Another Prayer Request

Gabe started throwing up again at 2:30 this morning.
His resident doc told me yesterday the possibility of going home today
was good UNLESS he would start throwing up again.
*sigh* I want to go home, but I want to get to the bottom of this.
Please pray for continual wisdom for our docs, that Gabe can stay rested
thru all the poking and prodding done constantly, and for peace and rest
for Jason and I as we continue down the road of the unknown.
Thank you. I will update as soon as Dr. Stephens comes in.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the most beautiful woman with the biggest heart I know.
This lady has the best homemade cooking and baking ever.
This lady will do anything for anyone.
She works harder than anyone woman I know and never complains.
She is the best Gramma ever.
She is the bestest friend ever.
She is my hero.
She is the woman that when people see her husband, they say
"Now there's a man who has a good woman by his side."
This lady is my Mama and I'm proud to call her mine.
And I love her more than you'll ever know.

Happy Birthday Mom....today we celebrate the gift of you....you are such a blessing!

A Day in the Life...

Well, the rest of our day went pretty well. We got some visitors which was super fun!
I was missing my little Ellie girl, so Mom and Barb came down to hang out awhile. I couldn't
believe how much better Ellie was walking than 3 days ago! I thought she was doing pretty good on Tues when I last saw her, but wow....I have to say the girl impresses me! How fun! We now
officially have 2 toddlers in our house ;)

The cutest lil monkies in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gabe with his first treat after the endoscopy....CHIPS of course...that are on his gluten free diet.

Here he is checking out all his cards from his sunday school buddies. Our Pastor came down to hang out with us for awhile this afternoon/evening too and blessed us with LOTSA yummy snacks and candy that are on Gabe's diet. He coulda cared less about the candy....he went straight for the chips and proceeded to eat over half the container, a whole hamburger, applesauce, corn, and green beans for supper. The poor kid had been asking for food the minute he stopped eating at 8 this morning. So I'd say he had a full tummy when he went to sleep tonite.

Ma-Maw and Aunt Emily came right after the procedure and watched him so I could hava break and head down to the cafeteria for supper. I just have to say this is the BEST hospital cafeteria I have EVER seen (not that I've seen many) but the food here is amazing! A big Edy's ice cream machine, lotsa yummy choices for other desserts, awesome salad bar, deli, grill......wow....I was so impressed. Oh and I got a bowl of soup for lunch today for only $0.19 because whatever the temperature is outside in the morning, that's what price your bowl of soup is! How cool is that?!??!?!?

Right before they took him back and away from my arms. It was heart breaking....even though it was a pretty simple procedure, I was still a little nervous with him being put under anesthesia for the first time. He did great EXCEPT, when Dr. Hatch came out, he said it took him 3 different drugs to get him to finally quit talking and go to sleep ;) Now why doesn't that surprise me??

So, it did take him longer than normal to wake up then, but they said that was because the 3rd drug was pretty heavy duty for a little guy. The nurses also told us that he kept telling them they were all done the whole time they were trying to get him to go to sleep. They all got a laugh outa that ;) We were just so thankful everything went okay.

He said everything actually looked pretty good and did NOT look like Celiac disease BUT the biopsy results would be the defining factor if he has it or not. We won't know those results for a few days. Sooooooo, since he is eating well, keeping things down and getting onrier by the minute......we may get to come home tomorrow!!!!! Yahoo!!!!!!!

He got a wagon ride down to procedure and the minute we put the smart fart in, he knew it wasn't gonna be just any ol fun ride. How do these little creatures get such big brains1?!?!?!?!

My Aunt Jen also paid us a visit today and brought fun new things to play with...HENCE stickerface! We tried everything to keep the monkey content until he could get outa his cage.

He was the happiest kid EVER when he heard he could finally leave the room. He was a little unsure of his surroundings for a bit HENCE the thumb.....but he soon warmed up when he saw the toy room.

A man on a mission....FREEDOM and toys!!! Yeeha!

