A Harms Family Reunion of Sorts

Last weekend Matt's brother Dan, his wife Tia and their son Grayson came to visit all the way from Salem, Oregon. We were thrilled to host them for a long weekend and the girls thoroughly enjoyed getting to know their far-away-family. Uncle Dan kept us entertained with his goofy tricks and Grayson was a great playmate and seriously impressive as he flew through the air as part of one of Uncle Dan's afforementioned tricks. The girls loved having Auntie Tia read to them and all in all we just enjoyed their company. Dan, Tia and Grayson, we loved having you here. Come back soon!

Happy Day!

Hi Everyone,
Elizabeth got a wonderful gift for her 4th birthday today. Our GI just called, and told us her biopsy results: NO cirrhosis!
We're thrilled of course and so thankful for your prayers. This is very, very good news!
love,
The Harms

Happy Birthday Elizabeth

Our dear little bug, You are 4 years old today! You are such a blessing in our lives and a constant source of joy and delight. You are God's gift to us and we are so thankful for every day we share with you.

We'll love you forever
We'll like you for always
As long as we're living
Our baby you'll be

Happy Birthday Sweet One.
Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Ruby

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Successful Biopsy

The procedure went beautifully. It started later than we'd planned because of a backlog in the procedure center, but Elizabeth was a real trooper and didn't complain about not getting any food an water for 16 hours. Matt amazingly had no patients scheduled for the morning so he was able to sit with us...a welcome treat. She came out of anesthesia really well and immediately began drinking and eating...a good sign. She had to lay still on her back or side for 6 hours...and even that didn't take too much coaxing...I think the non-stop TV helped. They admitted us to 8West and we even got our old private room for the night. The night went well, and this morning we got the heck out of dodge as fast as they could fill out our discharge paperwork and went home to the best surprise...Grandma and Grandpa Harms have arrived!

 

We don't expect to hear anything before next week...probably Thursday or Friday, so we'll let you know when we hear something. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers!

 

 

Elizabeth's Liver Biopsy Tomorrow

Just a quick note to ask you to pray for Elizabeth's liver biopsy tomorrow. When she was admitted to the hospital the first time this summer, she had an ultrasound to rule out any infection in the fluid around her belly. On that ultrasound, they found changes on the surface of her liver that are consistent with cirrhosis. While diagnosing cirrhosis with an ultrasound is about as reliable as diagnosing cancer with an ultrasound, the changes were part of a small trend over a few months and it's worth getting some liver tissue to know for sure. So tomorrow I'll take her in for an ultrasound at 7:00am, and then the biopsy is at 9:00. She'll be sedated and intubated, and then will need to stay in the hospital overnight for observation since she's at increased risk for bleeding after the procedure. Ruby will stay with her friend Sophie all day while Matt's at work, then around midnight Matt's parents will arrive from California to help us celebrate Elizabeth's (and Grandpa's and Matt's) birthdays!

 

Would you pray for a peace-fulled, God-ordered day tomorrow? (and today for that matter as we try to get a bunch of "life" details in order before the procedure) We need heaps of grace as we try to keep all the balls in the air for the next few days. We're asking God that Elizabeth's biopsy would come back clean and that she would NOT have any signs of true cirrhosis. We believe it's possible!

 

Thanks for being "on call" for us in prayer. We rest knowing that the Maker of heaven and earth truly cares about Elizabeth Joy and our little family and has already made provision for what is to come.

We'll email you to let you know how it goes...

 

ps- the picture was taken this weekend at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Elizabeth LOVED petting the cows and we all enjoyed a visit from Matt's cousin Michael and a great day at the Best of Missouri Market.