Quiet day?!

It was sort of a quiet day. We stayed home from music lessons, kids did their Saturday chore list, watched a movie and played. I tried to attack the growing mess that is becoming my basement. It is overflowing into living areas but alas, all I did was attack the front hall closet. I have about 20 pairs of summer shoes and too small shoes to go downstairs to add to the overflow!!! Oh, how wonderful. Also have a pile of spring jackets to wash up and get in the right buckets downstairs.

Isaac was real energetic this morning but by 1 p.m. was in bed for a long 2 hour nap. He didn't feel good later and had to lie down. He was in bed by 8 p.m. He got his first infusion yesterday. We were there 3 hours!! I wasn't expecting that. Tomorrow shouldn't take so long. Good news is his hemoglobin was 5.2 on Wednesday and yesterday it was 5.5. It is on the rise. We keep praying for God's healing on his body. God knows where the problem is even though the doctors can't find it. He did pass some blood today so we know it isn't healed yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We had a nice meal at my mom's and came home to play card games and read and pray. Kids are tucked into bed now at 9 p.m. That is a hard thing to do around here. Bedtime is just way too late for me. I hoped for 8 p.m. but oh, well. Isaac was in bed by 7:15 p.m. He was quite tired all day. He took two small naps. He was fever free most of the day and now at bedtime had a temp. He enjoyed having a turkey dinner and felt good most of the day. He needs to get up fairly early to go to the hospital for the iron injection. We continue praying for healing of his body.

We had an interesting night. I just know God is using all of this to mold us into what he wants us to be. I pray that my heart and eyes are open to it so I don't miss it. As you know from yesterday's post all of us are on antibiotics. At midnight we cleaned Isaac's pic line and headed to bed. I was in bed awhile and my chest was a bit itchy, I had a rash all over it. I laid down but started to feel like my tongue was funny so checked it several times. I couldn't sleep now so sat at the table to read a bit and pray. I read through the drug sheet on the antibiotic and it said to seek immediate medical attention for a rash, itchy throat, face or tongue. Well, I did feel a bit funny with my tongue. Anxiety set in and I got Kevin and handed him the phone to call 911. We decided against the ambulance and drove to the hospital. By the time we got there the rash was gone. We were going to sit in the waiting room just a bit to make sure and an RN asked us what was going on. Thankfully, without being checked in he helped us out, yes, it was a reaction and yes, I shouldn't take it anymore. Whew. We got home at 3:30 a.m. to get a couple hours rest. One of life's little twists. We could really use some sleep this week.

Home from the hospital...

Isaac is home now. The doctor still doesn't know what is causing his bleeding. This morning he had a radio-active dye injected in his veins and an hour long scan of his body. Nothing significant there. Then he drank barium today and they x-rayed it going into his stomach. Nothing again. His hemoglobin has stayed the same, a 5, for any of you who understand that. It should be a 12. Major reason for his low energy level. He had an iron injection last night and it will take some time to work. He goes now every other day to have iron injections for two weeks. They are putting them right in the bloodstream to see if we can move it along a bit.

The kids were so happy to have him home. They built him a model of the hospital with helicopter pads and parking lot to play with. He played legos all afternoon with his siblings. He ate well. He does have a fever which he has had a few days now. He looks tired and pale. Pray for healing of his body. Pray for wisdom for the doctors to know what to do next. Pray for his hemoglobin to increase.

As for the rest of the family, Kevin got a good power nap today. He's still coughing heavily but should sleep much better in a regular bed. The kids are coughing still but I would say a bit less. We are all on antibiotics now because we have..........whooping cough. Caleb's swab from Monday came back yesterday positive for it. Monday morning I just knew this wasn't just a cough. It has no other symptoms but a cough and it is hanging on so long. The doctor is positive we are all safe now and not contagious since we have all had two or more days of antibiotics. She gave us the go ahead to go to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, much to the delight of the children. Thankfully when the kids started coughing we stayed home. The kids haven't gone anywhere but the doctor's office since Nov. 12th.

Don't know anything yet...

Ug! I lost this post. Here it goes again but a little shorter or not. The tests are still not showing what is causing the bleeding in Isaac's intestine. The color of the blood in his stools tells them it was lower down so they gave him a barium enema and took X-rays but with no noticable areas that are a problem. Our doctor talked to a pediatric gastroenterologist and he suggested another option. Tomorrow he may be injected with a dye in his veins and more pictures taken. We're praying for answers to the problem. He was alert and happy when I got there this afternoon. He tired out and by early evening was real tired. They injected him with iron in his IV tonight to try to raise his hemoglobin and iron counts. So far they have stayed the same. He can come home tomorrow afternoon I suppose unless they find something in this test and need to treat it. I'm not sure what will happen if it is this area. He enjoys playing with his Secret Agent legos, watching movies and being waited on by so many people. Pray for Kevin who is just so tired and coughing quite a bit. We are so thankful he can take the time off to be there with Isaac.

