Some pictures of our last 2 weeks
Kyle after we first started noticing he was jaundiced. (It is hard to tell in this picture, but it was very obvious in real life.) Before we knew just how sick he was.
Kyle in the hospital resting and a Fruit Bouquet sent to us by my Sista's.Thank you so much - it was such an upbeat and yummy surprise to our week!
Kyle and I in his hospital bed. Sometimes a Mother has to lay down next to her child and give them the touch and closeness of a Mother's Love. I did this a few times when times were tough. Kyle makes life happy, even if it isn't!
The steroids Kyle is on sometimes makes his cheeks all puffy and rosy at the same time. He really dislike the hospital pj's, so he tried to put on one of his shirts almost all the time.
Kyle painting at the hospital. This picture depicts his jaundice better. He is painting a wood car that they brought him to glue together and paint. He usually wanted one of these cars for a reward for all the daily "pokes" he was getting.
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And some miracles that occured...
The past couple of weeks have taken a toll on Laren and I. We are both super tired. As most can imagine, the chair/bed in the hospital is not the greatest place to get sleep. I stayed with Kyle in the hospital every night until the last 2, when Laren slept there to give me a break. The emotional rollercoaster has been another factor in our ability to sleep and rest. We had been waiting on pins and needles to get the biopsy results and finally we got them last night. More than anything, I was so glad to hear that they found no cancer! They did find extensive liver damage. We will hopefully find out more about that when we go back to Primary Children's on Tuesday.
Kyle and I in his hospital bed. Sometimes a Mother has to lay down next to her child and give them the touch and closeness of a Mother's Love. I did this a few times when times were tough. Kyle makes life happy, even if it isn't!
The steroids Kyle is on sometimes makes his cheeks all puffy and rosy at the same time. He really dislike the hospital pj's, so he tried to put on one of his shirts almost all the time.
Kyle painting at the hospital. This picture depicts his jaundice better. He is painting a wood car that they brought him to glue together and paint. He usually wanted one of these cars for a reward for all the daily "pokes" he was getting.----------------------------------------------------------------------
And some miracles that occured...
The past couple of weeks have taken a toll on Laren and I. We are both super tired. As most can imagine, the chair/bed in the hospital is not the greatest place to get sleep. I stayed with Kyle in the hospital every night until the last 2, when Laren slept there to give me a break. The emotional rollercoaster has been another factor in our ability to sleep and rest. We had been waiting on pins and needles to get the biopsy results and finally we got them last night. More than anything, I was so glad to hear that they found no cancer! They did find extensive liver damage. We will hopefully find out more about that when we go back to Primary Children's on Tuesday.
In the meantime Kyle is slowly recovering at home. He is SO glad he is not getting a bunch of "pokes" all the time and he has matured beyond his years in the past 2 weeks. I really am amazed by this huge trial, a trial that has surely been one of my most difficult. And of course, trials are a process and we are still in the midst of this process, but things are beginning to look up. We hope and pray that we have rounded that corner now, heading towards healing and good liver health for Kyle.
I know that the doctors who have been caring for him have been guided in their care. They told me on Wednesday that they do not know why, medically speaking, they are giving Kyle the treatment (medications) that they are because in all of their testing they have no physical evidence of Kyle having an auto immune problem. But what they do know, and me too, is that the medication is working. And so we are continuing it. And what I also know, is that Kyle's healing is miraculous, really and truly.
It is a modern day miracle just like what one would read in the New Testament of the Bible, only it is a miracle for our time. I know his healing so far has come about because of the Priesthood Blessing that Laren and my BIL, Doug, gave to Kyle, (and again 2 other blessings, with Laren and our home teacher Brother Bishop; and Laren and Trav, another BIL) that said the doctors would be guided as they go about trying to find a treatment for Kyle.
