Thank You

Just a quick update... Lucy has kept her food down for 48 hours (other than a brief three day stretch Oct 31-Nov 2, it has been since Oct. 22 that she has kept food down, so this is actually quite exciting), no diarrhea, and resumed her normal playful and curious life. She does still have a residual cough and runny nose, but in general I think we are out of the woods. I had almost forgot what it was like to run around chasing a toddler, keeping her safe, entertained and well rested (Lucy seems to be thinking she has slept a lot the last few weeks and has to make up for all the missed time she should have been spending with the world, seriously nap time hasn't existed the last two days, even after hours of effort on my part) and now that I remember what it is like to have an active toddler, I realize that it really isn't any less tiring running around with a healthy child as opposed to being in the hospital with a somber bed ridden child (of course, it is definitely a lot happier!)!Lol! No, but really I couldn't be more grateful to run around my parent's house diverting her attention from the trash, computer on/off switch, VCR, stairs, pool, outlets, karioke machine, important documents, player piano (especially at 3:00 a.m. to spare the rest of the family, we are slowly conquering the jet lag ), etc.



I thought you might be curious about her diagnosis so here you go: Dave talked with the Doctor in Korea to get the results from Lucy's last stool culture on Nov 3. Apparently her system was already rid of the Salmonella infection when she got sick again and was hospitalized for the second time, so what we thought was just a flare up of her old condition was apparently another sickness altogether, which she could have caught easily from the many sick children we bunked with, especially given her body's weakened state from all the antibiotics (which I found out wasn't even how they treat Salmonella in the states, oh well, she is okay now).



I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you for your kind comments through this difficult time and especially for your prayers. Nothing was more comforting than to hear so many people say they would pray for us and I know the Lord was listening. I am a little shocked to be returning to normal life, and now realize it didn't even dawn on me how hard life had gotten the last few weeks because the Lord just kept me strong and wouldn't let me get my spirits down. He sent me so many people to share the gospel with while I was in the hospital, so I could continue to bare my testimony to them and myself that I know the Lord directs our paths for good and we are given our trials for a reason. Sometimes I think it is easier for me to be positive during the darkest trials than the small challenges of everyday life. When the going gets rough I start to feel so aware of Satan's temptations to be discouraged and easily say "get thee hence," but on the average day, not enough sleep, messes, and one misinterpreted look from my eternal companion can sometimes really bring me down. I find that I just have to keep on going through more extreme trials so that I can appreciate every moment of my more average days. I hope to improve this quality and start to appreciate the average moments more so that I can minimize any rough trials in store for the future, but then if I improve this quality there will always be another quality that needs a little fine tuning, so what is not to look forward to? Okay, so that was sarcastic, which I detest, but still end up using a lot, I'm sorry. Really I will just end by saying that we all have so much to be grateful for and there is no better day than today to start realizing it. As for me, I have Lucy, and after this experience I couldn't realize more fully than right now how truly wonderful that is. My love for her has only grown, so I guess I am just going to get all mushy and say that I am thankful for my trials. Never thought I would say it, but I did. On that note, I am still totally okay with not having any more. Anyway, I am totally done with this post and just jabbering now, so one last thank you to all of you.

Thank you for your support and your prayers.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!!!