Thank you so much for your continued prayers! My wife read that the type of stroke I suffered is notorious for being more difficult and more unlikely to recover from. In spite of what my therapists have said, I cannot give up. Thus, your prayers are more precious than gold. I wanted to let you know of two recent breakthroughs.
As you may know, I really miss singing. Since the stroke, my voice has been weak, wispy, and warbly. I used to enjoy a range that allowed me to sing bass all the way up to tenor. Not anymore. Well, last week, I had a breakthrough. I was driving around town with my family asleep, as we often do this since the kids nap best in the car. I was attempting to sing along with various worship songs and I must say, I was growing increasingly frustrated. I couldn’t manage anything above a very limited lower range. Feeling angry and desperate, I ignored the advice of my therapist to “go easy” on my voice and instead, belted out some higher notes with all my might. I felt something snap inside me, like a release if you will, and suddenly, my voice became clearer, stronger, and more agile. Not quite a Class-A miracle, but a significant bump in the right direction! You can judge the difference yourself if you compare my speaking voice between Part 1(before) and Part 2 (after) of a message we recorded for a pastor friend.
Finding Hope in the Storm
Part 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15SDMfJKCQHzx5J3KQKNx1vLd9JuVFTBM/view?usp=sharing
Part 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KTX0LT72sETdRmqyCkfDJnRx43bzbGKe/view?usp=sharing
Furthermore, I have had a hard time sleeping at night due to nocturia. Embarrassing to admit, but once, I got up 11 times in one night! Scary since I didn’t know what it was … prostate, diabetes, weight loss, ketosis – all of these and more could be to blame. My doctors were not able to help much. I was sleepless, exhausted, and desperate. After a lot of prayer and research, it occurred to me to do the opposite of conventional wisdom and actually eat something right before bed. Bingo! Three eggs and half a piece of sourdough toast, (which I hadn’t enjoyed in years) and for the first time I can remember, I slept all the way to a quarter to six. So far, I’ve had four such nights where I’ve only had to get up once before early morning. Once, I actually slept all the way to dawn’s early light! Praise God and thank you for the prayers. God is so good.
Now, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, perhaps my own insulin is recovering and lowering my blood glucose enough that I can sleep for hours without having to pee. Lately, my blood sugar actually reads significantly lower right AFTER I eat than BEFORE. Go figure. All I know is that it’s working so far. The only problem is I can’t pull long extended fasts anymore and I have to eat late every night. Also, I have reintroduced bits of carbs after almost two years. I hope this doesn’t hinder my progress. I’ll have to tinker around a bit. Here’s to praying for a good A1C test this next time around. Thanks.
Lastly, we do have a special prayer request. By a miraculous series of events, Lillian landed a new job as a teacher at a private school not too far away, just in time for Micah’s entrance into Kindergarten. However, this means that yours truly gets to take care of both Micah and Jojo and help the boy with homework all by his lonesome for many hours every day. I still can’t fully care for myself yet let alone two little ones! Please pray that God will accelerate His healing and grace upon me. It has been an intimidating and exhausting venture. Thanks again.
Tim