Life.

Well we are finally back in North Carolina for good. My sister is visiting us from NJ for a couple of weeks so we are trying to find things to keep busy in our little town. There's been a few things that have been going on in our little family lately, and although at first I thought I would not blog about them, I've decided it's probably best to let our close friends and family know what's going on with the Rylanders as of lately.

Right after our move from Oregon, Isaac began to have some digestive issues. At first, I quickly blamed it on the stomach bug that our whole family had gotten, but as time went on, I realized his version of it was a little different than everyone else. I made an appt. with a Pediatrician in NJ (the kids and I were still there while we were deciding on a home in NC) and the doctor thought that it was some kind of virus. She told me to give it a few days.

After about a week or so, I took Isaac to the ER because he was not doing any better and I was really starting to worry. They did blood work and ruled out any blood disorders, which I was very grateful for. They told me that I would have to take him to a specialist the following week.To make a long story shorter, after a few times to the Ped. GI, a colonoscopy, and lots of blood work, Isaac was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which most people mainly know as either Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. They are not sure which of the two he has yet, although the GI Dr. is leaning more towards Crohn's. They are both chronic inflammations of the digestive tract. The disease is marked by periods when symptoms are non existent and periods of flare-ups, or when symptoms arise.

Like many of you can imagine, this has been a very difficult time for our family. The worst thing in this world is watching your child be sick, and I have to admit, at times I didn't know how I could deal with my sweet little boy having a chronic illness. I had a hard time thinking that this was something that would never go away.Isaac is on an anti-inflammatory medicine right which has totally taken away his symptoms. There is a good chance that he will have always have to take the medicine, but fortunately the doctor explained to me that he has a mild to moderate case of the disease so his dosage isn't as large as some other people. It is too early to tell if a change in his diet will change anything, but I have switched over to soy milk and drastically reduced his consumption of dairy and I have definitely noticed a difference.

At the worst point of these last months, Isaac was still as happy as can be. He played, ran around, and was super active like usual. It was a huge blessing that he was never really in a great deal of pain, because that is not something easy to watch.After a lot of praying, I finally feel like this is something we can deal with. I realize now that we have to take it one day at a time. We have to be grateful every day that our son has a symptom-free day, and pray that the next day will be the same. They say they are close to finding a cure for this, and I hope that sometime soon this will be something we can look back on as a growing opportunity for our family. I am so grateful that we live in a time where medicine is so advanced that it can help our son feel so much better and help him lead a normal life.

I wanted to share a quote by Elder Richard G. Scott that my mom gave to me to read. I was really having a hard time wondering how we were going to pay all the hospital bills (our new insurance has a rather large deductible) while still trying to build our house. I didn't understand why everything had to happen all at this time, when our son is still so young. My mom explained to me that that is how adversity works, you go through years where life is uneventful, and then all of a sudden, it feels like you are in the middle of a huge storm. Then I read this quote:

To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that come from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.

I have faith that this will be a growing experience for our family. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over our family and He knows exactly how much we can handle. I know He is watching over my sweet little boy and that He will comfort him at the times when he needs it most.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers. We have felt every single one of them. At times when I thought this was too much to take, I would feel this immense amount of comfort, and I know it came from someone's prayer for our family. I apologize to those who we did not share this with until now, but please don't be offended, it has just been a very busy time. I also want to thank my parents and siblings for helping with Abby during all of the appointments and for the moral support while Richie was far away from us. Thank you to Richie's side of the family also for all the phone calls to check on our boy.We love you all and thank you for always being there, especially when we need you the most. I promise that next post will be a happier one, because we are still a very happy family.