Keep on Diggin'

We are simply overwhelmed by the number of people that have written, called or sent messages. Hundreds, maybe thousands of friends in many countries of the world are praying for us. We're not sure we deserve such outpouring of love from so many people, but every single prayer gets us closer to find out God's will through a diagnostic and treatment of my condition.

This week the doctors have increased the aggressiveness of the tests. For instance, this morning I had a procedure to take out a little bit of bone marrow from one of the bones very close to my left buttock. They also took out an 8 mm little chip of that unfortunate bone. I had local anesthesia, but I could clearly feel the drill penetrating to the inner core of the bone. Fortunately, the doctor explains every step of the procedure as I was lying face down.

The sweetest words that you want to hear as soon as possible are, "Mr Leiva, we're finished..." They put a patch the size of my left buttock and gave me a paper that says that I will have "mild discomfort" for the next 2-3 days.

In reality, I don't feel so bad. I can do everything, except allow a certain lady to pat that special part of my body...at least until tomorrow...

Later in the afternoon I undewent a CAT scan of the abdomen. This is a procedure that the doctors in El Salvador had recommended but because of our quick departure, it was not done until today. The worst part of this test is the two huge cups of a white unidentified liquid that I had to ingest half hour before the scan.

Early tomorrow (7:00 am) I will back to the lab to get an injection of a coloring agent so that one hour later they will do a PET scan of my body. I have no idea what the difference is between a CAT scan and a PET scan. I just hope the PET scan is for people and not for domesticated animals.

Our whole week is now filled with tests and appointments with doctors. We were also informed that it will be a week before the results of the bone marrow test are known. Because our head doctor is out of the country, we'll have to wait for him until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

We continue enrolled in the school of learning to wait upon the Lord. It's not so easy when we've been here for 2 weeks, had countless tests and we don't seem to be closer to a final diagnostic. But Luchy and I have decided to enjoy each day as it comes. We have purposefully decided not to worry for things that have not happened yet or will probably never happen.

Every day we receive so many messages with Scripture promises that remind us of God's intentios for us, His love, mercy and commitment to see us grow to the fullest.

Thank you so much... keep on writing...