08-05-08 Kicking it Back Up

Ok. Elder French is hard at work in Ogden. He had surgery on his shoulder in July (Mom got to go up and nurse him back to health for a few days at the Marriot) and he is recuperating well. But when we receive his letters we know that the shoulder is just not a big concern for him. He is happy serving and loves his calling.

He is a zone leader and I think he loves helping the other elders and sisters be better missionaries almost as much as he loves teaching the gospel to investigators. He is losing one of his favorite companions this week, Elder Arnegard. The two have been a great team and we know that they are planning on spending time together in the future. But life is good. His new companion is Elder Grotenhuis, former comp and good friend. He is looking forward to that!

Of course, nothing is better than McKenzie Egan getting baptized. McKenzie is a sweet girl that the Elders loved. Pic above with Dad and her missionaries.

STATUS REPORT & UPDATE

Here is where we are:

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Elder French arrived home and met with President Garns. Tyler received his medical release and a blessing. President Garns blessed him to heal quickly and to have doctors who would be able to determine the best course of treatment to enable him to return quickly to the mission field.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tyler met with his primary physician was referred to an orthopedic surgeon.

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tyler met with Dr. Darakjian who reviewed the MRI / Arthrogram films and reports from Dr. Sorenson in Utah. Dr. Darakjian gave us the following news and information:
#1. Tyler’s tear in the labrum is in the front of the shoulder and is probably not causing his shoulder pain which goes in to the back part of his shoulder.
#2. He believes that the pain is likely caused by a scratch on the bone occurring when the dislocation occurred and aggravated by his back pack use in the mission field. He said that such a scratch often creates an arthritic condition that is painful in the joint. He felt that Tyler’s lack of pre-mission pain was due to the fact that Ty had been working out aggressively and had strengthened the muscles around the shoulder, relieving pressure on the problem area.

Prognosis:
Dr. Darakjian said that if he operates Tyler will be unable to return the mission field for at least four months. However, if an aggressive exercise/physical therapy program shows some benefit, he will return him to the field in three to four weeks.

Obviously, we are praying for the success of the exercise therapy. Ty started the exercises immediately (and is quite sore!). We are taking the MRI films to another doctor for second (or actually, a third) opinion. We will let you know as soon as we know more. In any case, we are going to try this approach before surgical intervention. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Missionary Interupted

After conversations with Utah doctors and California doctors and President Joyce and Sister Joyce, and Elder Ty and Mom and Matt and Jeff, it looks like Elder French will take a short break and come home to have surgery to repair his shoulder (torn anterior labrum, with fragments causing the pain, plus ligaments re-attached in the wrong place?!?). Sister Joyce assures us that, post-surgery and rehab, it will only take a telephone call from our good Stake President to get him back to Ogden in a couple days. We think he will be home by Monday the 25th, maybe even earlier.
The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes. Tyler has a lot of faith and sets a good example for all of us. He and Elder Dove received baptismal commitments from two people tonight.
We will be happy to have him here for a little while, but happier for him to return quickly!

June 14, 2007

Mailing Address:
Elder R. Tyler French
UTAH OGDEN MISSION
2133 Washington Blvd.
Ogden, Utah 84401

Email Address: rtfrench48@myldsmail.net

I had a nice long talk with Sister Joyce this evening about Tyler and his companions and life in the mission field. She is a sweet lady who cares deeply for her missionaries. She said that Tyler was a little frustrated with his current situation, but that he generally has a great attitude. He was recently transferred and has a new companion, Elder Schwartz. At the moment they are both staying at the mission home for health reasons. Although they are working from there, they are a bit impatient to get out on their own.
While we are lucky that Ty has good insurance, Sister Joyce said that the amount of money the mission spends on medical care is huge, $20,000 in the last couple of months (mostly on sports – interzone competitions on P-Days). $340,000 for apartment rents and $250,000 for gas for the mission cars.
Anyway, as soon as the reports are done, she will call and let us know. We, and Ty, are just waiting right now…

The Wrecked Shoulder

OK, here's the situation.

Ty’s shoulder has been getting worse and worse for about 4 weeks now. You may remember that he dislocated it pretty severely playing football in high school. They had been tracting for about 6 hours straight most days (carrying a heavy backpack) along with going to appointments everyday. Sleeping was becoming difficult because it hurt pretty badly. So he finally mentioned it to Sister Joyce. She arranged for him to have it checked out by an orthopedist. He moved the shoulder around every which way and then pushed on it. Without fail, Ty says, there was a loud POP. He said the doctor would smile and say "that was nice." So they ordered an MRI. That MRI was done and then the doctor went out of town for a week.

He is now back and has had a chance to read the films and he says that they are not clear enough to read properly so he wants to do a new MRI.
Tyler’s attitude is great and he is doing his best under the circumstances. The President moved him from his hiking/biking area to an area with a car so that he would not have to lug the backpack around so much. He loves his new area and companion, Elder Arnegard from Sweden. He is in the Harrisville/Coldville Stakes area.

Aside from loving his missionary work and his comp, Ty is particularly grateful that the Jazz lost so he doesn’t have to listen to all the Utah Jazz fans bragging!!!I will try to include some of his more spiritual stories and update his investigator info soon. Just know that he is doing well and appreciates all the support he gets from family and friends.

End of May 2007

I just wanted to post a few pictures that the good Elder sent home!! He has actually made it to Ogden and is working hard with his new comp, Elder Martinez.
Mailing Address:
Elder R. Tyler French
UTAH OGDEN MISSION
2133 Washington Blvd.
Ogden, Utah 84401
Email Address:
rtfrench48@myldsmail.net

Thanks for your letters and emails. They mean a lot!!!

Happy Mothers' Day!!!!

Ty called at about 2:30 this afternoon to say Happy Mothers' Day to Mom and to tell us about his first month in the mission field. It was a great visit. Jeff was home and could listen in and we conferenced Matt (and Jackson!) in from Syracuse.
Ty told us about his MTC time and how much he loved it. He told us about great teachers (one was a mission comp of Chase Mendenhall) and that he had made some great friends while there.
But the best was getting to Ogden and spending his first evening with President and Sister Joyce. He said that they had a nice dinner together (I think there were 6 or 7 missionaries coming in to their mission) and then a short testimony meeting. He said that President Joyce excused the missionaries to go to bed and prepare for the next day. President said that now that he had met them he would go and pray about their companions and areas and let them know in the morning.
Ty loves Elder Martinez. He is a good, obedient, hard-working Elder.
Tyler appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and loving support that he receives from all his friends and family!!!!
Christmas is not too far away (for our next call).....................