School has Started and so have Sharon’s Treatments

A lot has happened in the past month. I will start with Chris. He made it to Honduras on January 19th…BUT not quite as smoothly as we had hoped. I (Sharon) found out, while Chris was literally in the air, that he and I both had been exposed to COVID. I called our friend Jason, who was picking Chris up at the airport, and told him the bad news. So, our friends quarantined him in an unfinished apartment on their property just outside the city of La Ceiba. They also delivered him three meals a day. Unfortunately, almost everything Chris needed to work on for the beginning of the school year was a three hour drive up the mountain in the village of Urraco. Needless to say, this was frustrating, but Chris’s attitude was good and we had many people praying. After about a week, Chris was tested for COVID and the results came back NEGATIVE! Thank you, Lord! A few days later Chris went “home” to Urraco!

Once there, Chris hit the ground running. The decision was made to postpone the start of the school year by a week, from February 1st to the 8th, in order to have the time necessary to prepare with the other two teachers, Victor and Walter. Chris spent two days talking with all the parents of the primary school’s kids, hearing their concerns, their expectations, and any pertinent information parents wanted to share about their kids. It took a while, but was time well spent.

During all this school preparation, Chris also needed time to get the apartment where he would be living, set up. It was an epic undertaking. The 89 boxes we shipped to Honduras in 2015 were in the apartment and Chris needed to go through them to find what he needed to ‘live’ for the next few months. Also, the apartment was under siege by termites, which he battled daily (you spray them with soapy water). The termites also moved into some of our cardboard boxes. Fortunately, nothing of sentimental value was ruined. Meanwhile, he was sleeping and eating breakfast in a different house on the property. And to top it all off, Chris got a fever and a rash…. Uh Oh! So, after isolating himself for a day (this time in Urraco) he borrowed a motorcycle and rode two hours each way in the rain to the city of La Ceiba, where once again he got a NEGATIVE Coronavirus test. Praise God!

According to Chris, not everything was perfect on the first day of school, but overall, definitely a win! His primary objective is to build relationships with the teachers, students, and parents while working hard to improve the quality of education the kids receive. These first few weeks have been exhausting, both physically and mentally, but Chris’s attitude has been good. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes!

Things here in the States have been somewhat less eventful but challenging all the same. Just as Chris isolated, I too had to quarantine. The difference was that I ended up quarantining with four COVID + people. One positive case turned into four, while I did everything in my power to stay healthy. I isolated myself to my bedroom and bathroom, both open to outside air 24/7, and spent most days on my sister’s beautiful back porch, which was very pleasant most of the time because we had beautiful weather. After 10 days of isolation, a negative COVID test gave me the hope to continue my rigid isolation and faith that I COULD stay healthy. Thankfully, my sister, her kids and her roommate all recovered well. I give God the credit for the miracle of my maintained health.

That behind me, my first day out of quarantine I went for the “brain mapping” that would be the basis of my “direct brain stimulation” therapy that I am pursuing here in Melbourne. Just this week, the doctor and I reviewed the “results” of the mapping and the plan for the therapy. In short, the results showed that I have too many, and too big of the fast active brain waves that we all have, and they cycle very fast. I have too few, and too small of the relaxing brain waves that we all have, and they cycle very slow. And lastly the brain mapping showed that my nervous system is in a state of high alert all the time, constantly scanning the environment for “threats”. This is usually seen with patients who have PTSD (I definitely do not), but in my case we think it is due to the fact that I am so sensitive to lights, smells and other environmental factors that my brain associates with pain. Apparently, I have an extremely sensitive nervous system, which is not surprising knowing the theories behind migraines. All that said, the treatment is to feed my brain the appropriate brain waves, and over time to “train my brain” to produce these more appropriate waves on its own.

As far as the monthly migraine medication that I miraculously received…the judgement call is still out on it. On top of these two treatments, I have also decided to put myself on the John Hopkins Migraine Diet. I have done extensive food eliminations in the past, but this diet is far more radical and longer-term. Please pray for me in this. It is certainly not a typical diet, in that, many of the foods that are actually good for you I am not allowed to have. My sister Kim has been a huge help and encouragement to me in this undertaking!

I just want to express our deep gratitude to so many of you for your consistent love and prayers for us throughout our motorcycle adventure and now during the next adventure of transitioning back to life in Honduras. We can honestly say that we feel surrounded by the love from you all. We are blessed!

We are extremely thankful for:

Not getting COVID at an extremely busy and critical time
The generosity and hospitality of friends and family in hosting us and caring for our needs
The opportunity to once again serve the people of Honduras and the support to do so
The many thoughts and prayers that are offered up for us daily as we continue our journey with Jesus

Please continue to pray for: