A sad update – one of the Caringbridge kids I follow passed away today. Colin (see link) had been having a very hard time lately and got very sick a few days ago and there was nothing left for the doctors to do except make him comfortable. Please pray for his family.

Please pray for the Duckworth family. Jacob is one of my Caringbridge kids (see link to the left) and they have just learned that there is no treatment left for him and he may only have a few days to live. I’m so shocked and saddened by this…yet I can’t even begin to imagine what the family is going through. Yet through it all, their faith remains unwavering. Jacob’s dad posted John 16:22 on their site:

Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Even after working for a cancer network for over six years, I’m still astounded by how complex each case can be and how even the most aggressive treatments may work for some and not others. It breaks my heart to see and hear of so many struggling and so many losing the battle. I pray that one day, all the people working so hard in this fight will find a way to prevent cancer all together…and in the meantime, to continue to find new and better treatments to help people survive.

Or maybe make that crazy bee! I feel like I am running constantly this week. There is so much going on. It’s been pretty calm for a while but it always throws me off when I have a week like this. But I have some dear friends who are helping me to get through it with my head still attached! And I am thankful every day for them – and for all of you! : )

We had a youth group picnic today at Neshaminy Creek…while the boys played cards, the girls captured crayfish…. 

My friend Kym and her family adopted a nine-week old Burmese Mountain Dog yesterday. He is just a big ball of fluff! And such a sweet guy too.  

This is Missy-girl about two weeks ago. What a cutie she is! She is behaving really well and getting along with the boys but is scared of the traffic on their road, the lawn mower and the sheep next door… 

Whew! Today has been quite a day so far. I took the day off from work and my mom came down to help me clean up my basement. After seeing how a friend in the neighborhood had done hers, I wanted to create a space where kids can play when they come over or I can do crafts/scrapbooking and leave things spread out. But the basement was quite…well…crowded? That’s probably an understatement. I had a ton of junk. Some boxes had never even been opened from when I moved in two years ago.

We sorted and I had a ruthless attitude – if I hadn’t opened it or didn’t know what was in it, it was history. We ended up filling up the entire back of the Forester with stuff (stacked to the roof – we couldn’t even close the hatch all the way) and taking it to a local thrift store. I have about that much stuff to trash too – they’re going to love me on trash day! But the basement is much better organized and we’ve cleared a nice size space out. I can’t wait to get a rug and some things up down there to make it more like a finished room.

The best part,though, was spending the day with mamacita. She is so very organized (and a cleaning freak!) and I knew that she would be able to whip me and my evil basement into shape. Plus she knocked down all the cobwebs and spiders, which is a major thing in my spider-fearing book!

So now my back is yelling at me and I am in major need of a nap! But maybe that means I will sleep well tonight. I haven’t worked that hard since workcamp so I sure hope so.

TTFN!

I’ve been pondering what to post and decided I should just be honest. This week and the last few have been pretty wearing on me.

I think some of you know that I had scoliosis really badly as a young teenager. I wore a back brace from the time I was 12 until I was 15, when they decided that the degree of the curve was progressing steadily enough to warrant surgery. So I had surgery where they put what is called a Harrington rod along my spine to straighten it out and grafted a piece of bone from my hip over it. I gained two inches in height! And for several years, no problems. Some pain off and on but nothing major.

A few years ago, I went for a checkup with my orthopedic doc because I was having some discomfort and he said I was starting to develop stenosis (narrowing) of the spine and something called flatback syndrome. A lot of people who had Harrington rod surgery in the 70s, 80s and even early 90s are now being diagnosed with this. They only used one rod then (now they use two or more) and it didn’t allow your spine to flex except where the rod isn’t and your lumbar area gets flat instead of curved. As with most things, I put this information aside and went on like I was completely normal (haha, I know!)

Two years ago, though, I was simply walking through the parking lot at work when something popped in my back. I ended up in the ER and got some pretty strong meds. I went back to physical therapy for a while and actually ended up needing an epidural injection. But then the pain went away (pretty much)…until a few weeks ago when it came back full force. I was out of work for almost an entire week and now am back in pt again. : ( And the joy of pt is that they (a) often don’t know what in the world to do with me (though I think this therapist does) and (b) hurt me a lot in the beginning before I start to get better.

So, I am walking around feeling like an 80 year old woman and it makes me mad. It makes me mad that I can’t do simple stuff like weed or wash my kitchen floor. It makes me mad that I have to have people help me with things like that.

I joined a yahoo group about flatback syndrome and while people there are really nice, when I read the files of their stories I started to freak out and had to stop. I want to be the exception to what seems to the norm – ending up with revision surgery, six months of rehab, etc.

And then I get upset because I know my “stuff” is nothing compared to others and I should not be complaining! I look at Ruben(Each Day Counts) and his struggles with his illness, yet he is always encouraging other people. I look at my Caringbridge kids…some of whom may not make it to this time next year. I think about the scare my friend had with her daughter this morning and all the other people struggling in this world…

Who am I to complain???? I think if I could just get a good night’s sleep, it would help immensely!

Isn’t this a great picture?!? I love it. Sean really enjoyed his first birthday! And so did the rest of us. Can’t believe he’s a year old already, though!  

We learned a very important lesson about pinatas…you need to either put a hole in ’em or perforate ’em first. Otherwise, the kids will have to whale on it all day…and it still won’t open! :p