Back Home!

I'm right there with Dorothy... there's no place like home!

Dave, Claire and I arrived last Friday after our five weeks in the States. As I've already blogged, they were wonderful weeks of seeing/meeting dear people and I wouldn't trade those weeks for anything.

And at the same time...it's just good to be home. Except for the ten days I had between trips (in which I was jet lagged most of the time...smile), I've been gone three months...that is too long!! Everything feels...tastes...looks...sounds wonderful here!

Many have asked about an update on Caleb. Our time in the States was not easy for him, and being back home has been difficult too...he's still in pain. The good news (though I don't know if he would call it that) is the pain is of a different essence now. The intestines have quieted down and are no longer hyperactive like they were for so many months. For that, we're thankful.

In place of that is a rawness in his stomach which still produces a daily "7" in terms of pain (on a 1-10 scale). He says it's like a wire brush has scrubbed inside him day after day, hour after hour, leaving it purely raw. In fact, this is just what the treatment is doing, and what the doctor said would happen at this point along the way as it cleans out old bacteria and such...it's just no fun for Caleb.

If the doctor is correct in his estimate, we should see a turning point in the pain level within a week or two as that rawness begins to heal and the stomach is restored to health. But it will be longer than that before his energy, stamina and immune system are back in full working order.

So continue to pray for him - of course for healing, but also for strength to endure these long days of continual pain.