I enjoy hosting a good giveaway!  It feels like it has been a while since I did a basic, simple, easy to enter giveaway so here we go!!

We just came home from the doctor and we have answers! While it looks like it is going to be a very long road to recovery, we at least have a destination on that road. The diagnosis is autoimmune hepatitis. Now, I should emphasize that this is not a contagious form of hepatitis (like A, B, C, or D). Simply put, Doug's autoimmune system was somehow threatened and is now not recognizing his liver as his own. So, his immune system is fighting against his liver and causing him to feel nauseous, fatigued, and generally wiped out. Knowing the name of what we are dealing with and fighting against brings us some peace.

As far as treatment, this looks like it will be a long long journey. He will be taking some steroidal medications which should help him feel better in a couple of weeks. He will also be having a liver biopsy to determine to what extent we are dealing with the hepatitis. The treatment is going to take 2-3 years. Yes. You heard me. Years. The rate of recurrence of this is also 30-40% at some point in the future.

I am so happy that we have direction but I am so sad that, first of all, it is going to take a couple of weeks before he will feel any better. I am also sad that he has to potentially deal with this all over again at some point. I have always been blessed to have healthy people around me. Major illnesses just don't happen to us. So all of the emotions that come along with doctor's appointments. tests, and medications are so new to me. For whatever reason, while my recurrent losses were emotional, this feeling is very different. I think it was because, even if I was never able to have more children, my existence wasn't threatened. My individual "quality of life" wasn't directly effected in a long term way. This is a new place I find myself in, but God must have chosen this road for us for a reason.

Doug will be fine, but I think that the last week or so has really reminded me about what is important. It is so easy for me to get caught up in having another baby, but my husband's health is so much more important to me. I need him and he needs me. So... while my husband is on the mend, I think our effort to add to our family is going to be on hold- unless of course I am already pregnant (and there is a chance for that). I know that God's timing is perfect so I am putting it in His hands.

Thank you for all of the prayers!!



(I promise to get back to more festive and fun posts soon!)


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In order to get caught up we have to flash back to Easter Sunday. I mentioned what happened to Doug on this day in the post called "Checking Out". In case you didn't read that post, here is the abridged version. We were dressed and ready for church and about 10 minutes away from piling everyone into the car. Doug clutches at his midsection and tells me that he has to go to the bathroom. He dashes up the stairs and I hear moaning and groaning and after a few minutes I went to check on him and he was in obvious pain. I had assumed it was gas and thought that it would pass. No pun intended. We ended up at the Emergency Room and, of course, by the time he was undressed and in a bed, it was gone. After of hours of waiting for the doctor to release him we went home to eat.

Then came Mother's Day. We spent the morning at a landscaping place picking out pretty flower baskets and fruit trees to plant in the back yard. Doug and Gavin spent the afternoon planting and watering the trees on one of the few sunny days we have had in the last 3 weeks. The next day Doug wasn't feeling well and stayed home from work. We both sort of figured that it had to do with working out in the sun mixed with the fact that if Doug was any more pasty white he would glow in the dark so he ended up with pretty bad sunburn. As a quick side note- we buy sunblock in bulk (not joking) for him and the kids. Why he chose not to use any is beyond me. He spend the day lounging in bed and resting up.

All seemed to be okay in the following days except that he complained of nausea. It wasn't really constant. It came in waves. His apatite had decreased as a result. He continued to complain on occasion of just not feeling great but, to be honest, it just sounded like stress from work, and just spreading himself too thin. Then, about a week and a half ago he decided to call the doctor. She prescribed something (I think it was Prevacid or something similar) and told him to call if he didn't feel better in a week.

Doug's nausea and fatigue gradually turned into more nausea and fatigue. Appointment were scheduled. Blood tests were taken. Now we were waiting. Last night at dinner, I caught a glimpse of his sad eyes. But to my surprise they weren't just sad eyes. His eyes were yellow. Jaundice. After two babies who both dealt with this at birth, the thought of dealing with this with an adult never occurred to me. Since I wasn't sure what to think I googled the crap out of his symptoms and what we had learned thus far from his few doctor appointments.

Tomorrow is the appointment that should hopefully answer all of our questions and hopefully point him on the road to health. It is obviously linked to his liver, hence the jaundice, but we have no idea if it is something easy to resolve, like gall stones, or if it is something much worse. The possibilities range from a virus to liver cancer.

So anyway, here I sit. I am worried. I am scared. I hate seeing my sweet husband so sad, sick, and tired. I hate feeling so out of control. I hate not having answers. I never thought that I would find a worse "Two Week Wait" than waiting to find out if I was pregnant. These past weeks have been excruciating. Please pray for Doug's health and pray that I can be a good wife who can ask the right questions, advocate for him with the doctors, and make sure my husband gets everything he needs. I will update when I have more information. Thank you!


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