Faith is easy when we can see the path.

Day 38:
It’s September 1st. This feels unreal to me. Mostly because I don’t feel like we are in a much better place than we were when she was admitted for this stay on July 26th.

Today, Tates calprotectin level came back sky high. This measures how much inflammation is in the intestines. Normal range is 10-70. Tates is at 1,980. This is after a month of steroids, immunosuppressants and tnf inhibitors. This test is often used to look into crohns or diverticulitis. More common levels for diagnostic purposes are often in the 200’s. Concerning.

Tates body pain has increased over the last two days and we believe she’s developed an ulcer either at the end of her esophagus or into her stomach. All signs that the new meds may not be helping either. She gets a huge slug of iv steroids tomorrow which we’re praying will immediately calm the body pain. We’ll then have our answer knowing the source is indeed still active Behçet’s. If it doesn’t? Not sure…she doesn’t always respond like we think she should. We keep going.

Tomorrow a bunch of labs get rechecked. Historically, Tatum’s labs often don’t give us the full picture. Praying for definitive results for guidance on pushing forward or shifting gears. Faith is easy when we can see the path. The struggle comes when we feel like we’re moving forward blindly. God guides. God sees. All I need to do is reach out my hand.