We praise God for that. Praise God for friends who visited today and a niece who did last night. Praise God for the fluids Isaac got that helped him look so much better and feel better. Praise God for the many meals from my mom and friends for the kids at home. Praise God for all the prayers and calls of support we have gotten. Praise God for the care Isaac is receiving. We feel a peace about his care right now and have been relying on the Lord for strength. Praise God for kids who slept most of the night without coughing and that hardly coughed during the day. It is getting better for everyone!!! I'm still concerned for Isaac and what will happen next but when it tries to overtake me and give an anxiousness I'm learning to stop and pray for peace first and then for God to help take the burden because he is in control of the outcome. It's hard to remember that at night when I think of it the most. Thanks again for your care in reading this and thinking of us. God be with you.

Prayer request-pass it on!

We checked Isaac into the hospital and he'll be there a couple nights or so. He is dehydrated. It was getting hard to get him to drink enough at home. I'm glad he's there being taken care of. He is having a lot of tests done to find out what is causing his low iron count and low hemoglobin. His protein count was higher than the doctor expected so he is absorbing some nutrients. This kid is so skin and bones it makes me cry. He just hasn't been absorbing enough of his food intake to maintain his weight. I'm praying they will find out the cause, that his diarrhea will stop for good and that he will start gaining weight. It was great to see him hydrated. I didn't realize how dehydrated he had gotten. He's lively and talkative and has the nurse button down. He was so sweet with the nurse being so polite I almost cried. I had Kevin go buy him a lego set with secret agents so he had some fun thing to look forward to tomorrow. When Jordan had her tonsils out we got her a little something. He wanted me to make sure I didn't make his room number confidential in case someone called for his room number and wanted to send him gifts!!!! (The nurse turned him on to that idea).

Please pray for all the tests they are doing on him to show something conclusive (and they are doing a lot of them). Pray for God's guidance and wisdom for the doctors in determining what is the cause of his illness. Pray for Kevin who has bronchitis (he's staying the night there and now has to wear a mask). Pray for sleep for all of our family. The kids are still coughing most of the night. There are just so many things I need to petition the Lord for that I need help, please! :) Thank you so much and God Bless.

Trying to figure it all out...

Oh, my.... We have five kids plus now Kevin with a cough. Some kids cough most of the night. I took two to the doctor today and Riah has a bit of pneumonia. We got some super strength cough syrup but Riah is coughing up junk anyway, which isn't real good since the cough stuff said that if you inhibit the phlegm then it can dry it out in the lungs and make it harder to cough out which seems to be happening. We could really use some prayers for healing and sleep in our house. It is going on two weeks of this cough and about 5 nights of not much sleep for many of us. I am praying for the kids to get some relief with this heavy duty cough syrup since much healing goes on in your body while you are sleeping.

Another thought for prayer is Isaac, the one with the intestinal problems, ie Candida overgrowth. He is having a few down days. We believe one of his supplements is too hard on his body and have quit taking it. He went in today to Dr. K., our favorite doctor right now. He's so personable and easy-going. He also listens to all my questions and gives me straight talk. Told me to pray but then listen to God, meditate on it. He can tell I talk things out so much and that I keep looking for new answers. Isaac also has come down with the cough. I was really hoping he wouldn't. Pray for him to have strength to go through this time. Earlier this week he sat drawing pictures of all the foods he wants to eat. Today, he was looking at magazines with food in them, salivating I'm sure. He wants to know when? When can I have bread? When can I have cookies again? When, when, when? I don't have any clear answers for him, just let us take it one day at a time.

Jordan wrote the previous post kind of joking around while I was busy with something so I decided to post it. At the beginning she's lamenting on all that is going on in our house right now. It seems to be so much, too much at times. She wasn't sure she wanted it published but I hit publish post before she could say anything.

Count your Blessings

I gotta tell ya though, we're grabbing at straws. At least we're
still... um... we still have... each other! Yeah, that's it, we have
each other. Doncha just love it when you've got a child with pneumonia and
the doctor says it would be best to isolate her?
We've been tryin' that, and look where it got us!
No really, it's not as bad as all that if you consider what's God's doing
through all this. We don't even have that many troubles compared to other
people, so who's complainin'?
In case you're wondering who I am I'm not who I usually am, at least, I'm the same but I've never written on this blog before.
Anyway this is Jordan.

