Our Latest Miracle

I recently discovered I had a new growth. It's very small, but will grow very rapidly. So, here's the scoop:

It's no secret that Rob and I want to have more children. We were contemplating on trying to have a baby when I was diagnosed. So, we took precautions before the chemo started, but nothing was guaranteed. We opted for the Lupron shot that would put me into early menopause, therefore tricking the chemo into thinking my ovaries were dead and did not need to be destroyed.

Well, a few months ago, I had what the doctor's believed to be a "hormonal imbalance" due to chemo side-effects. Because of this, we decided that maybe I should stop birth control pills since they were putting more hormones into my body. So, I got off the pill and we used "other methods" of birth control. I have been told that it was very likely that I would have difficulty, if even at all, getting pregnant due to the chemo. Rob and I discussed trying for a baby soon and came to the conclusion that we would wait until early next year, like March or April.

Apparently, God had other plans. About two weeks ago, I began to have some of the same symptoms as before. I thought it was still a hormonal imbalance, but decided to take an at home test just to be sure. So on December 11, 2009, I took the test and well...


We were in such shock that we just stared at the stick for several minutes (like 30!). Then we started getting excited. I wanted to tell our families at Christmas since we were only a couple of weeks away. So then we started planning that. We took some pictures for proof and then started brainstorming. We were giving Rob's mom a digital picture frame for Christmas, so I uploaded the pictures of the stick and me holding the stick. Then, we had to figure out a way to tell my parents. We also decided to not tell the girls until Christmas because they are not the best secret keepers.

I called the doctor on Monday morning to get in and get it confirmed. I was told that they don't "confirm" anymore, and they just take the home tests as the final word. Well, I wasn't completely convinced since we weren't trying AND it was supposed to be "difficult" for me to conceive. So, they set me up for my 10 week appointment and ultrasound. Within 30 minutes, the nurse called back and said the doctor wanted to see me that week due to my history. I was relieved. Rob was able to make the appointment with me and I'm so glad he did. Much to our surprise, the doctor went ahead and did the ultrasound even though I was only 5 weeks. See...sometimes cancer can have perks (just not usually)!

So, here is our baby. After getting the ultrasound, it was obvious to me how to tell my family. I framed the ultrasound and wrapped it up and put it under the tree. When the present was opened, it was perfect! The doctor said everything looked great at the moment, but I'm being treated as "high risk". I'm about 7 weeks now and I'm due on August 18, 2010. We are so very excited and are ready for this next adventure God has given us. He has definitely blessed us with a miracle!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

from our family to yours!

May your blessings overflow this year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. I love Christmas! This year is very special to me and my family as I have been out of the hospital for one year and am doing great!

Here are just a few of our pictures so far this year...

Our end table in the living room...just decorated

Our Christmas tree- decorated for the 4th time this year because Cleo, our cat, keeps knocking it down.

My awesome wreath that my Aunt Patsy helped me make (helped meaning she made it while I watched)

Reindeer, presents and trees in our front yard. We didn't get all the lights put out this year...just seemed to run out of time.

Our 8 foot cross in our front yard. We wanted to show the true meaning of Christmas.

Bone Marrow Drive

Bone Marrow Drive Sunday, December 6 at Green Acres Baptist Church. If you are not on the registry, please stop by! It is only a cheek swab and paperwork! Hope to see everyone there.

The people at Carter BloodCare have been so great to me! They made me a page with my story, so click here and go check it out!

I'm also in the local paper... click here to see the story!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

I am so thankful...

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year! I had several friends on facebook challenge all their friends to list something everyday they were thankful for in the month of November. Well, I didn't do it on facebook, so I thought I would list out my 30 here, one for each day in November. Here they are in no particular order:

