Catch Up...

Look at H FEEDING herself banana!

Go H!

Dessert time= Banana time!  Lots of potassium= lots of good sleep!

Diva girls swinging... M has her baby doll and H has her raisins.  I tell ya, H is ALWAYS eating... these intestinal parasites are taking a toll on my grocery bill!

The kids and Great Grandma Carol...96 years!

Notice H's face.  Notice how M just had to snuggle up to H.  She is trying to get H to hold her.  

Great Grandma cried when we left and told me how beautiful my children are and how proud of me she is for doing what most people would never do.  She informed me that a lot of people will give me a hard time for having a "well different" family!  She and JR REALLY have a sweet thing for each other!

The best we could do for a kiddo photo at Disneyland.  Oh and BTW, Winnie the Pooh is an obsession in my house.  Yes, I do have "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (or "PoohPooh" as it is in my house) memorized, and so does C.  We have a Winnie the Pooh doll and an Eyore doll that are slept with every night... I have to rotate them around 4 kids.

Kissin' Cousins...

My sweet cousin's sweet little girl!  Talk about Ebony and Ivory!  

I have a ton more pics to post but I'll give you a chance to mull over these!

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Well we received the results from H's MRI of the spine and neck.  And, well, she will be scheduled for, YET ANOTHER, MRI as soon as our insurance approves it.  

The results were a bit vague.  I couldn't understand the results so I just assumed everything was  normal because the final sentence said, "conclusively no spinal abnormalities."

Then, we met with the doctor who explained all the jargon.  According to the radiologist, who read the films and wrote the report (but didn't bother, obviously, to read the background on H) found and area that looked like excessive pooling cerebral spinal fluid at the top of the spine. However, he "dismissed it as artifact as the patient was not sedated".  "Artifact" apparently is a technical word meaning either that H moved and caused a blur, or the scan picked up something else under H like an oreo, or clothespin.  Ummmm, I watched them put H to sleep, and not only was she fully sedated, she was braced as well, not to mention the fact that I don't allow her to eat oreos and we don't use clothespins anymore.  So, back to square three and onto the 4th MRI.  I tell you, if they cannot get their act together, H's spine will end up being fried. 

Anyway, the doctor said if in fact the "artifact" is actually pooling CSF, we will need to take action fairly quickly.  Action being figuring out why there is pooling CSF, where it's coming from and if it is shuntable (poetic license).  H's physical behaviors would make more sense if there is pooling CSF pushing up against her nerves and possibly basal ganglia.    So, we'll see. Guess who is calling the doctor EVERYDAY and leaving messages?  Yep, it's me.  

I'll let you know if I find out anything!  Until then, would you please remember us in your prayers.  We are asking the Lord for a conclusive and accurate diagnosis.  We are also asking for complete healing.  Above all, we are asking that the Lord will make Himself most glorified in and through our family and our sweet H.

Some Praises

After my Oh so pitiful previous post, I want to share some major GOD things.

M woke up writhing at 11:30 pm last night.  I got up and put her on the potty, she peed and was still screaming, no idea why.  So I laid hands on her and prayed aloud, in C's fashion, "Lord move this sickness, whatever is paining her, from her body and give her peace throughout the night."  M fell to sleep, almost immediately (a bit concerning, actually) and woke up at 7am.  What a blessing.  H fell asleep at 9pm after returning from the airport, and didn't wake up until 6:45 am... praise the Lord

M didn't wet the bed... she slept in panties.  And she's only had one accident

There may be a way to see Scott early.  If it happens, it'll only be God.  Scott sent me a letter allowing me to fly on a military hop to destination unknown... with all four kids.  Sounds great, huh?  Well, there are a few catches:  It's space A (stand by) and they only know where the flights are headed a week in advance.  So, we are praying that there will be flights in about 2 weeks and that we will be able to get on!

