Where to start.
The last time I blogged we were going on vacation for our 30th wedding anniversary. The day after we came home, Madison came down with a fever and ended up being admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. Before Hawaii she had been in the hospital for ten days due to pneumonia and the human metapneumovirus. The rest of the summer was spent in the ER or hospital or doctors' offices for repeated bouts of pneumonia and low oxygen. In August she had a swallow study done that showed she was aspirating on thin liquids. We began thickening her liquids, and by September her lung issues seemed to be resolving.
In the midst of all this, we faced a very intense time during which another family in another state was trying to apply to adopt our grandson, Baby L - Jason and Naomi brought him home from the hospital and had been parenting him for two years, but because the other family had adopted his half sibling they were attempting (though never having met him) to appeal through DHS to take him.
Because of my time being consumed with Madison's health, and because the whole situation with Baby L got very ugly (long long story for another time) I stopped blogging. I did not want to take time away from my family to blog, and I did not want a family in a different state looking up our family online for privacy reasons.
On top of all this, Photobucket- who has hosted most of the photos on my blog for over eight years - started a new policy whereby I would have to pay hundreds of dollars a year to restore those photos to my blog. The thought of going back through my files to try to replace all those posts with the correct photos was, as you can imagine, daunting. And not something I had time for.
Fast forward to last December. Another long story, but Madison has been in and out of the hospital, ER, doctors' offices, etc. for six (or maybe seven, I've lost count) episodes of pneumonia. It's hard to describe in one blog post what we have been through - physically, mentally, emotionally.
Yesterday - after spending yet another long night in ER- Madison had two CT scans done that showed a large unidentifiable mass in her right lung. Previously this was thought to be pneumonia - yesterday it was determined to be something else.
What that "something else" could be is a number of things, ranging from something as simple as a cyst, to the very worst. Tomorrow we meet with a pediatric pulmonologist in Portland at Doernbecher Children's hospital to discuss what the next steps are.
Which is why I am back.
I'm sorry for the blank spots where lots of old photos used to be in my blog...sorry for my long unexplained absence (so many of you emailed privately asking if everything was ok - thank you for still caring.)
I honestly don't know what the future holds - maybe it's a simple fix for our Bunny and life will return to normal... as normal as things will ever be at The Rice Ranch.
And maybe there's a different road ahead that we haven't been down before, one that requires more faith and more patience and more trust in God than I've previously required.
Whatever the future, I know God is in control and will walk through it with us.
And I'm just hoping you will too.
Friends and followers of this blog have seen us through some pretty trying times in the past. I'm grateful for whoever is out there who is still open to following along today and in the days ahead.
I don't know how often I'll be blogging, but I do want to keep friends updated on what is happening with Madison.
If you're still here, leave a little note in the comment section ? I'd love to know we have lots of people praying for our Bunny.
Much, much love,
Patti xoxoxox
54 comments:
Praying for you all and especially sweet Bunny!
Praying for your precious Bunny and your family! ❤️
So glad you're back. Praying for sweet Bunny and your whole family.
So glad you’re back! I’ll be praying for sweet bunny and quick answers! ❤️
Praying for Bunny!! Been keeping up with you through Instagram, but happy to see you back to blogging! ��
Praying for healing and speedy answers for Bunny!
Praying!! ❤️❤️
Praying for sweet Bunny. God’s got this.
Hoping to hear an update on Baby L soon, too.
So glad you are back. Will be keeping your family and little Bunny in my thoughts. Sending Love and Light
Praying hard!!!!
Praying for bunny!
Thank you for the update. Please share if there is a better place to follow along (though I don't have IG).
Thinking of you & praying "something" is nothing. 💜
Priscilla , I wish you were on Instagram I post photos almost daily there !
Thinking of your family and praying for Madison!! Sending love from Syracuse.
Praying for sweet Bunny.
I am still here. Still praying for you all.
Jill in Maryland
Praying for Bunny and for all of you. It's lovely to have you blogging again!
I've missed hearing about your wonderful family. It was so good to see your post. Praying for you all from Chicago and especially praying for sweet little bunny. -Tracey
Prayers for Bunny and the whole Rice family!
Prayers for Bunny, and Baby L! God's got everything in His hands. So glad you're back.
