Nigeria

So I have had some questions about my occasional references to a trip to Nigeria, and I thought it was time to address these questions. We had an appointment today with a travel doctor and wanted to wait until we spoke with him before filling all of you in.

JB and our friends Ajit and Tara are definitely taking a mission trip to Nigeria in late March of 2007. They will be spending four weeks working at a Christian HIV clinic in Nigeria. You can visit the website for this organization at: FAITH ALIVE. Following the two weeks in Nigeria, they will be taking a trip to Morocco, the Canary Islands, and up into Spain and throughout the Mediterranean. These two weeks are merely for pleasure and not related to any mission work.

This is a trip that I would greatly like to take as well. However, there are some issues that we have had to pray, think, and discuss with ourselves, God, and some close friends. We have a transfer scheduled for January 18th. We spoke with a doctor here at Mayo who used to live in Nigeria and also works in the travel clinic here. After careful consideration, we decided that if I get pregnant during the January 18th transfer, I will not go to Nigeria with JB and our friends.

Could I go to Nigeria? I could. However, the risks of disease and stress from such a large trip outweigh the possible benefits. There is a chance if I am pregnant that I would meet up with the group in Morocco. I would be entering the second trimester at that point, and Morocco does not require nearly as many medicines and immunizations. However, we will approach that decision when it is time to make it.

For now, we are waiting to hear from the Air Force next week as to where we will be going for residency. There are a lot of variables with my two jobs that will need to be discussed and factored in. I have briefly discussed the possibility of this trip with both my boss at Mayo and my manager at RLS, and we will just have to wait and see how all of this turns out.

We will then proceed with the transfer on January 18th. We discussed cancelling the transfer, however, both of us feel that we should keep this on the schedule and proceed as planned and give the rest to God. Whether or not I can go on this six week trip will depend on whether or not we are moving to Eglin, what my job status is at the time, and whether or not I am pregnant.

So for now you should know that JB is definitely planning a wonderful six week trip in early spring. I am planning to be pregnant in early spring and unable to join him. We will definitely keep you posted as to how this is transforming. John got three different shots today and will start on a variety of medications. The only shot I got was the flu shot. We will wait until our pregnancy results are in before possibly moving forward with my medications. We do feel like there will be a great celebration either way. If my pregnancy result is positive -- well, let the partying begin. If it is negative, well, I will hopefully then be able to go on the mission trip with my husband and friends.

I start my next round of IVF drugs tonight. Please pray for transfer #4!