Update 25 December 2009

Hi All,

First of all a very Merry Christmas from a very snowy Livingston to you all. Today we have celebrated the Birth of Jesus and we give thanks for the fact that was born in a manger all those years ago. We also give thanks for the fact that He died to save each and everyone of us. May God be with each and everyone of you at this time of the year.

I am writing this at the end of Christmas day 2009. As a family we have spent the day over at my Sister's house where the whole family congregated, with the exception of my other sister Ruth and her family. A good time was had by all.

This week has been an exceptionally busy one for us as a family, on Monday we made the trip through the snow and ice upto Inverness, to visit with my Gran who turned 100 on Tuesday of this week. It was great to be with her and to be able to take Jillian and the children along as well. Rebekah coped really well, although half way through it was becoming quite overwhelming for her.

Turning to an update on Rebekah, ten days ago we had an appointment with the Consultant from Sick Kids to review Rebekah's case. Rebekah had been coping quite well on the medication so far. However, we were unsure whether it is actually doing what the Consultants hope that it will do. So far a lot of the symptoms that we would have expected to disappear have stayed despite the amount of medication being pumped into her. This is exceptionally worrying as you don't want to give your child medication at the dose that it is if it isn't actually doing the job that you expect.

During the last week we learned that Rebekah is to have another 24 hour brain scan next Tuesday 29th/Wednesday 30th. This will help the Consultant find out whether the epilepsy is being treated or not. She will inform us of the results by telephone once the scan has been reported on.

We have been experiencing some difficult days with Rebekah over the last few days and have been finding her behaviour exceptionally challenging at times. We know that it is the medication as much as anything else and we can only do our best to cope with it each day.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us, we do very much appreciate them.

Please continue to pray for us over the coming weeks. Some prayer points:

1. Rebekah will be healed

2. Rebekah will continue to tolerate the medication and be able to attend school when in session.

3. That 2010 for us as a family will be one of blessing and that we will see the Lord's hand in all that we do.

4. Pray for Jillian and I as we cope daily with the struggles that Rebekah's health brings.

5. Pray for Jillian that she would be able to return to work in the New Year.

6. Pray for Abigail & David as they cope with their sisters mood swings and being the brunt sometimes of their sister's temper tantrums.

Update 8 December 2009

Dear All

I just wanted to post a short update at the moment to ask you to continue to pray for Rebekah. She has just started her fourth week of steroids and immunosuppressants drugs. So far she has not had too many bad side effects, although there have been some pretty difficult days over this period. We now have our very hungry daughter back and I am considering putting locks on the cupboard doors to keep her out.

We are very grateful to God that to date Rebekah has managed to continue to go to school and was one of the narrators in her christmas nativity last week. She had to say one sentence which she did very well indeed.

These past four weeks have probably for Jillian and I been the most difficult believe it or not since this all began. I think the full impact of what is going on has hit us afresh and we have been really struggling to cope with it all. Jillian was signed off her work again last week and I am hoping that she will be able to go back to work soon. I know I feel I have been running on empty most of the time.

Part of the problem is that we are in what I term no-mans land just now as we have a lot of questions for the consultants unanswered, but also until we get the next brain scans done which we are told maybe before Christmas but equally it may be just after we don't really know if the drugs are actually working. We will see the consultant next Wednesday (16th) which will hopefully provide us with some information.

We appreciate your support and prayers for us as a family more than you will know. I think it is also good to remember that we do have a God who hears and answers prayers. Our prayer for the end of this year and the start of the new one is that the Lord will heal our daughter and that we will have a much better 2010 than this year has been.

Thank you once again for your support.

Jonathan, Jillian, Abigail, Rebekah and David