Update On My Health

I want to start off by thanking all of you for your prayers, the notes, and all the phone calls that we have received in the last week. My purpose in this note is to give you a quick synopsis, without going into gory details, yet at the same time I'd like to share some specific prayer requests as well as specific answers to prayer. Over the last few weeks I had been experiencing some symptoms of a kidney infection and then on Saturday night those symptoms just went out of control. Long story short, Saturday and Sunday were two of the worst days "physically" that I've ever had. Ginger and I weighed carefully the decision for me to fly home. Health care in Poland is adequate, however I only have one kidney (I had the other removed 12 years ago), because of my previous problems I had some real concerns that I needed to see people who knew my history and/or could readily access my files. Flying home was a major hurdle though, because 1.) I didn't know if I could physically make it, and 2.) last minute flights are normally outrageous. Ginger and I started praying and began seeking advice, we were only finding flights for $3000-$4000 and then a last minute search on kayak.com brought up a non-stop flight from Warsaw to Chicago for $1000, this was a great rate, you'd be hard pressed to get that rate booking two weeks in advance, and we had the funds in our bank account. So when that fare popped up I decided to get back to the US for treatment. The flight was really bad for me, I almost asked for medical assistance but held off fearing a "guantanamo quarantine" : )

While I was in the air my parents were working in the US trying to help me get a doctor. One answer to prayer was a lady in their church is a nurse at a urology clinic about ten minutes from their house. She discussed my case with the doctor and his advice was to get me to the emergency room. My dad met me at the airport and we drove to the Clarion West Emergency room in Avon, In. I got there around midnight, they started running tests and administering antibiotics through an IV. I was there through the night. In the morning they released me and I was set to follow up with the tests results later in the week with the Doctor I previously mentioned. I met with him today and as we began talking about my history it turns out that he did his internship at the very facility were the new surgery was preformed on me 12 years ago, there's even a chance he was observing during the actual procedure. Just a coincidence of course, no "Sovereignty" involved : ) In all seriousness it was another specific answer to prayer that I could see a doctor with firsthand knowledge of my history and the contacts to speedily get all my files. Praise the Lord, I'm recovering but it looks like my kidney will be susceptible to this for the rest of my life. To prevent this from happening again the doctor is sending me back to Poland with a year's supply of antibiotics and I am to complete an entire round whenever the symptoms begin, this is to avoid any damage to the kidney. Further tests may be needed in a year but I am thanking the Lord for the clean bill of health. I would appreciate your prayers for good kidney health, and pray for Ginger and the family in Poland without me for another week. I am so thankful for my wife, she has been a great confidant and been so strong through this, the kids are in great hands.

In Christ,

Jason Stover