1. My Lord and Savior who died for me!
2. My Husband- who loves me unconditionally and is my partner through thick and thin.
3. Emilee- my oldest daughter who makes me remember what it was like to be a teenager! I love you Emilee!
4. Natalie- my baby girl who teaches me patience each and every day, but whom I love unconditionally!
5. My parents- words cannot express how thankful I am to them. I hope you know how much I love you!
6. My parents #2 (also known as my in-laws)- for taking me into their family as their own. I love you!
7. My brother Casey and sister-in-law Kay- for all the visits, calls, and for just being there! I love you both so much!
8. My precious nephews, Walker and Wyatt- for bringing so much joy to my life!
9. My freedom- thank you to all who have served and fought for our freedom!
10. I'm ALIVE!!!- enough said!
11. My friends- old and new- my life would not be the same without you!
12. My "c" friends- these are my friends who have experienced first hand what cancer and chemo can do. To each of you who have fought and won, are fighting, and those who fought and lost, you have such a special place in my heart.
13. My job- not only the fact that I even have a job in this economy, but I have a job I love. Also, my employers who kept my job open for me through the 10 months that I was unable to work and were there for me and my family in so many ways! You guys are awesome!
14. My church- a place where I can go and worship and celebrate the life of Jesus Christ!
15. My SMBS class- Couples of Promise- this is our Sunday School class who accepted us immediately when we first joined the church and within a few short months after that, when I was diagnosed, they supported us with prayer, food (one meal a week for 6 months), visited me in the hospital, and were just there when we needed someone or something. Thank you, you will never know how much you mean to me!
16. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society- because they are fighting for a cure!
17. My babies- Princess, Daisy, Cricket and now Cleo- for my puppies, they were always there when I came home from the hospital to bring a smile to my face. They would snuggle in bed with me when I was sick.
18. My extended family- Aunt Flora and Uncle Bobby and their whole clan who prayed for me, sent me goodie boxes, and comforted my family last year. Thank you for ALWAYS being there for me my entire life! Also, the rest of my extended family who were there for me in so many ways!
19. My bros Tim and Michael and sis Becky- thanks for the laughter!!!
20. Technology- I know, it's a little strange, but it helped so much in keeping in touch with everyone and has brought so many of my old friends back into my life and let me make new friends!
21. Nature- every time you look at a beautiful tree changing color in the fall, a flower sprouting in the spring, a river, lake, ocean, mountain, valley or all the animals, you can see God's love.
22. Laughter- there's just something about laughing and hearing people laugh...especially little kids!
23. Education- even though I technically don't use my degree, it's still nice to know that I have it and had the opportunity to get an education. So many people in this world don't get one and so many people take it for granted. I'm also thankful my children have the opportunity to get an education and can study anything they wish.
24. Tracy- for so many reasons I can't begin to say thank you!
25. Being cancer free- enough said!
26. Be the Match program- for those who dedicate their lives to finding matches for cancer patients, and those who are donors and can help save the life of someone!
27. My home- a place where I can relax and be with my family and friends.
28. My senses- so that I may enjoy everything that God has blessed us with.
29. The written word- not only the Bible, but to those authors who have brought me joy, sadness, anger, excitement, and all the other emotions, thank you!
30. Last, but not least, YOU- my readers, prayer warriors and friends! Thank you for all your comments and emails! They lift my spirits in so many ways!

So, those are my 30 things I am thankful for this November. Of course, this isn't everything, but I'd be here forever listing everything! What are you thankful for? This holiday season, take a moment and ponder this. You might be surprised what's on your list!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our family to yours! I hope everyone was safe and got LOTS of Treats and less Tricks. We started our evening at a Fall Festival at one of the local churches, then went trick-or-treating with some of our friends. We had a great time and came home with LOTS and LOTS of candy!

Emilee went as a "pajama person". I think she just wanted to be comfy, but she looked cute anyway!

Natalie actually won her costume when we went to the dirt track races a couple of weeks ago. She was a Gansta' Girl.

The Loot....

Rob and Emilee with one of our friend's kids trying to get in the picture.

Emilee in her SpongeBob Square Pants PJ's

On a more personal note...I had a PET scan this week and the results came back "stable." I don't know if it grew at all, but it wasn't enough to alert my doctor and for that I am thankful. All my bloodwork continues to be in normal range other than my B-12 level. They feel that this deficiency could also be causing the insomnia, which in turn is causing the migraines. And the circle continues... Also, for the past two months, I haven't been feeling all that great. I actually thought I might be pregnant as I had several of the same symptoms. Well after the home tests came back negative, I told my doctor about it and she ran a blood test. I am NOT pregnant, and she feels that the symptoms are probably side effects of the chemo. I was pretty much in shock that I could still be having side effects 10 months after my last round. She said I will be having symptoms for quite awhile. She thinks the chemo is causing a hormone imbalance and that is what was causing the "pregnancy" symptoms. Please keep this new development in your prayers. There is nothing like getting up from my desk, going to the bathroom to throw-up and then back to the desk to continue working, but that is what I've been doing for the past two months.

BUT, other than that, I feel great! I'm getting really excited about the holidays coming up. I absolutely LOVE Christmas! Not only do we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but I can give gifts! I love watching the faces of people when they open presents. I actually spent some time today wrapping Christmas presents. I decided to have some fun with the girls this year because they get so nosey and start shaking all their presents. So, this year, I have picked out two names of reindeer and assigned one to each of the girls and put that on the present instead of their names. They have no idea who is who! They will find out Christmas eve when we do Christmas with Rob's parents.

Thanks for stopping by...I hope each and everyone of you have a great Holiday season! And remember...

