Update from Dave:
Dear Friends and Family around the world,
Greetings to you from Shillong. I hope all of you are doing well in your respective places. We have been doing well. Summer and I continue to get good exercise from keeping up with Kate as she walks and now even runs around the house. Yesterday was the last day of our third cycle of Mission Adventures, and this morning was the graduation of our January DTS. Through the changing of seasons, we aim to continue to be a blessing to those we work with and lead.
Over the past few months, we have been trying to make plans for the next year. One of the issues we have been hoping to resolve is to find out more about a medical condition I have. For as long as I can remember, I have made strange movements with my hands, mouth and eyes during various times of the day when my mind is not actively engaged with the task at hand. I had assumed that it was a habit, but when we made contact with our family doctor, we found I had been diagnosed at age 7 with "petit mal seizures", also known as "absence seizures". Normally, the condition stops occurring when the person reaches adolescence, but in some situations it can continue and even get worse. My parents and I remember being told by the doctors that it would go away, but we didn't clearly understand at that time that I should be retested later if it persisted.
We have been checking into our options for further testing and treatment and have been in contact with Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, which is well known for its quality service to over 1,000 international patients every day. It is highly respected among foreigners living and working all over Asia. They have reviewed my records and recommended a 24 hour EEG, an MRI, blood tests, and a consultation with a neurologist.
We had already planned to go to Thailand next month for a break and to fulfill the requirements of our visa to India. If we are able to get more accurate information about my condition and treatment that could help, it could change my life greatly.
There is good information available on Wikipedia.org and other websites about petit mal seizures. There are also videos on YouTube of children having an absence seizure, although none of them really showed someone doing things exactly like what I do. It has been helpful for us to see that it is a condition that others also have, and that there are treatments available.
For more information on Bumrungrad Hospital, visit bumrungrad.com
Thank you all so much for your consistent prayers and support.
May God bless you abundantly,
The Housers
-David, Summer, Katriel
