Emilie's birthday, Sightseeing, and Odds & Ends

Here we are with Mr. Franks down at the lake about 10 miles from the house

Hiking back up from the lake. Note to self, wear tennis shoes next time ; )

Emilie looking cool in Mr. Frank's classic muscle car

Daniel's space rocket

and escape pod with parachutes

What's Sadie about to drop on Emilie's head?

balloons!!!

What fun!

I think that Emilie enjoyed her birthday

I need to get a better picture, but I couldn't resist even a bad picture. Sadie made paper dolls for Emilie, complete with extra outfits.

Blowing her birthday bubbles

Emilie got nine new dresses for her birthday. Here she is putting on an "old fashion show"

This is her fairy princess dress


I love this picture

It twirls!








My parents arrived in time to celebrate Emilie's birthday on the 15th and Mr. Franks took us all out sightseeing Sunday afternoon.


Daniel, Mr. Franks, me, Sadie & Emilie


My mom, Mr. Franks, me, Sadie, my dad, Daniel & Emilie

My mom, Patrick, me, Sadie, my dad, Daniel & Emilie

Sadie with her "drandad"

Mr. & Mrs. Claus in the desert

The Discher girls aren't the only ones who can do blog art. Photo by Daddy

Mom, "What did you do?"

Mr. Franks, "What did I do? Oh, don't be such a baby, it's only a couple of cactus splinters."

Where's Daniel?

There he is

Beautiful scenery

Oh please don't throw me in that briar patch! Really, don't!

We had lunch at an old mining town










sign inside the jail


"How!"


This little church actually has weekly services.




Last stop of our tour was the anchor of the USS Arizona

Thanks Mr. Franks for a wonderful time. We are having a wonderful time out here in Arizona. Glad my parents have been able to spend some time with us. I hope you all have enjoyed our latest post of pictures. Until next time...

The Saga of the Kidney Stone

Well, last I wrote, we were waiting to hear from the doctor about what procedure he recommended for Daniel. He called last Wednesday and said that the sonic blast procedure would work (although sometimes a second blast is needed weeks later if an x-ray shows the stone didn't get completely busted). The next day a girl from his office called to tell me the cost of the procedure... I assume since you are reading this at a computer you are sitting down, if not, please sit now... the cost for one round of "blasting", not including the catheter, follow-up x-rays or the removal of the catheter four to six weeks later is $30,000.00!!!!! Yes, thirty thousand dollars! And he has been sure to mention multiple times that it sometimes takes more than one round of blasting. Needless to say we have been a little beside ourselves for a bit.

Besides the cost, we have also been concerned about the prospect of the procedure itself. They were concerned that Reflux may have been why he had the infections in the first place. Reflux being a back flushing of urine back into the kidney. When they insert the "pigtail" between the kidney and the bladder to keep the tube open to flush the stone out they actually create an artificial reflux and leave it that way for four to six weeks! What possible damage can that cause? Wasn't that what we were concerned about in the first place?

I called Dr. Todd Robinson in Lakeland and spoke with him. He suggested I seek another opinion. Since Daniel's blood work came back clear and he isn't having any infection or trouble at the moment we have some time, but should keep him monitored. He told me to get Daniel on Magnesium and Vitamin B6. I have been doing some research on the Internet and have also started giving him Stone Free by Planetary Herbals and having him drink organic apple cider vinegar mixed with water and raw honey. I hope I'm not over doing it, but I am praying that these things break the stone up and he is able to pass it on his own. Dr. Todd also told me about two websites that I can access to find a doctor here in Arizona that uses nutrition and homeopathic methods.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The Last Test (we hope ; )

We just got home and I wanted to let you all know how well Daniel's VCUG went today. The techs that performed the procedure told us that there have been grown men that haven't handled it as well as he did. We are very proud of him and thankful for the Lord's comforting hand.

This test was also needed to confirm whether Daniel had reflux (a back flush of urine from the bladder to the kidneys). We are happy to report that he doesn't have reflux. If he did have reflux he would have to have surgery to reconstruct the tube between the kidneys and bladder. Dr. Zuniga will have the report from the test within 24 hours and we should hear from him Monday or Tuesday to confirm which procedure we can take. From what he said the other day and what we saw today, surgery won't be necessary. Praise the Lord!!!

Also, my parents are in Durango, CO. They have had transmission and brake troubles and are staying over a few extra days for repairs. We were expecting them to arrive Saturday, but now it seems they will be here Monday or Tuesday.

We will continue to keep you posted.

Keeping You Up to Date

True to my word, here is the latest news...

Betsy (the young lady who has arranged & coordinated our appointments) scheduled Daniel for the VCUG for the earliest possible date (Sept. 4th). However, Dr. Zuniga told her to see what she could do to get it sooner, that it was VERY IMPORTANT. While arranging another person's procedure, Betsy decided to inquire if they would inform her of any cancellations. Low and behold they had had one. Thank you, Lord! This all happened today! Betsy was also working to find a hospital that had the lowest rates. We are thankful for her work on our behalf. So, Daniel is scheduled for the test on Friday, August 8th at 1:30 pm. The hospital is located over an hour away in the town of Mesa, which is also part of the Phoenix Metro area as we are too, just the other side of it.

Also, my parents left South Dakota this morning and are traveling to Denver, Colorado and then plan to stop in Durango, CO before coming to see us here in Arizona. They will be here for Emilie's birthday on the 15th.

Until next time...

Daniel's Dr. Appointment

We had Daniel's doctor's appointment today. The doctor we saw before doesn't specialize in kidney stones, so he referred us to another doctor in the practice. So today's appointment we met Dr. Zachary V. Zuniga (what a name). He was a very nice man and spent quite a bit of time going over all of our options. Unfortunately, Daniel will have to have another test, a VCUG. Why we didn't just jump to this last test first is the big question? We did find out that the kidney stone is about 1 cm in diameter (about the size of a blueberry). Most likely they can "blast" the stone with sonic waves; an outpatient procedure. I won't go into details, but fortunately it is a least invasive procedure. Unfortunately it is not the least uncomfortable for a little boy (or any human being) to be subjected to. However, we won't know that this is the option we can choose until after the VCUG. Thank you all for praying for Daniel. He was particularly warmed by Uncle Hans' personal message to him. He has handled everything very well so far and I know it is because of the prayer covering. Another answer to prayers is in regard to the cost of the CT scan. We have been told that it usually costs about double what we paid. Praise God! He provides!

Daniel

I just wanted to let you all know that Daniel had to have two CT scans on Friday, one of them with an Iodine IV. I am sure he is scared, but he did really well. We have an appointment to see the doctor on Monday afternoon. He will tell us the results of the scans and the blood work we had earlier in the week. The ultra sound he had last week told us he has a kidney stone. We hope they will know what caused it and how to deal with it. Unfortunately, I think he is going to have to have surgery. I will keep you all posted as we know. Thanks for all your prayers.