Catch number 2:  There are only a handful of flights that come home.  We are praying that we will be able to make a complete round trip and bring home someone special with us.  So, we are asking that the Lord will not allow us to get on a flight leaving here unless He will provide a flight returning home!

This would be an amazing blessing if we could see Scott a whole XX days earlier than expected and in a wonderful destination unknown.  It would be a great place reunite and recuperate. 

Our plumbers found us a soaking tub at no additional charge.  And, they both are very interesting in adoption after spending 4 days with us!  In fact, one of them gave me his wife's number and said she would LOVE to talk to me!

Our final bill for the plumbing is about $4,000 less than we thought it would be... we still have to put the floor and walls back together though!

Kids are trying to "help" me clean up after the tornado hit... not a literal tornado!

H's MRI on the spine was approved by insurance and they scheduled her for tomorrow.  I am a bit apprehensive but trusting the Lord for conclusive results.

I ADORE my kiddos!

Well, I am off to home depot to find some bathroom tile.  Yay!

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Not Destroyed...

I realize it's been a while since last I updated.

Here's the past 10 days in a nutshell:

• Both girls have had croup
  
• My Mommy comes from Europe to hang out with us
  
• My poor Mom breaks her arm PLAYING WITH MY KIDS!!!
  
• "Drop her off" at the ER at 6:30 pm and wait for 6 hours... the next morning she arrives via taxi cab (not my choice, just shows her selflessness)
  
• Lots of pain for my mom
  
• Drs. appts DAILY for kiddos
  
• Head north to see great grandmas, cousins and uncles
  
• Disneyland (My mom is a true CHAMPION... while in extreme pain she endured the "Happiest Place on Earth")
  
• Home
  
• Scott's car repaired.
  
• I get sick (first time since Scott left) 102 Fever
  
• Girls not sleeping through the night anymore
  
• Medical bills
  
• Plumbing nightmare and sewage shows up in both bathrooms
  
• Major emergency plumbing... busting into foundation, etc
  
• (When the plumber told me we had a cracked pipe under the foundation I asked him if he had a spare crack pipe I could borrow to alleviate the stress... he said he left his all at home!)
  
• $XXXX more than our emergency fund and 3 days of plumbing work and they're still here finding new things wrong.
  
• Our newly remodeled bathroom (that I literally finished painting 2 weeks ago) is now half empty... at least we get a new bathtub.
  
• Trip to visit Scott doesn't seem to fit into the realm of possibility at this point as our money is going down the drain.
  
• Still sick, rundown, exhausted, confused and spent.
  
• We are being audited by our friendly neighborhood IRS...wooohooo!
  
• Oh, and lest I forget... I am on day 3 of the 8-day cleanse and though I have not had any caffeine w/drawl symptoms, I realize I am addicted to coffee... some would hit the bottle, or the pills during these times but I am craving the BEAN... what a silly week to give up coffee for an awful CLEANSE.  My body may be ridding itself of toxins but my mood without coffee is potently noxious... sad, I know. 

I feel destroyed, BUT, I am not destroyed.  After dropping my mom off at the airport, I had the chance to delve into the WORD.  I looked up almost every passage with the word "hardship" in it and I realized that I am soooo not even struck down.   Boy does 2 Corinthians 4 put things in perspective.  There is never any promise of health and wealth to those who follow after Christ only a promise of faithfulness, companionship, joy in the trials, comfort, HEAVEN, relationship with God our Father and peace, peace, peace.  So tonight I go to bed trusting the faithfulness of my closest Friend, my Savior, my Father, my Lord's plan and provision, with joyful memories of my mom's stay here, joy in the sleeping smiles on the faces of my children, peace seeing with the eternal perspective, peace that surpasses all understanding, peaceful assurance in the very word of God, peaceful psalms in my heart and mind, peace, true peace.

I still miss my husband like crazy, I already miss my mom, praying like crazy the girls will start sleeping through the night again, I am choosing not to think about finances between the hours of 6 pm and 9 am, and I am praising the Lord for the strength He will give me to make it through each day!

