9.25.14

Hello family & friends!

I thought I would fill you in on the last 2 weeks of Conner's very odd mission.  I know you haven't received any updates for a couple weeks and I will try to write one like Conner.  Denmark has changed for Aeldste Ludlow - it looks a lot like Utah.  

So coming home - we had a very private gathering at the airport for Aeldste Ludlow's arrival.  Just the 5 of us.  The time came and went that his plane had arrived and the people sitting behind him were there waiting to see him come too.  At that point, we were stumped where he could have gone.  One time we threw him a surprise party and he surprised us by sneaking up on us....so we had that in mind and started checking other doors.  Well, the trick was on him because he couldn't find us!  Hahaha.  So I spotted him across the airport, dropped the banner, and took off running and scared him!  That's the dramatic entrance (part 1) of him coming home.  It's on video if you want to be embarrassed for me.

After arriving home on the 10th, Conner went to work assigned to the missionaries in our stake.  He goes out with them every morning for companion study and then hits the pavement squishing around in his waterlogged body (his cheeks are SUUUPPPEEERRR cute right now) and lives the missionary life until 9 pm when he returns home to us. We only see him then and when he has an appointment during the day.  I have seen him faithfully live the missionary life and it has not been easy.  It is hard being dumped into a different mission with different culture and the work is just....unique....in Sandy, Utah.  Aeldste Ludlow has blown me away with his sweet humility and patience as he Just. Keeps.  Going.   I am so grateful for his example and strength.  

So after losing count of how many appointments he has been to, almost daily to be honest, his arms look like pin cushions or a serious drug user.  He has had CT scans, other unmentionables, ultrasounds and even a liver biopsy where in recovery he decided to scare the life out of his mother and take his heart rate and breathing down to 0 (yup - that's a ZERO) for about a little bit just to have fun.  Then he was bummed after because he didn't get a print out of the the 0 reading to show his companions.  Seriously - he did do that.  But it was a reaction to the medication they gave him.  He came out of it on his own, though the blue code team was there with paddles ready and I was standing in a puddle....but that's another story. After all has been said and done, Conner has been diagnosed with mild non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and most likely has had a lot of these symptoms because of a virus parked in his liver.  The virus is not diagnosable right now because it is slow moving and the antibodies aren't there to test at this point.  The treatment - time.  So his liver enzymes are back to normal range as well as his hemoglobin.  But his LDH is still pretty high and he is still....swollen.  This will hopefully work itself out in time we are being told.  So he will have to squish around for quite some time more, though he is taking his diet and exercise very seriously.  He is excited for the day his body decides to let go of all the water. Though as of this morning he is down a couple pounds!

Long story short, his 3 doctors have cleared him to return to his mission with no restrictions.  We have forwarded these recommendations to the proper grand pumba's (no disrespect - I've had to rely on a sense of humor through all this) and hope to hear soon what the decision of the Mission Medical Dept. is.

We can't help but shake our heads in awe at the miracles that have unfolded before our eyes, from what seemed very serious seeming to "simmer down" to a virus; to getting in to all the specialists we did without having to wait weeks or months; to people helping carry the rest of the load; to not completely losing it when times were hard, we have been blessed by your prayers, fasting and faith. We have no doubt the Lord's hands have led us and carried us.  And we thank all of you for your love and concern.

We will hopefully be emailing soon with news from the Mission Dept!

Love you all!

Crysi

The beginning of the trail of people after the crash....That room got REALLY full...taking pictures is all I could do that point!

Love you all!