I love this man!

Which picture do you like better? This one or the one above?

The Blizzard of 2010

We had a San Antonio Blizzard today. Our family is calling it, "The Blizzard of 2010." I think the picture says it all:

I found these 2 pictures on my camera. It appears Johnathon took them. They made me smile. I hope they do you, too.

More Good News

I went for more tests and biopsies yesterday. Thankfully, there is NO cancer in my GI tract! Whewhoo!!!! And, thankfully, that test is over. I'm so thankful for my good friends: Jana who took such good care of loopy me, Jamie who took care of getting Jessica to and from school, Mary and Ally who managed 4 of the kids for co-op and the afternoon, and to Myrna who once again took made sure Ryan had a great day! Thank you all!

And, yes, Jessica, I now remember that Sister Wilson brought you home. :)

Happy Birthday, Dwight and Jessica!

Today is Jessica's 15th birthday and Dwight's 42nd birthday! We had a very nice day.
Jessica had the day off school. Unfortunately, Dwight did not have the day off work.

We had yummy cake and ice cream. I made the cake. Can you tell?

One of Jessica's sweet friends brought her a fun Sponge Bob balloon and a cupcake. I'm glad Jessica has such good friends.

We don't get many pictures of Jessica or Dwight.

So, it was fun to get some good snapshots of both of them.

I love the two of you! Don't ever forget it.

Happy Valentine's Day

This has been a great Valentine's Day. Dwight and I actually celebrated Valentine's on Friday evening. We had a yummy dinner together. We decided we'd celebrate with the whole family today. So, this is what Valentine's Day looked like at our house today: It started with beautiful roses.

Then Dwight and I spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking up some yummy dishes for the kids to enjoy with us.

Dwight made some mango pico de gallo and shrimp to serve with plaintain chips that he fried himself and some blue corn tortilla chips. Delicious!

Dwight also made wonderful steak, shrimp and melt-in-your-mouth scallops. (The scallops were a HUGE hit!)I made this yummy roasted brussel sprouts dish. It has granny smith apples, red onions, lots of bacon, and of course, brussel sprouts. So good!

And, of course, what Valentine's Day meal would be complete without a little chocolate? I dipped some large, flavorful strawberries in white and milk chocolate. The kids were really tickled by the tuxedo design.

Hope you all have had a loving Valentine's Day!

Deborah's been playing with my camera. Here's one of her better shots today (minus the thumb).

More Art from Jacob

Today Jacob had an art assignment where he worked "together" with the teacher to express his feelings through his art work. Here are the resulting pictures:

I promised some pictures of Ryan's feeding pump and here they are. You can see from the above picture that it's just a little unit that hangs on an IV pole. The pole is adjustable and easily moved, which is really nice. We also have a little backpack that we can put the pump in and take with us. So far though, we've opted to just leave the pump at home. We're usually only gone with him for a few hours at a time and it just feels a little easier to not deal with the pump feedings then.
You can see from below how we just place the IV stand next to Ryan. We can still hold him and play with him. Here he just happens to be hanging out with the other kids.

David was playing with and reading to Deborah while Johnathon finished the book "The Lightning Thief." If you haven't read it yet, you should. It's a really fun book based on Greek Mythology. It's a pretty easy read and it seems to appeal to a wide range of ages. Jessica is almost 15 and she enjoyed it and Johnathon is only 7 and he's loving it!

Man, it's been a long day!

The t-shirt says: "Judge me by my size, do you?"

More biopsies ordered...

I met with yet another specialist today. This time it's a GI Specialist. I really like him. (Thanks for the referral, my Relocated Angel!)

Anyway ... he explained that it's common for Lymphoma to present in the GI tract, most commonly in the stomach. So, next Tuesday he will be doing biopsies of my GI tract. Thankfully, I'll be asleep during the whole procedure.

And, THAT brings up another point ... Why will they put me to sleep for this procedure (and insurance will pay for it), but NOT for bone marrow biopsies?? Really? Who made that decision?

Oh, well, it was worth the $307.

I love my job! Today.

I was just watching last night's American Idol episode and doing laundry. You know the routine ... hanging clothes and folding towels, sheets and pillowcases. Such a mundane task. Then during the first commercial break, I went into our bathroom to put away the folded towels and replace the used towels with fresh towels.

That's when it occurred to me. As I was taking down my husband's towel that was still slightly damp from his morning shower, I felt such joy! I love my job! I'm not sure if he even realizes that I give him a fresh towel every time I do laundry. But, I love that I can serve him. In such a simple way, I can do something nice for him.

I haven't always loved this aspect of my job. So, why do I now?

