Life As We Know It Will Never Be the Same Again!

Today our very beautiful, intelligent, oldest daughter started her first day of school! She walked into Mrs. Taylor's first grade class with excitement and eagerness to learn. We exchanged our hugs and kisses and said our good-byes, and then I realized, "This is the end of the life we have known until now." Freedom to go and do as we please, with no real sense of any schedule or time frame is gone. The hardest part of this reality lies in the fact that Mary Grace has been with me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 6 years; and now I have to entrust her life with some complete stranger for eight hours a day. Hannah said, "Mommy? Gracie will be gone as long as Daddy is at work?...I am sad, and it doesn't make me feel very good." Her best friend and sister will not be there for every waking moment anymore. However, this will give Hannah time to be the "oldest" with Abigail, and hopefully at the end of the day when Gracie is home again, they will all have a different kind of love and respect for one another. I am excited to see the newness this year will bring; and sad to see the "baby-like" actions disappear.

The Results...

Sorry we didn't post yesterday, but we were both completely worn out. Okay, I am sure you all have been anxiously awaiting the results from the scope and patch testing. First of all, her scope showed that there are still eosinophils present in her esophagus; so we have to remove bananas from her diet. She will be on formula ONLY for the next three months; then re-scoped. We are also scoping Hannah at this three month appointment per doctors recommendation. There are two types of eosinophilic disease; allergic-type and nonallergic-type (autoimmune), and the only way to determine which category she fits into is to go strictly formula only. The reason for this is if it is allergic-type, the theory is that once we remove the bananas the eos will be gone. If they are still present after the banana removal, then she has the autoimmune version. We are praying diligently that she not have the autoimmune type. The allergic-type is easier to control with elimination diets and so forth; this is not the case for autoimmune EE. I'm sure that was a bit confusing and I will be able to better explain it once we get home. Now...allergy. She tested positive to two more things. Mustard and sunflower (both are seeds). So for now, she is on her formula only. She will be able to eat the original flavored (only) Dum Dum suckers, Pixie Stix, and Smarties; as they are only sugar and artificially flavored. Thank you all for making this possible through prayer, support, and encouragement! We will be leaving early in the morning and should be home around 5-6pm.

Seriously?!!?

Seriously, do you see the eight-lane divided highway here? This is exactly what the highway looked liked on the way to the hospital this morning, only in a little different location when we were somehow hand picked (we decided that he could tell we were out-of-towners b/c we have no license plate on the front like everyone else in OH)by a motorcycle cop standing on the side of the highway radaring people. Now, you have to remember this was in early morning traffic that we were "flowing" with a the rate of speed as everyone else. The oh so very nice police officer asked for our information, went back to his motorcycle, and returned to the car............................................................................

This is what he so politely handed us. Of coarse there was no time to explain that we were heading to Children's Hospital where we have been the entire week, but apparently he has no heart. By the way, Jason and Terri, HWY 71 from the hotel to the hospital is 55, not 71...just for future reference ;)!!! Oh, and the price....$104.Luckily, all we had to do today was attend an information meeting and tour the lab. We were done by 12:30pm and toured downtown Cinty for the rest of the day. Enjoy the pics. It was a much needed and welcomed break.

Tough Day Tuesday

Abigail still nice and happy before any of her testing began. We are sitting in the allergy clinic waiting room.If you look closely, you can see the whelps (hives) that formed just minutes after the skin test solutions was placed on the inside of both of her arms.

Patch testing was done on some of the foods that tested negative. We will remove the "patches" on Thursday afternoon, and the results will be read on Friday.

Well, today was a very long and tough day, as we had expected. The doctor came in and took Abigail's history. Based upon what we told him, he decided to do 45 skin pricks. Once she was stuck she proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs, flail her body so that we could barley hold onto her, and itch obsessively. The main problem with all of this was that she was not allowed to scratch the hives or touch anything to the inside of her arms! Yeah, I know....

After all that, we had to place the patches. Underneath each round container is "whole food". Or, in layman's terms, baby food. These will stay on with no water exposure (including bath and sweat) until Friday. Okay, I am sure you are all wondering about the results. Are you ready? Okay, here you go: milk, casein (milk by-product), egg white, egg yolk, wheat, codfish, peanut, peas, barley, corn, rye, cashew, walnut, halibut, and tree nuts. The patch testing will tell if there is a delayed reaction to any of them that have previously tested negative. The allergist also said that he may do more skin prick testing on Friday. He said this several different times, so I am thinking that is highly likely.

