Prayers are working!!!

Thank you for all who have been praying for Ebbie! Her rash is significantly better today. I am hopeful it will continue to heal!! 

I'm excited to have a short time alone with Austin (about 30 hours). We're making a quick trip to Texas and back. I've only spent the night without the kids one time since November so I'm looking forward to a little recharge :)

P.S. Enjoy this picture of Ebbie - partly naked on  the couch enjoying a book (letting her rash and medicine dry). Ha! 

Love, 

Deidre 

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This too shall pass...

Sometimes it feels like being kicked while you're already down.

 Ebbie has had a significant rash for the past 12 days and after seeing 2 doctors we're still not sure if she has Zika virus or something called pityriasis rosea. Honestly, both options are not great but with Zika it should at least be over soon. The pityriasis rosea could take between 6-12 weeks! It's already so hard on E to be a girl in second grade who has "bathroom issues" but now she is dealing with a rash ALL over her body (face included). 

She has her next scope on Wednesday 4/27. We have been on the very strict diet for the past several weeks so if this scope doesn't come back clear then it really will feel like a punch in the gut. 

Bo is feeling a little left out by all the focus on Ebbie but otherwise he is doing good. Great grades, participated in the state geography bee and finished around top 15, playing lots of sports, etc. 

So, obviously we need prayers! Pray that Ebbie's rash will clear up quickly, that she'll have a clear scope (then we can introduce a food back but that also comes with stress bc I could intentionally be making her sick!) that she can deal with the stresses of having these issues at school (and that kids will be nice!).

Pray for Bo to hang in there! 

Pray for me and Austin to be sustained through this. It's hard when we want to fix it and we can't. Also, it's hard to spend hours!!! in the kitchen cooking foods that she can actually eat. 

Lastly, that we can all see that God is still good (especially so) in hard times. 

Thanks! 

Love, 

Deidre 

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What we're up to

We had a great time at the beach for Bo's soccer tournament. I'm so proud of him...He is really developing into a great soccer player! Plus he's such a nice kid.

We got to spend 1 day at the beach but apparently that was plenty because we all came back sunburned! 

Ebbie was sick much of the time but she has the best attitude. We are now on the super strict diet. Please pray we find the cause of her stomach issues and can avoid more complex treatments.  

We came back to some high water in our back yard but thankful our house it on a hill!! 

Deidre

Park City

I've prayed since Wednesday that God would just show me the exact cause of Ebbie's allergy. Like Austin said, "I think He answered in a big way". She didn't test positive to a milk allergy but since since milk is an inflammatory food we have just been trying to avoid it in large doses. After the last test results the plan was to avoid all dairy when we got back to Jackson. So since we're on vacation I let her have a bowl of ice cream at dinner last night. Needless to say....she's been throwing up for the past 9 hours! 

All yesterday she just kept saying "I like to go fast!" So I hate that she can't go out today. Praying she feels better this afternoon! We'll definitely need prayers over the next few months while we avoid all dairy....it's going to be hard!! 

Love y'all! 

Deidre 

Test 2/15/16

So...we're finished up and headed home. Dr said her colon looks good. She did biopsies just to be absolutely sure but she didn't see anything. Thankful for this small positive!

The not so great news is that she has new white patches in her esophagus and stomach. (To quote Ebbie "this makes me kind of sad"). Best case is that it's a yeast infection from the steroids she took to clear the eosinophils. If so, she will take an anti-fungal and we'll keep on the diet we're on.

Worst case is the eosinophils are back :(
If that's the case then we'll have to take out those top 6 allergens on top of the foods we've already eliminated. She mentioned the elemental diet and a supplemental diet but I can't think about what's the best thing right now. We just need to take it one day at a time....just wait to see what the biopsy shows and make a decision about diets and whether or not to go to Boston Children's Hospital.

As always we appreciate your prayers. I'm so thankful for Ebbie's kind spirit and bravery! 

Deidre 

So Proud!

Bo won the JA Geography Bee today! He is the first 4th grader to ever win while competing against 8th graders.
After he got the first question correct we could see his confidence begin to grow...
Best birthday present I could have gotten!!

All his 4th grade classmates cheered and yelled for him when he won! So much fun!

Good news

Praise the Lord! We got great news on Ebbie today...see picture below!

Also, we're trying to work out a deal on selling our house. It's been under contract for a while but the family who wants to buy ours is having a hard time selling theirs. They got an offer on theirs today but it was a lot lower than their asking price. Please pray it will work out so that they can purchase ours and we can move into our new home without the burden of a second mortgage. I've always felt like God was going to work this out for us so hopefully this is the right time...if not, prayers and hope continue!