Spring Update (May 1)

[Karen Burkhart Music]

Hi! It's less than 2 weeks until I fly to Manitoba to visit my sister,
Tracey, and her family and minister in music/word to the communities
of Winkler, MB and Portage la Prairie, MB. I'm excited to return to
Manitoba after 4 years away. I understand they had snow today (May
1!!) so I'm hoping it's gone by the time I arrive.

I've had a difficult spring, health-wise. On the last day of my kids'
spring break in late March, I came down with a sore throat. I
suspected it was strep throat but by Monday, the symptoms grew to
include a ridiculous headache. The symptoms began to remind me of
December, 2009, when I was hospitalized with meningitis. Evidentally,
if you've had meningitis once, you're more susceptible to it so I was
advised by my doctor to go to the hospital right away. They performed
a bunch of tests on me and were able to rule out the usual suspects
like flu, strep, and pneumonia, so they were forced to perform the
diagnostic tests for meningitis which included a CT scan and a spinal
tap. Thankfully, the tests were negative, so after a very long day at
ER I was sent home and basically told that I was suffering from a
"cold". I felt a little silly going to the hospital for a "cold", but
I was so relieved it wasn't worse! Unfortunately, about an hour after
I got home, I became violently ill with terrible nausea and the most
incredible headache I had ever experienced. After a brutal night, I
was back at the Doctor's and from there was sent to the hospital for
the second time. The Doctors suspected that I was dealing with the
unfortunate side-effect of the spinal tap--the dreaded spinal
headache. I was hoping they would immediately administer the
"antidote", otherwise known as a "blood patch", but for some reason,
they sent me home with some drugs and told me to return 3 days later!
So, I spent the next 3 days completely debilitated and unable to be
upright. On Friday, I went back to the hospital for the 3rd time to
get the blood patch. It was an impressive procedure. A team of about 8
people were involved! The relief was almost immediate but I was far
from feeling well as I was still dealing with whatever it was that
prompted the hospital visit in the first place! After a few more days
in bed, my own Doc was finally able to diagnose me with a severe sinus
infection and he put me on a concoction of antibiotics and steroids.
Finally, after 2 weeks of illness, I began to feel relief. It took
another 10 days after that for my strength to return.

I am so thankful for the many people who brought in food and offered
to help with my kids while I was sick. I am also thankful for my
friend, Jennifer, who sat by me in ER for several hours. Last but not
least, I'm thankful for my husband, Matt, who kept things going at
home and took care of me. The Body of Christ is so amazing. I honestly
do not know what people do who are not part of a caring church
community when they are "down for the count".

One of the blessings of this illness was the reminder of how many
caring people are in my life. In addition, the Lord gave me a song
while I was at my lowest. It's a song that speaks about the spiritual
battle we are in and how God fights with us and for us. I don't want
to reveal the title yet until it's finished. I hope it will bring
encouragement to those who are facing spiritual battles.

On the recording front, I am nearly ready to record the vocal for
"Never Mistake". I'm eager to do that! I've had the chance to share
the song with 3 different groups so far and I've gotten good feedback.
Hopefully, I'll be able to make it available before the end of the
summer.

Well, gotta run now and get my youngest son to soccer. We've now
entered the world of having both our children in sports and the
schedule is challenging. Imagine if I had 3 or more?!

Blessings to each of you!
Karen