♥ A Joy Update ♥

Good morning!  I thought I would pop in here for a quick post to update you on Joy.  We are still in the hospital.  It has been a week today.  Yesterday I saw her true smile back for the first time in awhile, and it sure was good!  While she is definitely not pain free, she was able to be up and about more.....says she can manage this pain better than what she had before.

Her pancreatic enzymes are almost back to normal.....we're about 100 points away from normal.  There is some concern here with the doctors now because her billirubin count has gone up.  They are watching it closely because pancreatitis can affect the liver, which is what the billirubin is related to.  They are repeating labs again this morning.  If that number doesn't go down, they are looking at doing an out-patient ERCP at another hospital (because they don't do it here) which would tell them if she has an ostructed pancreatic duct.  If she does, they would put in a stint.

That's really as much as we know now.  Joy is hungry, but still can't eat.  She has had basically ice and water since last Thursday.  She did try to eat  a little on Saturday (they probably let her try because she just wasn't complaining much in hopes of getting out to dance) and had severe pain and it has been constant since then.

I'll update you more when I know more.  Thank you for the prayers......we appreciate them so much!  We're just trusting God to restore her completely!  :)

********************************************

Yesterday we had a celebrity sighting here at the hospital.........Joy went out in the hall and had her picture taken with him.   Hee hee!  He even had security!  I asked him did he remember singing at our wedding.....  :)  Evidently, this was Elvis in his later years.  :)

**************************************

 



Also on another note..... Jane (the mom that took the Chinese dance photos of Joy), was again very nice and sent the link to the performance on Saturday night that she videoed.  Joy's teacher, who  danced in her place, is the one on her knees in the front at the beginning.  She looked so cute!  All the girls (ages 11-14) looked cute and did a great job!  This dance is called the Fan Dance.





And last of all, I'd like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!  Thanks for stopping by today!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Chinese Dance Memories Anyway ♥

Well our Joy didn't get to dance in the actual Chinese New Year Festival this past Saturday, but she did get to practice on the stage with the rest of the girls a couple of weeks before.  And as you know my camera lens is broken (still), so I didn't have my camera along with me on that day.  But we did get pictures, thanks to Jane, mom to Maggie, one of the girls in the dance class.   Jane also happens to be a photographer and was taking random pictures that day. She is very talented as you can see from her website, JA Photography.   I'm so thankful for the photos she got of Joy, and especially thankful for her passing them along to me.  Wasn't that so sweet?  (Thank you again, Jane).  :)

And I forgot to say that Joy's dance teacher was able to wear her costume and dance in her place at the Chinese New Year Festival Saturday night, so it worked out fine.  And Joy realized during that time, while here at the hospital, that there was no way she could have danced with her pain level what it was.

So today I'm sharing the pictures Jane captured: (The makeup is only for the stage....she does NOT wear that makeup normally....lol!)  But she does love red lip stick, and says when she does wear makeup....she is all about the red.....said this one wasn't red enough.  :)



Update on Joy:  We're still in the hospital.  We have a couple of tests being done today.  We still can't leave until her pain level has come down considerably and stays down and she begins to eat/drink.  We think she may have tried too early to eat (which was only a little) in an attempt to get out on Saturday and caused an intense flare up.  She has been so afraid to try eating/drinking again because her pain has been constant.  She watches the clock for her pain medicine.  However, one of her enzymes is down to normal range, and the other one was still up as of last night, but not nearly as much as before.  Hopefully, when we get the lab results back today, this one will be closer to normal.  When these get down to normal, she has to be headed in the direction of getting over this episode!  We choose to believe she will be her bubbly self again soon!  Again, we thank you for the prayers! 

************************************

 

I hope you'll stop by tomorrow and join me for a Sunporch Chat with a sweet friend.  You're in for another treat!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  :) 

♥ Tammy ♥

Update

Hi blogging friends! I just wanted to take a minute to post and update you. Pawpaw (Jason’s dad) passed away this morning. I won’t be back here tomorrow for Faithful Friday and probably not until after the funeral which is Monday morning since we will also have family coming in from several places. We would appreciate your prayers! Thanks so much!

Remembering Luke's Foster Family

Recently we sent an album of 25 photos and a CD with 2 mini videos on it, through Ann of Red Thread China, to Luke's orphanage to also be shared with his foster family.

The director of the Bayanur Orphanage is a very sweet lady. She was so kind and cooperative in seeing to it that we received updates and photos of Luke as we waited....every time we asked. We wanted to return that kindness to her and to his sweet foster family.

We chose the rush option for a three day delivery. Just a day or so after those three days were up, we received the sweetest letter from Director Z. expressing her gratitude and excitement over seeing "Zhi Jie's" face and hearing his voice. She said the foster family had been asking about him alot recently as to whether she had heard anything from us, so she was going to be happy to share the photos and updates with them.

I hope it brought as much happiness to them as it did to us when we opened our inbox to find an email with an update and pics!

We will forever be grateful to the loving foster family that Luke knew for the first two years of his life!

A Quick Update on Colt

Wow! Thank you all so much for all the prayers and kind words through your comments. It seems like there are so many people that have experienced allergic reactions in some form, so you know how scary it really is!

I didn't want to keep anyone hanging on how Colt is doing. The Dr. gave him a Prednisone Pack and a couple more types of itching meds. He came home (and stayed home from work, I might add) and took a long nap while Joy and I were at stage rehearsal. When I got home, he called me and showed me that he was broken out again in hives. This time they were more just on the trunk of his body, but he had just taken a hot shower. That really is not a good idea when you're itching. I gave him some Aveeno (Oatmeal Bath) and he took one of those in cool water. That relieved alot of the itching and helped the hives. And by this point, I brought home his meds from the pharmacy. All of those things combined, helped tremendously! I believe he actually got a good night's sleep. We ALL got a good night's sleep. And so far today, all is pretty well. He is still itching with some hives on his wrists and feet, but for the most part is SO much better. He is going into work this evening for a short shift, but taking his meds with him.

I really, really appreciate all the prayers and concern! Thank you so much!

And Carmen C.....I want you to know that I prayed and am praying for your son! Appendicitis had to be a scary thing too! I hope your son gets out of the hospital soon! I'll be thinking of you this evening!

Hugs and blessings to you all!
~ Tammy ~