Blog | frasergo.orghttps://www.frasergo.org/blog/2009-05-25T21:41:19+00:00BlogTime to recoup2009-05-25T21:41:19+00:00david/blog/author/david/https://www.frasergo.org/blog/2009/05/time-to-recoup/<p>We've just come back from a wonderful four days in <a href="http://www.volmoed.co.za" title="An amazing Christian retreat center">Volmoed</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermanus" title="A small town two hours drive from Cape Town">Hermanus</a> (where we've <a href="http://frasergo.org/node/106">been before</a> a few times). We caught up on sleep (David has only struggled with sleep for one night out of the last two weeks!), had good time with God, praying and reading <a href="http://www.ivpbooks.com/9780851115535">Tested by Fire</a> by John Piper (available online as <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/2423_The_Hidden_Smile_Of_God/">The Hidden Smile of God</a>), which gave us fresh encouragement about God's sovereign purpose... cried, played with James and Charis, made spiders, went for walks, went for a family picnic at a beautiful waterfall, collected fir cones, made a braai and some roaring fires to keep us warm in the evenings, watched movies, looked at the stars (and Venus and Jupiter) and felt very very grateful! We've uploaded <a href="/photos/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/">some photos of the holiday</a>.</p>
<p>
<a href="/photos/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/226/p1220057/"><img alt="At the start of our adventure walk to the waterfall" src="/static/media/galeria/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/P1220057.JPG" /></a><br />
<i>At the start of our adventure walk to the waterfall</i><br />
<a href="/photos/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/219/p1220007/"><img alt="Peeking through the giraffe tree" src="/static/media/galeria/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/P1220007.JPG" /></a><br />
<i>Peeking through the giraffe tree</i><br />
<a href="/photos/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/223/p1220126/"><img alt="Content" src="/static/media/galeria/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/P1220126.JPG" /></a><br />
<i>Content</i><br />
(<a href="/photos/2009-05-holiday-volmoed/">more photos here</a>...)</p>
<p>On the way we were listening to a recording of the story of David and Goliath, which asked the question "David didn't want any armour to protect him. What was David trusting to protect him?" Charis answered "God", and then a few seconds later, "And maybe his monster suit". Both James and Charis have a wonderful sense of humour which really makes us laugh! (Although I think she was serious this time!) When we asked them what they enjoyed most about the holiday, James said "Playing with Charis" and Charis said "The tablecloth"...</p>
<p>James was nervous again going back to school, so we are trying to help him with this...</p>
<p>And we have even more to look forward to because this coming week Joy (Danielle's sister) is coming to visit, which is so exciting!</p>
<!--break--><br class="clear" />Liver results2008-12-08T15:23:10+00:00david/blog/author/david/https://www.frasergo.org/blog/2008/12/liver-results/<p>We went to see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenterology">gastro-enterologist</a> today <a href="http://frasergo.org/node/117">as planned</a> to check out why James's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver_enzyme">liver enzyme</a> levels were high. He said that the most likely reason is that some of the drugs he's on can gradually produce toxicity in the liver over protracted periods of time. This can eventually produce liver scarring etc which is not reversible, but if caught early enough, they can sometimes switch the drugs etc so that it doesn't have a permanent effect.</p>
<p>The two drugs that are most likely to have done this are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methotrexate">Methotrexate</a> (a chemotherapy drug that James has weekly) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_Valproate">Sodium Valproate</a> (Epilim - an anticonvulsant that James has been taking as a precaution since he had a seizure last year). The most likely cause given the dosages is the Sodium Valproate, and since it was only a precautionary measure since James has only had one seizure, he advised us to stop that. We will repeat blood tests over the next few weeks to see if the liver function returns to normal. We had another blood test today as well to check that the problem is not increasing - James was nervous but handled the needle well in the end...</p>
<p>James told the doctor about how he likes macrophages and he told us that the liver has special macrophages called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupffer_cell">Kupffer cells</a></p>
<p>Danielle and I (David) have both been feeling fairly ill as well - I've had sinusitis and been on antibiotics for nearly a week now, and Danielle's been having dizzy spells - I'm sure over-tiredness is the root issue for both of us... Charis has still been waking up early fairly often - mercifully she slept right through last night and we actually had to wake her up to take Joy to the airport this morning!</p><br class="clear" />