Hello Friends!

Boy, we are long overdue for an update! I know everyone has been wondering what's been going on with Hannah...thanks so much for waiting patiently for me to send this out. :)

As our last update predicted, Hannah did get out of the hospital again, and is now in full swing of things at home.

Life is a little more crazy than it used to be...Hannah has to take around 40 pills a day, take her blood pressure at least 5 times each day, measure her liquid intake (she's restricted to 6 cups a day), eat a very strict diet, go in for 4+ hours of dialysis treatments 3 times a week...and the list goes on! Hannah has less energy than she used to have, and is learning to limit herself...figuring out that she can't take on eight projects a day like she used to, but has to take a nap every once in a while. :)

Hannah went in for a check up on Thursday, and got a good report from the doctors. Her blood count had been at 8.4 when she left the hospital, and a couple days ago had gone up to 9.1!

The dialysis treatments have been working effectively to clean Hannah's blood, but she is having strange side effects after each treatment. Right after each dialysis, she is pretty weak, and has very strange and uncomfortable tingling sensations through her body (she says it feels like soda is being pumped into her veins) and numbness. The nurses are uncertain of what is causing this. Please pray that they will find the reason for this soon so that it can be taken care of.

Hannah went to the eye doctor this past week and found that she has slight bleeding in one of her eyes. The doctor believes this is from Hannah's blood pressure being so high in the hospital. Hannah will be going back in a month to get this checked back out. Please pray that the bleeding stops and that the eye mends itself so that more serious measures don't have to be taken.

One of the biggest blessings is having our family back from Africa! Dad, Mom, Elijah (18 yrs) and Esther (16 yrs) are now living with Hannah, Daniel, Adonia and Creed. The house is full of fun and lots of dirty dishes, as my Mom could tell you. Please pray for her (our Mom, Melissa) as she is carrying a big load keeping eight people fed (including fixing all of Hannah's special diet meals), keeping the house organized and tidy, as well as helping a lot with the kids. Right now everyone is working to get a room in the basement renovated into a bedroom for Dad and Mom. In the meantime, they're also still trying to figure out a routine so that things don't get too crazy. Please pray for peace to fill the house, and for good communication between everyone.

If you walked into the house right now, you might find...

...Elijah roughin' and tumblin' with Creed (9 months old) on the couch

...Dad either reading books on how to help Hannah or at his laptop working on a Bible study for the Makua back in Mozambique (http://heartsforthemakua.blogspot.com/)

...Hannah sitting on the floor making some ties (http://www.lilguyztyz.webs.com/) or organizing a fun girls night (Hannah has to have her parties!)

...Adonia (3 years old) on the porch playing with her scarecrow doll which she calls her “mommy”

...Daniel cleaning up that mess in the library that's been driving Hannah crazy ;)

...Mom and Esther organizing the kitchen cabinets

We want to say a huge thank you from each of us for your generous financial gifts, delicious meals and constant prayers. We are completely overwhelmed and blessed out the wazoo. :) Our hearts are so full...we wish we could say a personal thank you to each and every one of you, but for now this will have to do...all those personal conversations may have to wait 'til Heaven! ; D

I will keep putting up updates as often as I can on the blog, so make sure to add it to your bookmarks so you can check back every once in a while. FYI, I am no longer able to send message updates to the facebook group, so if you want to be notified of updates on this blog, you may want to message me on facebook with your e-mail.

Much love to you all.

Chloe