Mary and Martha

So I went to my family doctor Tuesday to get a referral for an immunologist. To say he wasn't too happy to see me would be an understatement. Before he even came into the room, he stood right outside the door (or so it seemed) and complained about how I'd waited to make a follow-up appointment to my ER visit until almost a month afterward (if he'd bothered to ask, that was due to some confusion on my part). When he did come in, he listened to my request and then basically tried to talk me out of seeking more treatment for my disease. "There's nothing that can be done," he kept saying, "that's all the immunologist will tell you, too." When I mentioned that there were three drugs out there (well, one will be coming out, soon) to treat the symptoms, he then tried to talk me out of using them "because many drugs have side effects worse then the disease." Umm, excuse me? This condition could kill me within the day and you're worried abou...

What has been one of the hardest things for me to understand on my journey to Orthodoxy is the difference between being a fallen being and having a fallen nature. In my protestant incarnation, I was raised to believe that humans are essentially evil, our natures are corrupted, and we can never hope to approach perfection. Orthodoxy, on the other hand, rejects that belief. Instead of butchering things by explaining it myself (because this concept seems to still be eluding my me on a basic level), I'll let the ever-wise Father Stephen take it away: A Nature that is Less than Obvious

When I joined the Church, in keeping with tradition, I took a new name: Monica. I've now changed my Blogger user name to reflect this. I chose Monica after the mother of St. Augustine , whom I've felt close to since even before I began investigating Orthodoxy.

Last night I became an official member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Finally, I don't feel like an outsider, anymore. God be praised!

Following up on my last post , EJ and I decided it would be best if I went to the ER rather than wait for the regular clinic to open. Amazingly, there was no wait and, when the nurse took me back to a bed, I was surprised to see an actual team waiting there: vitals, IV, the whole nine yards. I went in expecting them to be as unworried as my general practitioner, but when they began checking my airways and asking if I had any trouble swallowing or breathing, I realized it was probably a very good thing that I came to the ER. Long story short, I spent the night in the ICU for observation because they believe I have adult onset hereditary angioedema . Neither I nor they know what triggered it - or even if I actually have it. The labs they sent out won't be back for about a week, after that, they'll be able to confirm or disprove it. The prognosis for this disease, according to Google health, is basically that "Hereditary angioedema can be life threatening and treatment option...