December 3, 2013
Dearest Friends and family
After we left Vanuatu they started getting the much needed rain they had not been getting. SO the garden we left with produce is still maturing and we heard from aerogramme that Morris was enjoying my "juicy" tomatoes. The beans are still producing, cucumbers came up and two of our pineapple plants are putting out pineapples.
TRIP TO ALABAMA
After all the tests last month we went to Alabama to see Chris, Terasa and the
kids before Thanksgiving. Right after we got there we found out a good friend
of ours, Darrell Boswell who lived in Searcy Ark and was a classmate of mine
at Sunset School of Preaching in 1971-73 had died earlier that week. So Kathy
and I went back to Searcy for the celebration ceremony and were able to see
Sue, his wife and his two daughters and their families. We also saw Jim and
Neal Stamatis who were also in our SSOP class.
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
After Thanksgiving in Joplin we headed to Houston for my pre-op consultations.
We drove: first to Dallas and then to Houston - way too much traffic.
The first consult was with anesthesia for information. The second was with my surgeon in regard to the prostate removal surgery. Both woman asked how my leg was doing and they both wondered how the wrong diagnosis could have been made as to me having "Peripheral Vascular Disease". They were glad that had been straightened out- me too!
I had to go get another EKG because they could not find it in my files. So after a wait of 45 minutes it was done and I went back the pre-op nurse. It is a mad house in the Houston VA. I did find out, from the EKG technician, that the treadmill test I had done earlier this year in Fayetteville posted a 110%. My file shows that the technician said I quit before the test was finished.
We went to the cafeteria and got something to eat before the second consult. It was late! 3:30 pm became 4:30 pm. We talked with one of the doctors who will do the actual surgery. They are a team from Baylor University. She informed us what they would be doing: taking out the prostate and the glands. If the pathology tests come back good then no more cancer. She did say all the tests showed that it should be a pretty forward surgery with a good prognoses of quick recovery. They also asked for liquid to do a urine culture to make sure I had no hidden infections. As always, willing to donate!
By the time we were finished everything the VA clinics were shutting down and I was not able to file for our travel voucher.
After getting up the next morning I went back to the VA to file the voucher but could not even get into the gates due to a large volume of traffic. So I went back and Kathy and I packed up, checked out of the hotel and tried to turn in the travel voucher again, ha! We could not find any parking places and were just driving around in circles - so I had her drop me off, I went in and found a line of at least 50 people waiting for travel so went back outside flagged down my lovely wife and we left town. It was in the high 70's when we left Houston. When we were in Texarkana it was in the 70's and when we stopped in Fayetteville it was in the 60's.
We tried to file the travel voucher in Fayetteville but they said it had to either be mailed in or file in Houston. We have 30 days to file it so we will take it back to Houston when we return Dec 14th. Normally the VA flies the patient and caretaker in the day before the surgery but we are trying to get them to fly us in Dec 14th because the forecast is for snow and ice that weekend and since our flight comes from Dallas to Joplin we don't want to miss the surgery due to delayed flights. They called this morning to verify the Dec 16th flight and as of this writing we are still waiting to see if they can accommodate us with an earlier flight. I tried to explain the cost to them would be he same (plane tickets) and I would take care of accommodation until the 16th. They just seem to have a hard time thinking outside the BOX. She has to clear is with her supervisor.
WEATHER
The weather is just rude. Here is the forecast and I am not looking forward
to it. (50-60 F less than we are used to!)
Fahrenheit and then Centigrade
The Plan
So we are scheduled to fly down to Houston and and will have the da Vinci robotic
Prostatectomy done at the Houston VA. They expect two days in the hospital and
the recovery for 4-6 weeks. Terasa is coming down to give her mother moral/physical
support and we will drive back up to Joplin where we plan to have Christmas
with both the kids and their families.
Continuing Symptoms
Over the past couple of years I have been experiencing different symptoms
which I have tried to find out the base cause. I have thought the symptoms were
a result of the meds I had started taking as they COULD have been side effects
from those meds.
However since not taking FINASTERIDE, AMLODIPINE and not using the shampoo and cream for yeast infection, the symptoms have continued and so I did some internet research and I think I might have the answer.
Let me digress: when it was diagnosed that I had Thyroiditis, Autoimmune (ICD-9-CM 245.2) Sept 18, 2012 I jokingly asked "when the thyroid is gone where will the autoimmune system attack next". My research shows it is not a joke.
Autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune diseases can affect anyone. Yet certain people are at greater risk.
One theory is that some microorganisms (such as bacteria or viruses), drugs
or traumatic event may trigger some of these changes. People who are around
certain things in the environment — Certain events or environmental exposures
may cause some autoimmune diseases, or make them worse. Sunlight, chemicals
called solvents, and viral and bacterial infections are linked to many autoimmune
diseases. Anybody think this could have been the AGENT ORANGE!!!!!!!
I particularly like the summary on one site "We believe that more and more people are realizing that there is a connection between their various symptoms and illnesses, and this is the theory that is followed by most alternative health specialists.
Unfortunately, many medical professionals still treat the body like it is a conglomeration of separate symptoms, which is not working out too well for many autoimmune disease patients. We are not saying this to criticize the medical community, we are simply stating a fact. We strongly believe that the symptoms of any autoimmune disease affect the whole body, and consequently the body needs to be treated as a whole. If you treat only individual autoimmune disease symptoms, you may experience periods of remission for a while, but in our opinion and experience it is extremely difficult to get truly well unless you get to the source of the problem and treat the body as a whole."