I saw this unfold before my very eyes as Dr. Jackson (a pediatric GI specialist caring for Kyle) struggled to find a treatment and couldn't find one and released us from the hospital. And then as Kyle's numbers were rising he called me at nearly 10:00 last Friday night to tell me he was concerned. Actually he left me an "urgent" message at 8:00 pm and I called him back at 10pm (Laren and I were out for a little bit when the message was left). And then again he called me back first thing in the morning around 8:15 am on a Saturday, his day off, to tell me he still was not satisfied and had already (since 10 pm the night before) went back through Kyle's records again, with a fine tooth comb, looking for something he might have missed; and he had consulted with 2 of his colleagues.
He decided Kyle needed to have some more bloodwork that morning and to be examined by him. He wanted to know how soon we could get there. So as soon as we were showered and dressed we were on our way back up to Primary Childrens. As we were there, he told me about Kyle's blood tests not really revealing too much - just ruling a bunch of stuff out. But his thyroid levels were slightly elevated. The thyroid can be considered part of the auto immune system of the body. But in order for the doctor to really say that it was auto immune attacking Kyle's liver, there needed to not only be an elevated thyroid, but also elevated ANA's (anti-nuclear antibodies). And Kyle's ANA's were not elevated. And we later learned his thyroid was not really elevated enough to consider it a threat.
And then the doctor got Kyle's blood clotting factor numbers back. His blood clotting factor had risen considerably. Meaning his blood was not clotting very much, a sign of his liver failing. So the doctor at THAT moment decided to re-admit Kyle to the hospital and at the same time decided to treat him as if it were something auto immune (like his thyroid) attacking his liver. We did that and we spent the next 2 hours in his office at the hospital while he made the necessary phone calls and did the necessary paperwork for Kyle to be admitted.
By that night, Kyle was receiving his first dose of Solumedrol - a type of Prednisone steroid. We were praying, along with many, many family, friends and strangers. The next day we had a family fast. Kyle's lab results came back on Sunday with significant improvement over Saturday. The doctors thought we were headed in the right direction, but I knew it. I knew it because of my Motherly intuition, I knew it because of our fasting and prayers, I knew it because of Laren's Priesthood blessing for our son.
The doctors anxiously awaited for Monday to see what Kyle's lab results would bring. Before they came, I knew Kyle's liver enzymes were falling. How? I felt it. I felt, literally the blessings that come from fasting and prayer. Prayers not just sent up for Kyle, but for Laren and I and the rest of our children. I felt the hope and assurance that can only come through the Savior's Healing Balm. And when the results came, again it was a decent improvement over the day before.
We do not know why this great trial had to come to Kyle or the rest of our family. But we do know we have learned so much in such a short amount of time and we have felt an increase of our faith. We have felt the love of so many. I have come to realize the existence, the true existence of angels on earth. It is through each of us that the Lord carries forth his purposes on earth. So many have went about helping us, watching Tyler for us each day so Laren could go to work while the kids were at school and I was at the hospital with Kyle; bringing in dinners to our family; bringing us groceries "just because they figured I had not had a chance to make it to the store yet..." (they were right); cards, flowers, balloons, phone calls, prayers, visits, fasting and expressions of love and concern.
Each day since last Saturday we have witnessed a physical improvement in Kyle with his liver enzymes dropping from over 7000 to 677 and 1400; with his bilirubin levels getting lower (from 17 to 7, so far), his color getting better and him not looking so jaundiced, etc... I know without a doubt that those doctors were guided. I know when Laren gives a blessing he will often tell me, "I don't know if it was my will or the Lord's but I think it was the Lord's will that I said that." He says that especially when he blesses someone that they will get better (as he did Kyle).
And though he blessed Kyle that he would get better and the doctors would be guided, it did also indicate that the healing might not come quickly. I want my sweet Husband to know that the Power of the Priesthood definitely works in him. And I am so grateful for that great Power in our home, that Laren is worthy to hold it and willing to exercise it. Kyle still has a road of recovery ahead of him, we are hoping it is not as long as it could be. In the meantime, we are counting our many, many blessings! And hopefully we will also be able to get some sleep!
