In early February, our entire family became infected with a virus which lingered for weeks. Though the rest of the family had recovered by the end of the month, Jonathan never fully regained his health. He frequently had abdominal cramps and was still very congested, which affected his speech (although by the first of March his vocabulary had grown to include over 35 words).
Bethany learned to pull up on hands and knees and to sit at five months. By March she was crawling. Doug had a two week break from school this spring, which he devoted almost entirely to painting the walls, building shelves in all our closets, and other such home improvements — our apartment manager loves him.
Jennifer’s Aunt Irene spent a week with us. She helped sew linens for our master bedroom during the day (curtains and a dust ruffle from a pink and green floral), then attended Bill Gothard’s advanced seminar with us each evening. Jennifer had to miss the last two days of this conference as Jonathan’s health worsened. His stomach pains had become more severe and were accompanied by nausea and vomiting. He had an insatiable thirst, drinking as many as six or seven full glasses of water in one sitting, which we attributed to the antihistamines he’d been taking for his congestion. Though we made frequent trips to the doctor’s office, it was still not apparent what was causing his problems.
Doug, Jennifer, Jonathan, and Bethany
Hi there! I came across your website by reading a chore chart on a friend’s Facebook page. When I saw the title of this Christmas letter, I had to read it. My youngest child of 4, Caden, now 3, was diagnosed with T1D at 14 months. Very traumatic for us all! God has carried us all the way! Then when he was 2, he fell and loosened his 4 front teeth (love the similarity between him and your Jonathan!). All four nearly fell out, and his gums tried to push them out because the diabetes prevented healing. After 2 rounds of antibiotics and lots of praying, he only had to have one pulled. The other three are still hanging in there! Anyway…glad to have found you! I look forward to learning more of your story! Thanks for sharing!
That is hard, Elisa. I’m so sorry. As you know from reading the letter, our Jonathan was only 23 months old when diagnosed; nevertheless, he has done exceptionally well (despite the roller coaster we were early one with respect to glucose levels) and in 24 years has never been re-hospitalized with any complications related to his diabetes. I pray your little Caden will likewise enjoy a lifetime of good health, despite the Type 1. Do you have a local support group? We didn’t for Jonathan, but have been blessed with one now that two more of our children have developed diabetes.