Daddy spent some good quality time so Mommy could have some quiet lunch time.

Still got smiles!

The onery Gabe is definatley back in service....Jason asked me tonite if I'm ready for that kid to be back and there was no thinking about it. YES! I'd rather have this kid than the little guy that can't stop throwing up, just wants to be held and says, "Mommy, I hurt....Kiss it." I'm not sure how much more this Mama Bear heart can take.

Behold, THE LOOK.....the gleam that has returned to the eyes...BEWARE.....

Yes, it's good to see the smiles and hear his laughs again. Thank you for sharing a day in our life at the hospital hotel. I honestly have to say, despite the reason we've been here, I seriously felt like I was on some sort of vacation. No laundry.....no cooking...no alarm clocks.....someone always coming in and asking if we needed anything.

I have no idea how to act when we get home!!! And we have met some pretty amazing people in the process. I got to spend some time with our resident doctor tonite and discovered what a small world we live in yet again. She had done some job shadowing with Dr. Brewer (one of the docs I just started working for) and has been super sweet and helpful.

I should get to bed.....love you all....Blessing and Hugs.....Laura and the monkeys

Thank You Father

WE ARE OUT OF ISOLATION!!!!!!! Right before lunchtime when Gabe was getting uncontrollable, the nurses came in to say, he could finally leave his room! He was so happy
to go on a walk, find the toy room, and start playing "outside the cage." Thank You Father for Your perfect timing!!!

Father, I just want to thank You now for Your love for us that is covering us thru this time and Your sweet grace that is holding us up. Thank You for this amazing hospital and staff that has done everything they can to get our little Gabe back on the road to recovery. Thank You for placing each and every nurse, tech, doctor, specialist, dietician in our lives with detail and care. I know it has been no mistake that we have felt so special and cared for......no grouchy staff, no aloofness, no cockiness, nothing negative has entered our stay here and I thank You Father for that gift, because it's only by Your design and plan that this has occurred.

Father, I just ask now In Jesus' Mighty Name, that Your hand would guide Dr. Hatch's today as he performs the endoscopy and that he would have the wisdom to know before and after the biopsy's what is attacking Gabe's body. Thank You for the invention of these procedures that help us to know how to cure and heal.

We thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your new mercies every day. And we pray that You would continue to teach us to extend those same mercies to those around us. And we pray that Your peace would abide in us, around us, and through us. We are so thankful for Your perfect goodness. Have Your way in us today. In Jesus' name, amen.

Smiles

We've got smiles today!!!!!! Gabe had a good night.....no throwing up or blowouts last night or this morning yet! Yipee!
Jason and I got a little bit more sleep than the first night. We seriously miss our beds!!!!!!

This is Doey.....she is a child life specialist and has become Gabe's good buddy. She brings him new fun toys every day and they have playtime. She will go with him to his endoscopy today while he "goes to sleep" and will be there when he wakes up. I had never heard of this profession, but think it's the greatest thing ever for our kids when we can't be with them.

He's getting to be a pro IV car driver around his room. Although last night he got a little rough

and yanked it out. We ended up with a mess of blood!

We played hide and seek in the cupboards and closets.

But we are running out of new things to do.....hopefully the creative juices flow today.

We have lotsa nursing students here and they give great sponge baths!

They gave him a stethscope for his time here so he can be a doctor too. He has been eating chips like there's no tomorrow. At 8 am this morning, he had to quit eating and drinking. It's 11:16 and the poor kid is still asking for food. It's gonna be loooooooooong day.

One of our favorite resident docs.

Ann is another one of the greatest nurses ever.

We just found out from his ped doc that he has to stay one more night......i'm hoping we get to go home tomorrow and we're praying the procedure goes well today.

Thank you again to everyone that has called with prayers and offering their love and concern.

We have honestly felt the power of prayer and that supernatural peace surrounding us that only comes from above. SO thank you, thank you, thank you. We have no doubts whatsoever that Jesus is holding His litte Gabriel in His arms and is already on the healing road.

