Pray for a sale!

Last year, we purchased a commercial lot in hopes of building our own office space. Well, a lot has changed financially for us over the past year and we are now trying to sell the land. We have a potential buyer that is trying to choose between our lot and one next to ours.

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR A CONFIRMED SALE OF THE LAND! This would be an answer to very big prayer for us and would relieve a lot of financial burdern. We trust in God's perfect timing and pray that this is our buyer!

At home and doing well

Robert went into surgery yesterday at 10:45 am. We were blessed to have many friends from church come and pray with Robert prior to surgery and sit with me while I waited, and waited, and waited. I finallly met with the surgeon at 2:15 and he reported that all went well...no suprises! (This is one time we don't like suprises) He remained in recovery for another two hours and was taken to a room around 5:00 pm. Of course he was in some pain and feeling the effects of the anesthesia.

I arrived back at the hospital the next morning and met with the Dr. and Rob was released around 9:30 am. After several hours of no food, then a day of only liquids and jello...the first place we went was to Cracker Barrel to get some solid food and sweet tea! (I'm sorry, but jello is not a food)

I must say, THANK YOU LORD FOR ANSWERING THE PRAYERS OF MANY! Rob's parathyroid glands seem to be functioning well after the surgery, which is good, and his calcium levels are normal. He also has his voice! A BIG HOORAY!! Oh, I did tell the Dr. prior to surgery that I expected him to come out singing! (Well, maybe in a few weeks) Thanks Dr. Rashleigh!!

What next? Rob is scheduled to see the endocrinologist next week to start planning for the radioactive iodine treatment. We should also have the lab results from the surgery.

JUST AN EXTRA THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED, PRAYED, CALLED AND VISITED US. You truly are Christ!

Surgery Time

Robert is scheduled to arrive at Memorial Day Surgery Thurs, Aug 28 at 8:15 am with the surgery at 9:45 am.

Give Me Five

Alanna's newest thing is "five". When I picked her up from Pre-K yesterday, she had to give a high five to all the after-care kids on the way out. This girl is not shy AT ALL! We went shopping today and every person we passed in the aisle, she said hellp to, then stuck out her hand and asked for "five". Lets see, an older lady, two store employees, two kids and a mom...They all think it's cute, but not so with me. So, I go into my stranger talk again. Not but a few seconds later, we walk by two ladies and Alanna points directly at them and shouts "Stranger!" AUGGHHHH!

Next we will be working on using our QUIET voices!

Hello Stranger

Contrary to our referral information, Alanna is a little chatterbox. She also likes to say hello, talk and hug anyone that passes by. This is somewhat cute, however, I've been trying to teach Alanna about strangers and that she shouldn't talk or give hugs to people she doesn't know. Last week when my parents were visiting, we were out for a walk around the neighborhood. Alanna spotted some people walking up the street and she started shouting "hello!" while waving. I promptly told her "No, that's a stranger. We don't talk to strangers". She pondered what I said for a few seconds, turned around and shouted, "STRANGER...HELLO!" Oh my! We'll have to keep working on this one.

The next morning, she was standing in our playroom when the outside door blew open (one of my boys had just gone outside). She started shouting "Stranger!". I went to see what she was shouting about, and she pointed to the door and said "stranger, Alanna owie." And then some word in Chinese as she made a motion of cutting her throat. OK! I did NOT teacher her THAT! Not sure what she learned over there in China. However, she could be remembering our visit to the Temple of Lord Bao. They proudly displayed all those contraptions used for chopping off heads. Not the best place to take the kiddos.

MRI Results

PRAISE GOD!!

Dr. Mathews, our family physician and friend from church, called me today to check on Robert. He mentioned the last report he had was an MRI done on the 20th. WHAT!? He has those results? I have been calling, and calling the ENT Dr.'s office and no one has returned my call with any info. He was happy to share them with me...the translation read that it appears the cancer is confined to the nodule and has not spread to any other areas of the neck. WHOOO HOOO!

This is good news and also lowers the chance of Rob's vocal nerve receiving any damage, since they won't have to go digging around for any cancerous lymph nodes.

Need some suggestions

After surgery, the Dr. said that Robert needs to keep his neck covered and out of the sun to protect it and minimize scarring. Since his job involves working outside almost everyday, I need to find something he can wear that's not as obvious as a big bandage. I was thinking about a mock turtleneck, but I need it to be lightweight, since we do live in Georgia and... for it to be somewhat manly looking. A sport type material would be great, but most turtlenecks are meant to keep you warm and not cool.

Any suggestions or places I can find something like this??

Surgery scheduled

Robert is scheduled for a thyroidectomy Thursday, Aug. 28 at Memorial.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN PRAY FOR:
- The cancer will be confined to the thyroid only.
- The surgeon will work with excellent precision and remove all the cancer.
- Robert's vocal nerves (and parathyroid) will be protected and undamaged from the cancer or surgery process.
- Robert will have quick healing and minimal scarring.

