Christmas Festivities

We were all glad to see that our three elves made an appearance.  The kids were so excited when they found them and the note they left. 

Sophie was in the Andalusia Christmas parade.  She had such a fun time and I was very proud of her for being such a big girl.  I was extra nervous about her riding it without her big sister, but she did great.

 We had Christmas at MeMe's the first of the month.  The kids always have a good time getting together with their cousins.....

 This past Sunday afternoon Karter and Sophie were in the preschool Christmas musical.  They did such a good job!!  All of the little performers :).....

 We also had Christmas with Kyle's Dad, aunt, and uncle.......

 Kyle and Karter went hunting before we celebrated.... hence the face paint :).....

 This past Wednesday night was Family Fun Night at church.  Sadly Sophie and I had to miss with her running fever.  Karter and Heidi went and had a wonderful time.  They had a World Champion Juggler put on a show. I was really looking forward to seeing. 

Yana and Kayla kept me posted with pictures and videos :)....

BFFs

 I think I have also forgotten to tell you all that Heidi got a rabbit for Christmas.... from MeMe.... Buttercup.  That thing is spoiled rotten!!!  This was her chilled on her back Wednesday night after they got in from church....

Sunday at church they split in groups and raced making each other into a snowman.

Kyle and Karter building legos :)

I missed all of the class parties this week due to sickness, but thankfully my friend, Amy, sent me some pictures....

Now we are looking forward to the next 17 days (Not that Karter is counting or anything) off from school. 

Mom Pictures (semi-update), Soph Sick

 I am sure you are wondering what a semi-update on Mom and Sophie being sick have in common.... but you'll put it all together soon :)!! 

All of our parents are wonderful grandparents and when they have to be away from the kids it is torturous.   It upsets Momma so much when she can't be around the kids & she doesn't like them seeing her so sick.  While she was in the hospital we would facetime with them while they were with whomever, or if I was home with them, then we would facetime with her.  (We facetime my Dad a lot too when he is at work..... what did we ever do before technology was so awesome?).

Hospital selfie of course!

Tyler of course noticed this on the tea handle at Moe's while we were at the hospital and knew right away the tune to it..... "Hold up wait 2 minutes let me put some sugar in it....." The lady said when she just puts an empty cup on it people take the cup off and still try to use it.  Go figure.  So she decided to come up with a cute phrase to put on it.  Rather catchy I think!

 Okay...... so Friday night they started Momma's chemo.  It took about 3 hours for the pre-meds and then I forget how long for the chemo.  We weren't sure whether to call this Treatment #7, or #1 for the second part..... so we are just going with #7.  We will always know #7 started the second round. 

 I have to say that Tyler and his crazy self told me that one of the chemo's was red.  I WAS PANICKING!  I did not want her to come out looking pinkalicious.  Thankfully the bag was red, but not the actual drug.

She was finally able to come home Sunday evening.  Aunt Donna went up and stayed with her Saturday night so Tyler could come home and she brought her home :)!

(I love snap chat)

 She hasn't been doing too well since being home.  We feel like it was a mixture of the chemo plus coming out of the hospital after being there a month.  She was on pain medicine and nausea medicine in the hospital around the clock, so now her body is having to adjust to being off the pain medicine.  She is still having to take the nausea medicine because the nausea is so bad.  Praise the Lord she is better today.  She was supposed to have her 8th(or 2nd) treatment today, but she was just too weak to do it. 

The beginning of this week was very difficult for all of us.  Momma was really.....  not good..... and to see her like that was awful.  Anyway, I won't go in to all the details..... just Praise the Lord she is feeling better today.

Alright on to Sophie girl.  She threw up at preschool Monday.... and started running fever Tuesday.  She has an awful cough and bad runny nose.  I was so afraid it was the flu and with Momma and her immune system being so weak, I knew I needed to get her checked.  Thankfully she tested negative for the flu.  She has fluid on her ear and lots of junk in her lungs.  He prescribed her two medicines and said I needed to keep her away from Mom until at least Friday.  THAT. HAS. BEEN. HARD!!!  It is hard for me to not just go check on her like I usually do.  BUT I do not want to risk her getting sick. 

Here were some pictures I took of Miss Impatient while we waited in the doctor office......

 Yesterday she was soooooo cuddly and calm.  I hated so badly she was sick, but I enjoyed that side of her so much.  We did lots of snuggling.  At one point I even started ironing some clothes and she crawled up in my bed and went to sleep.  That was her second nap for the day.  Not like her to take 2, let alone to go to sleep willingly. 