We do have Starbucks here at the hospital and that is the high light of my days ;) Although they close the stand at 2 so I better get scooting and fill up on more.

Wed Update

Well, some of the tests are back and we have some great news:

NO to cystic fibrosis
NO to rotavirus

MAYBE to Celiac Disease
*Only treatment is removing all gluten from Gabe's diet.
I almost cried when I read all the paperwork this morning.
They have already put him on this diet and already it's hard.
He's allergic to all dairy products so limited already to what he can eat.
Now this.....*sigh* No wheat products, the list is HUGE!
So basically his favorite things are all being taken away.
No pretzels, no crackers, no cereals, no rices, no pasta....
Seriously, it could be worse, but this is overwhelming to me when he already
can't have so much.

MAYBE to upper bowel issues
MAYBE to appenditcitis

Plans are to possibly put him to sleep tomorrow and do a scope and check things out.
Thankfully no more throwing up since yesterday morning. BUT......now we have the nastiest
yellow hershey squirts you ever smelled and saw. I keep telling him he belongs in the pig barn
with all the baby piggies. It's awful. AND, we're in ISOLATION...meaning BIG RED FLAG outside his door til we figure this thing out and the stench is overpowering in this room.

More bloodwork was drawn today, so we still await those and the allergy tests taken the other night. Thank you again for all your prayers.

I'm anxiously awaiting the return of Jason so I can breathe some fresh air!!! The only thing my nose sensors pick up anymore is vomit and poo in the strongest and foulest odors you ever, ever in your long legged life smelled.

Overall, he's doing okay. We've gotten him to smile and laugh today despite all the more poking and prodding. Since we're in isolation everyone that comes in contact with him has to wear yellow over coats so hopefully he won't be having nightmares about the yellow people tormenting him. He's getting really irritable....wanting to "go in the car, go outside, go out there" anywhere but this room. They have child life buddies or something like that that come play and bring toys and he liked that. So far, we have loved all our doctors and nurses and feel super blessed in that area.

"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4

Hospital Hotel

Well yesterday AND last night were pretty good. He only threw up about 1 tablespoon in the night and slept pretty well. Sooooo......I started work today! It was pretty stinkin' exciting to be back in the clinic but it was short lived. 1 1/2 hr after I got there I got the call from Mom that he wasn't doing well. When I got home he had a HUGE distended belly, horrible smelling gas, and throwing up again. He was grabbing his tummy, crying harder than usual and saying, "It hurts...it hurts." So back into the clinic we went. After checking him out yet again, they thought maybe it was finally time to send him on.

He got admitted tonite to the Pediatrics Dept at Carle Clinic in Champaign and they've got him on fluids. After not eating or drinking all day (another new thing) he finally perked up at 6:00 tonite. He has kept lotsa pretzels, crackers, and water down. The first thing he did when we got to his room is do another BIG SMELLY blowout......right when the Doctor came in. So, he's the talk of the floor now of how smelly but cute he is ;) His white blood count is up a little bit and so far the only thing we've heard about his tummy xray is ALOT of gas. We should hopefully find out more tomorrow. The peds gastro guy is supposed to come check him out too.

TOTALLY relaxing....thank You Father!!!

One of our favoritest nurses, Brad....he's a riot! So far, we have loved every single one of them....what a blessing!

Acting great and playing hard....well not as hard as normal...but still playing.

We couldn't forget monkey or John Deeres......Well, it's 9:45 and he's still not sleeping. He's acting really loopy and funny and demanding chips. So I'm gonna go grant his wishes.

We are going to try to enjoy our hospital "hotel stay" as much as possible ;)

So far, everything and everyone has been amazing. They have a teen room that Jason and I thought looked fun with Wii, games, internet, tons of fun stuff and a family lounge too. We are sharing a small couch tonite so that should be interesting BUT the bathroom and shower is just as great as a hotel so I'm not complaining. ;)

Thank you again for all your prayers.

Will post again tomorrow. Hugs.....Laura