So, that's the latest from our family!

Oh, and H can say, "I love you" and M is on her way to being fully potty trained... although we can't find panties small enough for her little 20 pound body...had to order some online that might work!!!

PS:  I know I am slacking off on returning phone calls and messages and I'll probably continue to for a few more days...sorry!

A little more...

H and M went to the clinic yesterday. They met with an MD and an ND in the same room at the same time. Both girlies had biofeedback and both girlies' results confirmed many suspicions I had.

Some important highlights for H: The results showed 8 types of parasites including giardia, roundworms and tapeworms. H is also allergic to dairy, which I suspected from the day we picked her up. Her nanny had told us that she always had running stomach after drinking her formula (which is dairy based). We took her off her formula on day 1 and she stopped writhing through the night on about day 5. The other night I gave her some of the boys' "ice-cream" which had raw milk in it and she was very gassy during the night.

H also showed high level of Lyme Disease, mercury, lead and tin. Our pediatrician and the department of public health called last night to inform us that H has "multiple concerning parasites"... she will not be able to go back to school anytime soon. I mentioned to our Doc that H had this testing done and that we want to start treating her Lyme disease.

This was the response from our pediatrician:

"Aha, ha, ha... Well, Mrs. McK, I can see you're trying to go after this with great conviction, and I applaud your effort in trying to get to the bottom of this big thing. But why don't you take a step back just focus the giardia for now? I just can't believe her MRI came back normal. I have looked over that scan so many times-- there has to be something we're missing. I'm not even sure you need to have the spinal MRI. H's neck is so weak and her head seems so heavy on her body. In my opinion she has very typical CP. I just don't want you to get your hopes up that you're going to find something. I also want to spare your time, since you do have 4 children, so that you are not running after non-medical whims, like Lyme Disease.
Have you thought about joining some type of support group that will help you come to terms with your daughter's CP?"

Scott beeped in on the other line leaving me no time to respond, which was providential. I will not bother to put all my non-edifying thoughts on this conversation into words as it will only make me upset, and you can read my previous post, which is a fair summary. I guess I expected our pediatrician to be a little more interested in finding out what is really going on. I guess I just assumed we were on the same page... if her symptoms are not caused by what was thought, we should find out what is causing them so that we can treat the cause and not just the symptoms. Does this mean I am not coming to terms with her CP? We were told, "it doesn't appear to be CP."

So, that's where we're at. Dr. Chambers from the CP clinic called yesterday to see if we have scheduled the MRI. We are still awaiting approval from insurance. He, on the other hand, seems almost sure we will find something in the spine.

In the mean time, we are moving along with life. H started school this week and LOVED it. She did not shed one tear the entire day (from 9 am to noon... only 2 days/ week)... I, on the other hand sobbed and then fell ill all morning missing her. She made a good friend, named Justin and she says his name about 3 times/ day! H already knew her teacher, Miss Elizabeth, as she had come to our house 2 days/ week to teach her at home!

H's recent milestones:
pushing herself up to a sitting position
5 new words
using right hand during play
clapping
taking off and putting on a hat
taking off and putting on sunglasses

She is AMAZING, so smart and sooooo determined.

M is AMAZING too, so smart too and sooooo verbal and polite. Her favorite things are reading books (but not coloring books) and "makas" (marker-- books and markers don't go together very well) or watching DaddyVDO. She also talks like JR and C. She says "pop-CYCLE peas", b-water and other fun things... she also has their accent!

The boys are missing daddy more than ever before. C has questioned my integrity a few times. He's not sure he believes S is coming home. These boys are BOYS and it's so fun. More on them later!!!

Here are some pics of my little girl. Oh man, is she gorgeous or what?
Notice how determined she is... she's so fiesty too!
Striking, isn't she???

This is H's first day of school. The two women in the pics are her teachers. She's in a SPED program for infants- preschool. I love her teachers and her classroom!