G.I. Appointment

This afternoon, Mom and I attended my GI appointment. We visited the doctor's office bearing gifts! Actually, the presents (one for Dr. Van der Linden and one for his nurse) were the last ones under our Christmas tree for the longest time, so it was nice to finally be able to deliver them. We gave my GI doctor a hand-made calligraphy of Isaiah 54:13, "All your children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children". The calligraphy was done by a family friend who is very talented. In fact, she does calligraphy for weddings and other events through her home business. To visit her website, click here: Susan Dobyns.com

When we first gave Dr. Van der Linden the gift, he said, "I've actually never really had a patient give me a Christmas gift before. Sometimes at a former hospital [where there were a lot of male patients], I would occasionally receive jars of jelly, turkey meat, venison sausage, but nothing like this gift I got today". Mom and I roared with laughter! Below are two pictures; if you left click with your mouse over the pictures, it enlarges them. In the second picture, you can actually read the verse.

The actual GI appointment went very well, too. I appreciate how involved Dr. Van der Linden is with my care. We discussed a new drug to try to ease my pancreas issues. I begin that drug soon. We also decided to stretch my Remicade treatment to six weeks, because the Methotrexate is helping my body so much. At one point during our discussion, Dr. Van der Linden exclaimed to me, "You look wonderful! I am actually getting tears in my eyes looking at you!" He also mentioned that doctors go into the profession to help their patients, and when a patient comes back after treatment looking so well, it can give the doctor much joy.

Please continue to pray for Dr. Van der Linden, his wife, and their daughter. Dr. V and his wife hope to travel soon to get their three additional children from Russia.