There is no other

I am sad to say I haven’t had any adventures since my last post, but I have gotten a lot of sleep, and sometimes it was even restful. As I’ve been counting down the days until this sinus/cold thing leaves, I’ve been thinking back on the last few months. The road to Israel was not smooth; there were numerous potholes, delays, and even a couple places where the road looked closed and I feared I would have to turn around and go back. Yet here I am; with my window open because it’s in the 70s again, but that’s a side note. Coming to Israel has always been one of those things I wanted to do, but never thought possible. Why? Pick a reason, any reason: going to Israel costs money (the plane ticket alone is out of my budget), I couldn’t take much time off work, going to Israel costs money… J  Ok so maybe I had two reasons. Oh, and you have to fly to Israel. In a plane. For a long time. With lots of people.

 

I applied for the scholarship to study in Israel in October, and I found out a few weeks later I indeed received the scholarship. Next, I had to pick a university in Israel and apply; my choices were schools in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and a place my Hebrew professor described as a desert no one ever wanted to go to. I didn’t even have to think about it—Jerusalem. The application process was a little time consuming; I had to fill out what seemed like endless forms, fax certain ones, scan and email others, submit a photo of myself for the school ID, etc. I love to take pictures, but I am not a huge fan of being in them. My mom has always complained that in all my travels, there was little proof I was actually there because I was not in any of the pictures. So I’m working on that here in Israel. However the process of getting a picture taken and submitted was not a pleasant experience for me.

 

At the beginning of the application process I got sick. At first I thought I had the flu, but I lost close to 10 pounds in the first week because I simply couldn’t keep food in my system. When it continued into the second week I started to have borderline severe pain in my abdomen. On the 13^th day I was sitting in a dr. office terrified; I had never experienced anything like this before and was afraid that not only could it be serious, but that it could keep me from going to Israel (yeah, my priorities are in line). By this point I had pretty much given up on eating; there was no point and wasn’t worth the pain it brought (the only good thing about it was it saved me money on groceries). On the 19^th day I had the test results: I had an amoeba. Whoa, wait a minute. A microscopic critter made a home in my intestine and didn’t even ask. And he was eating my intestine. I was ticked. Where the heck did it come from? Well, I have my suspicions (a restaurant), but we’re still not sure. I was asked at least four times if I had been out of the country, and at least four times I had to reply with “no”. It’s usually brought into the U.S., it’s rare to get it in the U.S.; and not only that, but of all the people who have this amoeba, only 10% have symptoms. One of my sisters had to have lung surgery a while back, and during that situation my mom, frustrated, asked me on the phone “why can’t you guys get something normal? It always has to be rare and serious!” I could only laugh; I didn’t have an answer then and I don’t have one now. We’re just special, I guess.  Back to the critter…all it takes is someone who already has the amoeba to touch a door knob, a handrail, my food…with dirty hands. So who knows where it really came from?

 

I was immediately put on a medication specifically for this type of amoeba, and it had horrible side effects. The scariest was the effect it had on my cognitive skills. To be frank, I didn’t really have any the whole time I took the medicine. While at work, a customer asked me where the garland wreaths were; I couldn’t think of what a garland wreath was; very embarrassing and very disturbing. I still couldn’t eat at this point, but the medicine killed what appetite I had left so it didn’t bother me. However, trying to physically make it to class, do homework, finish the application process not only through the Hebrew University, but now also through the Study Abroad office at OU, which had their own forms I had to fill out and have signed, fees I had to pay, meetings I had to attend, and go to work on top of that…well I couldn’t do it anymore. I had already planned on quitting my job so I could visit family before I left for Israel, but I had to quit early. By this point I had lost 15lbs, and my hair, which felt like straw due to lack of nutrients from not eating, began to fall out. And I had to take a picture of myself for the school ID in Israel J (Did I mention finals were also about to take place during this time? Oy vey!) My picture is not horrible, but it will forever remind me of what was going on behind that half smile.

 

I was on the horrible medicine for 17 days, and once I no longer took it, I immediately had my brain back. And I could eat…at least until I started round 2—I had to follow up with another medication for 10 days, and though mentally I was able to process thoughts and I remembered what a garland wreath was, physically the effects were the same as the symptoms of the illness itself. So Stacey didn’t eat for another 10 days. During round 2, I had to complete the application process by going to the dr. for a sports physical, so I can use the exercise facilities here if I wish. Sitting in the office, he pulled up my file; in all caps (and I think bold print), the word “RARE” was next to the description of my (recently evicted) roommate, whom by this time I had given a name: The Abomination That Causes Desolation. The doctor looked at me with his eyebrow raised; I smiled. I waited while he went online to read about it. Then came the questions. The side effects from medicine #2 hadn’t hit yet (it took 3 days), so my only concern was I wasn’t gaining much weight although I had been able to eat again. He felt satisfied that as long as I finished the medicine, and if I started to gain weight by the following week, he would sign my paper allowing me to go to Israel. Wow. That was close. Technically I had gained a pound over a few days, and then realized when the symptoms returned it was from the medicine; once I finished the medicine, the symptoms were gone.

 

I drove to Georgia to visit my family and was excited because my mom had gone to the store to buy some of my favorite foods, and I was more than ready to eat. I first got sick November 1, and I had consistent symptoms until the middle of December. The day after arriving at my parents’ house, I got sick again. I called the dr. and they said I needed to be on a super strict diet for “several weeks” to allow my intestines to heal. So much for mom buying me food. I couldn’t eat it. My diet consisted of plain chicken breast, plain baked potato, green beans, saltines, water…nothing spicy or acidic, nothing rich, and absolutely no dairy. I went off the diet a day or two here and there, especially on Christmas; sometimes I paid for it, sometimes I didn’t. My dad’s solution? “You can eat whatever you want, just pray over it.” J He’s a smart man. I’m now careful to do that every time I eat, as I hear his voice in my head. By the middle of January I was 20lbs lighter, but eventually my eating habits slowly returned to normal. (And no, I haven't gained much back).

 

Looking back at the timing of this ordeal, it “coincidentally” coincided with me applying to the university here in Jerusalem. I do not believe in coincidences, whether large or small. Someone didn’t want me coming to Israel, but God did and He worked it all out. He  has a plan for me and He wants me here so much He extended my stay by giving me another scholarship. And I don’t deserve any of it. I took the picture below while I was still taking ulpan last month. I was on my way to campus; it was cloudy, cold, and kind of dark. A very bright light above me captured my attention, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It lasted long enough for me to take the picture, and then the cloud moved and the image was gone.

 

 



"I Am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me." Isaiah 45:5a