A New Look...

As you see I've decided to change it up a bit! A time to do away with the old perhaps? We watched a movie called Flywheel Friday night and it had a great impact on me. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 A used car salesman cheated a minister and the minister (believing he was getting a good deal) prayed for God to bless the salesman the same way. This ended up bringing the salesman to his knees before the Lord. The second half of the movie shows him changing to a new man. I ended up with a coughing child that night or morning (3 a.m.) and was thinking back on the movie and thinking was there anything holding me back in my relationship with the Lord? I thought of three things immediately. I went and got them all and threw them all away. You might think what could they be??? Well, one was a movie that is sort of a love story but one I wouldn't let my kids watch and one I wouldn't want to emulate. Another was similar, a book I have read many times and practically have it memorized. Again, a love story. And the third was the cord to the TV that plugs it into the antenna. They are all gone, burned up already. I love TV at night when the kids are in bed, supposed to be in bed anyway. They are always coming up and I have to turn the channel or turn it off and really, is that what I want to teach them, to be enticed by the things they see on it?? I have wanted to do it for a long time and have put it away many times but now it's gone and I'm free from the things I feel kept me from a closer relationship with the Lord. I am in no way saying you should do likewise. I prayed to God to reveal these things to me. It wasn't hard to figure them out for myself. Everyone has their own "issues" I would imagine.

I'm also not saying I'll be perfect now! :) LOL Can that be possible? No, I just want to concentrate on this time in my life and really don't want my children to remember me as sitting in front of the TV.

Hello...

We ended up doing two days of apples. My oldest did most of the work with some kids helping intermittently. We did get 28 pints of no sugar added for Isaac to have and so far 35 quarts with minimal sugar for the rest of us. We still have about 14 quarts of applesauce left in the fridge to can yet.

Isaac is still up and down with not feeling good. He gets sad when he sees us eat something that he can't have. He really wants some bread. I did just order some different flours and a loaf of rice bread that doesn't use sugar or yeast. It's amazing how much our lives center around food. One comment in a book I am reading talks about in Bible times they ate a lot less than we do because they ate to sustain life, and that's it basically. How many of us eat because it is so enjoyable? I know I do!

My little Lena is a smiler. See it in her eyes?

Applesauce day...

We haven't done any applesauce up yet! Last year I'm sure I had nearly 200 jars by now. We have some dried apples but not near what we could eat up in a winter. Well, today regular school is on hold and the girls are getting a lesson in canning. They will probably do most of the work today although the boys are busy washing and cutting, too. I'm so blessed. We washed the jars last night and one of the girls sorted all the apples piling up in the garage, good from bad and brought in the good. It's also my mom's birthday today. I'm hoping to get these apples done so we can run over to wish her a happy day.

While we work in the kitchen we like to listen to books on tape, history stories or science. Today, they are listening to Jonathan Park Adventure Series. It is about creation. The main character is a paleontoligist. They explore caves, dinosaur bones and other things in a dramatized story. The kids really enjoy it.

Two steps forward, one step backward

It seems to be two steps forward and one step back when you are trying to get well. Last night the stomach-ache was back and a lot of bloating and gas. It could be the new supplements. Hopefully it is an adjustment period. I backed off some of them today. Maybe every other day and he'll adjust better. He felt good today and his color is looking more normal. Before the detox he looked yellow and sometimes green.

We made spaghetti sauce out of beets and carrots tonight. It is part of the Feingold diet and Isaac could eat it too. You cook the beets and carrots, run through a blender, add spices, let sit and then we added onions and hamburger to it before serving. First taste and it was just like tomato spaghetti sauce but after a few bites the sweetness of the beets came through. Kevin thought it was great and most of the kids thought it was OK. Gideon had a bit of trouble but managed a few bites. I hope none of the kids have problems with tomatoes by the time we can add them :) We have 2 1/2 weeks to go before we can start adding things like tomatoes, apples and some berries.

Life goes on...

