From Valerie:

Tom has asked me to write a little update to let you know how things went today. I took Trent to the hospital this morning to have a CT scan of his head an abdomen. All came back normal in the testing. It was a pretty long day and uncomfortable for Trent. He had a rolling vein on their first attempt at the IV, so they not only poked around a lot, they also had to poke him a second time. Next came three 12 oz cups of chalky stuff that he had to drink, which is loads of fun when you are dealing with stomach pain anyway! Dr. Rob said that today’s test rules out any of the big scary things. We are grateful for that, but still no farther along in finding the answer. We will have to wait for some other test results to rule out other things. Tomorrow, Dr Rob will call a pediatric gastroenterologist with whom he has already been consulting to see what comes next.

Trent was a trooper today…until they tried to make him wear a koala bear cartoon hospital gown!! He handled it all fine and says that all he wants is to feel good so that he can have a lot of fun with his seven cousins whom we are staying with! He has enjoyed a little Americana…e.g. Taco Bell (also good for kids with stomach issues) and Sonic!

Please pray for a breakthrough. Pray for wisdom for our new friend and awesome guy, Dr Rob Wiley. Also, pray blessings for my sister and bro in law and their family as they are being so gracious to care for Trent and I. Tom is hanging in there thanks to my pals who are keeping my family from starving! He is doing a great job…but please don’t stop praying for him and the other three Seely’s that are under his care! Also pray for Trent. He is still in pain and is getting weary of it all.

Valerie & Trent just got out of their first appointment with a pediatrician. It was mostly routine as he did a history, an exam, took an x-ray and ran a bunch of blood tests. This is basically what we expected as they have to get up to speed on the problem. We’ll wait for the results, but the mostly likely scenario is that they will see a Gastro specialist next week. That’s okay as Trent has 7 cousins to keep him busy between now and then. Also, we are waiting to hear if we can get some good medicine for his pain.

Thanks for praying for Valerie & Trent’s flights. They weren’t without some adventures. The flight from Dallas to Abilene was on a puddle-jumper that had about 10 passengers. They flew into a group of thunderstorms over Abilene. The plane started jumping around all over the place. They tried to land twice and had to pull up each time. Then, they circled for 30 minutes waiting for the storms to clear. Valerie was very scared. They finally landed safely. Another passenger that flies regularly said that it was the worst thing they had ever experienced.

In a related story, I was awakened by our house alarm in the middle of the night which rarely happens. My heart was racing and I looked at the clock and it was 3:51AM. I ran downstairs and checked which room triggered the alarm. I found out it was the office and yet I couldn’t find anything unusual. I’m guessing that something fell off the desk and tripped the motion detector. As I went back to bed, I thought of Valerie and prayed for her and Trent for a while until I fell asleep. The amazing thing is the time of Valerie’s scheduled arrival in Abilene was 8:51 CDT, which is 3:51AM here in Budapest. At the very time I was praying, Valerie was in the middle of the storm. Praise the Lord for hearing my prayers!!! He is a faithful God!!

More updates later. Thanks for your prayers!!

Valerie & Trent are in the air on their way to London. They have to change airports (from Heathrow to Gatwick) and then they go on to Dallas and then Abilene. When they touch down in Abilene it will be just before 4am here in Budapest, which is exactly the time that we woke up this morning. It’s going to be a long day for them.

I’m at work thanks to our great friend Laurel Rodd who is keeping Kirby Ann. She is not quite well enough to go to preschool, but she is doing pretty well. I’m also having dinner at the Rodd’s house tonight which is always great! That means I don’t have to cook tonight. My kids are thankful!!

He has been sick for a little over 2 months with stomach cramps and headaches. We have had many tests run here in Budapest, but up until this point we haven’t found anything. He really hasn’t gotten any better over time and we have even removed him from school because he was so far behind and doesn’t feel well enough to attend.

Over the last week, we have been praying about what the next step would be. Our doctor here in Budapest has been trying to find options for us here in Budapest or in Austria. Also, we have been talking to Valerie’s brother-in-law in Texas about possibly going to the US to get some help for him. As the week came to a close, the options in Budapest or Austria didn’t emerge so it became more and more clear that our only option was to return to the US.

Therefore, tomorrow (Tuesday), Valerie and Trent will fly to Abilene, Texas to Valerie’s sister and brother-in-law’s house. Trent will then have an appointment with a doctor there that will help us determine the next steps. Our biggest hope is that we can get him some medicine right away that would relieve some of his pain.

Here are some things that you can pray for:

* Safe Travel for Valerie & Trent and that Trent would be comfortable during the travel.
* That Trent would be able to get some pain medicine quickly that would relieve some of his pain
* That the doctors in Abilene would have wisdom and that we would be able to quickly navigate the medical system to get the right tests and see the right doctors
* For the kids and I that remain here in Budapest. Reed & Kirby Ann are also sick. Also, I need wisdom to find balance between work and home during this time.

Thanks for much for taking these things to the Lord. We are confident that the Lord will hear and answer!!

I’ll will keep you posted on the progress.

The sicknesses continue . . . As I posted a few weeks ago, we have been battling illness in our family and the battle continues. Here’s an update. We would appreciate your prayers.

Trent - He hasn’t changed much since my last post. He is battling stomach cramps and headaches. We have been to several doctors and had several tests run and we have tried some different treatments, but so far nothing has worked. It has now been over two months without much change. We took him out of school this week and are beginning to home school him (as much as we can). Please pray as we are trying to determine what step to take next. We have options in Hungary, Austria or the US. Pray that we would have wisdom. Pray for Trent’s spirits as it is very discouraging to be sick this long. While it has relieved some pressure to be out of school, he misses his friends and doesn’t like this illness thing.

Reed – He has been better for a few weeks, but Monday he woke up with a really bad cough and sore throat. He has bronchitus fairly badly and has been out of school all week.

Kirby Ann - She woke up this morning saying that she needed to throw-up. So far she hasn’t, but it doesn’t look good.

Valerie, Kendall and I have stayed healthy so far. Pray for Valerie as she has been carrying the weight of caring for the kids since I’m running a conference. Thankfully, her parents are here to help. That is a lifesaver.

We’ll keep you posted. We need God to show up (as always)!

Lately, our house has resembled more of a hospital than a "normal" home. There has been someone sick for 4-6 weeks (we’ve lost track of time). Here’s the lineup:

• Trent has been sick the longest and he is hovering around a month. He has stomach cramps, headaches, and had some bronchitis along the way. So far all the tests that we have had run have been negative.
• Reed has something similar with headaches and stomach aches.
• Kirby Ann had a fever for several days a couple of weeks ago and today she was diagnosed with pink eye.
• Valerie has had off and on cold-like symptoms although she is okay right now.
• Kendall & I, amazingly, have stayed well (knock on keyboard).

We have been keeping some friends kids while they went to Germany for the husband to have surgery. One of their kids was diagnosed with bronchitis and borderline pneumonia!!! Stay away from us!

Seriously, it has been a tough road. Valerie feels as if the walls are closing in on here as she can’t escape because there is always a kid at home. On top of that, the kids don’t feel good so they need lots of attention from mom & dad, but especially mom. We’ve been sending the boys to school because they just can’t miss anymore, but it has been hard on them.

Pray for us and our kids. We are ready to get past this and so are the kids. They are discouraged. We know that the Lord is in control and that He loves us. If those two things are true, then we can be thankful that we are right where He wants us to be. Lord, help us to know you more deeply through this.

Tags: family, sick