Receiving: Lesson 101

Hello! It's Elizabeth. I wanted to let you all know that we are blown away by all of your generous donations in the past day. I feel like I'm using this blog as more of a "journal" than a mode of communication to update you all about Nathan, so I hope I'm not boring you all with my rambling.

It's easier to give than to receive. That's the saying, right? Well, whatever the saying is - that's at least how I feel. My purpose in life is to give and help others; it's what I enjoy doing. Giving makes me feel good because I know I'm hopefully making the person on the receiving end feel just a little bit better. Receiving, though...receiving is tough! You're vulnerable and at the mercy of others. It makes you have to swallow your pride.

When all of this started with Nathan, the ER doctor told me to take a seat before he said, "Nathan has a large mass on his brain." At that moment, I lost my hearing; it was as if there was a vacuum. Since then, thankfully I regained my footing (and my hearing!) because of the support of so many people.

At first, I felt bad accepting peoples' contributions - gifts, donations, or just a shoulder to cry on. But now, I realize that without God and the support of all of you that have put us in your hearts, we wouldn't make far on this road by ourselves. Pre-seizure, I wanted others to receive. Post-seizure, I understand that the point of giving and receiving is to learn to easily do both.

We are on the receiving end of countless prayers, donations, gifts, calls and messages. I can't adequately express how much they mean to us. My heart explodes with gratitude and love for everything that everyone has done. You all are touching our lives in ways that cannot be repaid, but please know that you are impacting and changing our lives for the better. I truly believe that there is power in prayer and power in numbers, so thank you for that.

Ok, so now for an update on Nathan. He is doing well today. Yesterday was a big day for Nathan. He had received a lot great news and updates from his work, so he was excited. Here's a picture of Jack on a conference call at Bellhops, taking care of things while Nathan's away.

However, yesterday morning he had his first "spell". We were sitting together and I noticed that he kept blinking - a lot. I asked if he needed some medication (he's on anti-seizure medication but we also give him another pill, if he has any symptoms of a seizure). So, I gave that to him, and he seemed to be fine. Around 1pm, it happened again. He wasn't blinking as often as he was earlier, but he was feeling dizzy and kind of loopy. Again, another pill to prevent a seizure. Later on that night around 8pm, we were watching the Moon Taxi concert live on TV while they were playing at Bonnaroo. We were watching it with the volume pretty much turned all the way up, and Nathan would NOT let me turn it down. Shout out to Moon Taxi - y'all were great! We LOVE the new song, All Day/All Night. Anyway, so as he was watching the concert, I noticed him to start blink uncontrollably again. So, another pill he took. After that 3rd pill, he seemed to feel ok and went to bed. He had a good night's sleep and is feeling well today. That being said, I think we'll take today and rest. Hopefully, he won't have any more spells today...so far, so good!

We're still in Knoxville and will continue to stay here until we go to Nashville on Wednesday for his functional MRI.

Again, thank you all for everything. I don't know what else to say. I'm so humbled by everyone's generosity and love. We love you.

Elizabeth