Perhaps, it's because of a conversation I had with a friend last night. She commented on how sweet she thought it was that when Dwight spoke in church last week about maintaining faith while enduring trials, the only thing he talked about as a trial was my health issues. It was just me that was at the top of his radar. She thought it was sweet. I hadn't really thought about it.

It was sweet.

She also shared with me a conversation she had with a friend. This friend had attended one of the conventions they have about families. I've heard of it. You probably have too. It's a worldwide conference to discuss ways that we can strengthen the family in these days when the idea of family is really being attacked. One of the comments that was made by a woman from another country was directed to the women of the western culture. In her country, women have been forced to start their children in government run schools by the age of 2 (or was it 3?) and they are required to go to work. She spoke of her confusion as to why women of the western culture would willingly choose to do those things.

I recognize that not all women willingly choose to put their kids in school early and I am truly aware of how many women are returning to the workplace when their heart's greatest desire is to be a full-time homemaker. However, with that said, and understanding that I am not placing judgment on anyone's situation, I think she has a very valid point.

And, today, I am very thankful for the mundane tasks like laundry, cleaning bottles, changing diapers, vacuuming, etc. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve my family, to have my children with me, and to (do my best to) make my home a little piece of heaven.

I hope you love your job today, too. Whatever that job may be.

Johnathon and I slipped away for a yummy treat at our favorite breakfast place! We had lots of fun this morning!

If you've ever wondered what I do all day, just look at all that laundry on the floor. :)

"If thou canst believe,
all things are possible
to him that believeth."
~The Savior

Well, the news isn't exactly what we'd hoped, but ...

The dermatologist's office called today. The spot they biopsied from my leg is just scar tissue. We thought it would be, and we're glad it is. Unfortunately, the spot they biopsied on my back still shows cancer cells. The good thing is that it is still the same type of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. It hasn't mutated.

So, how am I? Ummm... I had a large slice of pineapple upside down cake (yum) and now I'd like to do nothing for the rest of the evening. I'm a bit bummed.

But ...

I also know without a doubt that everything will be alright. I know that prayers are spoken on my behalf frequently and I know that God hears those prayers. I have felt the burdens lifted from my shoulders. As the Apostle Paul admonished, "[I] believe all things, [I] hope all things, [I] have endured many things and hope to be able to endure ALL things."

Bummer.

Ryan's 2nd Upper GI & Modified Barium Swallow Study

I just returned home from Ryan's 2nd upper GI and modified barium swallow study. Ryan's surgeon that inserted his feeding tube and did the Nissen fundoplication suggested it might be wise to have these tests done. Ryan was wretching anytime he consumed more than 2 ounces of food. His GI Specialist agreed that we needed to do the tests and ordered them.

We started with the modified barium swallow study. A speech therapist, a radiology tech, and a radiologist (sounds like the start of a joke, doesn't it?) joined us in an x-ray room. They placed Ryan in an infant seat that was partially reclined and then gave him a bottle of barium. You might think, "But, doesn't offering something like Barium have the potential to change the way he eats?" Yes, technically, it does; however, it can't taste or smell worse than the formula (Neocate 1+) that he currently eats.

As he drank from the bottle, we watched on x-ray video as he sucked and swallowed the food. We noticed that he sucks a couple of times and then swallows. We think this may just be due to his nipple having too slow of a flow. There did not appear to be any issues with his ability to swallow liquids.

Previously, we had learned he had some "penetration". The recommendation was to chill all of his liquids to encourage him to swallow them instead of holding liquid in his throat. This time they did not see any penetration. Thus, it is no longer necessary to chill all of his formula before he eats.

The speech therapist, Darcy, also offered him a couple of bites of pears & barium thickened with a little cereal. With a little coaxing, he swallowed the first bite, but the second bite "scattered," meaning he did nothing with it. Because he does nothing with it, it just kind of spills out of his mouth. This is the same result we have seen in the past.

Then the radiologist did the upper GI series. He chose to feed Ryan Barium through his mic-KEY button. He pushed a little less than 2 ounces and was unable to push any more. The barium did empty appropriately from his stomach and once some emptied Ryan was able to receive more. So, it seems Ryan's stomach is only large enough for 2 ounces.

The Good News: We did not see any reflux issues or any structural issues.

Another Video

I still haven't figured out how to turn the video, so I guess you have to either turn your computer or your head. =]

Dwight took this video with his phone. It's not the best quality, but it's kind of fun to watch.

Hope you enjoy!

Good News

Ryan was able to balance in a sitting position for about 3-5 seconds tonight! We are so proud of how hard he works and how much he continues to progress.

We are so very thankful for all of his wonderful therapists and friends who help him! We love and appreciate you all!