Benson and Claire were born with a rare genetic disease in which their liver produces too much oxalate--called primary hyperoxaluria. Claire's condition has progressed much faster than Benson's. She was on dialysis since she was 3 months old and for much of that time, did dialysis 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. She receive a much needed kidney / liver transplant on December 18, 2009. It is expected Benson will eventually need similar transplants.


Sunday, November 8, 2009

Day 55

Today we just needed a day. We needed a day to just BE. Be away from the hospital. Be away from tubes and medicines. Be away from doctors and nurses (which meant we couldn't go to church or we'd still be surrounded :) ). And just have a NORMAL family day!! We weren't going to take Claire to church today because of all she's been through these past few days so we decided to ALL get out for the day.

We drove to Lake City, MN and enjoyed walking and driving along the Mississippi River. The kids loved seeing the ducks, seagulls, boats, water, waves, seashells, and SO DID WE! Water is simply relaxing. It was so great to hear the sound of waves crashing against the shoreline instead of the beeps of a dialysis machine.

And to top it all off, we came home and enjoyed the next best thing to water. Fire. We are lucky enough to have a fire pit in our back yard! Jared and Benson had been gathering small twigs and branches that had fallen off the humongous tress in our yard for weeks now. They've been waiting for the right night to burn them all. The toasted marshmallows we got from the perfect fire they made were hard to beat.

It was indeed a good day. A much needed, good day. Bring on the week.


Claire couldn't keep her eyes off the ducks. She really loves ducks.

6 comments:

2sisters said...

That's so awesome!!! So glad you could get out and be a "normal" family. Our prayers are with you!

Nathan & Michelle Watabe said...

So glad you took a day to enjoy each other and the simple pleasures of life! I'm sorry about all the complications. The road has indeed been rough. We continue to pray for you and try to support you as best as we can from a distance. I hope this is full of more normal family time!

Tracey said...

So glad to hear you guys had such a great day! Here's to many more!

Brice said...

Looks like you had a beautiful day!

** Adrian ** said...

What a great day to just BE! It looks like such a fun day!!! I hope you have an easy & NON STRESSFUL week this week!

~adelle said...

Yes Yes Yes. I am loving it. Just loving it!