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Light the Night 2009

This year's Light the Night walk was a great success! We had over 500 people show up, which is the most Tyler has ever seen! The day started for Rob and I around noon when we went to go help set up. I had only planned on staying out there for a few hours and then heading home to get the girls and finish getting everything ready. Well, that didn't happen. I ended up racing home changing clothes and getting the girls only to race back to where the walk was being held. Rob spent majority of the evening running around and trying to help anywhere and everywhere. I did a little of that, but tried to be the good team captain and stay with my team. Being this was the first year I actually attended the event, it was such an amazing experience! Thank you to all of our friends and family who joined us and to those who donated! Our team has raised just under $4,000 so far this year. Here are a few pics from the event. I did bring my camera, but did not take very many pics, so this is a compilation of mine, my mom's, my friend Emily's, and the newspaper. We also had Ben Daily from Daily's Photography come out and do professional pics. Thank you so much Ben for donating your time! I don't have any of those yet, so here's the amateur stuff!

Our team tent...we were filling out luminary bags to remember and honor those friends and family of ours who have gone through cancer. Unfortunately, I didn't think fast enough to get pictures of all of them.

The Lymphoblasters- we had one of the largest teams out there!

Group from our Sunday School class "Couples of Promise"- L to R: Me, Rob, Grant (our teacher), his wife Emily, Audrey, her husband James, and in front Amber

All the kids of our Sunday School group minus Emilee...not sure where she disappeared to at this point in time.

Me and some of our team members doing the walk

My nephews did the walk in style!

Me and Rob starting the walk (at the end)...our team brought up the rear of the group, but it was amazing because we were able to look out over all the lit balloons.

Addi (Amber's daughter) and Natalie carrying our team banner

Some of my awesome family- L to R: Casey (my bro), Kay (my sis-in-law), my nephews Wyatt and Walker, and of course Natalie

One of the luminaries

In memory of Eve who lost her fight last year while I was fighting mine

Emilee and Natalie sportin' their balloons!

Olive Garden catered! Yummmmm!!!

Moo! The whole herd of Chic-fil-A cows came out for the walk. Chic-fil-A is one of our corporate sponsors every year!

Emily and Grant- some of our friends from church

The lead singer, Corey Harmon, of the band who is also a cancer survivor.

The Band- Planning Yesterday (Eph. 2:10)- They were AWESOME! They donated their time to this event and kept us entertained the entire night!

Survivor balloon. Each balloon holds a meaning- the white is for survivors and patients. The red is for supporters, and the gold is for those who lost their fight. Natalie carried a gold balloon for several of our friends who lost their fight.

Our friend Amber and her girls Addi and Brylee

Beginnig the walk

My friend Crystal's girls- Hannah and Autumn

To remember Crystal see the post about shaving my head here.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Firefighters, Pigs, and A Little Love

A couple of weeks ago, the Tyler area hosted the Firefighters Combat Challenge at the local mall. We set up a booth last year for the Light the Night walk, so we decided to do it again this year. It was such a great turn out! The girls had a blast because they got to work with the firemen and the challenge by resetting the targets after the firemen knocked them down with the water. We sold light the night items and water and candy bars. After all was said and done, we raised around $200 for the cause! We were able to talk to people and tell them about the walk and hopefully got a few more teams to sign up. Here are a few pics from the event:

While we were there, we had this group of bikers come up and start talking to us. I am so glad they did. They are part of the Wood County Sheriff's Department and one of their Deputy's was just recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. They asked a lot about the society and were even thinking of starting a team. His name is Shannon Love, so please remember him in your prayers. His website is www.fightingforlove.org if you want to stop in. They are holding fundraisers all around town to help raise money for his medical expenses. We gave them some information and a "survivor" bear to give to him. Even though he is not in remission yet, we gave him a survivor bear so he would know that we were praying for him and believing he would be a survivor. I hope I run in to these people again as they were so sweet and you could see the love and concern they had for their friend.

This is a pic of the girls and Natalie's friend Haley. Don't they look thrilled!?! They were waiting for their moment to run and set up the target again.

And finally, this past week has been an adventure for our family. Our youngest daughter Natalie was diagnosed with the H1N1 (Swine) Flu. The whole family was put on Tamiflu- which has side effects worse than the flu itself! She has been locked in the house all week and is bored out of her mind. It has been a difficult week for me as well because I've had to stay away from her. It is so hard to stay away from my sick child, but for my sake, I had to. She is just too contagious. So, if she was out of her bedroom, I was in mine. We are germ-x and clorox wipe people!!! Thankfully, she is on the mend. She has been fever free for 3 days now and can return to school next week.I go back to the doctor in another week and a half. Please continue to pray that my blood counts are normal and the mass is shrinking. I'm not sure when my next scan will be, but I will let you know as soon as I find out! Thank you all again for everything you have done and for all your prayers! You, my friends, are AWESOME!!!

Don't forget- Light the Night walk is October 17th at Bergfeld Park. Let me know if you want to join us!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!