Christmas Survey

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
• A gift certificate for a pedicure and massage
• The biggest CrockPot you can find
• A new coffee travel coffee mug
• A carrier for my bible
• Watch bracelets

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
Oh goodness… I can’t think of anything handmade. My family isn’t very crafty. LOL

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
I made a quilt for my parents one year, thanks to the help of my ex-mother in law.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
Probably Cabbage Patch Dolls… or Rainbow Bright Dolls… then again I did like my Light Bright.

5. What items are on your kid's wish list this year?
Webkiz, board games, clothes, new TVs.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?
Green Bean Casserole

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
I made Christmas cards last weekend, that’s about all the crafting I do.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
Not sure I really have one… Fred Claus makes me laugh.

9. Favorite holiday song?
Silent Night

10. Favorite holiday pastime?
It’s all about being with family… going to the parade and seeing the Christmas Village in Ogden. Hanging out at my parents or with my in-laws. Going to church and/or doing a service project for the community. For me, its not all about the gifts and decorations. I want to remember the real reason for the season and want my kids to be the same way.

Drew-ism!

On Friday, Drew and I were driving around, running errands. We were on our way to pick up Ty from a play date with her girlfriend and Drew said, “Where are we going next?” and I replied, “Where we go every Friday, the Genesis Project”. He looked at me with a thoughtful look and says, “Ya know, we go there a lot. I bet God thinks it’s a waste of gas!” It took all I had NOT to burst out laughing. “No, buddy… I’m sure that God likes when we go to church… it’s not a waste of gas”. Then yesterday after church, Drew says, “Are you going to bible study tomorrow?” so my reply was “Are you sure God wouldn’t think that was a waste of gas?” and we both just laughed and laughed. Too funny.

A Giving Story

Next Saturday, we are giving the homeless and less fortunate a chance to come in and shower, get new clothes, get haircuts, and have a warm meal. Yesterday, Ty and I went to hand out invitations with my sister throughout Grant and 12th st, to the houses and apartments.

It was a chilly day and we were bundled up. We started at the apartment buildings and went door to do and personally invited those who answered to come and left the fliers in the doors for those who didn’t. We were just about done with the apartment complex when we knocked on a door and a little girl and her mom answered. We invited them to come, gave them the flier, and started to walk away. She asked us for more information so we went back and talked to her a little more. She told me that her daughter can't go outside b/c she doesn’t have a coat and it's too cold out. Next thing I know, my daughter takes her coat off and hands it to the little girl. She told her that she has another one at home, so she could have that one. The little girl snuggled up inside of it and the mom got tears in her eyes. She kept asking us “are you sure?” and we kept saying yes. I gave the mom a hug and we walked on.

Poor Ty was standing there in a beanie and gloves with a T-Shirt on, but luckily I had another one of my coats in the car so we made due until we were done… but I can’t tell you how proud I was of her. My 9 yr old was filled with the Spirit and became selfless and caring to someone less fortunate, just as Jesus would do.

We talked about it in the car on the way home and she said that she knew the little girl needed it more than she did… and even though it was dirty, it was warm. She said she hopes that family goes to our event next week because they need some help. She gets it… she realizes that not everyone has what we have and she is willing to share her things with others. What an amazing feeling!

Good news!

The ENT nurse called me yesterday. She said that the pathology report shows a benign reactive lymph node, but no signs of cancer. Phew! No cancer!

When the doctor called back and I asked him what that means he said there was lymph node swelling due to infection. The culture report he got back yesterday morning showed that nothing grew in 6 days from the cultures they took. However when they called back last night, something did show up as Gram Positive Cocci. They are going to continue to test on it to figure out what kind of infection it is and to see what medication it is susceptible to.

I asked him where do we go from here… no cancer, but we really don’t have any answers. He said he is going to get us in with the Immunology department to be tested for Auto Immune Diseases. Something is causing the reoccurring infections and they are the next step to finding out what it is.

Thanks for everyone’s prayers and support. Praise God!

