Saddleback Church tries to electronically disguise their message

Back in a previous post, I expressed my anger at Mr. Obama choosing Rick Warren to deliver his presidential invocation. In that message, I provided a link to the Pastor Warren's Saddleback Church website, which made it clear that homosexuals could not be members of his church.

What do you find if you click on that link today? Not a single word about gay, homosexual, or sexual sin. Could it be that Mr. Obama was able to open Pastor Warren's eyes to the possibility that discrimination based on type of sin is not acceptable in the Christian faith? Has Pastor Warren's and his followers' hearts grown three sizes over the Christmas holiday?

Not in the least.

Though they took down the text, you can still find the same message in an audio recording stashed away on the "Bible Questions and Answers" page. The content of audio recordings is not indexed by search engines like google.com, yahoo.com, and live.com. So the change in the page appears to be just an effort to "lay low." Anyone want to bet the page goes back to the original text after the inauguration?

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.

Types of seizures

I've been reading up on the different types of seizures since BR's incident on Friday. The second seizure seems to be a pretty typical Complex Partial Seizure. He could tell it was starting (called an "aura"), it didn't last long, and he had a short memory lapse during which he was unresponsive.

The first seizure, however, seems to defy classification. (Why am I not surprised.) It most closely resembles a Tonic Seizure, in which muscles stiffen. That type of seizure usually lasts less than 20 seconds. BR was rigid and screaming/moaning for longer than that. But he never convulsed, which is the sign of a Tonic-Clonic Seizure.

Searching the forums at MSWorld, seizures are not unheard of, but they are atypical. (Again, why am I not surprised.) Keppra, the new anti-seizure drug, seems to be a reasonable choice. In addition to the anti-seizure effects, back in 2003 it was shown to be effective against spasms caused by MS.

New Year, New Symptom

Yesterday, BR's MS broke new ground. While having his hair shampooed, he experienced a seizure. In all, it lasted a little over five minutes, during which he was unresponsive and screaming. He even stopped breathing for a short period. Josue called for an ambulance, which arrived a few minutes after the seizure ended. After being checked out by the EMTs, BR seemed back to normal, so we declined the ambulance and made plans to visit the ER on our own.

About 15 minutes after the EMTs left, as Josue was getting BR into his wheelchair, BR had another, much less severe seizure. But it was enough for us to call the ambulance back to bring BR to Seton Medical Center.

I'll let BR take it from here.

Roadtrippin'

The weather was great over the weekend, so BR and I took a trip out into the Hill Country. As usual, we got a pretty late start. We were hoping to catch the sunset at an open air restaurant in Marble Falls, but had to settle for enjoying the beauty from the road.
BR's chair loads directly into the passenger seat, allowing him to join in on the front row view of the scenery.

It was dark by the time we made it to Marble Falls, so we pulled over, and let UrbanSpoon pick a place for us to eat. After just a few shakes of the iphone, we were on our way to Margarita's Mexican Restaurant. Great margaritas, weak chicken fajitas.

A quick stop at the Dairy Queen for dessert and we started heading back home.

But wait! What's this we see?
It's the Marble Falls Walkway of Lights!

We couldn't resist.






With our Christmas Spirits fully recharged, we made our way back to Austin...
... and topped off the spirit tank with a couple martinis at Woodland.

What are you thinking, Mr. President-Elect?

I find myself getting increasingly angry this holiday season. I'm angry that after a year of seeking medical assistance, BR is still in constant pain. I'm angry that Johnson & Johnson has chosen to kill the iBOT. I'm angry that a majority of Californians have chosen to put a "but not for them" amendment into the state constitution.

And now I'm angry that Mr. Obama has selected Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.

For those not familiar with invocations, here's an example delivered by the Reverend Billy Graham at the inauguration of George H. W. Bush.

This invocation starts by recognizing that we are "one nation under God." It also references the president's duty "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution".

I can't imagine Rick Warren delivering these words with any credibility.

From the Saddleback Church website:

Because membership in a church is an outgrowth of accepting the Lordship and leadership of Jesus in one's life, someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at [sic] a member at Saddleback Church. That does not mean they cannot attend church - we hope they do! God's Word has the power to change our lives.

Does that sound like "one nation under God?" Even if you believe that homosexuality is "an enormous sin", Jesus himself said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" as an admission that we are all sinners. To refuse church membership based on this one particular sin seems arbitrary at best, and downright hateful at worst. There are lots of sins listed in the Bible. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Yet Reverend Warren's bio page seems to list only things one might be proud of, and nothing that might make him appear to be a sinner. Pretty ironic -- by not disclosing his sins and painting an accurate picture of himself, he has unashamedly committed a sin. Must he now repent his prideful lifestyle, or risk being thrown out of his own church?

And how am I supposed to take him seriously when he talks about the president's obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, when Reverend Warren worked tirelessly to remove a right from the California Constitution? Enough said.

Seasons Greetings!

The neurologist has given up

BR had another neurologist appointment on Monday. They had the results of the brain MRIs, which showed no change when compared to the MRIs done last March. Yet the reduced cognitive ability, significant weight loss, loss of manual dexterity, and visual distortions are all new symptoms since then. Research seems to indicate that MRIs are a poor indicator for PPMS disease progression, and BR seems to be a classic example.

So what now? The neurologist doesn't feel that any of the disease modifying drugs will be of any benefit. We are just going to treat the symptoms and try to make BR as comfortable as possible. That treatment will include Solu-medrol infusions every 3 months, with the hope of increased strength, weight stabilization, and higher energy levels.

Tori update

The oral surgery went well, and BR is recovering nicely. He wishes he'd had them removed years ago.

3am chicken salad

BR taught me how to make his chicken salad tonight. Unfortunately, we didn't get started until 9:30pm. After letting the flavors marry for a couple hours in the fridge, it makes a great late night snack!

Tori removal; MRI results

Now that the abscess is under control, the oral surgeon says BR's tori have to go. Day surgery is scheduled for Friday morning.

We also got the results from BR's latest MRI. Despite clinical progression, the MRIs show that the number and size of lesions on the brain are stable. This wasn't unexpected, as studies indicate that the later stages of MS are marked by spinal cord atrophy, and not brain lesion activity. We meet with the neurologist on Thursday to discuss next steps.