Please God, not Africa!

Last week we were all over the map with Kylie's blood work.  We were at the hospital on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week and Monday and Tuesday of this week. On Friday we had an appointment with our Infectious Disease doc to see if we could figure out her blood work issues and  get the MRI results. The blood work fiasco was a bit of mystery but turns out that it's been solved.  You'll never believe this but the whole issue with her blood levels had to do with the time change.  Strange, but true.  So at least it's not something weird and wild going on in her foot. The MRI results were good news and we are so thankful for that!  Kylie's area of infection inside the bone has certainly shrunk, meaning that there is bone regeneration happening in there.  Praise the Lord. However, it's not solid bone.  There's still a little patch of infection livin' it up in there, so the plan is what the plan has always been.  She stays o...

Last week Kylie had another round of blood work done and while we were on our way to pick up Nate from the hospital we got a call from the doc that said the results weren't so good.  Too low. The whole point of all this blood work is to measure three things:  the level of meds in her system, and two tests called a CRP and an ESR that measure inflammation in her body.  For the most part, her CRP and ESR have been great - it's the med levels that have been all over the map. And like I've mentionted before, the goal is 11.  That's what we're aiming for. If the meds are too low, there's not enough antibiotic in her system to kill the bad bugs.  If there's too much, there's a change we'll fry her kidneys and cause damage. So on Monday, Nate took her in to the hospital to have the repeat blood work done.  When Kylie came home from having it done, she told me that she thought that we had messed up on the timing of the blood work.  To get an accurate r...

On Friday night the kids and I went to the airport to pick up Nate.  His flight was a little delayed so we had to wait for a while. Here's some boys with their sign. And after a while, he arrived!!  He's in this bundle of hugs and squeezes somewhere. And here's the gang, together again (Except for me. I'm holding the camera.) THE TRIP The two weeks in Mango was great.  The weather was ridiculously hot.  Picture yourself standing on top of a building, no shade for miles, 110 degrees Fahrenheit, wearing a welding helmet and putting trusses together.  Doesn't it sound like so much fun?? Here's the view from where Nate was standing. And here's the view from the bottom. They got all the trusses up except for two.  Nate said that if he'd had one more day, they would've been all up.   He had a great reunion with the missionaries and with the Togolese guys.  It was a sweet time.  There's still lot...

I've been told I HAVE to update my blog and let you know how things are going.  So this is for YOU, Diane!! Things are going just fine.  Nate has been in Mango for the last 2 weeks and we're looking forward to his return this Friday.  It's been a cold and busy two weeks for us and a hot and busy two weeks for him. When he is away, we don't actually communicate that much.  It just seems easier not to, actually.  He's not really that tech-y, and since he didn't take a computer with him and using his cell phone will cost a pretty penny, we kept our communication to a few little text messages. So all I really know is that he made it safely, that the trusses were going up pretty quickly and he hoped they'd have them all set before he starts the trip south tomorrow, and (I'm quoting directly from one of his texts) "its so hot it's not funny..." The purpose of his trip was to go over and help set the trusses on Phase 3 of the hospital bui...

Today we actually have some news! So exciting. 1.  Kylie just got her latest blood work results back and we are on a roll.  That's three good ones in a row which means that she can start going for blood work every month rather than every other week.  And since it's been so stable, she can have an MRI - yay! 2.  Ethan's leg has been feeling much better since he had a flare up of nasty pain a few weeks ago.  We were able to see the surgeon shortly after that and she ordered an MRI for him as well.  It's a family affair in a skinny, noisy tube! 3. Today we got the call about the MRI's.  Ethan's is on October 19th and Kylie's is October 29th - which is NOT far away, so we were able to get in pretty quickly. 4.  Nate is going back to Togo!  He's booked a two week trip in mid-October so he'll miss both MRI's but will be home in time to get all the results.  The construction of the hospital will be ready for Phase 3 trusses so he's goin...

Eleven it is!  Kylie's blood work today was bang-on!  We are so thankful for this.  This morning after she had the blood drawn, we got a call that the vile had gone to the lab unlabelled and weren't sure they could use it.  But then later we got another call that they found it.  Never a dull moment. Thank you so much for praying!!

Remember when I assumed that no news was good news with K's blood work?? I was wrong. The doc's office called this week to let us know that her numbers were even lower than before - so that's 3 bad blood work results in a row.  Which stinks. They've upped her dose of meds once more and we go for blood work again tomorrow morning. Pray for ELEVEN!