Health Updates (by Thom)

By the many emails I've gotten since I started having tooth pain I know that many of you care about us and are praying about our health situations. I wanted to update that problem and let everyone know about something else.
I visited the dentist Friday morning. It was my 4th visit of the last couple weeks. I think I was dreading this visit more than the others because during the last one the dentist drilled on me without any novocaine. That was... unpleasant. Again, the first thing he did was start drilling on me. After he started to get deep he stopped and gave me a couple of shots. Normally, I have a problem with needles. Just the sight of them makes me sick to my stomach. However, this time I was actually excited to see the needle! He continued to drill into my root and played around with some other stuff. It is very difficult there because the dentist is French and speaks French at a very high level. I only understand about 10% of what he says, tops. Actually, I know missionaries who have been here for years who can't understand him either, so I don't feel to bad. Anyway, at the end of the visit he stuffed the hole in my tooth back with cement and told me to come back in 10 days. I'm happy to say that it feels very comfortable now and I'm no longer taking any pain killers. For the first time in about 3 weeks I can smile and laugh with my baby girls.
The dentist told me I had to eat mushy foods all day. Since we didn't have much in the house Amanda decided to walk across the street and see what's available. Right near our house is an open sewer system. This is very common in most African cities. This trench is about 18 inches across and 3 or 4 feet deep. When Amanda went to step over it she tripped and fell in. She ended up hurting both her legs and spraining at least one of her ankles, possibly her knee as well. I ended up driving her to the hospital where we were glad to find out nothing was broken. Still, she's in a lot of pain and needs a cane or crutch to get around. I know she would appreciate prayers for her body, that she can get up and around and play with the girls. My dad often said that there should be a law that mommies can't get sick. I'd like to second that!