The weekly update. Just didn't get around to posting sooner. Good news.. Abby's latest round of test results came back. I spoke with the doctor on Tuesday morning. The doctor went over Abby's labs with a pediatric endocrinologist. The specialist thinks that the most likely explanation for Abby's high alkaline phosphatase is a transient condition, usually preceeded by a stomach bug. For some reason - not sure why, this enzyme, and nothing else, is very elevated. After 2-4 mos the levels drop. The labs showed most the alkaline phosphatase coming from Abby's bones, although her liver results were also abnormal. So please pray, pray, pray that in April when Abby is re-tested her results are normal. Otherwise, she will be referred to the endocrinologist and also need a bone scan to rule out various not-so-good problems. BUT I am clinging to the most likely explanation - that the rotavirus from mid-January did her in for awhile, but she is okay. When the doctor told me the news it was like the Lord was in the room smiling at me!

Next bit of good news.. I've been praying about our finances (or lack of). Deren's parents graciously sent a check to help us out with medical bills, formula, and all that good stuff.

Next bit of good news..(yes, there's more!). Our insurance company, United, has been giving me the royal run-around about paying for the boys' private speech therapy. We switched plans last August, and they were supposed to start paying. I got a bee-in-my-bonnet and called again yesterday. One part of me is thinking, "It's your birthday. Are you just trying to be in a bad mood?" I spoke with the first lady, who was really rude. First she said there were no claims on file, then said they were all still denied because of diagnosis code, then hung up on me when I asked to speak with a supervisor. I called back, ready to lash out at the next person. Instead, I started crying and saying, "Listen, we're poor. Do you know how awful it is to go to the clinic and watch everyone pay their co-pays while we're paying the full amount on everything, when our policy says the visits are supposed to be paid for (at least 1/2)?" The next item on my to-do list was to call and cancel speech therapy, because we had no money for it anymore. This lady on the phone was really nice, and asked me to wait while she looked into the claims. Turns out, they had entered the diagnosis code incorrectly - according to their error the boys were receiving speech therapy for strep throat. No one else prior to this checked to make sure all was correct. Thank God for this one lady who wanted to help (psst - don't spread the word to United - they'd probably fire her)!. Soooooo we are supposed to start getting some money from them within the month, and will be able to resume speech therapy. Hooray!