seen by the pediatrician and the dentist who each had their own translator. The gynecologist took the women three at a time and talked with them about women's issues and pregnancy care also with a translator. There were several stations around the room where you could learn about brushing and flossing correctly, how to choose healthy foods etc. Each family received a packet with some healthy foods. Of course there was also time to make use of the playground and there were even games for the adults. Here is what one of my team mates wrote in summing up the day:

“R” came up to me and gave me a really big hug. She said she hasn’t really laughed or been really happy in over a year, but today she was. She told me she laughed so hard today she cried, and it felt good to have happy tears.


This family has been regularly attending a local church with Farsi translation and seem very interested - please pray for them.

Kent has been very busy with the regular work schedule and meetings with leadership and other team mates as we move toward the transition in leadership. We also received news that our children's leader will be moving on in June so please pray for a smooth transition there and people to pick up the slack. I imagine at some point I will be involved but cannot make any commitments for the near future. We are also welcoming our first short term team for the year on Monday and will have quite a few other people coming and going over the next few months. Please pray for me as I facilitate this and find housing, deal with budgets, do orientations, makes schedules and try to keep up with all the details. Thank you all for your prayers and faithful support. We love you.

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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)

Morley Update 2012 #14

Everyone - Once again my update was delayed by a trip to the hospital. For those of you who are tired of hearing about my illnesses feel free to skip this first paragraph to get to ministry news. Here's the health stuff: On Tuesday I had not felt very well all day and had several bouts of double vision that came and went. After dinner I had a headache and was feeling chilled but went out to the kitchen to debone some chicken for a Team Fellowship we were hosting the next night. I started feeling kind of weird - double vision and my tongue, upper lip and nose went numb. This scared both Kent and I so I called my cardiologist - not knowing which doctor to call. He said I should see an internist but that he was at the hospital and since we are only a few minutes away I should just come in. Kent got me to the car and we drove to the hospital. They took me right in a room and examined me and sent me off for another cat scan of my head. A neurologist came in and examined me and said she wanted to keep me but that she didn't think at that point it was an embolatic episode (stroke) and was more inclined to think that it was a visual migraine and would hopefully clear by morning. The next day my double vision was worse and I was seeing vertical movement as well. When the neurologist checked me this time she said it was much more pronounced and my eyes weren't tracking so she felt that I had had a small stroke located in a very small area of the brain which controls the eyes tracking together. She said the veins in that area are very small and it would only take a tiny clot to block one. She said on reviewing my MRI from the other night she saw 3-4 other "acute' spots with tiny clots. Then I also had this problem they found when I was in before at the back of my brain. She said that she felt some of this was a congenital defect. She said "Your artery is quite small and it should be large. There is also a lesion there from a past clot." She said that this is the area of the brain that controls stability and visual things. I asked her how long she thought the double vision etc would last and she said "I don't know but maybe weeks". Since I could do nothing but lay with my eyes closed this sounded a bit daunting. However I woke up at 2am Thurs. morning and my vision had cleared - it was fine all day although I felt a little unstable and tired. The doctor let me come home but I must keep getting my blood checked every few days to make sure we get it in the acceptable range and that it stays there to prevent something more from happening. Once again I liked my doctors very much and felt I had good care. My double vision has not returned but I do still feel a bit unstable when I am up and around. I am able to do household tasks (laundry, fixing dinner etc) and Kent is great to help so we are managing fine. Hopefully this will be the last of it and I can just concentrate on getting my blood levels where they need to be and building up strength.

Ministry News. Kent continues to go in to the ARC. As I mentioned in a few letters back his friend "H" a young Kurdish man has returned to his own country. Before he left he accepted the Lord and Kent was able to give him a series of 5 lessons on what it means to be a Christian in Farsi so he can study. He expressed a desire to tell others of his faith. Kent put him in contact with a friend who is a missionary in Kurdistan and we found out the the town he is going to is the same town where Kent's other friend another "H" who became a Christian while here is living. Kent is in contact with "H2" on Facebook so is able to follow up a bit that way. It is always sad for any of us when a refugee with whom we have made a connection and who speaks English moves on. However Kent said the day the "H" left he met a couple of new guys who spoke English came in and he was able to have a good conversation with them.

Last Sunday was Easter here in Greece so on Wednesday we had a special day just for refugee believers. There was a time of worship/singing in Farsi, a message translated into Farsi and then several refugees shared their testimonies. Afterward we served a meal. This went very well and is something we may try to do on a more regular basis. There is always a balance between getting refugee believers involved in local churches and also providing times for them to worship and share in their own language with other believers who are in the same situation as they are.

