Answers for Gwenna

I had this beautiful picture in mind for this afternoon- the girls would nap/have quiet time, and I would curl up serenely with tea, a little treat, and the computer to blog for the first time in awhile. I wanted sit back and reflect and then share a little bit of this journey we've been on with Gwenna. 

As it happens, I live in reality land, so  I am exhaustedly cranking this out on my phone so it just gets done so I can take a nap. Amelia finally fell asleep, G is having a not so quiet alone time. So humbling(: 

Anyway, for the past year I have known something was up with G. I had her tested for celiac and it was negative. We decided to see if things resolved themselves but in the past few months her discomfort had grown considerably. Finally I took her in ready to fight to the end to get her doc to test her some more... Thankfully I didn't need to. After I explained her frequent abdominal pain and indigestion, he kindly affirmed my panic that this wasn't normal. 

He agreed to test her for fructose malabsorption because my gut told me that was the problem. Fruit seemed to be a big trigger for G, so much so that she usually have Amelia her serving of fruit at lunch because she was afraid of the stomach ache. Also, Rhodric's sister has it, and it seems to be genetic. 

When I called to see if her test results were in, I was told that it was negative for fructose malabsorption but she did have SIBO (bacterial overgrowth in her small intestines). Ok I thought, I suppose that explains a lot of the abdominal pain.. But what is causing the SIBO? 

We had a few days to wait before seeing the GI doctor- when we finally got in to see him, he looked at her test results and declared, "well there is no doubt, she definitely DOES have fructose malabsorption." 

Talk about whiplash. 

So the past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster, but we are happy to have some direction in how to get our Gwenna girl healthy. 

Through it all; the tests, the waiting rooms, now the new restrictive diet and gross antibiotics, she has not complained even ONCE. She has been incredibly brave and determined to do the work to stop the discomfort. She is asking me to teach her how to make her own food that is on her safe list, she's asking to do preschool everyday so she will be ready for kindergarten next year, she is reminding me that she needs her antibiotics at certain times, she overcame her fear and rode a pony at the fair (if you know her, you know this was a HUgE step!). Basically, we are bursting with pride and thanking God for giving her such a brave and determined spirit! 

We have a lot to learn about how to help her heal her intestines and eat in a way that will maintain their health. 

Please pray for our family as we are trying to educate ourselves on this new twist of life, while working on a kitchen remodel. 

We want to include G in the process  so she feels empowered to feed herself and make food choices that make her stronger but in a way that doesn't make her life revolve around food and diets.

Pray for us as we encourage both our girls to live life to the fullest by growing their faith, loving and serving the people around them, and embracing and valuing and caring for the unique person that they are. 

Such a rambling post that's really just a giant prayer request!