Monday 28 January 2013

Sick Days With Daddy

A couple days after Amy and the boys got back from CA, Amy came down with a pretty intense bout of food-poisoning, or a bug very much like it. So I took a couple of sick days and got to spend some time taking care of my boys (and Amy).

Day #1:


Waiting for the school bus


Finishing up our latest Lego project


Finished: The "Abraham Lincoln" Lego Log Cabin


A pair of sneaky snacky squirrels


Very serious about The Fox and The Hound

Day #2



Crawling around (on a freshly vacuumed floor!)


Jenga!

And by special request, we finished out the afternoon with a tea party.






(No tea for baby)

Sunday 27 January 2013

New Header

Our blog has an updated look...and it only took us about nine months! Things move slowly in our household these days. Projects just seem to take ten times longer than they used to before we were outnumbered. The photo we chose is my absolute favorite picture of our family, so we hope you enjoy seeing it every time you check in with us.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Update on Mary: Smiles

Today my mom's oncologist wore a big smile as he delivered his news: her tumor shrunk again! Although it is still a very large tumor, it is smaller than it was before.

We are so thankful for this wonderful news. Praise God for giving my mom more time! Since the chemo continues to work, my mom does not need to make any changes to her regime. Considering her condition her quality of life is very high right now, so adding extra chemicals and more side effects doesn't make much sense. She will see her other oncologist next week for a second opinion, but is confident that he will also advise her to stay the course.

We are so thrilled with this news. She has responded remarkably well to this current chemotherapy, and we are so excited that it continues to be effective.
Please continue to pray! We are so grateful for your prayers as they carry us through this fight.

Specifically, please pray that mom's chemo continues to be effective in fighting her cancer. It will cease to work at some point, but let's pray that that day is a long way off.

Also, my mom's blood counts have been lower. Please pray that her body would be able to function well and to recover from the effects of her chemotherapy.

Thank you again for your prayers, and for celebrating this great victory with us!

Sunday 20 January 2013

Checking In

Last Tuesday I took Nic to the hospital for his blood draw. He has his hematology appointment in February, and because it can take a while for the tests that are sent out to Mayo Clinic I always schedule his draw a few weeks early. We go to the hospital out-patient clinic because that gives Nic's hematologist better access to the results than going to a regular clinic. Also, I think they tend to be a little bit better at getting the goods...but that is just my observation. The appointment went pretty well. Nic started whimpering as soon as he saw which room in the hospital we were heading to, but he sat still and it didn't take very long to get all the necessary samples (they take quite a few tubes because they perform many tests). The boys got their treats (teddy grahams and juice cups!), and we sat at watched the fish while they finished up.

At that point I noticed that I was feeling distinctly queasy. I'm not a fan of blood, but it didn't feel like that kind of reaction, and my stomach had felt a bit odd even before we went in...so I shuffled everyone to the car and started praying that we would make it home before I got much worse.

Unfortunately, my prayers were not answered in the way I had hoped, and I lost my lunch on the way home. I am quite thankful that there was a miraculous break in the traffic in time for me to pull over and yank the door open. I feel deeply sorry for the residents of that particular street, but I've only had my van for six months so I just can't throw up in it yet. Streets are easier to clean than cars. I spent the rest of the week in bed. I actually think it was food poisoning. I had the flu shot this year, and no one else in the family got sick, and it felt like food poisoning. I think it didn't clear up as quickly as it should have because I did not keep anything at all down for 48 hours, and since I am still nursing Kenny I am pretty sure I was ridiculously dehydrated and then sick from that. I lost six pounds in two days, so you know something was really wrong. Also, I looked like Hugh Jackman (minus the facial hair) in those nasty opening scenes of Les Miserables...all sunken and withered looking. Ugh. Looking in the mirror was horrifying. Now I know how I will look when I am eighty (but with white hair because I will not be dying my hair at that age).

Jeff did an amazing job with the kids while I was sick. He stayed home on Wednesday and Thursday and they had the best time hanging out with him, and he took good care of me as well. The children might not have eaten any fruits or vegetables during this period, but they did not develop scurvy so it's fine. Friday I took over, but I was barely functional so they got to watch so much TV. Tommy thought he had died and gone to heaven, he was so happy to watch TWO movies in one day. I so happy to be up and about again. Now I just have to dig out from under one week's worth of mess and the suitcase that still hasn't been unpacked (it was my goal for that Tuesday evening). Since it is horribly cold outside I guess it's a good thing that I have plenty to keep me busy indoors...

And, in a bit of great news, Nic's hemoglobin count was 11! That's low, but it's darn close to NORMAL. It's fantastic considering his sickle cell. It's also the highest we've ever seen it. What it means is that his body is doing pretty well right now, and that he should be feeling good. There are obviously more complicated tests that are happening, and we don't expect the results from those until we actually see the hematologist in February. We are certainly thankful for this blessing!

And, if you were wondering about the results from Mom's CT scan, she sees the oncologist this Thursday and he will read them to her then. I will be able to report to you after that. Her recovery from the scan went well, she felt much better than she did after her last scan, so thank you for praying specifically for this issue.

Monday 14 January 2013

Update on Mary: CT scan tomorrow

We just found out that Mom is going in for a CT scan tomorrow afternoon at 3:45. She could really use your prayers right now. The drink she needs to take is not pleasant tasting, so please pray that she can get it down and hold it down. Even worse, it makes her stomach feel terrible, so pray that any lingering effects from the drink would be done with quickly. She resumes chemo on Thursday, and it stinks to go into chemo already feeling poorly. The last time she had a CT she felt sick from it for about a week.
Of course, please pray for good results. Obviously we would love to hear that the tumor has shrunk, but containment would be great news too. Pray that the chemo regime she is currently on would continue to be effective and hold her cancer in check.
Thank you so much for joining us in prayer. We are so grateful for your continued support!

Saturday 12 January 2013

Cousins!



Thursday 3 January 2013

Update on Mary: Chemo!

Mom's white blood counts were good this week! She was able to get her chemotherapy today. In other good news, her CA-19 count was stable again this month.
Thank you all for your prayers!

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Update on Mary: On the Mend

Mom has been sick for the last few weeks. She caught a cold, and fighting off those germs really drained her energy for quite some time. After starting some antibiotics (because it moved to her sinuses), she is feeling much much better, but she is concerned that her white counts might not be high enough for her to have her chemotherapy this week. Please join us in praying that her white blood counts will be normal, that her body would continue to heal, and that she would be able to have her chemotherapy this week.
Thank you all so much for your prayers. We were so thankful to be together this Christmas, even if many of us were under the weather. It was wonderful to have our WHOLE family here this Christmas, Mom included, praise God. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish the best for this coming year.

Happy New Year!