A Christmas prayer from Frederick Buechner

From Secrets in the Dark by Frederick Buechner:

Lord Jesus Christ, thou Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, be born again into our world. Wherever there is war, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever there is no hope, come, thou long-expected one, with healing in thy wings.

Holy Child, whom the shepherds and the kings and the dumb beasts adored, be born again. Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart, come, thou Blessed One, with healing in thy wings.

Savior, be born in each of us as we raise our face to thy face, not knowing fully who we are or who thou art, knowing only that thy love is beyond our knowing and that no other has the power to make us whole. Come, Lord Jesus, to each who longs for thee even though we have forgotten thy name. Come quickly. Amen.


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The consolation prize (fanfic)

So...I'm frustrated. So what's the cure for frustration? Yes, the beach. ::looks around at the desert and pokes a cactus:: Um, yeah... so...hiking! :: considers the weight loss, illness and fatigue:: Uh...fanfic?

Here are a couple of oldies and goodies:

Supernatural: There'll Be Peace When You Are Done by lyra_wing-- Lovely, achy gen story of Sam and Dean. Very short but perfect. (You know, I actually started watching Supernatural because of the fanfic, and I like the (good) fic more than the actual show.)

Veronica Mars:
In Case of Emergency by bigboobedcanuck-- Premise: A couple of days after the S2 finale, Logan is in an accident while Veronica is out of town. Having no one else to call, he contacts Keith. Care-taking ensues. This is such an incredibly sweet fic, and the best part? Everyone remains in character.

ETA: My post title reminded me of R.J. Anderson's short-but-fabulous Alias fic, Consolation Prize. Her longer fic, What You Never Knew You Wanted," was the first fic that made me really think about Weiss and understand why people liked the idea of him and Syd together.

Summary of what the Mayo endocrinologist said

You have hyperthyroidism. No, wait, you have HYPOthyroidism. No, that's just because we did the nuclear scans too soon after your CT. You have hyperthyroidism. You probably have Grave's disease. Take this medicine. No, wait, you probably DON'T have Grave's disease. You have thyroiditis. Don't take the medicine. Just get your blood drawn in two weeks.

So, basically, something's wrong with my thyroid, but they don't think it's all that related to THE BIG PROBLEM that no one can seem to diagnose. The thyroiditis may have been triggered by THE BIG PROBLEM, but seems to be slowly resolving on its own.

So...what now? I have no idea.

Another health update

I got a call from Mayo clinic and will be going up again this coming Thursday and Friday for nuclear scans. I am testing positive for hyperthyroidism so they are trying to determine the cause. Unfortunately, I will be radioactive for a few days, and Pippin will have to stay with a neighbor. :( Hopefully, the tests will lead to some answers though.....

Books

Thank you to everyone who has helped with the book collection! All books have been purchased. Over forty kids will be enjoying fun, new books over Christmas vacation. Thanks! :)

Medical update & book drive

I was up at the Mayo Clinic again this week and no definite answers, but they've added an endocrinologist to my team. The Mayo GI had suspected some type of endocrinological involvement, and apparently, my TSH levels came back "as abnormal as is possible" on the hyperthyroidism end. However, neither the GI nor the endocrinologist feel that hyperthyroidism, in and of itself, could cause the severity of my symptoms....so they're doing more tests. I call in a week to get the results back from the endocrinologist's blood tests, and based on the results, I'll either go back up for a couple days of nuclear medicine scans...or have tests for malabsorbtion (spelling?) affecting my small intestine.

I'm not losing weight, have actually gained a couple of pounds, but I still can't eat much and generally don't feel too good. I'm not getting worse, but I'm not really getting better either.

In other news, if you want to help out with the adopt-a-family (needy families at the middle school where I work) book collection, please do so ASAP. I need the books to be at my house by next weekend so I can wrap and sort them for delivery to families. We just had a couple of families added to the list. Here's my registry, but remember, you may also choose your own books: Book Registry
(The number of purchased items also includes things that were purchased for last year's drive, just FYI.) Thanks in advance for any help! If you can't participate though, I understand.