Slaying the Dragon

Abigail has been going to therapy. We started in the spring. She goes to a psychiatrist who has their PhD in children dealing with chronic pain. (Chronic pain is when pain is on going) He is amazing. He is teaching her that she can manage her pain just like she manages the digestive disease, Eosonophilic Esophogitis through 'tools'. He is giving her a different 'tool' for her toolbox each time we see him.

After we got back home the second time I thought that it would be a good idea to start a binder filled with the handouts he gives us and the notes that Abigail takes during the session.



One afternoon I found her sitting at the kitchen table coloring a picture.

(do you see Noel, the bird in the foreground?) 


When I asked her what it was she explained that she wanted to get on paper what she got out of the session that day. Here is what she drew and wrote:





We brought it to show him the next time and he asked if he could tweet it out to his fellow doctors. Of course we said yes. Later that night, he email me that Abigail's drawing was 'liked' over 2,000 times and it was retweeted all over the world. It was picked up by and retweeted in London and also by the Pain Center in Australia.

Abigail has always been able to put her feelings on paper. She amazes doctors with how she can so clearly articulate her pain.

I have no doubt that God will turn "beauty from ashes" Isaiah 61:3 (from her disease, He will do great things, He will use it to guide her life, to help others, to bless us) and I believe and know that He will "finish what He started" Phillippians 1:6

Abigail practices her breathing each day and her relaxation. She is keeping a list of every time she has a garbage thought and how she turned it into a comfort thought.



She is taking charge of pain and living her life in such a powerful way. We are grateful for kind, and brilliant doctors that lead the way, and we are grateful for this brave, amazing daughter of ours, whom we love with all our hearts.