If you don't have time to read the whole blog post, I totally understand, please just scroll to the very bottom for an important update and prayer request.
And our new "normal", a roller coaster that is stuck on super speed and doesn't have an off switch, continues... On Tuesday, Andrew had his follow up with the Immunologist and got allergy tested. Let's just say that the allergy test was by far the most traumatic thing that my boy has been through yet (for his momma and big sister too)! 56 pokes on his back...
and 24 individual needle sticks on his arms... no picture was taken of that part because we were all too traumatized to document the moment. Andrew tried so hard to be tough after the nurses walked in with trays FULL of needles, but the fact that the torture felt like it was never going to end was the hardest part. We prayed before and during the test, I was holding his face in my hands, telling him to look into my eyes and breathe with me, while poor sweet Abigail sat next to the table in tears because she can't stand to see Andrew hurt. After all that, the results were... no allergies! His lab work and chest X-ray were all back to normal, however, only half of his sinuses cleared after three weeks of an antibiotic :-(. We are on another 14 days of a different antibiotic and we have an appointment with an ENT in early January to see if he needs his sinuses surgically cleaned out :-(. The good news is that the Dr believes that once we get this crazy sinus infection cleared up, he shouldn't have any more issues moving forward. Also, his Dr was very clear as to which ENT that she wanted Andrew to see, so we were able to get in with him in the beginning of January. This particular ENT happens to be the one that I wanted Grace to see, however, we weren't able to get her in to see him in a timely manner, so we went with someone else in that group, who we weren't terribly thrilled with. As many of you know, changing Dr.'s that are in the same group can get hairy in a hurry, however, I'm hoping that if we end up loving this ENT that Andrew is seeing, we could easily make the switch by saying that we would like all of our kiddos care to be under one Dr (Grace, having Up's will have a long standing relationship with an ENT, so having one that we really like is important to us). Way to take one for the team, Andrew :-).
Grace has come down with some nasty brochiolitis that has sent us to the ER twice this week. This is how the cycle goes... Grace will start looking really rough (wheezing, not acting like herself, labored/fast breathing, super fussy, coloring off, oxygen sats in the high 80's, and at one point she even had blue lips) at night, of course... so, after watching her for a bit, we decided she needed to go to the ER. Shortly after arriving to the ER, she got an epinephrine breathing treatment and was a happy little camper... I was trying to post a sweet video of Grace in the ER (it gives you a good glimpse of her funny little personality), but I'm having trouble getting it to upload and don't have time to continue monkeying around with it, so I'll try again on another day.
Her second ER visit was in the middle of the night on Friday, where she was there for 12 hours (the beanie was donated to the hospital, sweet huh?)...
The Dr.'s couldn't get over how interactive Grace was as she allowed them to listen to her, but then she asked for their stethoscope so that she could in turn listen to all of their hearts (the kid might be close to completing her medical degree after all the hours that she's logged in the hospital :-), etc. I guess the blessing in it all is that she was never admitted (which is unheard of for Grace, it seems like they always want to admit her), and Lord willing she won't be in the hospital for our much anticipated and needed break from school and work where we hope to maximize some special family time.
On a lighter note, despite the craziness of Grace being in the ER, I still got to attend a much needed and anticipated girls lunch with some of the sweetest and thoughtful ladies I know (thanks BG for joyfully watching A and A, so that I could make it)...
The big kids had their Christmas parties at school this week...
now, check out this All Star line up of teachers...
...and the big kids sang in the Christmas program at church tonight. What an amazing Family Christmas Service at TSF! Today was sort of an emotional roller coaster, worrying about Grace, again David and I found ourselves debating if we needed to take her back to the ER :-/, but two amazing church services in one day that spoke straight to my heart is just what I needed to refocus my heart and mind back on the presence of God and letting that be enough (because it IS more than enough)! God has reminded me all day that I need to "be still and know that He is God!"
This is a post Family Christmas Service picture, with Grace's BFF's...
Well, I wrote this post prior to the unfolding of the most recent events, Grace and David are on their way BACK to the ER for the third time this week because Grace's oxygen saturations are way too low. To say that I'm feeling discouraged right now is an understatement. We could really use your prayers right now. Please pray for peace, strength, and endurance for David and I, for the kids hearts as they wake up in the morning to find that David and Grace are at the hospital, that Grace would get better quickly, and above all that we would not spend Christmas in the hospital. THANK YOU, sweet Village!
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