It is a sleepy hazy, dreary day here in the Ozarks. The trees just finished displaying their vibrant autumn color, turning hillsides into tapestries of orange, yellow, brown, red and green. Now, my lawn is buried under four or five inches of leaves, giving my mulcher/blower a run for its money. I’ll get to it… when I feel like it!
I’m currently sitting inside Jake’s, a local restaurant, with my iPad on the table and a chicken fried steak in the deep fryer. Or so I hope! Mrs. Newton and I enjoy finding hole-in-the-wall kind of places and West Fork, Arkansas, has a few neat little joints. Jake’s is the kind of small town eatery that you typically see on small town TV shows. Local. Very local. So local that one side has a long table with the typical crew of silver-haired pundits chewing the cud over politics, sports and more sports. Currently the opinionated crew is in deep discussion over who should replace the current University of Arkansas head football coach. Apparently, they think that any football coach in America would drop everything for the chance to be a Razorback. I don’t have the heart to tell hem that no one in their right mind would leave a top-10 program to come here. What would it take to draw them away from their highly-successful programs to university hill in Fayetteville? The topic briefly switched to power washer recommendations before the coaching search committee’s deliberations continued. I’ll update you as we go along…
Since I haven’t blogged in a few months, I should probably fill you in on some of the happenings in Newtonland this fall.
Another Season of Change
The lovely Mrs. Newton and I have been in transition mode once again, a common mode in our young marriage that leads each of us in different emotional directions. Shannon hates change. It brings her great anxiety, sleepless nights, and other ill effects. I happen to thrive on change. It energizes and excites me. I enjoy going new places and doing new things and buying new stuff and… well, living more of a transient lifestyle. Shannon relies on stability to help regulate her emotions. I’ve had to clip my wings so far for her sake, which hasn’t been easy, but I know that it is the right and good thing to do. Even still, we manage to pack in a LOT of life with each season, traveling, trying and turning over new stones as we go about our days. Here’s a recap of the past three months.
The Medical Update
This year has been frustrating when it comes to my health, and yet it seems that I’ve spent more time than usual taking tests, consulting with specialists and trying new treatments than any year before.
Back in April, my neuro-otologist in Little Rock basically threw up his hands and said, “I’m out of ideas.” He was a try-drug-first, take-tests-later kind of doctor, which baffled Mrs. Newton and me. He was convinced that I suffered from vestibular migraines but my symptoms didn’t neatly fit into his idea of what these inner ear migraines should be like. So he recommended that I see a doctor friend of his in Nashville who was a neurologist that specializes in vestibular disorders. Or maybe see a neurologist near our Northwest Arkansas home.
So that’s what I did. We were tired of traveling so I went local. We did scans and tests that showed some mild head migraine evidence and my neurologist put me on a beta blocker drug. As for vestibular migraines? He had heard of them but thought it was an ENT doctor issue. Try the Mayo Clinic, he recommended. So we did. The Mayo wasn’t taking on new vestibular cases, so they recommended we try another national clinic. Shannon did a thorough search of the World Wide Web and found that the famous Johns Hopkins University Medical Center was on the cutting edge of vestibular research and we got an appointment for September.
We spent five days in Baltimore, Maryland, at Johns Hopkins (which is an amazing place) and more tests were run. The findings? My left ear is 69-percent damaged in its vestibular (balance) function. I’ve lost 11-percent of that function in the past three years. At this pace of decline, I will have no balance function on my left ear in about 10 years. After testing, we met with one of the nation’s top ENT doctors, Dr. Charles Della Santina, and he confirmed the vestibular migraine diagnosis from my Little Rock doctor. But there was something else. I exhibit symptoms of a rare syndrome called Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. Mal de… err… MdDS usually affects people who have been on a ship for a long time. Because balance is severely tested on a boat, they have trouble adjusting to solid ground. They rock and bob and walk into walls, etc. Strange, eh? Well, I do the same but I’ve never been on a ship, boat or other floating vehicle since I was, say, 11 or 12. But I have the permanent symptoms of the disorder.
So, since the beginning of October I have been on a migraine prevention diet for the main vestibular issue (low-to-no caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, MSG, peanuts and a few other things). I also was sent back to the neurologist. We called up the Nashville doctor and have an appointment with her next June. June! She is very busy. I’m also doing another round of vestibular rehabilitation in hopes of training my right ear to “take over” for my damaged left one. So far it has made me far more unbalanced but I’m hoping that this is just part of the process! There is an experimental new balance therapy for people with MdDS currently ongoing at Cedar Sinai Hospital in New York but we’re wary of what the travel might do to any progress I’ve made.
I’m also receiving treatment for my deteriorating spine (two MRI’s last week) and I’ve been frustrated in seeking help for my ongoing joint pain. (My dear doctor, it’s not tennis elbow.) Yet I continue to pursue medical help for both! I guess this year has been a trial in patience and perseverance.
The coaching search has now switched to local church news…. seems a local congregation has shut their doors. Sad, if true.
Welcome to ‘The Springs’
And did I mention that we moved? Oh yeah. We moved. Back in August we were introduced to a ministry contact down in West Fork, about 10 miles south of Fayetteville, and the result of that meeting surprised both of us Newtons. The couple we met with told us that they were looking to sell some of their property east of West Fork, including a 3-acre parcel with a cottage and a mountaintop view. We prayed about it and offered to buy the land and house. On October 4th we closed on our new home, which I lovingly call “The Springs” in honor of its road, Mineral Springs Road. The house is smaller than we’re used to but the chance to own land in an amazing location was very enticing. Plus, there are utilities on site to support the first cabin for the Restless Heart Ministries retreat center. The land is perfect for several more cabins, meaning we can get a start on the retreat center as soon as next year! The ministry couple next door also owns 35 acres next to ours with waking trails, two ponds and neat boulders and they want us to use their property for our ministry. We’ve been praising God for His provision the past three months, I think! We moved in October and I’m busy making repairs and unpacking while Shannon carries a full load with her counseling practice.
Church news has now transitioned to memories of old West Fork, particularly the location of old school buildings. It seems there is some disagreement among committee members as to whose memory is right and whose is wrong… One older man just called the server “sweetheart,” which in our modern world may seem a bit “uncool” but considering where I am…
Other happenings…
I’m an uncle once again! In late September, Shannon’s sister Jen had a little girl. Last weekend we traveled to Kansas to meet little GiGi and also celebrate her brother’s second birthday. It is amazing getting to hold a newborn. Deep longings for fatherhood rise from within my heart. 
On a final note, with the Christmas season weeks away I want to remind you that I still have an Advent devotional floating out there in Amazon and Apple land. “Advent: a Daily Christmas Devotional” is on iBooks and Amazon Kindle for, like, $2.99 or $3.99 or something similar. I had hoped to refresh it for this Christmas season and expand it but our recent move has put a wrench in those plans. My office isn’t set up and we didn’t even have reliable internet until last week. I’m just out of time! Here are links to the original ePub devotional:
Advent on iBooks: https://iTunes.apple.com/ (I’m not sure what the web address is. Look for it on the iTunes Store.)
J.C. Newton 