Surgery Update

Ty had surgery on Tuesday. She did very well with little bleeding. They did an open biopsy on the left and a needle biopsy on the right. They were able to get alot of samples that they sent off to pathology and to be cultured.

The Dr just called... no final report yet on the biopsy, but no organisms growing from culture so far. They will call me when they know more. Honestly, I was hoping something would grow so we can know what’s causing the reoccurring infection. She is a little sore when she sneezes or coughs, but is doing good overall. She went back to school yesterday.

Keep praying for some kind of answer!

Swollen Again, Update

The doctor called me last night. He said there is some concern regarding Ty’s MRI results. There is a cluster of lymph nodes that are enlarged back deep behind her saliva gland on the left side. He said that is pushing her saliva gland and that is causing the infection. He said we would skip all the scary words that that radiologist wrote on the report and we will schedule an open biopsy to remove the lymph nodes as well as the lymph glands. I guess where it is, is deep under the facial and shoulder nerve. She is going to have an incision on her neckline but when it’s all done and healed it will blend into the crease. I asked him if the problem on the right side was all lymph nodes or did her saliva gland look diseased when he took it out. He said that there was definitely scar tissue on the right parotid gland and he removed the lymph nodes that were around that then. I guess I have a lot of questions for him. What is causing the enlarged lymph nodes/glands? Why is she constantly having infections? What can we do to prevent this in the future? I know they are testing for cancer, but if that isn’t it, what could this be? They have her on a very strong dose of antibiotics for now and they are going to call me today to schedule her surgery. Hopefully its something we can do pretty quick… the waiting is the worst part. I get very anxious not knowing. If they give me a diagnosis I can deal with it…making plans to do whatever is needed. The sitting around in wonder is the hard part for me.

Swollen Again...

On Monday afternoon at 4:11 (Yes, I know the exact time b/c the Drs office closes at 4pm and I realized that I just barely missed them) my daughter calls me from her dad’s house saying that her neck is swollen on BOTH sides and she is in a lot of pain.

Freaking great. I hung up and wanted to cry. I hate to see my little girl in pain. I hate the agony that she goes through. Just makes me feel so helpless as a mother.

She came home later that evening and I gave her Tylenol, got her in the tub, got her some sour candy to suck on and eventually got her off to bed… She didn’t sleep well that night. Nor did I. I could hear her whimpering from her bedroom. At 430am she came in to ask if she could get in the tub to see if that would help her feel better. At 6am I went in her room to wake her up, gave her some Tylenol, wrote a note to the school saying that she would need Tylenol at lunch. I had the Dr write a note at the beginning of the year saying she could have some when she had a saliva gland infection. If we stay on the Tylenol, she does ok… if she missed a dose after 4hrs its all down hill and takes a lot to get her feeling better again.

I got a call around 1130 with her crying. She said the school lost her Tylenol. They have the note but cant find the medicine. I had to go get her, brought her home to give her Tylenol and she took a nap on the couch when I finished out my day working from home. We went to get more Tylenol to give the school a new box, which they are now guarding with their lives. LOL

I spoke with the nurse at PCMC Tuesday morning as well. I explained what was going on and what the Dr said to do when this happened next. After some calling around, she found us an 8pm appointment at the hospital to go in and get an MRI done. He wanted the scan while her neck was swollen so he can see exactly what is going on. Not only in her saliva glands, but in her lymph nodes as he feels that this could be more than what we originally thought.

Today is Thursday… and I am waiting on them to call in a prescription of antibiotics, waiting for the results of the MRI, praying for an answer. She is doing better today; the swelling is still there but no worse than yesterday. She is smiling a bit more. She can’t really eat a lot b/c she can’t get her mouth open and that frustrates her but she knows she is going to be ok. We trust the doctor to make the right decisions and to care for her, but even more so we trust that the Lord is going to take care of her. In the car this morning she says “Mom, can we pray that God makes me feel just a little better?”. That’s my sweet girl.