This was last night.  I had Sophie kind of behind me on the couch laying on me and Karter in front of me.  I had to pretend I was Spider-woman to maneuver my way out so I could put them to bed.  I couldn't resist a picture once I got up.

 I let Sophie sleep with me because I have been having to get up with her at night with her fevers and it is just easier with her right there.  Well, Karter and Heidi wanted to sleep in there with us on the floor.  So I made them a nice pallet and they slept so good.

Sophie is so much better today.  She ran fever most of the night, but so far none this morning.  Momma has already called me twice...... and just with her voice I can tell she is so much better.  HUGE improvement from Monday. 

Today is a good day :)!!! Mom and Soph are both on the mend!

Christmas Morning Came Early for Us

 One thing about Oil Field life is you learn to celebrate things early or late.  This year we celebrated Christmas early :)!

The kids always write Santa a letter and ask him to come early or late depending on Kyle's schedule. 

Our "backyard neighbor", Trey, and Heidi came up with the idea of camping out "on the fence" (the ladder Kyle built them to cross over) to try to catch Santa.  I loved the idea.  I remember always trying to catch him growing up, and I knew this would be a night they would never forget.  They had blankets, snacks, ipads, and were convinced they saw him in the sky.  I was completely exhausted just from going back and forth to the hospital I guess... so I crashed pretty early.  I was thankful Trey's Mom, Tina, kept a close eye on them and made sure they were taken care of. 

 They even came to our house a few times to see if he came while they were out there......  he never did.... but they had a nice little rush trying to see.

They loved their note and the fact that Trey's name was in it :)!

 Our spunky Sophie was sneaky!!  They were all so excited to tell us to check our stockings.  So I got it down and was feeling of it and knew it felt weird.  I opened it up to find a baby diaper and dirty sock.  I laughed and laughed.  Sophie started laughing and said, "I did that!!!". 

All three of them received a backpack the Christmas before starting big school.

Every year for Christmas all of our parents come over and we do a big Christmas breakfast.  This year wasn't quite the same :(... Mama and Tyler were in the hospital and Dad was at work.  Yana thankfully took the plunge and still cooked us all breakfast. 

This boy loves Legos

 That evening we went to Enterprise to eat and look at Christmas lights.  It was a nice ending to the day. 

Now on to the rest of our Christmas Festivities.....

Update on Mom

Alrighty first I just want to say that in my previous post, I wasn't pointing that at any one person.  We are all just angry in general.  Not at anyone.  Just angry at cancer.  :-)

We (Mom, my brother, my uncle, two aunts, and myself) came up yesterday morning for Moms appointment with Dr. Huh.  We were planning on meeting with him and getting the "scoop" about the type of treatment she would be getting and then a treatment.

Our plans were changed when he decided to admit her back into the hospital and postpone the chemo.  We all had it in the back of our minds that that was a possibility, but yet none of us packed a bag ;-).  Go figure.  I wanted to stay with her, and Kyle really wanted to be with me, so he came up and brought Mom and I clothes.  We will go home today and my brother will come up to stay.... Shift change :)! 

The pain she has in her stomach is a pain that none of us can even begin to comprehend.  I honestly cannot imagine.  He wanted to keep her here at UAB and hopefully give her some additional relief and then start chemo either today or tomorrow.

The chemo she will be on as of now will be a treatment once a week for two weeks, then off a week, treatment for 2 weeks then off a week and so forth.  He is trying to get her insurance company to approve a weekly treatment.  That treatment is $8,000/month.  Mind boggling to me!  Either treatment she will do for at least 6 months.  So if weekly that's a total of 24+ treatments.  With every 3rd week off, that is still roughly 20+ treatments.

I have had several people ask me about surgically removing it.  He said he could do that, but he would have to remove several vital organs and her quality of life would not be very good.  He doesn't recommend doing that and she nor any of us want that.  We want quality and quantity, but if we can't have both then definitely quality.   He did give us a sense of hope.  I know God is the ultimate healer, but just being transparent with you all  it is getting really hard to hold on to hope right now.  Dr. Huh said that he does not see "the end" in our future and doesn't want to talk about that.  PRAISE THE LORD that was good news. 