Thanks Aimee, I slept pretty good too. It would be easy to sit around and worry about what will happen now, but, I have children who need me! :)

My very smiley baby is lying here watching me type. Yesterday was busy in many ways. Isaac's stool sample results came in so ran in for a consult in the morning. He had a Candida overgrowth and protozoa in his intestines. Who knows how long it was there? It explains the allergic response to all the foods he was eating. Candida loves sugar and bread products. Well, a really amazing thing happened in the afternoon. I already made an appointment for Dr. Kastner, our chiropractor slash kinesiologist in the afternoon. We went anyway even knowing what caused it. He was treating Isaac for chemical toxins. He found no toxins, no Candida, nothing at all except an allergic response to coffee. Wow! I was shocked mostly. Dr. K. seemed a bit surprised too. It turns out the detox and the diet free of all sugar and breads, oats, etc. killed the Candida before the results from the tests came in. In just 2 weeks! Wow!! Double Wow! We are going to take the supplements for one month and he is on some probiotics. He's not all better, just the stuff causing all the trouble is gone. Now we need to build his immune system up. He will have to stay off the allergenic foods for three months and then start trying them one at a time. If he doesn't react he can have them sparingly for a time and then we'll see what's next. It really takes a weight off your shoulders to know what exactly was going on. God was so good and is so good. We give all glory to Him for wisdom and showing us the right path to follow. Pray for continued healing on Isaac's body. He's looking forward to those cookbooks, they are not here yet! Have a wonderful day!

God is still in control...

Even though the election didn't go the way I think most Christians would have liked it to, God is still in control. Even though a very anti-life, pro-abortion candidate won and he was quoted as saying the "first thing he would do as President" was to sign back into law a bill President Bush signed out allowing federal dollars to go for abortions across the world, God is still in control. Why anyone thinks US tax dollars should fund abortions overseas is beyond me? Why anyone thinks money should be taken from the rich and be given to the poor, and I qualify under US guidelines as poor, is also beyond me. I don't want money someone else earned! It is a scary time we are living in. My kids are down and feeling defeated tonight. I keep saying, "God is still in control". No matter what happens in our country, to our laws, to our rights and freedoms, God will show His infinite power. I understand if some who read this disagree with me and don't read my blog anymore. I just need to say these things. I am going to continue to call on the Lord for this country's sake, for Christians everywhere to come together and pray for our country and for our children who will inherit every decision that comes from those in leadership. I will continue to teach my children the history of our country and what it was founded on, freedom of religion not from religion. I pray my children will go out as ambassadors of Christ and show God's love to all. I will pray that the freedoms we have fought so hard for with the blood of many soldiers and citizens will stand. As LeAnn F. sang in church one Sunday "Lord, Have Mercy. Christ, Have Mercy. Lord, Have Mercy on Us."

It's so unstable...

If I write this down here maybe it will be remembered. Yesterday, we ended up at Kevin's parents for awhile. Kevin took one kid to combine with Grandpa. He'd been begging to for a long time. The others were wandering the house, eating up the peanuts and little ones were coloring eventually. Gideon had a crayon with loose paper on it. You know, when a new crayon's paper will come completely off, it's kind of neat. Anyway, he say, "Grandma, the paper on this crayon is so......(huge pause).......unstable!" Isn't that adorable. I just loved it and now have repeated it at least four times. Where do they come up with these words?

Thanks Kim for the website. I checked it out and am going to check more into it. Thanks also Jen for the website info on intolerances versus allergies. I spend a bit of time researching on the computer lately. It's a world of information. I just ordered two cookbooks from Amazon.com. One was only 33 cents. ($3.99) shipping. It is called something like the No wheat, no corn, no peanuts, no eggs, no sugar, no yeast cookbook. Another one was called a similar name. Isaac can't wait for them to come. He's hoping for some different taste sensations. His chicken soup turned out to be carrot soup, was kind of blah tonight without noodles or crackers in it.

I don't like lima beans either.

At supper tonight Bekah loudly proclaims she doesn't like lima beans. I told her put them to the side and leave them there, quietly! Later I realized I don't like them either and it opened up a teaching moment. I said, "Rebekah, did you know I don't like lima beans either?" She perked up and replied that she didn't. I said it is because I don't announce it to the world, I quietly put them to the side or I eat them first to get it over with. Doesn't it just get you down when you finally figured out what to make for supper, get it on the table and someone complains? At least I have Kevin there, he likes to eat anything! :)

Sometimes life is like that, we loudly proclaim "I don't like this thing that is happening to me." "I didn't choose this." I have felt a bit like this with Isaac's allergies. Today at church we asked for prayer for his allergies and for us as we figure out what foods he can eat. Another family got up to ask for prayer for their 1 year old who was recently diagnosed with cerebal palsey. I felt like whatever we were going through was so small compared. We will figure out his diet eventually and he'll probably grow out of some of the allergies. This little girl probably won't grow out of this. God could heal her but in the meantime her family will need extra encouragement and strength.