Jennifer's Condition--Follow Up 2

We met with the GI specialist today. He was a nice man who listened well and seemed to understand well when I described my symptoms. He was not surprised that my gall bladder tests came back normal since most of my pain is on my left side. And, that's what I kept trying to tell everyone. So, he scheduled me for an endoscopy, but in the mean time gave me a script for an anti-spasm drug for the pain (which I feel like is already working). And he also wants me to take fiber pills and take/eat probiotics. His guess is that it's a simple matter of my colon just not functioning properly (not a structural problem), but with a little help, it should do fine.

The first available endoscopy slot wasn't until during Sonship Week, and I really don't want to have this done without Patric. The next one was on my birthday...no thank you! So, I'm scheduled for Nov. 13th. Obviously, if I need to have it sooner due to increased pain, I'll do so. But for now, my goal is just to get back into the land of the living. He said I probably won't be running any races any time soon, but I should be able to get out and walk. I'll take that! :)

Jennifer's Condition--Follow Up 1

We heard back from the primary care physician today. The radioactive gallbladder test said that her gallbladder was normal, and functioning OK--aside from it now glowing in the dark. Next step is to see the GI specialist tomorrow, since we've ruled out so many other things so far.

Jennifer's Condition--Initial Update

For all of our friends out there, we wanted to try and catch you up on what has been happening with Jennifer. We're sorry about the spotty communication, but as you can see below, we've been running a mile a minute. We'll update the blog regularly since we've been getting so many "how are you notes" and haven't been able to respond to everyone right away. If you know some of the story, feel free to skip down until you find new info. In the future, we'll do shorter (much much much shorter), more frequent posts, but this is just the "get everyone up to date post."

The Initial Problem
A few months ago Jennifer was experiencing significant stomach/digestive pain, especially after eating. She went to her primary care doc who did very little and essentially said, "Try to watch what you eat and take over the counter Nexium." Jennifer had been doing that now for several months, with some relief, but lately with growing bouts of significant pain. Over the summer she's had a few instances where she's either vomited, or really been bent over with pain, but then it would go away, and the symptoms were never exactly the same, or seemed like they may have been associated with something else.

Last Weekend
Last weekend Jennifer was going to go to a friend's birthday, but was again overtaken with severe nausea and pain in her chest, this time with a fever. After resting for the weekend, she felt marginally better, but not well, so she again went to see her primary care doctor. This time she was referred to a GI specialist. She has been disappointed with the quality of care from her doctor (no further medication, no help with the pain; but they did do an EKG to rule out a heart issue). But she was sort of stuck, so she was set to wait until Friday to see the GI specialist. I was scheduled to be in St. Louis for the week and had left on Monday as planned.

Monday afternoon when I was checking in to my hotel, Jennifer called in tears because the pain had gotten so bad. Her mother and a nurse friend her were suggesting that she go to the ER and not wait to see the GI specialist on Friday. This was complicated since no one was home to stay with Parker (though the nurse friend offered to come spend the night with him--Thanks Kim!!) Jennifer decided to wait until Tuesday AM and take Parker to school and then go to the ER.

Tuesday in the ER
Tuesday AM Jennifer went to the ER. Through out the day they did a whole series of tests: full blood and urine work, EKG, x-ray, ultrasound of her liver, pancreas, gallbladder and kidneys, and a CAT scan. They also gave her some drugs for the pain, but alas none of my beloved Vicodin. For the most part, all of the tests simply confirmed that there was nothing "major" wrong with her: no heart attacks, infections, masses etc., all of her major organs were healthy and working well. She talked to several ER docs and a surgeon or two along the way. Their best guess was that it was a gallbladder problem.

The underlying drama was that Jennifer wouldn't be released in time to meet Parker at the bus. She had a friend who volunteered, but who then also came down with severe abdominal pain and had to go see her doctor (Thanks Ashely! Hope you are feeling better too.) So with some last minute scrambling, WHM came to the rescue sending Ginny to meet Parker and then take him over to another WHM family's house for dinner (Thanks Ginny and Jodie!!). Jennifer then picked him up later that night when she was released.

