Steinbox

We’ll be leaving Monday afternoon for our trip to the Cleveland Clinic.  Our appointment is at 9 AM on Tuesday, March 27th.  Amelia will be staying behind with some great friends of ours.  We’d appreciate prayer for the trip (both the driving and that I would be attack-free), the appointment (that we may finally meet a doctor who can get to the bottom of this), and for Amelia and our friends (we have never left her for this length of time, and actually don’t know how long we’ll be there…we’ve been told to expect anything from half an hour to a week).  Click link for more news and pictures from the last week…
On Thursday we went to see Dr. Plansky for our “Cleveland Prep” visit…he coached me on how to present my case there…it is a lot of playing games and politics.

I also received results from the dermatologist…my biopsies and lab work showed no signs of connective tissue disorders or celiac disease.  The only thing abnormal was the mole, which she said is no longer a worry since she already removed it (it had atypical cells, which can develop into cancer).  Her conclusion is that my various skin problems have no correlation to my GI issues.  While I’m glad she didn’t find anything serious, I do disagree with her in that all of our bodies’ systems are connected.   She was very kind though, and will be prescribing me some things for a few different areas of my skin.

We were going to stay with our friends in Erie on the way to Cleveland, but once they changed my appointment to 9 AM, we realized it wouldn’t be practical, so we booked a hotel right on the campus of the clinic for Monday night.  Hopefully we will only have to stay the one night…but *someone* graciously offered to pay for our hotel stay (you know who you are–THANK YOU again!!), so at least we will not have that financial burden.  God is so good.  And who knows, we may get to see our friends in Erie on the return trip, depending on the day and the hour…

The past week has been spent preparing for the trip, and also helping our neighbor prepare for her move.  As of now they are going ahead with the divorce, and the mom and girls will be moving out this coming weekend.  I will still be caring for the girls on Mondays & Tuesdays (although I have this week off for our trip).  Although I always find it exciting to help someone move into a new place, in this case it is also so terribly sad.  Divorce is always a tragedy, and my heart is with these young girls, only 1 and 3 years old, who will join the millions of children growing up without the benefit of married parents.

Their divorce will not be final for several more months, but a temporary custody arrangement was set up by the court to begin when she moves out.  The girls will be spending the night at their dad’s every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus all day Saturday.  They will be with their mom all day Sunday and the opposite four nights.  I can’t imagine what the judge was thinking to subject these poor babies to sleeping in a different house every night, especially considering that the younger is still nursing.  There is a chance that the arrangement will change upon finalization of the divorce, but it isn’t likely.  We continue to minister to this family as we are able, but beyond that, Betsy has become a great friend and I will dearly miss having her right next door!!

Here’s Amelia & Ali:

In other news, Ben worked an overnight shift with Chili Ambulance Friday night and had a great first experience there!!

Amelia’s hair is finally long enough to do two french braids…I got a little carried away taking pictures, but I think I’m over it now…

And to all you hair experts on the Archer side, I am aware that the part is not straight and I am working on it!!

We tried the ever-popular teenage method of taking pictures of yourself by holding your arm way out:

Could have been worse…at least you can’t see my arm…and I didn’t even crop it out!!

Another Sunday morning: