Visitors

Attempting one of the foods on his diet.....He wouldn't let me peel the apple, he thought

it would be better to peel it with his teeth and spit it out then ate the inside..what a kid!

I like to get pictures of all our visitors for the scrapbook (when I remember...so to all of you that I forgot to take pictures of today, don't take it personal.)

Sunday Sadness

I have to say I'm pretty bummed today. Gabe isn't stable enough to go home.
I'm just gonna quit getting my hopes up that everytime they say, Maybe he can
go home tomorrow.......

He isn't perking up yet. Won't eat much and not drinking so well.
They are going to give him an enema and see if that helps. He may have to get
back on the IV too depending on how the day goes.

I'm bummed to miss out on our good friend's wedding today. Bummed to see
the beautifulness of it all.....bummed I don't get to play piano for them.....bummed
I have to miss out on the yummy food and awesome wedding cake. But most of all,
bummed we have to miss church yet again. After not being in church for 3 sundays,
i'm not doing so well. I'm the type, I have to go to church regularly.

BUT......God is faithful. I know He will meet me here today and I'm gonna go try to
find the chapel and have some quiet time. I am thankful for the sunshine today.
I'm thankful for all the visitors it sounds like we will be getting. I'm thankful that
once again we are still getting impressive care here. We had a different doc today since
it's the weekend and yesterday also and EVERY.SINGLE.DOC we have has been great.
EVERY.SINGLE.NURSE has been great........And it's only God that would design this
for us and our little boy. I'm extremely thankful for that. I'm thankful that even though I want
to leave this place, they are keeping us because they are trying to help get him better.
I feel more secure here knowing there are medical staff at our right hand that will
be here for anything and everything.

Thank you still for all the prayers......as I sit here, I cry because we can still feel it and that
is pretty stinkin' awesome. That you all are still praying. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I cannot express enough how much we love and appreciate you all and that you are standing with us in prayer. That you haven't forgotten about us.......we're so humbled and grateful.

"1 Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. "
Psalm 103

More Allergies

Sadly, Starbucks is closed here on the weekends....what a joke!!!! BUT....a huge thank you
to Pastor Kim for blessing me with A WHOLE THERMOS OF DUNKEN DONUTS JOE!!!!
That made my day.......and was sooooo yummy!

This is was Gabe's day.....too sleepy to even play with his new tractors Daddy got him today.
Check out the big one!!!! What a monster!

Thank you again to Pastor Kim for making time go by faster here at our hotel ;)

We are so blessed that God led us to your church.

Another one of the many snoozes.....

So Dr. Hatch came by today to give us more results from the allergy testing.

He tested some allergic to egg whites, nuts and fish. VERY allergic to environmental things

and dust mites.

So he suggests we definatley rip out the carpet in his bedroom (just like the one ER doc said),

encasing the mattress (maybe get a water bed), get our air ducts cleaned, get air cleaners, yada,

yada. Everything we had already been contemplating, just never got accomplished since

he got admitted down here.

The next step is probably going to an allergy specialist to see if this is really what is causing

all these flare ups. Then actually doing the skin prick allergy test (which I was really hoping we wouldn't have to). We'll see what allergist says about that.

If I'm understanding correctly what they are thinking is this:

His body has been trying to fight this off for a good 6 mths- year with everything he

has been ingesting that he is allergic to and it's finally coming to a severe head because:

his body isn't producing enough of something ( i forget the medical term) to help absorb

fat or break down the food. So his digestive system is really, really irritated and messed

up from this long term ingesting and is just saying, I've had enough...change my diet.

Today has been a very quiet day for Gabe. He still hasn't really perked up alot. Has asked

to go on a walk many times but doesn't have the energy to walk or hold his head up so we just

end up walking the halls and carrying him for a change of scenery. He hasn't had an appetite yet

but we finally got him to drink some soy milk. 1/2 hour later he complained of his tummy hurting, got real rigid and had smelly gas. He did test positive allergy to soy but the numbers

weren't high enough for him to think he was actually sensitive to it. I guess I will actually have

to watch the soy milk now too. They want him to get some milk of some kind......

Hope you all have a warm night.....sleep tight....Blessings and Hugs....Laura

Rivers of Tears

Okay......ultrasound tests showed nothing. Everything is kinda pointing towards fat malabsorbtion. So guess what?? We get to stay at our hospital hotel for the weekend!
Yipee yi yeah.....yuck......no fun.

BUT, if they can get to the bottom of this, we will be oh so thankful.
They took more blood last night and are waiting for lead and toxin levels.
The ped doc here took him off his IV so that is nice....so they are observing him
to see if he will perk up and stay hydrated on his own. So far, he is still lethargic
since his throwing up episodes early yesterday morning. It's so sad to see him
on his bad days, not talking, sleepy, crying.....but we're still believing healing
is in the process.

I did speak with our Dr. Austman this morning and his allergy tests came back.
He is VERY allergic to dairy (which we already knew) VERY allergic to cats and dogs
(he inherited this from Daddy it would seem) and somewhat to wheat and gluten.
She wasn't sure if the numbers were high enough to indicate celiac disease.
So I just ran down our ped doc and gave her the lab phone number so she can get
those results. Hopefully those will help them even more to narrow things down.

