Hello again...it's been awhile since my last post and much has happened.  In July of last year my husband checked into the hospital with a mystery illness.  He had developed a cough that we all thought must be allergy related but had persisted beyond the allergy season.  The coughing had become more and more persistent and left him short winded and nauseated.  One afternoon I received a call from his employer saying that he was having chest pains and couldn't get his breath, I should take him to the emergency room.  So off to the emergency room we went and at 4:00 am in the morning he was admitted to the hospital for test.  His heart was fine but he was on oxygen.  After seven days in hospital, five of which were spent in an isolation negative pressure unit, we received a diagnosis of bacterial infection of the lung.  And so the fight began.  The bacteria was Mycobacterium avium intra-cellular or MAI, a soil born bacteria found in agricultural areas.  The infection was a rare occurence in the population but the bacteria relatively common.  He was placed on a regimen of heavy antibiotics which fought the infection but left him nauseated.  He had lost over 40 pounds since the first of the year and due to the nausea didn't have an appetite and couldn't recover any of his weight.  In October the doctor added an new medication, a highly toxic antibiotic infusion three times a week and finally in December he began to re-gain his weight.  Over the past year he has had one to three visits to the lab and to his doctors  each week and continues all of the meds and the infusions.  This past month he found out that the large cavities in his lungs, caused by the infection, had begun to shrink and his lab test indicate that the infection is defeated.  He will continue the meds and infusions for another year as a precautionary treatment.  Where his doctors at first thought that surgical removal of the lung might be necessary we are now well on the way to recovery and the surgical aspect is no longer necessary. 

God has been so good,  James only missed 5 days of work throught out this whole ordeal.  He is back at his pre-illness weight and on his way to recovering his energy and activity level.  We are giving God all the credit...without Him the doctors would have been unable to do this and we would be looking a open chest removal of his  lung.  We have proven God's faithfulness over the years as James was healed of cancer, recovered from a severe retinal detachment, and suffered from heart blockages without surgery.  God is our Healer, our Provider, our Salvation and the Lifter of our heads.   If you have a problem God has the solution and He is waiting on your invitation to act for you.   He suffered the stripes on His back for our healing.