Seeing the Specialist

 Jasmine in Downtown Indianapolis

My step-daughter, Jasmine, has had such a difficult road in her young life.  Stress from dealing with all that we've had to deal with the last few months has taken a toll on this beautiful, vibrant young lady.  She began having stomach issues a couple months ago.  Knowing it was stress related, but unable to eliminate the stress any more than we already had, we took her to the doctor.  Then, we took her to the ER when she doubled over in church from pain.  Many medicines later, we still hadn't found anything that helped.

This last week we took her to Riley Hospital for Children to meet with a GI specialist for her age group.  After looking over all the results and examining Jasmine, the doctor diagnosed her with stress-triggered IBS.  It is unusual for a young girl Jasmine's age to develop IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but it isn't impossible if she has been dealing with a large amount of stress.

I feel God leading me to blog about what Jasmine has been dealing with, but hesitant at the same time.  Jasmine has given me permission, but at fifteen years of age, I still am unsure.  I have written at least a dozen posts about our journey, and haven't published a single one.  It may be that God is leading me, but it isn't time.  Or maybe I just haven't found the right words.

All I know is that this time has changed our family.  We've drawn closer to God as we have walked a path that I wouldn't wish on anyone.  By His grace, we are taking things a day at a time.