No Go on the PET Scan

Our wonderful insurance company denied Rob's PET scan. They spoke with his ENT Dr. and offered to cover a Radioactive scan or MRI. The RA scan would interfere with his recommended treatment, since that's supposed to come after the surgery, however he agreed to the MRI. They then asked the Dr. to cancel the order for the PET. He said No, he wouldn't cancel it, since that's what he recommends and the responsibility will fall on them (the insurance co.) We are both disappointed and frustrated with the !*# insurance company, however the ultimate goal is for Rob to have the surgery. We don't want to delay any longer, so...he went in for the MRI today of his neck area. We should find out the results tomorrow.

PET Scan

We are still waiting for approval from our insurance company, but Robert is tentatively scheduled for a PET scan today at 3:00 pm. Mom & Dad have come to help with the kids. Not much else going on right now.

New Blog Features Added

To help keep everyone informed and let you know ways you can help, I've added a few buttons on the side bar.

Care Calendar: This will link to a calendar that will show what we need. Everything from meals, childcare, and visits.
Make a Donation: Tests & surgery for cancer...enough said! We'll welcome any donation amount.
Subscribe to blog: This is a new feature, not sure how it works, but I guess you can subscribe to our blog to stay up to date when I post.

I'll be posting all updates here, so check back often!

Peanut Festival

We went to the Brooklet Peanut Festival today, hoping to get our minds off things. We enjoyed a bag of hot boiled peanuts, walked around and called it a day. Three kids...poking and pestering doesn't make for a relaxing day. I can't say we are abounding with patience either. It's in times like these that you realize how precious your family is. Who wants to spend their day listening to bickering and whining! Enough already! Maybe this is our wake-up call...

The scoop!

Ok, I'm emotionally exhausted!

We saw the ENT Dr. today. Rob was diagnosed with papillary cancer of the thyroid. We are requesting approval of a pet scan, which is like a CT scan of the entire body to detect any cancer that may have spread. (BTW- we inquired on the aproximate cost...not cheap) We're hoping to have that done the beginning of next week. Then...pending those results, we'll know the extent of the surgery. At the least, he needs his entire thyroid removed. The Dr. is hoping to do the surgery by the end of next week or the week following at the latest. UGH! The surgery should take 3 hours, maybe more and require an overnight stay at the hospital. Rob will be on restriction from any kind of exhertion or labor for 2 weeks.

Please pray that the cancer will ALL be removed and there will be NO complications.
Oh, and pray that I can keep it together through all this!

A partial prognosis

We FINALLY received a phone call yesterday from the Dr. that ordered the testing on Rob's thyroid nodule. Well....he said they found suspicious cells! Not sure if he didn't want to come out and say the "c" word on the phone, or if they are just cells that are doing something they are not supposed to. He did say that his thyroid will need to be removed. He referred Rob to another Dr. in the practice that is a thyroid specialist. He has an appointment this Friday afternoon and we'll get the whole scoop then.

As far as they surgery...we're looking at sometime within the next 3 weeks with an overnight stay in the hospital. After that, he'll need to be on some kind of thyroid replacement medication for the rest of his life. BLAH!

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN PRAY FOR:
- Peace for Rob...and I could use a little too!
- If it is indeed cancerous, that it has not spread anywhere else.
- Healing will be quick and scarring will be minimal.
- and of course, a financial blessing to pay for all this!

Awaiting results

I took Robert for his blood work, ultrasound and biopsy of his thyroid nodule yesterday. He said they had to go in 4 different times to get tissue samples. Not so fun...but bearable. They discovered a second nodule on the back of his thyroid, which is a little smaller. We should get results in 3-4 days, so hopefully by next Monday or so. He didn't feel so well last night. His throat was sore at the site and it was also a little swullen. The Doc said that was normal, but we'll keep an eye on it.

Statistics say 95% of these type nodules are not cancerous...but of course we worry that we are in that 5%, right?! These things really make you stop and think, and wake you up a little to be a little kinder, give more hugs and kisses and show a lot more love to your spouse (and kids) EVERY chance you get.

Join us in praying for good news to come!

First Day of School

The boys went back to school today. Holden is looking forward to art class this year, as the school didn't offer art the past few years. Braden is interested in his technology class where they will study things from building structures, computer graphics, space aviation and other cool stuff.

Alanna started preschool today! She was very excited to go, and of course the first thing she asked was "Alanna eat?" She said she had fun. She came home with a pocket full of little toys. We are hoping that they were a reward from the fun box and not just items she collected and claimed as Alanna's.


This morning, we noticed a large amount of hair in her bed. Now this girl has a head full of hair, but this was more than the normal shedding amount. Well, this evening after her bath, we noticed a fairly large bald spot on the front of her head. I asked her what happened to her hair and she motioned that she pulled it out, as she smiled. What is that about?! Hmmmm? Anyone experience this with their child?

Visit to the Dr.

At the request of our family Dr., Rob saw an ENT specialist last week. He has a lesion on his thyroid. Next Wed, he will be going in for blood work, an MRI and a biopsy to determine exactly what this thing is. (Hate to say the C word) Either way, he will be undergoing surgery to have it removed. I'm not sure what to think at this point...but it's all in His hands!