Some news...

Isaac is done with the scope part of his stay. I knew it wasn't the greatest news when they came out of surgery a little sooner than they told us it would be. The doctor wasn't able to scope past a very little part in his colon because the inflammation was so severe. She believes it to be chronic Crohn's but won't officially diagnose him until the biopsies come back tomorrow. There is another test they want to run that they can do until 10 tonight. They want to keep him until at least Thursday to see how he reacts to food. He will be given IV anti-inflammatory medication as soon as there is a diagnosis. Isaac is upset. Back in October we speculated it being Crohn's and we did a lot of research on it and he knows it isn't something he wants to have. Pray for the rest of our time here. Pray for Isaac to have peace and feel hopeful that his life can be normal.

The longer you are here the more hopeful or thankful you can be. I'm sitting across from a woman (she's on another computer). She came to the Cities to visit her aunt and while here her 9 month old baby boy got sick and now needs a heart transplant and they don't want to move him to Chicago where she lives because he's too sick. Then you meet the dad of a 10 month old whose not been home since January and the dad already buried a daughter at the age of 1 year and 7 months who died of the very thing his son has. Then you meet a 15 year old who hasn't left the hospital in three months because of the cancer she has. It is not an uplifting place. Thankfully Isaac can be mostly treated from home.

We continue to juice for him and are very thankful they let us be in charge of his food and even bring in our own. I bought him some real eggs for tomorrow. We are taking it easy with juice and broth today since he had biopsies taken. Pray for healing.

Sunday...

Today, Isaac is being cleaned out for the colonoscopy tomorrow. He decided to forgo the tube down his nose and throat and drink this solution all day. I wasn't here for it but he drank the first glass without flinching and the staff watched him and their jaws visibly dropped open. Isaac proclaimed that he'd drank worse. My poor, funny, and strong child. He has endured a lot. Tomorrow I hope is the worst of it for the rest of his life. I can't wait until he comes home and I can work on nourishing him back to health. It still looks like Tuesday afternoon.

Since there wasn't much going on Em and I took Lena to the Mall of America. Emily especially wanted to see the American Girl store. Fun but spendy! We ate Chinese, ice cream (twice) (we shared one each time) (made the mistake of giving Lena a bite and she was hooked so really all three of us shared one twice). Emily bought a couple things. There are a lot of places to buy a lot of things we don't really need. We are staying somewhere about 5 minutes from the hospital. Very nice people (they go to John Piper's church for any Piper fans out there). I slept OK considering Em and I shared a hide-a-bed couch and Lena was in the room. I brought ear plugs and was surprised because Emily doesn't snore anymore. My chest cold is a bit better, not getting worse anyway.

Thanks for praying and keep praying for healing to keep going on inside Isaac and for the doctors not to find much when they poke around in there. A miracle would be OK with me :) Make the doctors question God's existence a little and not their own power. Whichever way it's going to be God will see us through it. I have incredible peace right now. It helps that Kevin is so steady. A nurse is going in Isaac's room, bye.

Whoa...

Fast internet at the hospital! Yeah! I didn't think I'd update until I got home. Tests will be back before noon on Tuesday. Pray for the results to be conclusive! Then we can come home. I juiced carrot, apple, kale, spinach, parsley and pepper for him and he was happy to have it. They gave him some "nutritional" juice and the first thing Isaac told me was that it had 30 g or mg? of sugar and it had red dye. I said "you're kidding". Kevin was a little surprised they considered that good for him but that's why mom is here now and we can juice some real food for him. He looks great and is in great spirits. Emily came to help with Lena. We plan to stay close by at a sister of a friends.

Pray for healing and for things to go well tomorrow with the tube down his nose and throat to clean him out before Monday's test. Thanks!

Twists and Turns...

Still on that rollercoaster theme! Isaac has been admitted to the U of M Medical Center in Minneapolis. He will be there about a week. They will run a bazillion tests, an edoscopy and colonoscopy on Monday and then we should get to the bottom of what's keeping him from getting completely well. Then with help from the Lord we will get this kid healthy and his parents happier. :)

Pray for complete healing on Isaac's body. I'm still clinging to that possibility. He could be a medical miracle right before their eyes.

Pray for strength to deal with any diagnosis we may get if total healing isn't in the Lord's plans right now.

Pray for protection on Isaac from the foods he has to eat there that have preservatives and additives as he hasn't had them in several months. Pray for him to be nourished there.

Pray for sleep for Kevin and I. This is trying mentally and physically.

Pray for the other children.

Here again...

I could say here I am again since it's been awhile or here we are again at a place in Isaac's illness where we didn't think we'd be again. He's actually doing fine and up and around doing all his "normal" activities. There are just some concerning symptoms he's having that bring us down another path of searching for answers. I now know what it means to "pray without ceasing". I think I pray more than I don't. I pray for strength, help, and mostly for healing for Isaac. I want to wake in the morning to a child who is better. Please pray for wisdom and for God to go before us as we see a new doctor on Wednesday morning.

Something exciting...

Yesterday, Jordan auditioned for the Area Youth Symphony on her violin and she was accepted! I am excited and Jordan is pleased. She got the audition piece the night before and had only one day to prepare. She played her recital piece from this year and some other things. We were both so nervous about what it would be like and would she be ready, etc., etc. Now, I'm a little nervous about what this will mean for us. If we would have been diligent to get Jordan her driver's license it would be one thing as she will have to attend practice every Sunday afternoon. Any volunteers to drive her once in awhile? :) It's a great opportunity to improve her skill on the violin. Also to play with a whole orchestra is neat. www.fmays.org is the site of the orchestra.

Isaac's hemoglobin keeps going up! Praise for that, while it's false and a fake way of getting it there pray for it to stay there. He's got a good appetite and I'm trying to keep up with it hoping he'll gain some weight. We are still praying for a complete healing. Praying also for God to do a complete and perfect work in our family. Isaiah 53:5 says by his stripes we are healed.

On a completely different note :) I have canned 13 quarts of pickles today. I am slowly, ever so slowly getting food put up for the winter. I have beans to wash today and should get 7 quarts. I would prefer to do about 21 at a time but they are not producing as I expected. I planted twice what I usually do and usually can a lot more. We have a little salsa put up and some beets although I don't know why as I still have some and no-one is too crazy about them. They are so pretty :) We've eaten about 20 spaghetti squash. We eat it with butter and honey or I make spaghetti sauce and we have it that way. Kids love it! I'm so glad cause I don't really :)

Obla di, obla da, la la la la life goes on. (Remember the show Life Goes On with Corky the down syndrome boy and his sister.) The theme song was something like that. Life keeps on going. Take care and God Bless.