Oh Crap.

I guess that's just another way for me to announce that our kids' stool samples are now clean...apparently free of parasites.  We'll test once or twice more in the coming months, but it's looking (and smelling) a whole lot better around here these days.  On that note, I wish I could describe the smell of the bathroom over our first seven or eight weeks home - the first time I got a whiff of the poop coming from a child with the giardia parasite, I gagged and almost woofed my cookies.  It's ever-so-much better these days.  Lizzie's appetite has actually reduced significantly in the past few weeks, to a more normal level for her age, thanks to medication that rid her body of the intestine-burrowing parasites that were chowing down on her blood and stomach contents...now, we're actually feeding her instead of the parasites.  I hope to see my grocery bill decline accordingly.

In other news...their heads are now clear of the hard-to-get-rid-of fungus.  Yay.  Now I can get the dry and frizzy ends of their hair trimmed and start trying to figure out what, if anything, to do with Lizzie's hair.  We can also share pillows and blankets without fear of the fungus rubbing off onto us...literally.

I also think I've licked the bits of molluscum that occasionally appeared on the younger kids' faces.  And, lest I forget, I may as well add that both younger kids' mouths are also now clear of the cavity-causing bacteria that filled their mouths at extreme levels until recently.  Monday was our last day having to use the prescription stuff to brush their teeth with twice a day (after brushing first with regular toothpaste).

What a relief...no more gross stuff to deal with (hopefully), or to worry about catching. All three kids are on a significant vitamin and supplement regime, and we're seeing the resulting growth and health bloom in them.

I think the kids even look so much better now.  Since they were referred to us nine months ago, Seth has gained almost thirteen pounds and grown about twelve centimetres; Lizzie has gained over eleven pounds, and has grown thirteen centimetres (and even so, they are just barely at the 3rd percentile on western growth charts...they are still very tiny).  Their skin almost glows with newfound health, and they look like different children from those referred to us nine months ago.

In the midst of what has been a tough past ten days, I am very grateful that our kids no longer have to deal with parasites, fungus, bacteria...or hunger.