My Husband, the Brave.

Where do I start when describing Chris? Well, he is a stubborn, strong-willed, passionate, spiritual, loving (when he wants to be), and most of all brave man.
For those of you who may not know this, but Chris has been diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune disease called CIDP. It is a disease where his immune system thinks his nerves are bad, so, his immune system tries to destroy his nerves. Chris was diagnosed with CIDP about a year and a half ago. We found out something was wrong because Chris was falling down and his left leg started to become paralyzed, causing him to trip on his own leg, and thus fall down. Chris also had a really hard time staying awake for any length of time because the disease is exhausting on the body, always attacking itself. The worst was one day we were getting into the van, and all of a sudden Chris was....gone. He had fallen in the garage and it scared me to death. We went to the doctor immediately. He went through a battery of tests. Thus, the diagnosis of CIDP. CIDP, if not taken care of, can eventually paralyze the extremities, then the lungs, which can be fatal. Plus, he is a fighter of insulin-dependent diabetes, everyday.
Every three weeks Chris has a home health nurse come and administer an IV infusion of IvIg, to help keep things under control. The infusion can last from 2 hours to 4 hours; and can be painful and exhausting.
Anyhow, the reason I am writing today about Chris and his trials is because I am very proud of him. Today, I had to sit through over an hour of two men putting my husband on a bed and hooking him up to a computer and pushing a electrical current strong enough to make him jerk almost violently, constantly. I watched his face and he would cringe in pain when the technician would turn up the current and make him jerk. The objective of the test was to see if any of his nerves were still working. Chris gets to look forward to this again, next Tuesday, and next time there will be needles. I wish that I could take the pain for myself, like anyone would for any loved one. I know that he hates going through this, and if it were not for Riley and I in his life, he may not even do it, and for that I am thankful for his willingness to live. I love him so much.
If the test was not enough, we got home just in time for him to have an infusion, which he is doing right now. He is sitting in the living room with an IV plugged into him, and laughing with his nurse. He is a brave man. I love him, and thank him for all he does for Riley and I. My Heavenly Father has blessed me with two wonderful people for me to love. I know that Chris and I don't always see eye to eye, and we butt heads often, but I love him and hope and pray that all this testing and infusions will help him to live a long and happy life with me with our grandchildren running around us while we sit on our porch watching the sun set. I know cheesy, but it is my blog. Ha.
Thanks for listening to my thoughts. I do not usually speak of Chris' problems and how it effects us, but writing it down, actually makes me feel a little better. In no way am I suggesting that we are unhappy or without blessings. We are blessed beyond measure. We know that everyone has trials, and ours are but a mere puddle compared to other's lakes. May Heavenly Father bless you all in your trials.