Right now we just have got to get this pain under control.  Our night here last night was one of the worst ones yet.  She was up ALL NIGHT LONG.  Hurting.  Crying.  In excruciating pain.  I finally went and found the nurse in the wee hours of the morning and told her we had to do something different.  She contacted the doctors again and about an hour and forty-five minutes later she was able to have a different type of pain medicine and that helped ease the pain.  On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worse), her pain level averages a 7.  Throughout the night it was a 10 15.  It is one of the hardest things any of us have had to do to watch her suffer.  We feel so helpless.

I have a ton of people constantly facebook messaging me, texting me, calling me, hugging me, etc.  and I can honestly say I cannot thank you all enough.  Your encouraging words and Bible verses are extremely helpful and uplifting.  Please remember to pray for my brother too.  He is hurting the same way I am.  As are Moms brother and sisters.

Some verses I have been given:

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  
James 1:3

Rejoice in The Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil. 4:4-7

He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6

But cling to the Lord your God as you have done to this day.
Joshua 23:8

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

  

Things I am Struggling With......

(1) I struggle with cancer overall.  There are so many smart people in this World.  People that can hack the most secure of secure systems, people that figure out ways around banks' security systems and know just when to rob them and I saw the other day where hackers are scanning gift cards and then when you purchase them from the store they are notified and use the gift card before you can even give it to the recipient.  So there are all these people in this world that are beyond my intelligence, but yet cannot find a cure for cancer?

(2) I struggle with watching my Mama suffer.  It is unbelievably hard to see her in so  much pain.  She was in tremendous pain before being admitted to the hospital, then for two weeks we had to watch her be in pain in the hospital, and now that she is home she is still in pain.  I. Don't. Like. That. AT. ALL.

(3) I struggle with Facebook.  I already didn't get on facebook much, unless I was checking my notifications or messages.  Occasionally I would scroll through, but I would have to be pretty bored.  Now it just REALLY frustrates me.  While mom was in the hospital I did get on there a good bit, because I didn't have much to do.  From Friday until today I didn't get on.... I got on there today to check the notification list that kept piling up.  I did check my FB messenger yesterday because I am helping with Sophie's Christmas party and I needed to be involved in that conversation, but it seems to be a place for complaints.  My Mom has cancer for the second time in 1 year and people were complaining about having a cold, having a stub toe, or this or that...... and I just tell ya.... it took all I could do to not comment on some of them and yell say, "BUT DO YOU HAVE CANCER"?? 

(4) I struggle more with the news of cancer the 2nd time around than the 1st.  The first time we were scared, nervous, clueless....... and then a miracle was performed 6 months later and she was cancer free.  And now 3 months later we are hit with the news all over again.  It really made reality set in.  Reality that this is serious......  We knew in February that it was an aggressive cancer, but when it was all gone after her second surgery, I think I was just convincing myself that it wouldn't come back.  Especially less than 3 months later.

(5) I struggle with people.  I am trying not to let people get to me, but sometimes they just do.  Especially now with Moms disease and finding out who truly cares and who really doesn't care at all. 

(6) I am struggling with Christmas this year.  I will never EVER forget Jesus' birth and all that He has done in my life and my families lives.  But I am just struggling this Christmas with the whole "feeling super Merry and happy" thing.  And I love Christmas.  Everyone around me knows how much I love this time of year.  I could listen to Christmas music year round.  I was in the hospital getting down and out about my tree not being up.  It seemed everyone on Facebook had already  had their tree(s) up for a month and I'm thinking.... well maybe ours will go up before Christmas day.  And then while I was at UAB with Mom, my awesome  BFF and my Mother-in-Law put our tree up, the kids trees, and cleaned their bedrooms.  It took a HUGE burden off me.  When I got the snap chat pictures and then when I facetimed them, I seriously cried.  Words cannot describe how much it meant to me. 

(7) I struggled with telling the kids the news on cancer the 2nd time around.  I mostly dreaded telling Heidi because she is older and has tougher questions.  I was praying so hard in the hospital for God to give me the words to say to her if she asked me, "Why God would take her cancer away and now it is back?".  Thankfully, she hasn't asked that yet.  She just asked where it was this time and if her hair would fall back out. 


***I am not writing this for you all to feel sorry for me and my family.  I am writing this because I am sure a lot of you are having the exact same struggles to your own degree in your lives.  We all have struggles.  Our family's pain is no bigger than your family's pain.  I know so many people that are without their loved ones this Christmas or have been without them this entire year or for several years.  The emptiness and missing them never goes away.  We just all need to lift one another up and encourage each other and check in!  If someone is on your heart, it is not by accident.  It is because God put them there.  Pray for them.  Contact them. 

