The Waiting's the Hardest Part

My favorite required reading in high school was Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. Maybe because it is Russian, likely because it's complex. I remember getting that the lead character did bad things, but his torture came largely from the anticipation of punishment, rather than the punishment itself. The impatient person I am understands how that could be. For about 2 weeks now, we've been waiting for a test result to come back on Mitchell. I refer to the stress of waiting for those results to be a hum in our lives that distracts all else. The what-if, while not exactly punishment, gets to you.

The test he took is a genetics blood test to see if he has a rare syndrome that would fall under the category of Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation. We don't even know enough about it to be all that fearful and he's come back clean for all diseases sought for thus far. Still, we're worried. Once again we've been told that we're sort of at the end of the line for tests and we may never have a true diagnosis. (By the way, the geneticist's answer to whether he'd classify Mitchell as having CP was "yes and no". Hmmm.) So in a way, even with a test result in, our waiting and unknowing doesn't end providing us long-term tension.

Our faith will likely continue to be tested as we wait to see how Mitchell progresses. I don't mean for this post to sound overly dramatic, but I'll continue here and include the specific areas we request prayer for concerning Mitchell and our family. I get asked about this a lot and I've hesitated writing about this for a variety of reasons. But, we're desperate! Especially because lately some areas of Mitchell's development seem to be at a standstill or even regressing. You can help us by praying for...

--Increased white matter in Mitchell's brain
--That Mitchell interacts with us and the world around him more
--That his eyesight improves through new pathways created between his eyes and his brain
--Doctors and therapists who can give us specific input on Mitchell's situation
--That he sit independently
--That he no longer breath hold/have blue spells
--That his sensory processing become better integrated
--For Luke to be a brave big brother...and be potty trained :)
--For Chris and I to have peace that passes understanding regarding this situation

I'll also say, that you can help by asking about how we are all doing. Chris and I have a very hard time opening up about this and it's really helpful to reply rather than initiate.

WOW this is pretty transparent of me. Is it personal growth? Well, I am older and wiser now. A sincere thanks for all your support and prayers.