It's been a long week...

Well, I have made it through! I was beginning to wonder when after the fourth day post-surgery, I still felt like my face had been run over by a truck. It was not fun, to say the least. But now I am in a happy place where my nose is only tender to the touch vs. being in constant pain. I am anxiously awaiting the benefits of the surgery—I am still swollen and congested on the inside, so my breathing isn’t a whole lot better. However, I can now gently blow my nose, which feels wonderful, and I have even noticed my ear congestion clearing up because of it. (:

I’m sure you wanted to know all of that…

We had many doctor appointments this past week. We had FOUR on Thursday. One of them was an ECHO for Jesi—ordered by her geneticist. She was so cute during the whole thing and loved that they sent her home with a pink, polka-dotted, homemade blanket. So all of you out there that donate things to the hospital—they REALLY are appreciated!!! It made the whole thing so much easier on her!! We are still awaiting the results.

Graci had her stress test and did alright. I had a sobering talk with the cardiologist afterward. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Afterwards, she had her appointment with a neurosurgeon. A couple of months ago we had her go to an orthopedist because of her pigeon-toedness. They did an MRI on her back, which revealed cervical stenosis. This is why we were sent to the neurosurgeon. Well, as it turns out, the cervical stenosis is the least of our worries. She has scoliosis of the spine that is quite pronounced. Also, her spinal cord is being tethered down by some strange substance. It has been stretched down like taffy and ends much lower than it should. The neurosurgeon said it was really quite bizarre and found himself fascinated with it. This is the probable cause of her feet turning in, her toes curling inward, her awkward gait, etc. It can also cause other problems, and the neurosurgeon (the best in the state) wanted to do surgery to repair it. However, after further discussion about the seriousness of her heart issues, he and I decided to hold off, at least for the time being. If it begins causing her a lot of pain or loss of sensation, we will re-evaluate.

We are so thankful for the continued support and love we are getting from church friends, neighbors, and family. Thanks so very much for the help with kids and meals and mostly for your prayers. We love you!

Tonight we were doing our nightly scripture study. Sometimes we act out a scripture story, being as how we have an entire drama troupe here. (: After totally mutilating the story of Queen Esther (our king was doing disco, his servants were giggling nonstop, Mordecai was half asleep on the bed, etc) Jer bore his testimony about how we need to have faith in the Lord when He asks us to do hard things. I looked over at our Queen Esther, in her pajamas and wearing her oxygen, and was amazed at her beauty and grace in the midst of her trials. She certainly has enough faith to be healed, but I tend to think that the Lord is testing our family to see how we deal with her health issues—if we turn to Him, trust Him, and believe that He has a plan for her.

We know He does.

--Christianne

PS. This is Jeremy. When I tucked Graci in to bed tonight, she spontaneously kissed me on the cheek. You don't have any idea what a huge deal that is. Our relationship continues to grow:)