The difference a week makes

I decided to take the girls up to Idaho for the UEA weekend. We all needed some r&r and what better place to do that than Grandma and Grandpa's house! We left Thursday morning and had a fun three hour drive up to Blake's parents house. Blake wanted to weigh Halli before we left and so he did. She was up to 70 lbs. (Her normal weight previous to all the water retention was around 52 lbs. We waved goodbye to Blake and hit the road. The girls plugged in my Ipod to the truck speakers and we all sang at the top of our lungs to Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." It has become a favorite of the girls' for some reason! Anyway, I was thinking that maybe Halli looked a little less swollen. When we got to Mom and Dad's house, they commented that Halli looked much better than she did when they had seen her last. I agreed although her belly and ankles were still very swollen. I went to bed that night feeling positive that maybe she would begin to slowly respond to the medication and lose the water. The next morning I was awoken by a bouncy and happy Halli on my bed! She was jumping on my bed and yelling "MOM! Today is a celebration day!" She pulled up her shirt and my mouth dropped! I couldn't believe the difference! Her belly was at least half the size it had been the day before! Her ankles, face, everything were drastically reduced! All the girls were on my bed by then and we all smiled and hugged and cheered for Halli. That was the beginning of our day of celebration. It was also the beginning of the weekend of peeing for Halli! She went to the bathroom more times this weekend than I've seen her do in a long time! By Saturday, her body had lost all of its swelling and looked normal again. I couldn't believe how fast it happened! I was expecting a slow process and it happened literally overnight! We tested her urine and weighed her this morning. Her protein level is only a trace. That is very good news, it means her kidneys have responded to the medication. Her weight is now 51 lbs! She lost 19 lbs in 3 days. The human body is absolutely amazing to me. I am constantly in awe at how it works. As I have watched her today, I noticed a couple of things. First, her eyes actually look gaunt and sunken. I don't know if this is from losing so much fluid so fast or maybe from a lack of sleep. Her cough is still present, but seems to be diminished. Also, she gets bursts of energy and bursts of anger. I can tell that her emotions are all over the place. I've chatted with the older girls and told them what is going on so they can be patient with her.

Although the swelling is gone, we still have a long road ahead. It is so good to have our Halli back. I believe that her improvements are the result of much fasting and prayer. Thank you to everyone who has kept us close to their hearts.

We spent our day of celebration playing with Grandma and Grandpa. We rode Go-Carts, got ice cream, drove to a honey boutique and enjoyed hanging out at their house. It was a perfect weekend. The only thing missing was Blake!