Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...

I really shouldn't send these updates when it's way too late, but if I don't it will never get done. And seeing as how I'm getting these emails asking how things are going, I should have already sent this out. So, bear with me if I start to meander through this...and hopefully, absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder and you will love me anyway.

Yes, we made it home from Pittsburgh in one drive that involved no additional hospitals. Yes, we were very happy to be home. No, we have not seen any more hospitals since our epic adventure. No, that doesn't mean that everything is just fine.

Basically, the short version (do I ever give you the short version?) is that Will is now battling hypoglycemia as well as all of the other stuff. We do have the ability to give him an IV with dextrose at home, which is good, but it does mean that on weeks like last week, he has more days that he's pushing an IV pole around than days he isn't. That doesn't make for a happy Will and it doesn't make for an easier life for everyone else. We did attempt the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, but we were assisted down the back stairs by a security guard so Will wouldn't have to traipse around the museum to the elevator and then back to the door. Calling 911 to help us escape the museum just wasn't high on Will's list that day, so we gratefully accepted the guard's assistance.

So basically, Will has been home for the last week due to the extreme heat and, I think, he's uncertain about how to manage the hypoglycemia. I have to be more aware that he needs food every 3 hours or he's not going to do well. He is learning to take responsibility for some of that. Given his food allergies, eating every 3 hours can become very boring. So I am on a quest for a granola bar recipe with no milk, corn, soy, almonds, peanuts, or hazelnuts. It can't have yellow squash either, but since that is so high on the ingredient list for granola bars, I just didn't think it worth mentioning...

Will and I return to Cincinnati July 15. Yes, there is a bit of trepidation there. It's cheaper for me to drive but the drive is harder on William. We could fly, but then there's that expense thing with the rental car. It gets a little pricey when you need a car for five days...especially when you also have to have a hotel and food for those five days. So, we are still in the throws of making that decision. The mortgage kinda likes to be paid every month, so we're having to figure out how to survive the monthly travel to Cincinnati...and keep Will from touring all of the hospitals between home and Cincinnati.

The older kids are still working on a few things, but the younger kids and I are taking a break from school. When we returned from our epic adventure, I headed out the following afternoon for the home school convention. If we are to continue to home educate the kids, we have to figure out how to do it more effectively. For the littles, that means that language and math really do have to be taught by video...which is expensive...which takes us back to that mortgage thing. Even though I was exhausted in every sense of the word, Will was finally stable, so I went ahead as planned to convention. And I spent the next three days crying and emotionally processing all that happened. Billy said, "Come back with a plan and we'll see what we can do." Talk about the impossible dream.

Suffice it to say that I have come home with an idea of what will work. Financing that plan is a massive challenge, especially since we still may end up paying income tax in Ohio if we continue to live there so extensively. But I also came home with the sure knowledge that our God is bigger than the finances of school and the illness of Will's. If He knows even the sparrows, then He knows the educational, medical, and daily life issues that we are facing...

So while I am reacquainting myself with my children, I am trusting that the Lord is at work.