Meanwhile I was still in St. Louis, getting text message updates and talking to Jen when she had a minute here and there, while trying to attend the seminar I was at. Eventually I decided it was just too much and so changed my ticket ($211 to travel the exact same route I would be traveling 2 days later, on the same crappy little plane... thanks you frickers at US Air for being so understanding... NOT!) and flew home on Tuesday, getting home at midnight.

Wednesday in Nuclear Medicine
There was a further scan that the docs had wanted her to have on Tuesday, but unfortunately due to a mix up she couldn't have it done while admitted to the ER. So on Wednesday, I got Parker ready for school (with a last minute bloody nose, meaning he couldn't ride the bus) and got him off and then we went back to the hospital. The test injected a nuclear isotope into Jen's blood stream that was tagged with a chemical that made it adhere to her gallbladder and liver. Then a series of time lapse pictures were take to determine 1) if there was any serious blockage (there was not as far as we could tell); 2) how her gallbladder was functioning. (those are the pictures up above)


Today, Thursday, we are supposed to hear back from her primary care doctor about the next step... see a surgeon? see her GI specialist? sue for malpractice?

Jennifer is still in a good deal of pain, and though very hungry, only able to eat limited amounts of certain types of food. For the time being I'll be taking care of the man and running things at home, while trying to be in at work during the day {in addition to the St. Louis trip, I've got an new person joining our team (Welcome Jeff!), a board meeting coming up where I have a few minor responsibilities and we were supposed to host a board member (may have to wait until next time Nathan!), and... SONSHIP WEEK which takes oodles of planning and we are now in the red zone in terms of work for the week. Plus all the other day to day stuff that just needs to happen week in and week out at work.}

What You Can Do
Send large cash gifts so that I can clone myself and then take Jennifer to an experimental pain treatment center in the Caribbean where we'll need to stay for 6 months. Or... pray! Right now we have some great support from the WHM office and a few of our new friends, so we're OK in terms of basic needs.

But we desperately need prayers for:
1) Reduction of pain and healing for Jennifer.

2) A clear, correct diagnosis from the Dr's so that we can find a good medical solution.

3) Patience and grace for me as I try to hold down my work responsibilities, take care of the household stuff, and be sure that Parker and Jennifer and being taken care of. There was a meltdown of epic proportions yesterday. Somehow I don't think the AWANA creators envisioned dads slamming their hands down on the table bringing tears to their 5 year old's eyes while shouting, "You will learn this verse! It isn't that hard, you just aren't trying." (Well, OK, they're a pretty militant bunch, so yes maybe they did envision that, but still...).

Thanks for all of your calls, texts and e-mails. The are wonderful!!! Please be patient with us, we simply haven't had the time or space to call everyone back, or respond by e-mail. It's very encouraging for Jennifer to hear from everyone, though she's been too drained to respond; so if you are willing, keeping sending us the good stuff knowing that we probably won't be able to call right away.

OK, more posts when we no more. For now, thanks for praying.

Slipping through my fingers...

I just put my baby on the bus for his first day of Kindergarten. Can't believe he's already 5 1/2 years old. Can't believe someone else is going to be shaping his little mind, heart, and soul for 7 hours each day. Can't believe God gave him to us in the first place. Oh, what a precious gift! Oh, how I am going to miss him! Oh, how I need Jesus to help me let go.

I'm overwhelmed with gratefulness right now for the moments I've had with my dear son over the last 5 years. We've spent so much one-on-one time that I think I'm grieving the loss of that right now. But every time I have joked with him and said, "Please don't grow up. I love age (4)," the next year gets even better. So, I have hope that each year with each of its growing pains will be sweeter than the last as our relationship deepens.

When Parker was baptized, the verse we chose for him was Eph. 1:3-6, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." ...I'm comforted knowing he's in good hands. :)