The main internet website I researched is: Pristine Nutraceuticals,
LLC - Addressing the Root-Cause of Autoimmune Conditions (www.digestaqure.com).
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This being said - the rash on my face is still there with small white pus pockets,
'warm to the touch' skin and my nose breaking out with many pus and clear liquid
pockets, I have had some excruciating unexplained shooting headaches and shooting
pains in my feet of late, the joints creak more than before, the sinus infection
found in the recent scans, perhaps the ecoli infections on my leg earlier this
year because "Susceptibility to Infections - Autoimmune disease symptoms
include frequent colds, bladder infections, ear infections, sore throat, sinus
problems and yeast infections are common, with a slower recovery time, for people
with autoimmunity, the fact that I seem to have to take allergy medicine more
than I used to to keep from clogging up, the unspecified disorder resulting
from impaired renal function , psoriasis and eczema on my head and in my beard
more than ever (which I had attributed to lower humidity than where we live).........the
diagnosed yeast infection I am supposed to have from my head to to face to my
groin and the shampoo and cream that does not seem to work anymore (and which
I stopped on recommendation of the VA).
So I sent my findings to my primary care giver in Mount Vernon: "I guess
the bottom line is: with all the symptoms I have is it possible they are due
to the autoimmune disease and is there any treatment to treat the whole problem
or just hop scotch like we are currently doing? What is your take on the medication
from this company?
I know nothing can be done, looked at or treated until after my prostate surgery December 17th but I thought I would send you my thoughts so you can be thinking of a treatment plan or a commitment to a mental home for me.
They called me back and said it seeming like a good plan
to them as nothing else seems to be working. So when the natural medicine
comes I will be giving it a try.
Thank you so much for all of you who are
praying for us. God bless you! Thank you for your prayers!
Please be reminded:
The end of the tax year is coming up and you can minimize your contribution
to the US government by maximizing your contribution to the Lord's work. We
would like to ask for your consideration to our needs and the work here. If
you would like to contribute to a specific need or project please state such
when you send your contribution. Contributions can be sent to our sponsor (marked
for us) or mailed to us.
This is our plea (still) (a new way to help without cash, see #2)
For forty years we have tried to share with people our dream of "Church Planting, Leadership Training and Bible Training in Oceania". Various places have demanded differing roles in our work (Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji). The current location is Vanuatu and the role is still the establishment of a located Bible Training facility to train and equip brethren from the island regions of Oceania to teach and train their own language groups in the Bible and Bible living. We are not trying to establish a preacher training school. We are planning to train and equip brethren in the Bible and trade training (mechanics, woodworking, sewing, village bread baking, etc) to help them support themselves when they return to their home islands.
This is a plea: we
need your help with finances to establish this facility.
#1 - Can you personally help us with a one time financial gift of $50 or more?
Can you personally help us with $25 a month for a least a year? If enough of
you gave $25 per month for a year this would give us funds on a monthly basis
to build monthly. Will you PLEASE?
If you want and Autopay form (ETF) which will allow you to have funds automatically deducted from your bank account and transferred to the school bank account please ask. It can be stopped at any time on your part. AUTOPAY FORM Simply print it, fill it out, sign it and mail it back to the addresses supplied or scan it and email it back to me.
#2 - Another way to give: (without cash)
In our journeys and talks with people, many have said they want to help missions and especially help us build and operate The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies in Vanuatu but have no cash to give.If you have RMD (Required minimum distribution for over 70 year olds from their IRA) whatever is donated is tax free. (Example: if the government requires you to withdraw $10,000 from your IRA (whether you need the funds to live on or not) whatever you donate you do not have to pay tax on- whatever you keep you have to pay tax on. If you donate $5000 and keep $5000 you would only have to pay tax on $5000.) If you have other retirement funds (SS, etc) that you can live comfortable on then a RMD withdraw might put you into a higher income bracket that would mean that all you were required to withdraw might go toward taxes. Aught not to be, but that is the tax code.If you have some stock (ie Walmart, Lazyboy, Apple, Microsoft, etc) and cash it out you have to pay 15% capital gains tax on the difference that you paid for it and the price it is sold for today. If you don't want to pay 15% capital gains tax you can donate the stocks or again if you just want to donate some non-producing stock, your donation (the current value of the stock) is also tax free. Win - win! You don't pay tax (legally) and the Bible School gets built.
So we have set up a brokerage account with the bank that has our school account. It will be in the CIBS name with proceeds going into that account after being transferred and redeemed. This is just another way to help those of you who want to help missions but have no cash to give - you can give and lessen your tax load (and keep the cash in your hand).It was also explained that if the Bush tax cuts are let to lapse then the capital gains on stocks after December 31 will be 28% just like ordinary revenue. So you might want to review your stock portfolio by the end of the year and see if you can get a better deal donating.
If anyone reading this would like to transfer IRA (RMD) funds or stock to this account (which will directly benefit The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies in Vanuatu) you need to talk with your broker and give him this name and number: (Thank You!
United Missouri Bank (UMB)
300 Grant St
Carthage MO 64836
A/C# H8P033855
DTC# 0226
At the end of the year you will receive a letter of the tax deducible donation from us.
Thank you so much for all of you who are praying for us, supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you! Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you Lord for healing and what we have!
Grace & Peace
Tobey & Kathy
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Contributions for the Huffs, the Bible school can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Tobey & Kathy Huff
c/ 2730 E. 24th St
Joplin. MO 64804
Ph: 417 434-8367
Web Site: http://www.oceania-outreach.com/Index.html