Colonoscopy

This last week was definitely one that I could have done without. As many of you know, Kaylin has been dealing with colitis (inflammation in her colon) for the last 18 months. We have been through 4 or 5 different medications, none of which has worked into getting her into remission. She has been to the hospital twice in the last year and has now had 2 colonoscopy/endoscopies. She has been off of all medication for about 3 months and so we have been exploring our options for additional treatment. A couple of weeks ago, I discussed some different treatments with the doctor and we decided that before we commit to anything, we needed to re-scope her and see if the disease has progressed or gotten better. So last week, Kaylin and I both got a blessing from Daddy and then headed up to Phil's parents house to spend the night there since my mother-in-law was going to go with me to the hospital. I don't know how many know this, but before a colonoscopy, you need to go on a clear liquid diet for the whole day before and drink this nasty magnesium citrate to "clean you out." Wednesday, Kaylin was such a trooper. She had about 5 meltdowns because she was so hungry (she hates jello and is not a big juice drinker). Grandma Walker and I did our best to distract her--taking her shopping, buying her a pretty dress, going to the park, meeting up with her "best friend" Ella etc. I honestly believe that the Lord was with her because she really did wonderfully. As a mom, it was so difficult to say "no" when I knew how hungry she was. I just kept saying that we needed to empty out her tummy so that Dr. Davies could look inside it. She would then respond, "No doctor Davies, no look in tummy!" AHHH. It was so hard.
The next day, we drove to the hospital at 5:30 am (luckily we were the first procedure at 8:30 AM). She had awesome nurses and 3 child life specialists that came in a played "nurse" with her. They brought in a doll and let her put a little IV in the arm and put tape on it to keep it in place. She also got to "hear the heartbeat" and take their blood pressure. It was great. Although she was really out of it, due to the massive emptiness in her tummy, she seemed to like it. When she finally got her IV put in, the child life specialist came in and played with cool toys to distract her. She cried a little,but it went so much better than I had anticipated.
They put her under for the procedure and she did wonderfully waking up. She immediately got her favorite cereal, Cheerios, and was happy as can be. Unfortunately, her colon is still completely inflammed and we are waiting for the pathology results to see if the inflammation has spread to her small intestines. If it has then she has Crohn's Disease, if not she's got Ulcerative Colitis. Both are chronic diseases (she'll have them her whole life) but hopefully with the right medication we will be able to get it into remission. Both are apparently very painful diseases, but she doesn't ever complain or even indicate that she hurts. I'm so grateful for that.
This has really been a trial for Phil and I. I once told my mom that I didn't sign up for this, but I know that the Lord obviously knew I could handle it. Our lives have changed, but looking back at the last 18 months, I think that it has taught us some things and eventually will bring us that much closer to our Heavenly Father. I know that He sent Kaylin to us and that he knew she and we could handle this. It has been frustrating and we have shed many tears, but she's our little girl and she is perfect in every other way. Sometimes it is just hard to see them get something like this when they are so young.
Thanks for letting me ramble on...and thanks to those that have prayed and fasted for our little girl.

The flowers I got from Phil for being such an awesome wife and mother.