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Our Great God!
24 hours ago, I wouldn’t believe where we’d be just a short time later!!
Who is like our God?
“Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor and comfort me once again“
Psalm 71:20
We have felt the comfort of the Lord in such tangible ways!! He has acted mightily on Evie’s behalf yet again, and the prayers of so many have carried and encouraged us!
Are you ready for this….?
EVIE IS HOME!!!
Since my last post, we have seen nothing short of a miraculous turn around! Evie had a restful night (after such a crappy and painful day!) and woke the next morning with a little sparkle in her eyes that we haven’t seen in a long time.
Anyone who has seen “Frozen” will get a giggle from this…we got her propped up in bed sipping on some juice and in a little raspy voice, she started trying to sing:
“For the first time in forever, I don’t feel any pain!”
Music to our ears for sure!
Doctor approved a liquid diet which she tolerated fine all day with no bouts of vomiting and nausea. We got her up, pushing her IV pole around, (amazing when she couldn’t even sit the day before!) and even left the ward for a slow loop around the hospital. As she was taking huge strides and improving, the doctors began talking about perhaps switching all her meds to oral instead of IV and releasing her the next day if the trend continued. But then, when she blew her IV mid afternoon, we took that as a little prompt that she was ready! Rather than inserting a new line, the doctors OK’d her discharge!!
We didn’t tell the kids back home, but we rolled up in a taxi and got to surprise Izzy just in time for her birthday dinner! My sweet friend Cecilia got a cake for our girl, a weight off my guilt-ridden mommy shoulders!! Thank you friend!
Evie is moving a little slow, is on a soft diet, we are administering 14 doses of medicine round-the-clock, and doctors expect it to take a full 2 weeks to completely heal, but we are so grateful to be home where she is surrounded by those who love her and can continue healing and get the rest she needs. Man, hospitals are not the place to rest!!
Can we ask you to keep the prayers coming just a little longer?…
We returned to the hospital 16 hours after being discharged to have Eden checked by our pediatrician after a fitful, sleepless first night back at home. We found out he has bronchitis and possibly RSV. Figures I guess, after a week in the hospital. There is no way to “baby proof” a hospital room and there were so many germs he came in contact with! The flu is also running through our family with crummy tummies and fevers going round. We are all pretty exhausted and run down and need to heal and recover! Thank you for continuing to lift us up and pray for full recoveries and for sleep! We have precious friends who have brought in some meals which we are incredibly grateful for! And the emails and prayers from so many have blessed us immensely!
Gigi was singing “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do” yesterday at the dinner table.
Amen to that!!
“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”
Psalm 73:26
‘Aint No Sunshine When She’s Gone
Nearly 10 years later, and this child is still baffling doctors and giving her parents grey hair! We’ve been in the hospital for a week now with a pretty sick girl who has largely left doctors mystified as to the source of her pain. We were admitted for suspected appendicitis – chronic lower right abdominal pain. But, as the days an symptoms have unfolded, batteries of tests have been administered and specialists have been consulted, they’ve identified other culprits as factors in her pain. It wasn’t until day 5 that they found growth of not one, not two, but THREE different strains of E.coli bacteria in her system! Additionally, a partial intestinal blockage is believed to be trapping feces and retaining infection in her body and causing inflammation. Her pain has ranged from moderate/constant, to fever pitch acute pain. But in a week now, she hasn’t had a moment pain-free!
We thought we were on the right course treating with a cocktail of mega doses of broad spectrum antibiotics, anti-parasitic meds, anti-inflammatories, probiotics and laxatives. We’d even begun to discuss with the doctor the possibility of moving to oral meds and going home if she improved enough.
Then Sunday night she nose-dived! A new symptom of nearly incessant vomiting throughout the night and into the morning left her absolutely wrecked with pain. Doctors became concerned this might be evidence of a complete intestinal block requiring emergency surgery and began prepping her for yet another CT scan (we’ve had mega doses of radiation CT’s/X-rays and ultrasounds this week!!). The anti-nausea meds couldn’t touch it and she was dry heaving for hours! For a child already suffering from stomach pain, this was agonizing!
The culmination of pain, stomach spasms, depletion from not eating for days and exhaustion from not sleeping sent Evie into (what we now believe was) a full blown anxiety/panic attack – but at the moment, no one knew what was going on. She very quickly became disoriented and couldn’t communicate clearly. Was just panting “Mommy, I can’t breathe….do something….Im scared….help me“. The nurses began swarming into the room taking vitals and trying to assess what was going on. But she couldn’t communicate. Gasping, hyperventilating, eyes darting around the room, cold shaky extremities, writhing in pain, tears streaming down her face….it was agonizing to watch and traumatically, all Evies sisters were in the room for the episode! Its amazing how quickly your mind can go to a dark place. I was flooded with memories of another hospital room with nurses frantically trying to gage what was going on! Sometimes “God be near” is the all you can breathe as you look into the eyes of your suffering child!
