It's been awhile!

Well, it has been 6 months since my last blog post, and YES, things with Ethan's health are still great. He is settling in nicely to Gr.6 and Adam is in Gr. 8 this year. I would say we are definitely in the years of change, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. Watching my oldest enter into his teen years has brought me back to what I felt like at his age, and one very important decision that helped define and guide me during those crazy teenage years. I thought I would share it with you as I have now with my Sons.

 I remember so well being challenged by my youth pastor at the age of 12 to make the decision NOW for what I was and wasn't going to do when I was a teenager. That way I wouldn't be tempted or caught off guard when the time came. From as far back as I can remember, I have always felt strongly about what was right and wrong, black and white, with not much room for grey. I was never really tempted to go beyond my parent's boundaries. My Mom tells me that when I was 2, I used to go outside our house and walk around the house and come back in, never venturing much farther on my own. Now I was far from a perfect teenager but I did not struggle with the traditional rebellion that some teenagers go thru with their parents. I think the biggest reason why is that I had committed myself early on in my teen years to Christ and I knew that those choices would not be good for me or my relationship with Jesus. Having an older brother who pushed the boundaries and seeing the pain it caused also made me realize, rebelling was not the choice I wanted to make.

I remember the teen years with some good and not so good memories. I was never one of the most popular kids and in my Grade 7 year was labelled a Jesus Freak and bullied mercilessly for my Christian beliefs. It was in that year that I grew in my faith far beyond what I could have ever imagined. Persecution does that to people!!! You see, every day that I went to School, I had to come prepared for battle, because there was a new student in our class who on the first day he arrived came around to every student in the class and asked if they were a Christian or not?  He started at the far end of the classroom and went down the aisle one by one and every single person was terrified. He threatened that if we answered yes to being a Christian, he would make our lives a living Hell. Every single student said NO, even the ones that I knew were Christians. From where he started I knew that I would be the very last person to answer. What would I do and say? I knew that I had only one answer, I could not deny my love for Jesus and that I was in fact a follower of Christ, no matter the cost. I knew there would be a cost, but how high a cost, I didn't really know. I lost pretty much all of my friends as no one wanted to be associated with me lest they receive the wrath of this young man. He claims that he was follower of Satan, and so every single day he would come to School taunting me with what he believed and challenging me to know the answers to defend mine. Every night I would read my Bible and highlight the verses and memorize scripture in order to be ready for the next day. It was not my favourite year to say the least, it was incredibly lonely, but God was faithful, and he always protected me from him physically, he did try to sacrifice two boys to Satan by setting them on fire in the boys washroom. Which finally led to his expulsion from School!!! He is a very troubled young man, to this day and continues to make his name known in the newspaper and has been in jail for attempted murder among other serious offenses.

So coming from this experience as a young person to now seeing my sons enter this crucial age of testing boundaries, finding out about life and what you believe and don't. I am praying hard that my boys will have the strength and courage to also stand up for what they believe in. Even if that means they have to stand alone. It can be done, I survived and lived to tell about it :) I have been told by parents who have already gone thru these years that Prayer is an important part, and I have been specifically told to get down on my knees and pray. Which typically I lie down to pray but then end up falling asleep so maybe I should try this? 

Ephesian 6:10-18 is one of the verses I highlighted in my Bible many years ago and became a great source of strength. Praying the same for the next generation.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up your shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the saints.

Spring

Spring is finally upon upon us and I am so looking forward to the warmer weather and sunshine. The sun is so good for my soul... It is also good for my headaches, we spent 2 weeks in Maui over Spring Break and I cannot believe that I did not have one single migraine or headache while we were there. I packed all of my medications expecting to finish it by the time we got home and was amazed that I was able to bring it all home again.

 Those who don't suffer with headaches, can't fully understand the amount of pain and suffering it causes. It truly was a miracle and utter joy to enjoy every single day with my family without pain. The migraines/ headaches returned with a vengeance when we arrived back home and I must confess it is very draining. The boys have also fallen in love with Hawaii and we all shed a tear as the plane was taking off, leading us away from paradise. It's hard being back at home and I have to figure out if it is the vacation that causes my headaches to cease, being relaxed? Or is it the weather, clean air and sunshine?

 Hard to know...

Ethan is doing very well, he has now finished all of his ulcer medication and his stomach pains have ceased. It was amazing to see that by day 3 on his medication his appetite returned and his stomach pain stopped. His doctor said all of his tests for celiac, diabetes, kidney issues etc, were all negative. Which we are very happy about. We are coming up on the 3 year anniversary of NO medications! YAHOO!!!!