Kent continues to keep up with being to the team leader as well as the added things he has had to do to care for me. In a couple more weeks the former team leader will be no longer coming to the ARC on a regular basis and will no longer function on the leadership team. Their baby is due the middle of May and they will be transitioning back to the states probably at the end of June. We will really miss them but know that God will continue to raise up people to manage the different areas of ministry. Thank you all for your prayer for me and for Kent and for the encouraging notes etc. I look forward to the day when my letters will no longer be about my health but I will be back to ministry at the ARC. In the meantime I am just taking my time at home and concentrating on getting well. We love you all.

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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)

Morley Update 2012 #13

veryone - This will be your update for last week and likely this week combined. I don't know what all you have heard so will start with - as you know I have been feeling pretty poor the last few weeks. Tired, dizzy, irregular heart beat etc. I thought my meniere's was acting up but knew there were other things going on besides. I suspected my potassium was low. My good ear (one ear is deaf due to my meniere's disease) had also been feeling a bit plugged so I was a little worried that my meniere's might be crossing over to it which while not common can happen. This is very scary because Meniere's always brings hearing loss and I only have one ear left! I went in on Monday to have a bunch of blood work done for my rheumatologist and asked them to also please check my potassium. When I woke up that morning I had almost no hearing at all and so we also called our General Doctor to see if maybe I had an infection. He could not see me until Tuesday night. I lay around and slept a lot most of the day Monday and Tuesday just not feeling myself. When we got to the doctor he checked my ear and said it looked okay. I told him about the heart beat and he listened and said yes it was very irregular. He then discovered that I had no pulse or blood pressure in my left arm. At that point a pain which I had been having in my left side when I breathed grew worse and he felt I really needed to go to the hospital. The hospital is only 5 minutes away and when I got there a cardiologist took me right in and did an EKG. He said I had arterial flutter and he suspected a clot in my arm or higher in my aorta causing the no pulse and pressure. He admitted me right away and they started running tests. My arota and upper vessels looked good but an ultra sound showed that I had a clot at about my elbow but that my body had already created new places for the blood to flow which is why my hand did not seem to be having any problems. An MRI also revealed a clot in the back of my brain which they felt was perhaps causing the visual disturbances I had been having. This clot and the one in my arm are not dangerous because they are not in veins where blood flows back to the heart or lungs. That means they will just sit there until they are dissolved. They also discovered that my potassium was indeed quite low which could have accounted for the tiredness, double vision that came and went and the irregular heart beat. They started me on blood thinners (warfarin) and on IV potassium. The ear doctor came to check on my hearing problems and found I had something going on in the middle ear. He said "This is not good. We will hope this is an infection and we will put you on antibiotics. If it is not infection it could mean your meniere's is moving to that ear." Please pray that it is an infection - I think it is because it does not feel like my meiere's ear. I have no noise or pressure it just feels plugged. I continued and still continue to suffer with this pain in my side and shoulder. They have determined that is is Phrenic nerve which controls the diaphragm but they don't know why it is bothering me. They ruled out problems with my spleen or other things it could be so right now we are just treating the pain and seeing if it settles down. They believe I will need to be on the Warfarin for the foreseeable future which will mean some lifestyle changes. One I can no longer be careless about getting my blood work done on a regular basis. In fact it will be every few days for a while until they get it regulated. My doctor said "And this time when you go home you will NOT disappear!" since last time I never kept my last appointment etc. The part I really don't like is I have to limit the amount of food I eat with vitamin K in them - this includes all the healthy, dark, good for you vegetables and several fruits of which I am fond as well as chamomile tea, and green tea, I also have to limit the use of some seasonings that I use a lot of. I can do it all but it will take some time to figure out. They don't want me to skip these foods entirely but I need to eat less of them and eat the same amount of them consistently every day which with our lifestyle will be a bit of a challenge. They have also put me on a low dose of a medicine that controls the heart and they took me off the diuretic I was on and put me on a different one that is not supposed to lower my potassium. Anyway - I am doing fine and we will get this all figured out. I just am not happy to be adding a whole new set of medications to my regime. I had another violent spinning episode Friday night after coming home from the hospital. Probably the worst yet. I could barely walk with Kent holding on to me with both hands. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been here. I didn't have any spinning while in the hospital but I was in bed all the time. We don't know if the spinning is related to my meniere's or could be caused by the brain clot. Right now we are in a wait and see pattern with regular and frequent check ups. My heart has been pretty regular but I will wear a halter for 24 hours again in a couple of weeks. I will see the ear doctor again in a few days as well as go in for blood work. Of course all this means extra work and time for Kent - running me to the doctor and picking up the slack at home. I will not be going back to work any time very soon - we need to get all of these things figured out and settled down. Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes. If you have questions please write. I love you all
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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)