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| In front of the penguin exhibit. |
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| Penguins! ...or not? |
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| Jellyfish! I dare you to jump! |
The summer has been trucking along rather smoothly for the Samples. Matt finished his residency last Friday, June 22nd and began his fellowship today, June 29th. Jen is doing well, with not too many changes recently. It seems as though the GVHD that was appearing on her skin and in her gut is clearing. She is hoping her docs will begin to wean her off of her meds and her photophoresis treatments, preferably the meds first as they have some unpleasant side effects. She is anticipating them making some decisions next Thursday. Jen is asking for prayer for Matt as he begins his fellowship in cardiology at Vanderbilt and also for her lungs. Her lung function took a dip in the past couple months, and she is prayerful that the docs will find her lungs up and running at their baseline (pre-transplant) level, especially because this will prevent her from having to take more meds.
Matt and Jen have enjoyed spending some time at Cheekwood in Nashville throughout the summer. Cheekwood is a really neat venue that hosts concerts and other musical events along with botanical gardens and other exhibits of interest. One exhibit they visited more recently were treehouses that had been built based off of children's books such as a pirate ship and a rainbow fish (that one was made out of cds, really cool!). In honor of Matt's birthday this Sunday, they are going to see Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up comedy act tonight.
As you can see, Jen is having a great summer and staying pretty busy! Though she's careful to schedule naps through the day as she is still lacking some energy, something that can easily be zapped in this hot, southern Summer sun!
As always, thank you for your prayers and your concern. Let us all be in prayer that we will not take our health or our days so graciously given to us for granted. We serve such a loving God. He is so good to us, and his goodness knows no bounds. Thank you, Father, for your care, your protection, your love, and your goodness to us. And, (grimace), thank you for the sunshine, Lord. Though it is hot, keep us mindful of our complaining. We are an abundantly blessed people. Let us not forget that.
