itch, itch, itch

not a whole lot to update on the medical front. melanie continues with chronic daily struggles of bladder pain, belly pain, irritability, fatigue, extreme itching, etc., etc. her phos was high on monday but had come down when we rechecked on wed. the itching is worse than ever; she has scrated so much that both of her arms, both ears, and a spot on her back were all bleeding this morning in addition to her scratched up legs. been in contact with dermatology. he mentioned hospitalizing her to do a body wrap. i asked if we could give it a try at home. i'll slather her in steroid cream and then wrap her up in wet gauze. we'll see how she tolerates it and if it helps. we still don't know what is going on. he said it's been going on too long for it to be a reaction to the bactrim. he is speaking with other specialists and trying to figure out what could be going on to cause such a reaction.

she got her leg braces on monday. she is really good about wearing them. she gets some red spots on her ankles from them, so we have her wear them for a while then take them off. she does not wear them to bed or when she is laying resting during the day. finding shoes to go over the braces was a challenge. she normally wears a size 9 but had to get a size 2 to go over the braces.

our house is almost finished. on sunday my dad, our friend brent, and brandon picked up a hospital bed for melanie from a most generous family. andrea used to be a nurse for our friend monet. monet's family "introduced" andrea to melanie's website. andrea and her husband have two daughters and a boy with special needs who had grown out of his hospital bed. they were so generous to give us his hospital bed to use for melanie. it will be such a blessing for melanie and our family! making medical procedures much easier on our backs when we can lift the bed up to a good height. will be able to control the angle which melanie sleeps at to help with different types of pain, etc. what a huge blessing, thank you andrea and thomas and family!!!!

our friend rachel painted melanie's room on monday. don painted the family room/entry way on monday. don worked with habitat on finishing touches on tuesday. i painted the medical room tuesday night. i painted the boys room yesterday and don painted the basement entry way. we can't thank enough all the volunteers who have worked on our house. so many habitat "regulars" have put in SO many hours building our building our home; we are so thankful for these "strangers" who have now become friends. and huge thanks to our friends who have put in so much time on our house as well--especially to the bailey family, don, and my dad who have gone above and beyond in making our dream come true! i feel i can never thank everyone enough for what a tremendous blessing this will be for us! also a huge thanks to my mom who is always so faithful in helping out watching the kids and going beyond to help with housework, etc. i hate to name names because i know i will forget someone, but also big thanks to shari and rachel who are always just a phone call away and anxious to help in any way.

friday was our 10th wedding anniversary. scott played a song for us, just like in the "old days." the kids loved it and each got their turn to play the guitar too.

well, i gotta head out to get gauze wrap for melanie, go to the post office to change address (and have them fix the lock on our current mailbox which is broken), drop some things off at the new house, and a few other stops. melanie, ethan, and i went out to the bank, post office (went to one but now need to go to a different one), and menards this morning. melanie was tired out after that, so we came home for her to rest. hopefully she will make it through a few more errands this afternoon. brandon will be gone with my parents until monday. melanie is missing him already and said she wished he was coming home tomorrow. :)better run.