Back From The Mosquito Wars

Hello priceless friends and family,

I’ve been asked to write today’s entry, and after four days of hospital rest, I finally feel up to it!

Today is Saturday, June 24, and though I’m still in the hospital, I’ve been able to get up, walk around, and visit with Bobby, the kids, and some of the new friends we’ve made here. Bobby has been faithfully reading me your emails filled with love and encouragement. One beautiful friend wrote, “We are your wall right now.” That is exactly how we’ve felt these past few days. You have been our wall—our wall of strength, our wall of prayer. We’ve hidden behind it, leaned on it, and rested against it. Thank you for building that wall for us. We are overwhelmed by the blessings we’ve experienced in the midst of this scary situation.

I’ll tell you one thing—I now have a whole new reason to hate mosquitoes! But after two days of IV fluids, antibiotics, steroids, and bed rest, I’m feeling so much better. We’re just waiting for the doctor to bring today’s platelet count to see how much longer I’ll need to stay.

I’m trying to stay positive. At the apartment: one TV channel. Here: many! At the apartment: laundry. Here: none! At the apartment: cold showers. Here: warm! You get the idea.

Braden and Kyndal are on a little mini-vacation with our new friends—an American couple who work in Thailand. They’re staying in a hotel with a pool, which basically qualifies it as a full-on vacation for our kids. Once again, God has provided everything we’ve needed. It’s no surprise, but I’m still amazed every time.

I feel a nap coming on—just a little activity still wears me out. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. We love you so much, and we know you love us.

—Angie

As you can tell, the first part of this update was written by my wonderful and nearly healthy wife.

The doctor came in around noon and gave us great news—her platelet count is up to 105,000. That’s a big win. She still has the spots on her legs and feet, which the doctor says are normal and come from capillary bleeding. Angie’s feeling better overall, but when she gets up and moves around too much, she tires quickly and gets short of breath.

Because of the high fever she had earlier, her liver needs a break. So, the doctor has restricted her from fats, fish, meat, and oils for now. I’ve anchored her down so the wind doesn’t blow her away—she’ll probably lose a bit more weight over the next week or so.

He said he might discharge her tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning. We feel like we’re standing on third base, just waiting for the wave to head home.

More Provision…

As most of you know, I canceled my debit and credit cards after they were stolen. I really wish I had checked around the house one more time before canceling them—but oh well.

Thankfully, a replacement debit card has already been sent to my dad’s house in Texas. Even better, a friend of mine from the UAE is coming to the States soon and will be visiting my hometown in July. He’s planning to meet up with my dad and bring the new cards back here when he visits us in August. What are the odds? I’d say 100%. Thanks, Walker.

Perspective and Peace

Don’t worry—we haven’t lost our focus. And I hope this experience doesn’t scare you away from visiting us or being part of our travel business. Dengue fever is rare, and it’s treatable. Angie’s uncle told us, “This may not be the best way to promote your travel business, but it sure got our attention.” He still plans to come visit—he just said he’ll be wearing three coats of mosquito repellent and sleeping inside his own mosquito net. That made me laugh. The funny thing is, we all had more mosquito bites than Angie—guess she just drew the short straw, or maybe she smacked the one that would’ve gotten the rest of us.

Our doctor explained that there are three strains of dengue. Once you’ve had one, you’re immune to that specific strain. So it looks like Angie has one down… two to go. Depending on who you ask and what you read, there are different views on dengue fever (even how to pronounce it). If you want more info, here’s a link to the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/dengue

Thanks again for thinking about us and for all the prayers—you can be sure we feel every single one of them.

With love and gratitude,
Bobby and Angie