Prayer Requests: The the patch testing will provide accurate results...there is still some question if the small amount of steroids they gave her yesterday could pose a problem. With the Lord's help, I know the results will be accurate.

Good News and Bad...

Ross, Abigail, Abigail's nurse, Patches the Bear, and I before her procedure.

I'm holding Abigail as they are putting her to sleep in the O.R.. You cannot see her well, but thought you could get the idea.

First and most importantly, Abigail's scope went very well. In fact, her esophagus looked better than it has yet. We will have the biopsy results on Thursday, but Putnum believes that she will be able to keep bananas in her diet. That would be a huge blessing! As we were giving Dr. Putnum our family history, we got to Hannah's and he asked if she had ever been scope. We said no, and long story short he felt that we should, and he would like to do it the next time we bring Abigail...so it looks like there will be many more trips to Cincy. As for Hannah, Ross and I still have some praying to do about that.

Now for the not so good news. While she was in recovery Ross and I were talking to the nurse and found out that they gave her Decadron (a steroid) during her scope. This is a problem because she is supposed to be off of steroids for one month prior to the allergy patch testing. We talked to the allergy nurse and because Decadron only stays in her system for 12 hours, she thinks that they will still be able to do the testing. The good news is that it will not affect the skin prick test, so they will at least be able to do that test without any problem. We will find out about the patch testing in the morning. Although this was all very frustrating, Ross said that all the Lord kept "saying" to him was, "I am in control, I am in control." We know that no matter the outcome, He is in control and that is the best for Abigail. Besides all of this excitement, the hospital was amazing. I wasn't able to take pictures today, but I will have some later on this week.

Prayer Requests: Tomorrow's skin prick tests will be difficult; pray for strength for all of us. Pray that if we are supposed to do the patch testing now that all will go as planned; and if not, that Ross and I will have peace that now is not the right time.

Interesting Encounter

Well, today we caught up on some much needed rest. We ate a continental breakfast here at the hotel of made-to-order omelets and Belgian waffles; as well as the normal cereal, fruit and bagels. After breakfast, Abigail was ready for a nap. This is not her usual routine, but I guess she was tired from her traveling because she took a 2 1/2 nap...and so did we! Once we got up and going, we drove around Cincy and ended up at the Kenwood Townecenter (mall). We ate Cincinnati Chili, and for those of you who have never heard of this chili; it is served on top of spaghetti noodles. Not only that, but it also has cinnamon and chocolate in it. It is different and for reasons I cannot explain, I want more. Ross thinks they have laced it with some sort of drug that induces a craving. Needless to say, we like our Texas-style chili better. Okay, for the interesting part. After we ordered our Cincinnati Chili, a man (about our ages) asked us about our bracelets. He said, "Are those CURED bracelets?" We said yes and he followed with, "I have it. I have EE." I think Ross and I were both in pure amazement. Amazed that the Lord has brought us to this city and in the mall ordering chili at the exact same time as this man. We talked to him, his wife, and baby son for quite some time. I was touched by his attitude, dedication for this disease and emotion he showed for Abigail! This is just proof that the Lord has us right where He wants us at all times; around those He has placed around us...even standing in line waiting for chili.

Prayer Requests: Tomorrow we will be seeing Dr. Putnum (GI) and Abigail's scope is scheduled for 2pm (1pm your time). Pray for safety during anesthesia and wisdom for Dr. Putnum.

We made it to Cincy!!

Good evening everyone! We made it to Cincinnati without any real setbacks. The only "issue" we had to deal with was Abigail was breathing a little more rapidly than normal; so she had to have an Albuterol treatment. We have only had to do it one other time, but figured it could be expected since we were traveling outside her normal environment. All-in-all, Abigail did great! We stopped in St. Louis to stretch our legs, fill-up on gas, and grab a bite to eat. Since Ross and I have both been up in the Arch before, we thought it would be nice to just get out walk around, see the sights, and of coarse...take some pictures. Those of you who know me well, know that I have a thing for black and white pictures; so I couldn't resist taking a few in St. Louis! Last, but NOT least, Cincinnati. No pics yet, we haven't really been inside Cincy yet. I will post more soon; until then, enjoy!

Prayer Requests: That Abigail's breathing would remain normal, and that she would "eat" more. She has only taken about 7 oz. of formula today.