Easter

This Easter was really fun for us and the kids. Doug and I went out on Saturday night to buy the kids their first pet. We came home with a guinea pig and a really large cage that thankfully blends in with the fireplace. See if you can pick it out in the background.

Since we've had so many storms in the last few days they had to go hunting for eggs in the basement. 

So Sweet. Daddy and his little girl.

Our new guinea pig! Bucky!!

Already a part of the family

Jacob's Recovery

We will have our first phone consultation with Dr. Dahlman on Thursday morning to discuss Jacob's blood test results for food allergies. We can't wait to find out what foods he is allergic to. Also, through the additional changes to his diet, probiotics, and the UltraInflamX drink he had his first completely normal poop Thursday. It has been nine months since his last normal bowel movement. Doug was so happy he wanted to take a picture of it. There was definitely a lot of rejoicing in our house and thanking God for leading us down this path of healing.

MRI Results

I got my MRI results back on Wednesday. It showed that my foot has healed a little. Since I only had a phase 1 OCD the doctor feels comfortable starting me with physical therapy. So, next week I will be meeting with my PT and I hope he will have some good ideas about getting my foot to feel better because even though the MRI showed healing I unfortunately don't feel any. However, the other good news is that I get to ween myself off the crutches and I'm very happy about that because I was on crutches for nine weeks.

Dr. Dahlman

Dr. Dahlman has already made a difference with Jacob's IBD. Jacob started having problems again with his IBD at the end of February. By the end of March I was ready to find more answers and from searching on the internet I stumbled across Dr. Dahlman's website. We are in the beginning stages, but we have already seen a drastic improvement. He says that people with IBD/IBS need to be on a gluten free, dairy free, legume free diet. By the way if anyone didn't know this peanuts are considered a legume not a nut, so that means no more peanut butter for Jacob, at least for awhile. Also, dairy free means everything needs to be excluded except for butter and eggs. That means no milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese...you get the picture. Dr. Dahlman's second strategy is using two probiotics (BifoViden and LactoViden) and a powder drink called UltraInflaX 360. In the last three weeks his bowels have returned to normal and he no longer has stinky farts. This is huge. The next step is doing a blood test to find out which foods he is allergic to. Dr. Dahlman says that everyone who has IBD/IBS has a food allergy. After that it is all about being consistent and keeping him on track to restore his chemistry and bacteria. Dr. Dahlman says that IBD is not an untreatable condition and has proven that once someone is done with his program they will be able to eat whatever they want again. Even if that didn't happen, knowing that we don't have to live with diarrhea and embarrasing farts is all I need to make me happy right now.

My Life

To say that things have been easy while Doug's been gone would be a lie. However, it also hasn't been excruciatingly difficult...at least not most of the time. I've been on crutches for eight weeks. I've been in a boot for 12 weeks and Doug has been gone for 14 weeks. My sanity is starting to wear thin, but Doug has his check ride today and will hopefully be home tomorrow night. I feel its been one week overdue for having someone here to help me. I would love to say that all this time in the boot and on crutches has paid off, but my foot doesn't feel any better today than it did almost four months ago when the injury happen. I have my second MRI scheduled for Friday and so the MRI should tell us more about what is going on inside my foot. The difficult part about this is that its been impossible to stay off the foot completely. I've found the worst situation for me is being in the kitchen. If I didn't have to make 3 meals a day for the kids and clean up after them then I might be in a little better position than I am right now, but, who knows, maybe not. Also, being diligent with keeping Jacob on a gluten free diet doesn't afford us with the ability to go out and eat. In the last three weeks its been even more challenging because he is now on a gluten free and dairy free diet. I'll write more about that in another post. As for me, I've done everything I could to try and get this foot healed, but it has been a stuggle to stay motivated and do what needs to be done when I haven't seen any changes. I'm praying that having Doug home will turn the tide so this injury can heal. I don't want surgery and I know this is any injury that can take six months to a year to heal, but boy is it hard to be patient and diligent.

Jacob Loses Another Tooth

Jacob has now lost four teeth with a few more that will be coming out in the near future. The funny thing about how he lost his first four teeth is that they were all knocked out by someone. His first one was knocked out by his friend Micah, his second and thrid were by his friend Drew and his fourth was by his brother Ethan. He was very excited to lose this tooth especially when the tooth fairy came. I had no singles and I couldn't remember what Doug had given him before, so he ended up with $5. I know, a lot of money for one tooth. But, when you're home alone with three kids and on crutches you do what have to do to put a smile on your kid's face.