Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Soaking in Seattle

I was going to put as the title, "As the Stomach Turns," but thought maybe that might offend Annie. Anyway--here's the latest:

The docs have investigated every possible reason they can think of that could be causing Annie's chronic gastrointestinal issues, and have tested for a lot of them. So far, no smoking gun. Meanwhile, she had a good day today, tolerated all of her meals, and if things keep going like this, we'll probably come home again tomorrow evening. There are a couple of tests that they'll run tomorrow, and maybe a few in the future just to make sure no stones are unturned, but so far, nothing has been clearly the culprit for her problems.

The thing of it is, there are at least three things that could be causing her stomach upset: her Addison's medicine dosing, her seizure medicine, and/or some weird stomach structural anomaly. But just to repeat myself, nothing is obviously the problem and all of the above may be contributing to it.

The plan for controlling the seizures is still to go up on one med and down on another as soon as possible. Her seizure medicines can't really be fiddled with at this point until we exhaust this new med.

So what I'm telling you is nothing new is known. We are treading water, and continuing to pray. My friend, Rebecca, gave me the book by John Ortberg, "Love Beyond Reason: Moving God's Love from Your Head to Your Heart," and in it, he describes how God often leads us through life in the "roundabout" way--not in a straight path from Egypt to the Promised Land, but by spending a lot of time in the Wilderness, teaching us to trust Him. This year has been like that, and this week, too. God knows what He's doing, and I have to be quiet and trust Him. I can feel your prayers.

Jean


Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

5 comments:

Gretchen said...

Lord, it absolutely kills me sometimes that You are the only omniscient one. I WANT to see. I WANT to know. But in Your infinite wisdom, you give me only what I need to know for my story, a day at a time. I cannot imagine my impatience if I were in the same situation as Jean. I'd be so incredulous and angry at the fact that there are no answers. Yet, You are the answer. You are the God I love and trust; there is no other. No test result or answer besides that is important. I'm starting to get that. Starting to. Forgive my slow learning curve. I want to shake my fists and stomp my feet because I want Annie home and fully restored. I'm tired of the wilderness on behalf of my friend Jean and her family. I'm sick of hearing that a little 4 year old has to have tests and isn't outside jumping in the puddles. Yet, I realize that each of these sentences has begun with "I". You never have been about what I want. You're the marvelous creator and the beginning and end of the universe. Forgive me my impudence. You know the desire of my heart: a miracle healing of this baby girl, and a return to normalcy for her family. But...You also know Annie's story. You are the author of her life. You love her more than I can even imagine. So...for today...in my little way, I'll be quiet and trust You. Please give me faith to do this, Father. And, thank You that Your mercies are new each day. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Anonymous said...

I agree with Gretchen. We all have to trust in God. I know I am!!! I am not going to stop praying for Annie till I hear her talk. God please give the rest of the Sullivan family strength, wisdom and hope. For Jean and Bill give them faith and courage to keep on truckin. Amen GOD IS AWESOME!!!!! :) Love, Lynn

Jean Sullivan said...

Thanks for your prayers & encouraging words! You guys lift me up.

:)Jean

Anonymous said...

There are tears in my eyes on behalf of you...and with the prayers above..even the foreign one I couldn't read. God's spirit hears and is moving with prayers, Jean and Bill. I hope that you are feeling - really feeling - embraced.
love,
Beth