Update on the boys

We were able to get to see a pediatrician today for the boys and we are so glad we did.  So here's what we know…

 

Owen's spleen and liver are both enlarged.  This could be caused if malaria is still in his system.  He's been treated twice for it, but it is possible that the malaria is resistant to the medicines we tried.  So we had his blood retested today (5 different tests in all) to see if in fact he still has malaria.  If he does and it's the same as before, then the doctor we saw knows another doctor who specializes in malaria who can possibly help us know how to treat it.  Hopefully there is another medicine out there that can be tried.  If it's the other kind of malaria present in Papua, then we will need to test Owen to see if he can take the medicine used to treat it (he could have a disorder that prohibits his body from using that medicine) and if he can, we will go that route.  The other side of the coin is, if he does not have malaria then we have something else entirely wrong because something is causing his liver and spleen to be enlarged.  We will then return to the doctor we saw today and proceed to have Owen tested to see what is causing this.  Our American doctor in Papua feels like this hospital we were at and this doctor will be able to help us pursue the other tests if we need him to. The only glitch is that although he speaks pretty good English, communicating about medical things is a bit difficult.  If we don't feel like we can understand him, then we can go to Singapore where English is readily spoken and there is excellent medical care available with all kinds of specialists.

 

Now Jack.  The doctor also recommended that we see a nutritionist doctor friend who actually is close to where we are staying to see if he can help us figure out if Jack has an allergy or if we should see about getting some more in depth tests done to see if he has a fungal infection or parasite that is elluding us. 

 

we hope to have the results of Owen's blood test back today and when we know something, we'll post it here.  Please keep praying for us through all this.  We are spent in so many ways and feeling very much at our end.  There are several other things going on in the background that have drained us mentally and emotionally. Maybe we'll elaborate on that another time.  Please pray for our faith as it is certainly being tested and refined right now.  We are clinging to each other and God right now.

 

Bethany