Praying for your sweet girl❤️
You've been through some trials! Welcome back and yes, we will definitely keep Bunny and the entire family in our prayers.
Nice to see you back and blogging, even if not under nice circumstances. Hope Madison road to recovery is a short and straight forward one. X
Praying for your little Bunny from Australia. Praying the Drs who care for her. Praying for all of your children to have peace and calm in the midst of chaos. Praying for you and Sam to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.
I've missed your posts! I'm still here and still praying for your family. It's great to have you back blogging, though I wish it was under different circumstances. I will continue to uphold you all in prayer and fervently ask the Lord to intervene on Madison's behalf.
Still here and still praying for all of you. <3
Was so happy to see that you were back, but so sorry to read that Madison is facing so many medical challenges. Sending prayers and positive thoughts.
Praying for little Bunny.
Oh, I have missed your blog so much! For some reason I quit getting notice when you had a new post. Yesterday I was able to 'find' you and go back and catch up. I finished catching up this morning.....only to discover that YESTERDAY you posted again!! How's that for coincidence?! I hope it works out to continue blogging as before, but if not.....
I'm so sorry about your sweet Bunny. I will pray that the Lord will grant her healing and good health and that you and your family can hang onto hope and have that 'perfect peace in acceptance'. Love....
Praying hard for sweet Madison. So glad to see you on here. I checked almost daily hoping you would be back in time.
Thank you for sharing what is happening. Praying for Madison and you and your husband as you care for her. Hugs.
We;re still here and praying for all of you.
I have wondered more than once where you went, and hoped things were okay! Of course we will be praying from New Jersey. If it weren't for you, we never would have learned about Reece's Rainbow and found our daughter.
Sending prayers and caring hugs!
I'm glad you are back, but so sorry to hear about all of the health issues little Madison has had. Praying for encouraging news at Doernbecher's.
So glad you are back. I checked every few days to see if you were back online. Praying for Madison and your entire family.
Shana
I'm sorry your family had such a rough time. I'll add Bunny and the whole crew to my prayer list!
Glad you are back and hopefully it will be frequent :) Prayers and blessings.
Thanks for the blog update. I'm fortunate to see your Instagram updates, but it's wonderful to see a new blog entry also! Prayers continue from Michigan.
I am so happy to see you are back! Prayers for Miss Madison and the whole Rice family...
So glad you are back to blogging! Prayers for Madison and all of your family!
I totally love blogs. It is a format that allows more information, introspection, story telling etc. But IG is so wonderful for times that are busy, crazy etc. You can post a photo and a quick caption and be done. Anyway, all that to say I am so happy you are on IG, so that I have been able to see how everyone is doing. and pray for your family. I'll be here reading and praying as long as you are writing...and on IG all the times between.
I am glad you checked in. I have been checking your blog since I had my own DS daughter Marie, who is now 5! May God bless your family! I admire and enjoy your posts and your faith. I will be praying for you daily.
Still here, just a few days late. Praying for Bunny and your family!
Sending prayers from Kansas!
Still here! Will partner in prayer!!!
I'm here too and praying for you and your precious family. I had left a bookmark to your blog on my phone and am so glad I felt prompted to click again. stay strong.
I was so sad to see your blog go private, but am happy to see you’re back :) just five days ago, we had our SECOND biological son born with Down syndrome. Both were unexpected disgnosis after birth. I would love to privately email you but I’m not sure how...? Hope all is well with little miss Bunny!
Congratulations!!! You can email me at psalms127.5@gmail.com
Hi Patti
Praying hard for Bunny and the whole famly!
Glad you're still here- whenever you have the chance to write! We all understand you're so busy with your wonderful family! Much love from the Southeast:)
Still here, so sorry to read how hard its been. Sending prayers and good wishes from Nova Scotia
Dear Patti, me and my family are sending prayers for you and Bunny from Russia. It is a big relief to have your blog opened again (i was too shy to ask to be added as a friend because I am just a silent follower, but I have been follwing your blog almost from the beginning). What about baby L???
I have followed your blog for many years. I truely enjoy your blogs and have always prayed when you've expressed the need through the blog. My husband and I pastor in the LA area, and share many friends of yours as well, as we were sent to pioneer from the San Diego area. I hope things are going well as I see there has been a lapse in blog entries again. Praying always for your family
KeeLee
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