February 2016: "The Georges in Peru"

We got the results of Amy's MRI today, which unfortunately were what we expected:  Her tumor is growing and pushing against the center of her brain, causing her headaches and loss of coordination.  I sent some of the images to her neurosurgeon in Nebraska and we'll wait to see if he thinks there would be any benefit in operating again. 

Today Amy got a follow-up MRI of her brain.  She was scheduled to have it done on Wednesday, but yesterday she had a very bad day of nausea and vomiting, heachaches, ataxia (staggering) and lethargy so I called and asked them to do it today.  The nice thing about getting an MRI in Peru, is that it is that easy.  Plus it was only $254.  In the US, the 'retail price' for Amy's last MRI was $3700, but the insurance company haggled them down to $2700.  Still 1/10 the price here.  We will get the results tomorrow, after 4 pm.

Dogs are so common in church in Peru that they appear in several of our pictures we've taken almost as if they were an unintended game: "Can you find the dog in this picture?"  Last night we had our first duck.  For reasons that I can't quite understand, one of the couples brought their duck to last night's Valentine's Eve marriage seminar.  They did explain that their daughter has made it a pet so now they don't feel like they can eat it, but they didn't explain why they brought it to church.

As a Nebraskan, any time I feel the earth shake, I call it an earthquake.  Since they happen so frequently in Arequipa, the locals scoff at calling a shaking sensation an 'earthquake' until it reaches 6 or 7 on the Richter Scale.  "That's just a 'tremor'," they'll correct.  So far we've had two in the two weeks we've been here.  They always seem to happen at night when one is lying in bed wondering if he should put on clothes and run outside (or first run outside and then put on clothes!).

Alejandro is an 83-y/o amputee that we have been helping for several years.  We bring him food weekly and dump the buckets that he collects his waste into.  He lives in a cinderblock room about 10 x 20 feet with no running water, but a cookstove and one light bulb hanging from a cord in the middle of the room.  Yesterday I picked him up (literally.  I had to pick him up to carry him to the car since he only has one leg) and brought him home.  We put a plastic chair in the shower and he had his first shower in over a year (since Thanksgiving 2014)!

We are pretty swamped repairing our house, buying food, filling out paperwork, etc., but I thought I'd write a quick note!  We are back in our house in Arequipa.  We were met at the airport by several friends and our pastor's family helped us unpack and drive me about to get our internet working and some groceries.  The Peats and Käsers (fellow missionaries) have already had us over for dinner, and our church had a reception with balloons and cake to welcome us back!  Our truck started on my first try and yesterday I got it insured and inspected so I can drive again.