Paul's Sickness

If you don't believe in the healing power of our Lord, I will share. God listens and God knows the cries of his people. What a joy it is to have so many praying. Paul, Jr. had the longest stretch of feeling good since I can remember (several hours). Also, he has been sleeping in our room since December, and usually is in a lot of pain and misery which doesn't leave several hours of zzzzs for any of us, and last night was pure bliss. Not even a whimper of a noise. I have tried to reflect on Matthew 7 about worry and the wisdom behind not worrying, but the last several weeks have been a little difficult (and I have been sinning way too much on that subject) but let me reflect and share the hidden treasures while in the valley. First, the one thing I said I would NEVER be able to do is homeschool. God has pulled us through and given us the most precious time together which built our relationship very strong. I have really gotten to know Paul in a special way. Second, he and Lauren have been more loving toward one another. He actually wanted to buy her a Valentine present and initiated the conversation. The day after our ER trip, my cold got pretty severe, and I too was laid up in bed most of the day. He sat at the end of the bed doing his work, and when Lauren came home from school, she helped him study. Even in the midst of his sickness, he came to my bedside and asked if he could get me anything. It was a true act of kindness. Third, as many of you know I have Fibromyalgia which can be very taxing in the winter with cold weather. The good news is the whole month of January went by and I hardly remember it! Thanks for all of your encouragement.

I just received the call from the scheduling desk at Childrens. Paul is now scheduled to get the Hydrogen Breath Test for next Monday. It is a strict no carb, no fiber, no dairy diet 24 hours prior to the test. It will take approx. 4 hours to complete one test and then we have to go back individually for the other two tests with the same format on other days. It was such a joy to find out they only do these tests on Mondays and Thursdays, and the women is off for the 16th, so the next availability is Feb. 23rd and March 2nd. (I am still a little sarcastic). Each test has to be a week apart. The three tests are glucose, lactose intolerance and the third is to find a bacteria. He cannot be on any meds two weeks prior to the tests. I was really hoping to get him some relief with a pain med. or something. It is excrutiating to think we will have possibly another month to find out what is going on. The Dr. doesn't think the extra bowel is causing his stomach issues, and if these tests come back fine, we are going to be at a complete loss. He is exhausted and is really starting to get depressed. He just wants relief from this constant pain and nausea. Please pray.

Paul's sickness

Paul had a really bad night. He was up very late and in tears until 11:20. He woke up a few times in pain and was still bad at 5:00 a.m. The nights are getting worse. I almost called the Dr. on call again but didn't want a repeat of the other night, so I made him work through the pain but it was miserable. I am so sad to see him like this and feel so helpless to trust what I feel is wrong, but we have tried everything. The only thing he hasn't done is a colonoscopy and CT Scan. CT Scans are usually dangerous for kids because they have a risk of causing cancer, so I have been holding off on that one. I will be calling the Dr. today.

Paul's sickness

February 5, 2009

Well, I always said I would NEVER be a blogger, however, with our current situation, this seems to be the easiest way to allow everyone to get updates at their leisure and frees me to focus on Paul, Jr. Anyone reading this blog probably knows our son, Paul, has been very sick and out of school since December. I am now homeschooling. We are on our third Dr. and still waiting for some kind of diagnosis for him. His main symptoms are still stomach pain, nausea, occasional cramps, diarrhea, low grade fevers, fullness after a few bites of food, loss of appetite, severe weakness, dark circles, paleness (yellow and sometimes a weird shade of green). He has lost approx. 3-1/2 pounds so far. It amazes me that the Dr.'s don't seem to think being out of school for a month is a big deal. We are now with Dr. Tarr at Children's, and while he is very busy, we feel we are in the best care now. We ended up in the ER late Tuesday evening due to some other strange symptoms Paul was having. In addition to everything else, he started shivering so bad with the chills, he could hardly hold the thermometer in his mouth. He complained of his legs feeling numb and started having chest cramps and was screaming this was the worst day of all. He couldn't fathom the thought of driving all the way to Children's and was pleading to be taken to St. Lukes. After 2-1/2 hours of waiting for the Dr., the symptoms dissipated and we went home (totally frustrating). He still has daily nausea and stomach pain and is extremely weak. He woke up today and stayed in bed until 1:00 p.m. I must say it is very disheartening to see an 11 year old (who typically can never be tamed) this way. Since December, he has had an Endoscopy, Upper GI, Ultrasound, Blood Work, Stool Samples (three rounds) and an x-ray. The only thing thus far that has been noticed, it an extra amount of bowel (possible obstruction) in the colon. He is also on Prevacid for Reflux. However, he does not really have heartburn or typical symptoms of Reflux and the Prevacid has not done anything for him in the last three weeks. We are still waiting to get a Breath Hydrogen Test which can measure his glucose levels to see if he is glucose intolerant or lactose intolerant. As a baby, he had reflux, colic, and was lactose intolerant. I guess it is possible to grow out of it and back into it. We are just plugging away hoping to get to the root of this problem. He deeply misses his friends and his active life (and as most of you know SO DO I!). Since the only thing he is really able to do is rest on the couch for most of the day, we are hosting a little video game basketball tournament for him next Friday, so he can see some of his buddies. Fortunately, he has been able to keep up on most of his school work. We are very blessed to have so many people praying for us and are grateful for the love and support. Paul loved his jumbo get well card from his classmates. We still need your prayers and will keep you posted when we know more.