The Return of Evil....... CANCER

There is a reason I have not blogged lately.

I STRONGLY DISLIKE HATE CANCER!!!!  Hate is such a strong word and Kyle and I do not allow our children to use it, but that is exactly how I feel about cancer.

Mama has been in the hospital since November 22nd.  She was at Flowers in Dothan for one week and then transferred to UAB.  She has been having abdominal pain for a while now and went to 3 different doctors about it.  The first one we went to was actually her oncology Dr.  He did a CT scan and everything was clear.  Then we went to another Dr and he ordered xrays and they were all clear.  Lastly she went to a digestive Dr (which by the way she called and got an appt the very next day.  That is a God thing.  Usually you have to wait over a month for an appointment) and he told her that she had an infection in her intestines.  That was on Thursday the 21st.  He prescribed her an antibiotic and told her she should start improving over the next few days.  By Friday morning she couldn't move hardly and was throwing up.  My uncle called the digestive Dr and they said if she continued then bring her to the ER.  That's exactly what happened Friday night.  They admitted her and told her she had a mechanical obstruction of her intestines.  They inserted a tube down her nose to her stomach to drain what was not going through.

Kyle was still at work,  but thankfully it was the weekend and Tyler was able to stay the night with her and we would visit during the day.  If I couldn't come then I would facetime.
 

She was on a NPO (means nothing by mouth) diet.  Which was okay because she wasn't hungry anyway from all that was in her stomach.  We realized how serious it was when the sign on the door kept changing dates......

Heidi loved going to the hospital and hanging out with Babee.

Even with them doing all that they were doing at Flowers, she was not getting any better.  They decided to take her tube out......

..... which was great.  We really thought things were progressing.  Kyle got in on Thanksgiving Day and that evening I went to stay with her.  One of the doctors there decided to do a CA125 test after going through her charts and looking at her xrays and scans.  The next morning (Friday Nov 28) he came in and acted like he had seen a ghost.  He was talking fast, stuttering, and was really acting very nervous.  He told us that her CA125 levels were 1,011 and that raised a lot of concern for him that her cancer had returned.  Before her very first surgery February 4th, 2014, her levels were over 10,000.  After surgery they gradually kept coming down with the chemo.  It got to where 5 was her normal level when tested.  A "normal" person's level is 35 or below.  He said he recommended transferring her to UAB to her oncologist asap.  SO we were both crying, trying to understand what was happening, and pretty much scared to death.  They got all of the paper work together and her room set up at UAB and then discharged her.

Kyle thankfully insisted on going with us and driving us to UAB.  We have such a wonderful support system and family and friends at home that will help with the kids at the drop of a hat.

We got to UAB that evening and then the fun began.  The weekend dr and residents that came by kept telling us that it could be an infection which is why her levels were increased (yes that is possible, but deep down we knew that with Moms history that most likely it was not just an infection).  Little did we know, but UAB had not yet received the scan reports from Flowers.  We had to wait on a disc from radiology at Flowers before we could be discharged to take with us to UAB and then the stinking thing didn't even work.  SO UAB decided to do their own scans (thankfully) and CA125.  Her level was now 1,030. 

The cancer has returned.  

It is in her abdominal cavity which is causing swelling.  It was causing her kidneys to swell and interfering with the flow of one of her Urethra Tubes.  They decided the best thing to do was to put a stint in from her kidney to her bladder.  They did that procedure Tuesday and it was almost immediate pain relief for her back, but did not fix her stomach pain. Yesterday morning they started giving her a steroid to help with the stomach swelling.  As of this morning, the pain is much better.

Thankfully the cancer is not in any of her organs.  That is the good news in this.   She will hopefully come home soon and will continue the steroids and then we will go Wednesday for a chemo treatment.

Her last surgery was August 15th......  The Miracle Day!  She never did get full relief or the feel of a full recovery after surgery.  Her stomach really started hurting the end of September and by October we were calling Dr. Huh back.

Cancer is awful.  It just completely drains the person going through it and his/her family.  Although Mama is dreading more chemo, she is ready to get it started.  Just please pray for continued strength for her to fight this disease.  Also pray for comfort.  She has been suffering for a long time now and it would just be nice to see her comfortable.

Thank you for all your prayers and concerns.  We have had a lot of people message us wanting to know what was going on, so Mama and I decided that I needed to do a blog to let everyone know.