We are in the wait and see phase right now, the doctor said if the pain comes back, Ethan can take a pill to reduce the stomach acid which causes the ulcers. Hopefully he won't need to go back on the medication. 

Here are a few photos of our trip to Maui, hope you enjoy them! 

Results

Last thursday Ethan and I spent a lot of time with our family doctor. I was very impressed with how thorough he was with Ethan. Going over him from top to bottom and after reviewing his symptoms and the tests results that we had done previously. He discovered that Ethan has a stomach ulcer. He did order some more tests just to be sure it is nothing more serious, like Colitis or Celiac disease. Thankfully, all of his kidney and blood tests were great, and nothing showed in that regard.

The treatment for his stomach ulcer is a medication that he took every day for 8 years while he was on prendisone. As prednisone is very hard on the stomach it was used to prevent ulcers. Ethan is to take this medicine every day, twice a day for the next 3 weeks. We are already seeing a great improvement and his appetite is coming back. We did realize that he has to avoid tomatoes and anything acidic, he had mild salsa on the weekend and was in agony three hours later. Ethan got so used to taking awful tasting medicine that he did it without even blinking. Now that it has been a few years, he gags as he chokes it down. I have to laugh at the faces he makes....

As to why he is having an ulcer, well, we have known for a few months now that some issues were going on in his class that were causing him stress. After talking to the doctor and Jeff, we have decided to talk to the principal about everything because the doctor said he believes it is related to School after his chat with Ethan. We have talked to the teacher numerous times and have gotten nowhere. So pray for us tomorrow at 4p.m. as we meet with the principal. My heart breaks for Ethan as he is going through this, and it also brings back memories for me. I got my first stomach ulcer when I was also 10 and spent much of my teens going back and forth to various doctors and tests for both my ulcers and my headaches. I pray that Ethan does not have to face the same. We are so grateful that his kidneys are still doing well, and now we are looking forward to Spring Break in a week!!!

Tests

An update on my earlier post...I decided to take Ethan to see our family doctor after school yesterday. Upon hearing his symptoms he agreed that some blood and urine tests needed to be done. Just to make sure that nothing is going on with his kidney's that we can't yet see.  

As we headed to the lab for blood work, I asked Ethan if he was okay, as blood tests are not his favourite thing. It sure brought us back to 3 years ago, when Ethan was preparing to start 12 weeks of the chemotherapy drug. We were at the lab for blood work every week, so we were very excited to see our favourite nurse from years ago assigned to take Ethan's blood. She didn't remember him, but could tell from his large medical file that he used to be a regular!

Ethan did a great job handling the blood tests and after leaving a urine sample for them, we were on our way home. We will find out the tests results next Thursday afternoon. Hopefully there is nothing major to worry about, but I will let you know what we find out next week, until then, here is a picture that I found that I keep looking at to remind me to relax while we once again wait!

Happy Valentines Day

I woke up to the best Valentines day surprise... Jeff had tied Valentines balloons all over the house for me. Here are some pictures. Wishing you all a wonderful Valentines Day.

The reason behind the Song

Yesterday I posted a song that a friend posted on Facebook. It was perfect timing for me to hear this particular song, as I have been struggling again with fear.

You see, Ethan has been getting sick a lot lately, and even though this has not produced any protein. I have been finding my fears of him relapsing coming out in my dreams at night. They seem so real that when I wake, I can't wait to examine Ethan's face for any sign of puffiness.

Ethan has been complaining of stomach aches as well and looks rather pale and tired, he says he is not sleeping well at night either. He also has had a big reduction in his appetite. He never was a big eater to start with but his lack of desire to eat is concerning me. We have recently realized that some of his physical complaints are related to what is going on at School.  Hopefully we are getting to the bottom of these issues and things can return to normal for him.

The signs and things Ethan was telling me was sounding all too familiar. Without realizing it, I quickly began to move to that place of fear and anxiety. So when I heard this song, it was a perfect fit for me and as I cried and let the words wash over me. I began to feel comforted that even if the storms rage and we must battle thru this again, that God will take my hand.

Please keep Ethan in your prayers as he works through some of these issues as well. It affects him more than we realize, and when we come in contact with a sick person, because we have had to be so
cautious in the past. It can trigger a lot of anxiety and fears not only for him but for us as well.

Lindsay Mccaul, Take My Hand, Lyrics..

Snow ☃

This past week we had a few storms, and with it they brought lot's of snow. So much snow, wind and ice, that School was cancelled 3 times this week. Here are some shots I took of the beautiful white snow. I hope you enjoy them.