Update from Scotland

Hi there, 
The last week or so has been a bit of a whirlwind with doctors appointments and the like.   It was great to get a clear diagnosis and now we have been looking at the way forward as a family.  Due to the nature of waiting lists with the NHS it could be closer to July/August for needed surgery and while we can appreciate that if we all lived in Scotland the waiting for consultation,  pre-op and surgery and post op appointments could be manageable - Uganda is our home at present.   Taking this into account as well as the emotional strain on being separated for long periods of time we have decided to go private and I am booked to have the operation tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon at Ross Hall.  All being well I will be out on Thursday or Friday and the recovery process can begin.   Again, all being well I will be able to fly back to Uganda at some point before the summer and be with my family again before we return for furlough in June.  I am so thankful to God for the support network he has put around us both in the UK and Uganda that have made all of this possible in such a short time!  Thanks to all of you for your cards and messages/texts/visits as well as practical support.  Andy and the kids are doing well though I am sure Andy is tired! Eilidh (age 5) has no concept of when I am coming back and asked me tonight via face-time if I could bring her back some honey for her cough and cold. Sweet and tough at the same time.    Well I'm off to get some sleep so I can be up early to eat breakfast before my "8.30am no food or drink" cut off time.  Not sure when the next blog post will be from me but so far  - two posts in two weeks- must be a record for the Swanson's!
God bless what ever country you are reading this in.
Much love
Hx

When life throws you a lemon........

Dear friends and family,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year.  We enjoyed a trip to Scotland over the Christmas break and the kids got to experience lots of snow in the two weeks we were there.  We returned to Kampala beginning of January and were soon getting into the swing of life again.  Andy was preparing for a trip to Mongolia for over two weeks,  the children were back in school, and I continued to plough through the busiest academic year of teaching so far.  Last August I started a new job in Kampala teaching primary music at a much larger International school.  The students are predominantly African and a huge mix of other countries. The school is being inspected in May by a UK organisation so the paper work has been intense.  In my first two terms of arriving I have had to write a brand new curriculum for seven year groups documenting weekly lesson plans for the entire academic year.  Add to this writing the 3 year development plan and music policy and assessment strategies and department reviews and you can begin to see that my evenings after teaching all day have been pretty busy meeting the paperwork deadlines as well as trying to learn the names of 260 students and many many staff! 
Towards the end of January, Andy left Uganda's hot dry season of 30 degrees C and made is way to Mongolia (more like -30 degrees) to work on an avionics upgrade that needed to happen to the MAF plane there.  When Andy is away I usually just pray that the car doesn't get a flat tyre etc as things like that tend to happen when one of us is at the other side of the world.   In the second week Andy was gone I was stopped by a random Kampala police  lady - apparently my car insurance had expired May 2017!  How had we let that happen?! Miraculously she forgave me and let me go (Insurance is now up to date).  That was the Sunday,  On the Monday Eilidh lost her first tooth....awesome! And then the lemon was thrown!   Monday night things didn't feel right in my body and I began to bide my time till I could call the doctors on Tuesday morning.  Needless to say I did not sleep well and I got up at 6.30am to get the kids ready for school.  While she was getting dressed Abi found a snake in her room - yes it was a harmless blind snake....but a snake! I managed to get it into a tub with a broom while courageously screaming the whole time.  Thankfully (sorry to snake lovers) I caused it some damage with the broom and it no longer moved and the threat was gone. Meanwhile the five year old was a little upset that the tooth fairy had forgotten to leave money for her very first tooth - I was a little pre-occupied! At last off to school and then I could concentrate on the doctor phone call and appointment.
The doctor was fabulous,  however my situation was not and it was going to involve urgent return to the UK to see a specialist and start the process for surgery.  I was signed off work for pretty much the rest of the academic year and the days began to take on a different format.  There were so many logistics to discuss with Andy (from Mongolia) over patchy internet signals, there was planning to finish for my job, discussions with MAF, Insurance companies, not to mention the emotional upheaval - am I really having to leave my family for possibly three months???

I spent some time in work with my assistant last Monday morning taking him through my teaching plans as he would be covering for me in the meantime. I was getting a little stressed as we still had not finished the handover and a year 1 class was about to arrive for their music lesson.  We gave them some colouring which they did very quietly as we continued to discuss the handover.  Then one little African girl starts singing at the top of her voice while she colours, Sinach's song:
We are a chosen generation
We've been called forth to show His excellence
All I require for life, God has given me
And I know who I am

"I know who God says I am

What He says I am
Where He says I'm at
I know who I am..I'm walking in power...etc."

My heart was smiling  - here in a secular school, God is reminding me that he is in control,  my identity is with him  - through the voice of a little 5 year old.  It was a "golden nugget" moment.

So the next chapter begins!  Andy returned from Mongolia,  we spent some time together (a day!) and then I left for the Scotland.  Since then I have had a GP appointment,  and I met with a specialist privately to give me an idea of what time frame, surgery etc we are looking at.  I need a hysterectomy and pelvic floor repair surgery.   As it is not a life threatening condition there is no hurry through the NHS.  It is up to 12 weeks waiting list to see the consultant and then a further 10 - 12 weeks waiting list for the surgery.  I can't begin to process the logistics or implications for our family situation at present but this is where we are here and now.  Please pray for wisdom between MAF and our family as we plan the next steps.   I guess I need to look on it as a surprise sabbatical.  I just need a piano from somewhere  - please let me know if anyone has a full size weighted keyboard that would like to come and reside in Moodiesburn or Lenzie for a while? - that might just keep me sane!lol. Please continue to pray especially for the kids and Andy in Uganda and for healing and speedy surgery this side of the world too.  Life is full of surprises along the way - some good some bad. As a friend posted on face book recently - "when life throws you a lemon.............make lemonade!"  Trying to keep a positive attitude - prayers appreciated!

If any of our supporters would like to get in touch, my address in Moodiesburn is 2 Harwood Gardens, G69 0HJ, and my new mobile number is 07305050590 (whats app is still the same) 

Thanks for your support 

Farewell meal

love in Christ

Heather x