Best Place to Be

The results are now in from all the tests that Caleb has had. Whew...what a pile of tests it's been this past month. It's nice to be on the other side of those.

According to the tests, he is dealing with chronic inflammation that has caused an over-activity in the intestines. The over-activity causes further inflammation and distress to his intestines, and thus the cycle continues, resulting in severe pain such as Caleb has.

The good news is that it isn't Crohn's, Celiac, IBS, stomach migraines, dyspeptic ulcers or any of those sorts of gastro-intestinal diseaseas...and we're thankful for that. The flip side is that the doctor said it will take time to bring the intestines to health...this particular illness is not easily diagnosed or treated.

But we do have a workable plan for treatment and have begun that already. Our tickets have been extended (we were supposed to leave Tuesday the 13th) so that we have time to watch for improvement and/or further distress. Pray that it's improvement we see!

While our hearts are finally at peace that we've gotten to the bottom of Caleb's pain, we also know the road ahead is most likely not a short one...we're in this for a longer stretch. Caleb had a better day yesterday, and then some very severe pain in the night. That's the reality of life right now and we're both doing the very best we can to cope with that, and trust the Lord in the midst of it.

We are also SO anxious to go home to Dave, Tyler and Claire. It has been hard to be apart this long. Some days we just sit and talk about the things we love at home...our family, our friends, our life there. It's always best to be in the place where God has you (for us right now that's here in the States getting help)...but we do long for our normal life at home.

Thankfully we are with my parents in Eugene for this next stretch and that's comforting.

And most of all, we are right in the center of God's good plan for us. That's the best place of all to be, no matter where that is.

*** First picture is at the entrance to Doernbecher Children's Hospital, second is on Mother's Day getting my gift from Caleb...loved it!