I hate to say it, but I am home. Those headaches were worrying missionary medical to the point that they sent me home. And from there, things went crazy. Let me run through a brief Reader’s Digest version of the order of events:
Because I had been having terrible headaches and have been dizzy all day, every day for the past 6 weeks, I was sent to the clinic, which then sent me to the ER for some x-rays and blood work. The blood work checked out all okay, but the CT-scan showed that I had fluid pooling on the left side of my brain near my left temple. At that moment, my probability of staying on the mission went south. The underground prayer network also went into action and by two days time, my amazing family/friends had my name in no less than 6 temples and many prayers were offered in my behalf. I am so, so, so grateful for all of the support that has been shown/given to me as of late. So, I received a phone call around 2 PM on Monday (last week) telling me that I needed to be in Iowa City, packed and everything) in 3 hours. After that, a plane ride home and the subsequent hospital visits.
Here’s what’s happened since I’ve gotten home:
We immediately got me in to get an MRI and a miraculous thing happened. That fluid that was pooling on the left side of my brain? It disappeared. Gone. Prayer works, I tell ya. So, that was great because that meant that I wasn’t going to require any brain surgery, but that now left us with no clues as to what is going wrong in my head. In the past week, we’ve seen many different doctors, specialists…you name it. Still, nothing. But, we think that we’ve narrowed it down and the currently prevailing guess is that I have chronic sinus infections that may be affecting me in more ways than one now. We’ll see, we’re waiting to get in with that particular specialist.
In the meantime, I have been medically (temporarily) released as a missionary, and am spending much of my time working with the local missionaries here in the San Bernardino 4th Ward. I hope to return as soon as possible. The part that is most frustrating about this whole thing is that I knew that I could keep working through the pain. I mean, I had already done it for a whole transfer. I could most definitely continue, but mission medical took over. So, if everything checks out and they can’t find anything wrong with me, I’m going to call it good and see if I can just go back out. I miss the mission too much. I still have a work to do out there in Iowa.
Don’t take me out yet, coach! I can still play!
But, for the time being, I want to let you all know how much I love this Gospel. And how much trust and faith I have in the Lord’s timing and plan for me. I may not always agree with it at the outset, but that is because I cannot “see the end from the beginning” quite like He can. I trust that as long as I continue to do my part, all things will work out. In the meantime…teach on, love on, live on.
Faith and Honor,
Elder Eastwood
Hello from Elder Eastwood 