In mid-March, my spouse underwent a procedure to have bone marrow tested for encapsulated organisms that were the source of his three-year battle of infection, pain, and suffering. I wrote about that procedure here.

We just got back the results of that test.

Answer: negative. Proof positive that he does not have active infection.

So why does he still feel so bad? Why so much ongoing pain?

This situation is a mystery, and one that we are still pursuing with his primary care physician.

The spouse is unwilling to have surgery on his failed hips since doing so will make it impossible to travel, even seated in a car, for an extended period during recovery. As long as his mother remains alone, lonely, and frail in Pittsburgh, my spouse doesn’t want to do anything that would prevent him from rushing to her side if needed.

But now that we know that surgical interventions are possible, the spouse is now having work done on his teeth. His teeth were damaged from the long-term antibiotic treatment that he endured to treat that awful, long-term infection. The antibiotic therapy worked. Now it’s time to get his teeth fixed.

One bootstep at a time. I have faith that he will get better, but oh so slowly. At least now we know he does not have active disease and that surgical interventions, such as pulling teeth and getting implants will not cause the infection to break out, wreak havoc within his body, and cause a miserable relapse.

Life is short: have faith and keep moving forward.