Updates

In the last week, or so, our family has had quite a few things going on. I've had a few people send me messages, asking about how things were going, so I thought tonight I would give some updates - to basically tell you the rest of the story (or at least the developing story).

Uncle Mark

A week ago yesterday Jason's uncle was in a pretty horrible motorcycle accident. He was exiting the highway when, as best we can put together, he was cut off. Unfortunately, he was not wearing a helmet, so his injuries were quite serious. He made it though his initial surgery and they gave him several days to stabilize. He is a strong guy, an extremely healthy, strong guy, and so pretty quickly his blood pressure evened out and he began healing. Yesterday they took him to surgery once again in order to do his facial reconstruction. Nearly every bone in his face was broken. He came out of the surgery and now the waiting begins. As of yesterday they were keeping him unconscious. This week they will begin bringing him out of that and assessing the things that they cannot know by looking at him. 

Through all of this I have been reminded of how amazingly we are made. The power of the body to heal and repair, and the strength of the will to survive is humbling. I have also been aware of how fragile we are - how quickly things can change. Both of these reminders have caused me to be more thankful than ever for my family and for a God who welcomes my prayers and pleas. 

Abby

If I were a news station I might dub this summer the "Tummy Troubles of 2012". Around about day 10 of the daily diarrhea I was pretty discouraged - by day 19 I was panicking. What was happening? Why was Abby still so sick? With one week left of summer, would we be able to figure this out? Why couldn't my poor kid just catch a break? After going to the doctor we got some testing done and everything came back negative. The assumption was, it was a virus that she would have to work through. Jason and I decided that we would try a different diet and see if that made any difference. As of today we are on day four of a gluten free and lactose free diet for Abby. As of today we are on day two of no tummy troubles. Now, whether she has a wheat allergy or a milk allergy, I'm not sure, but right now all I know is that she is feeling better. To me that means we will keep going as we are for a bit. Maybe she needed the milder food to let her body heal, maybe it was running it's course anyway - I don't know. There may come a time when we get her tested and we try to reintroduce foods in an effort to pinpoint the problem, but right now I'm liking the status quo. 

Lesson learned? I will gladly pay $7 for a bag of gluten free pretzels, if it means my kid won't be up at two in the morning, sitting on the potty and crying because her "bottom hurts". 

Jason

It seems that Jason is making a name for himself. He told me tonight that when he went to the doctor's this afternoon for some antibiotics he was greeted with, "Oh, you're the guy that put the pitchfork through his hand!" Yes, on Saturday, while working in the yard, Jason stumbled and ended up skewering his hand with the pitchfork he was using. After pulling it out of his hand, he ran into the house and we all zipped to the hospital. They sent him home (after a tetanus shot) with pain meds and oral antibiotics, and a directive to see a specialist on Monday.

Today he went to see the hand specialist. Things were not looking good. They wanted to do surgery right away, but that needs to be done on an empty stomach, and since he'd had lunch it was a no-go. See, he has numbness in three of his fingers, and after a fever and swelling on Sunday it was no surprise that he also has a pretty nasty infection. They immediately sent him off to the hospital so that he could get a couple of IV antibiotics. Tomorrow morning we head back to the hospital so that they can open up his hand and take a look. The hope is to clean out the infection and repair the nerves that have been damaged. Did I mention it is his left hand? Did I mention that Jason is left handed?

Quite frankly this is still too "new" for me to find my lesson yet. For this I just ask for an avalanche of prayers, that's really what we all need right now. 

This is "an oldie, but a goodie" - one of my all-time favorite pictures of my
two loves!