All the students and interns have told me this has been an interesting case to study
and they are learning alot and looking into alot of different possibilities. So I am seeing
positive coming out of all the negative little by little.

I will tell you this hasn't been easy as I'm sure you all have figured out by now.
I have cried rivers of tears. Cried for our little boy that has to be put thru all these
tests, being poked, prodded......watching him cry and fight.. being held down because
he didn't understand why they were doing things to him.
The constant, "Mommy! Mommy!" with the sound of terror in his voice.
The constant, "Mommy, I hurt, Kiss it" But I couldn't take the pain away.
The constant vision of his sad little eyes, limp body, weak limbs, his own tears
just continually dwell in my Mama heart. His already slender body just becoming
skin and bones...the throwing up that doesn't seem to want to end. The strong
smell that comes from him that is so unknown and so "not right."

It's been hard. I'm getting weary.....but I'm not giving up and I'm not giving in.
Because I still believe in my God. I still believe He is the ultimate Healer and Physician.
I still believe in miracles and that Gabe's complete healing is on the way.
I still believe there's purpose in all this that has happened. Even when we don't understand
it all and my heart is breaking....Even when I can't help our Gabriel feel better, I know God can.

I can hold our son just like my Father holds me. And keep loving, trusting, and believing.
I can press in to the heart of the Father.....I can-- with all faith believe.
I can hold on to the Grace that has been given so freely. I can stand on His promises in the Word.
I can cry rivers of tears and dance....and lift my hands to God and say,
"Still I will choose to say, Blessed be Your name."

Because His Word says this:
He loves us with an everlasting Love......he rejoices over us with singing.
He forgives our sins....He gives us hope. By His stripes we are healed.
And He will never forsake us or leave us.

And that is how I dance and smile in the river of tears. Because of how big our God is.
My prayer is that thru our trial and journey, that someone out there will come to know
my Jesus. The one that loves you and cares for you like no other. The one that forgives
all your sins and offers you eternal hope. The one that offers you peace and hope.
The one that created and will surround you with that peace that passes all understanding.
The one that picks you up and carries you, when you can't do it anymore on your own.

Jesus loves you....this I know....for the Bible tells me so.

Ultrasound & Fat

Gabe ended up having an ultrasound later this afternoon and we're awaiting those results now.
We may not find out until tomorrow...still trying to be patient. Thankfully they just came up to his room and he slept thru half the test. He's getting pretty grouchy with all the nurses, techs, poking and prodding him. I'm dreading the labs he has to have drawn tonite again.

They are now wondering about possibly his body just isn't absorbing fat anymore (in the food he eats) so enzymes would be a help for this if that's the problem. We're praying for wisdom for the docs and all the people that read the tests that it would be clear soon what it is.

Thank you to our visitors today......you don't know what a blessing you each have been....and all the phone calls. We have felt so loved and just surrounded by peace. We've had our stressful moments, our tears, Jason's head has had to be reattached a couple times from me biting it off, but all in all, God is holding us tight and we're thankful for that.

God gave us many confirming words today but just a couple minutes ago a dear couple to us just brought us a jewel. They prayed over us and Gabe and just blessed us deeply. They had no idea the doc had just been in tonite to talk to us about their thoughts on fat malabsorbtion, they just heard from God and told us what He said. Check out the verse below:

"The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves." Malachi 4:2

Not just healing, but FAT!!!!! Thank You Father!!!! You are so good!!!!
And we are humbled, yet again that He cares about every detail of our lives.

NO-GO

No go with the stomach emptying test the xray way.
Too much nausea and vomiting, wasn't able to eat.
They came and took a normal xray in the room to see
if there are any visual changes.
We are awaiting the docs to come back in.
SMELLY gas has returned, no appetite, pain and lethargy.

Talked with a friend this morning and he reminded us
to keep our eyes on The Healer and not the symptoms
that keep changing or worsening. It was good to hear.

It's easy to get weary and discouraged so we appreciate
all the prayers and phone calls. Love you all....will update
as soon as we hear more.

Friday Update

Dr. Stephen's-our ped doc- was just in as was Dr. Hatch-our ped gastro doc-
and they will be performing a "stomach emptying" test early afternoon.
Basically they will be keeping us and observing Gabe and doing more tests
until we can get to the bottom of this.

So far today is considered a bad day in "Gabe Days". No more throwing up
since the 2 times early morning but has been very lethargic and sleeping alot.
When he is awake, he says, I hurt, I hurt......is very irritable and gagging alot
and crying.

Will update once I have any more info.

Thank you for continuing to lift us up in prayer. I just ask that you would
please keep it up. It has been such a comfort to me while I'm here to know
that so many are agreeing with us in prayer and lifting up our requests to the
throne room. We continue to believe for the best and rest in God's faithfulness
and promises that nothing is impossible with Him and that He is in control.

My prayer is that thru our stay here that we will be a shining testimony to all
the medical staff around us and that they would see Jesus in us. Even better
that someone would come to know Jesus because of Gabe's sickness. That
good things will come out of the bad and that God would be glorified in everything.

17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[a] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16

27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27

19 “Again I say[a] to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." Matthew 18

Thank you Ryan, for these scriptures on my phone this morning.....we are standing on His Word and promises and thank you for agreeing with us in prayer and believing....we are blessed to have each one of you in our lives.