Evie was put on oxygen and sedated. Sad to watch, but honestly the best thing for her. She’s languishing and just needed SLEEP! The rest of the day, she seemed to decline with no energy to even stand. Even after sleeping off the sedation, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Then being asked to drink a liter of contrast fluid before the CT was awful after nothing on her tummy for days and 16 hours of vomiting.
CT last night ruled out some of our biggest fears leading doctors to continue the current course of treatment….addressing the infection, controlling the nausea, and giving her time to heal. The thought is that the infection triggered Irritable Bowel Syndrome and that colitis may have left ulcers which are not going to feel better immediately even if the infection is gone. They are talking about this healing process taking weeks!
We are weary. C was out of the country most of this week and Abi has just left for a month. Evie’s spirits are down from just sheer exhaustion and being confined to a depressing hospital room. Mommy guilt plagues me at times with the children at home being neglected – especially today on Izzy’s 11th birthday!! Ive been home a total of 3 hours in the past week. Thankful that the hospital is walking distance from our home so they can visit often! Spending time yet again in Psalm 139 – Evie’s verse! He knows the intricacies of her frame and has ordered her days and cares even more for her than I do!
~ Pray specifically that we can get out of the hospital soon! We need marked improvement before we can switch to oral meds and take our girl home to heal. As Eden and I (mommy) have been her constant companions, we’ve come down with a nasty hospital bug and have crummy tummies too (no not the same as Evie – but just generally miserable!)
~ Pray for wisdom for doctors if there is anything we are missing. They hope to see a gradual trend toward less pain. If not, the next thing they will do is a colonoscopy and have even talked about exploratory surgery which we are very uncomfortable doing here in Thailand!
The Great Kebab Factory Review
After frequenting The Great Kebab Factory on a number of occasions in India, my husband was thrilled when he discovered the franchise had opened a location in Bangkok. With great expectations, we visited this week hoping it would live up to its reputation.
We were not disappointed!!
There are few cuisines so bold in flavor as Indian food and we anticipated authenticity that we have grown to love from our many visits to India. The blessed difference dining here is you are not bombarded by the crowds, noises, smells and blaring traffic horns of India, but are able to enjoy the rich flavors and regional favorites in the comfort of a high-end dining experience. Located inside the Majestic Grand Hotel just off the BTS on Sukhumvit Soi 2, The Great Kebab Factory welcomes you with authentic decor and live entertainment and a set menu of unlimited servings!
The uniqueness of The Great Kebab Factory hinges on the ever-changing menu. With a selection of hundreds of dishes and kebabs, the variety changes from night to night, begging the connoisseur to return time and time again to taste the rich variety from which they craft a new serving selection each evening! While veg options are available, our party opted for the non-veg menu and ate like kings!
You begin your dining experience with Kebabs. Similar to the concept of a “Brazilian steak house” you are served a variety of portions of meat which are prepared and brought to your table. The legendary Galouti lamb is a patty of seasoned lamb meat minced and served over roti. An ornate large copper pot displaying Rampuri Murgh Tikka Chicken coarsely coated with coriander and crushed chilis was my personal favorite and we all ordered second helpings of the Tali Machhi deep fried fish with was melt-in-your-mouth tender! Generous portions of kebabs are offered and you are encouraged to request more of your favorites.
Eat to your hearts content and then when you can take no more, the “main” course starts….
Waiters plate up Gosht Biryani (lamb and basmati rice), Murgh Pasanda (chicken curry), yellow dal and black lentils, and order after order of piping hot butter and garlic naan are brought to your table. While I typically am not one for “spicy” food, The Great Kebab Factory perfectly tempered the aromatic spices and our variety of tolerance. Each member of our party ate their fill (and then some) and found the delicious flavors impossible to resist!
Hot milk tea and light desserts and ice cream are then served with pomp and circumstance presented over dry ice for a visually appealing treat.
The Great Kebab Factory also offers a week day lunch set menu at a reasonable price for business lunches and corporate gatherings.
The dinner menu we enjoyed is a set price of 950++ per person.
Good drink list and live music make this an optimal gathering place for larger parties or dinner out with friends as the dining experience encourages you to linger, enjoy and taste and try new things!
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