We had the most incredible news today! When we arrived at Jewish, Kaid and Drake's lower lungs were working at around 55%. A few days ago, they started using their bronchodialater (advair). We have noticed from their peak flows that it was helping a lot, but we weren't aware of just how much until today! After their breathing test this morning, Dr. Elizabeth had a shocked look on her face. She leafed through their charts, and told us that she is confident that the medicine in working! Kaid's lower lungs are now working at a 109%, and Drake's are at 92% Praise God! That is a miracle. Those are numbers that we never would have imagined possible! We believed that the Lord would improve their health, and He did!

The kids had their last art therapy today. I asked the therapist what her degree was in. She is a professional artist, pottery being her specialty. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in art, and a masters in counseling. It's amazing how she combines therapy and art. Drake made a coffee cup, and Kaid made a cheeseburger out of clay. They painted them today, and the therapist was going to put them in the kiln afterward. They will be packed and ready for them when we get to the hospital tomorrow. In their class, there was the most adorable little girl with her parents. They were really great artists, and made an entire heart shaped tea set. The little girl has been in and out of the hospital for months, and has been so sick. Her parents were thankful for their art session, because the little girl had so much fun! It was neat to be a part of!

After lunch, we took a quick tour of the Denver Mint. Kaid was particularly interested in going, as he is a coin collector. Before the tour, we were in a museum type room. It had the most amazing bible time coins. They had the type of coin that Judas Iscariot would have received for betraying Jesus. You know when Jesus said to give to Caesar what is Caesar's? They had that coin. They even had the type of coin that was referred to when the poor woman gave two small coins, which was all she had. How cool is that? At the Denver Mint, they only make coins - no bills. In fact, they make 2 million dollars worth a day! We got to see them make pennies. They sure don't let you see much of the building! Because they don't let you take your camera, I snapped a picture of the kids pointing at the building from our parking lot. That's kind of a bummer, because it's so pretty from the front!

We made it back to the hospital in time for speech therapy. We never would have imagined our kids requiring this service because they talk normally. The tests done this past week showed that Kaid and Drake suffer from Vocal Chord Dysfunction. Basically, their vocal chords are trained to close when they shouldn't. This can cause them to cough too much, like when they smell something strong, like a candle or perfume. It is also the reason that Drake can't catch his breath when he laughs. As many of you know, Drake has a hard time laughing hard when his asthma is flared up. It causes him to cough and choke, and becomes a dangerous situation. The speech pathologist explained how asthmatics tend to breathe wrong in an attempt to get more air. I'll try to explain. When a baby breathes, you can watch it's tummy go up and down. That's how it should be done. Asthmatics tend to puff their chest and shoulders up to take a deep breathe. While they get the sensation of getting more air, in reality, they are constricting air flow. To fix this problem we need to retrain their vocal chords. So, we learned a breathing exercise to do 10 times a day. Here's how it works. They will take a big breathe in , with their mouths open, for 1 second. Next, they purse their lips tightly, like they are trying to hold a penny between them, and blow out for 3-5 seconds. They do this for 5 breaths. This is also to be a first reaction to coughing or any asthma sympton. If it doesn't make them feel better, then they are to take their rescue inhaler. Because their vocal chords are hypersensitive, they can cough more then necessary, which can appear to be an asthma attack, when it's not! In fact, she said that many kids come to Jewish thinking they have asthma, when all they suffer from is vocal chord dysfunction. This can be corrected with these exercises, but we are to do it for 2-3 months! And, when they are sick, we are to start all over, and do it another 2-3 months!

We are anxious to get Kaid's reflux results tomorrow! After the kids' breathing tests in the morning, we will be dismissed and head home! It will be nice to sleep in our own beds tomorrow night!