On Second Thought...

maybe I really am crazy...or just confused.

After doing more research since my last post, I discovered that Hashimotos causes under thyroid function (not high) and supposedly doesn't have symptoms.

Mmmm.

So, now I'm more confused than before. Oh, well. I'm just trusting the doc. on this one, and we'll see again in 3 more months...

danke schön

For a variety of reasons, we're not "doing" Thanksgiving dinner this year (probably next year), but just because we don't have the same food or family nearby, doesn't mean we don't have A LOT to be thankful for!

I love danke schön because it means "thank you, beautifully." (I guess the closest thing in English would be "thanks a lot.")

We have been so blessed with people on both sides of the world who have helped make our move not just doable, but wonderful. Many people have asked, "Why Germany?" We weren't sure all the reasons for the place, but once we felt it was right, we believed everything would work out. From selling our house there in a month to finding a perfect place for our family here, everything has continued to fall into place at exactly the right time.

One hope for me was to find a doc. who could figure out my thyroid. As many of you know, I've been struggling with a crazy thyroid that nobody could seem to figure out for over 5 years now. When I saw a doc. here last week, he was nice but short on time, and we had a bit of trouble communicating, even in English. I didn't have very high expectations of learning anything new.

When I came back a few days later to pick up my lab results and prescription, I was surprised to be told I would need to speak to the doc. before getting my prescription. I was more surprised to see the word "Carconim" that seemed to have a familiar ring to it. (Unfortunately, my pocket-sized dictionary was not much help in this department).

Luckily, I did not have cancer, and my thyroid levels were fine, but I had a new diagnosis--Hashimoto-Thyroditis. After having quite a long stretch of stable thyroid levels, I was discouraged to have to adjust to not only a new brand of medicine, but also an additional type of medicine, as well.

Now, two days later, it has occurred to me that maybe, just maybe this was the answer I've been looking for! ( That Bette Midler song came to me with the lines, "Sometimes the snow comes down in June, sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon...sometimes the very thing you're looking for is the one thing you can see.")

When I was first tested for Hashimotos years ago, it came up negative. Since then, I have been high and low, but there have been multiple times when I thought I was experiencing high thyroid symptoms only to be told my levels were just fine. I was sent to a heart specialist (for panic attacks) and then to a psychologist who wanted to put me on anti-depressants that would make me tired. I was so frustrated and kept thinking it had to be related somehow to my thyroid.

So, even though my thyroid levels that they check routinely are normal, maybe because I'm a new patient here, the doc. did a complete blood work and discovered that my thyroid antibodies were through the roof--a positive diagnosis for Hashimotos. These high levels can cause high-thyroid-feeling symptoms. Yeah, I'm really not crazy, afterall!

Some people online have said the medicine for this helps. Others say not. So, hopefully, it'll work for me. At least I know what it is now.

If this was the only reason we needed to move to Germany, it was worth it. Fortunately, for us we have already seen many other reasons, too! To this, I say, "danke schön!"

Just a few other things I'm thankful for:

e-mail, blogs, and video chat to keep in touch with friends and family

being members of Christ's Church on the earth today

happy, healthy kids who are willing to try their best

Myles' daily homecoming

friendly neighbors

my 5 senses

prayer

mail

German Holiday

This was a beautiful hike on a day off to celebrate the Wall coming down. We were told to wear jeans and long-sleeved shirts to prevent tick bites, but were sure hot! (Myles actually got a tick bite on a different day, and I was worried about possible Lyme disease, but luckily he's fine).

We enjoyed hiking with friends, seeing lots of vineyards, trying freshly-pressed grape juice, and visiting a market. The drive and views were incredible.

Thinking we'd help ourselves be a little more cultured, we were sure to check out German Natl. Anthems on U-Tube so we could sing along when the time came. We were surprised the time never came. When Myles asked somebody about it, they said, "It's illegal to sing the first 2 verses of that song." Oops. Too bad those were the 2 we'd learned.

It's one thing to hear about history. It's sure another to live it. People our age have stories of their parents having to sneak across borders. It really wasn't that long ago. We're sure blessed in many, many ways.

Reunion

We were excited to have our good friends from The States who are living in Kenya meet us in Germany!

It was so fun to share about our lives in different countries. While our kids think it's normal to take the train downtown to see moving stuffed animals in storefront windows, theirs get to see the real thing on car rides through the safari.

We were blessed with good weather and breathtaking views of the castle with a fall-leaf backdrop. (Our camera definitely doesn't do it justice).

The girls loved speaking a mile a minute in English and staying up late.

My Little Frog and Toad

Some days I think, "Do I really have to wash the dishes, do the laundry, and pick up stuff all over again?!"

But then, I hear a few giggles erupting into uncontrollable laughter coming from the girls' room. I poke my head in to find Carly reading Frog and Toad to Macy (in German), and suddenly anothr plain old day has turned into pure magic.

What's your favorite one? We sure like the one where they can't stop eating the cookies and the one where one of them gets ice-cream for the other and it melts so much, he looks like a monster. I think the one where they rake leaves for each other is pretty sweet, too.

Quotable Quotes

Carly: Mom, when we go back to The States, I'm bringing a whole suitcase of German bread with me.

Macy: Mom, I know what I can be for Halloween. A bruised banana!

Meant to Meet

Have you ever met someone you felt like you already knew somehow? Like you're not starting a new friendship, but just picking up where you left off?

This is what happened in the basement of our first downtown apartment where we did our laundry.

I simply opened a door for a mom with 2 little boys in a stroller. At this point, I was still pretty terrified about trying to make/understand small talk with anyone, so when we realized that neither of us could speak German, we found that English was what we had in common, just for starters. (Her first language is Czech, then Russian and English, then French).

(By the way, Macy says you don't have to speak the same language to be friends. Even though the mom knows English, the boys don't. So, our kids were friends for a few months before having German in common. How true. They would laugh and play without having to say much).

It turns out that our husbands work in the same building, and that before landing here at the same time, we both tried moving to CA for work/study at Stanford.

Some may brush this off as mere coincidence. I see it as a gift. And, with every gift, there has to be a giver. In this case, a giver who knows every language and heart.