I was worried that this time was going to be like last time where I would have problems getting in touch with the surgical scheduler for our urologist. Yesterday, when I was on the phone with her, the power at her office went out and hence the computer program she needed was not available. She said that she would call me back but I did not hear from her. As yesterday and today went by and I had not heard from her, I started to grow more anxious about a re-occurrence of last time. I kept giving it to God and then around 3:15 PM, I felt that I was to call her again. I was discouraged as I was forced to leave a voicemail. I got off the phone and I could tell Satan was trying to put negative thoughts in my head. As I was holding Ian asleep in my arms, I asked God to bless her.
At 4 PM the phone rang and it was her, the scheduler. She said that she was thankful that I had called again. She said that after the power kept going out yesterday and she couldn't get her work done, she admitted to me that she had forgotten. Our calls went a lot better this go around than last time, so I am thankful.
Ian's renal scan is scheduled for 2 PM on March 3rd and then we see the urologist the next day. I will post an update soon thereafter.
This is merely a place of self-reflection for me. After recent events in my life, I have learned that although some doors of life open that we may prefer stay closed nice and tight while others close that we prefer stay wide open, God is there every step of the way and He can use anything for His glory and blessing!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Family Update
Cannot believe that it is time already. Time is flying! We have received a reminder that it is time to schedule another follow-up renal scan for Ian. I will post the date as soon as it is scheduled. It will probably be in 4 weeks or so. Thank you for your prayers and support!
The Throne!
Don't let this title throw you off... This post may not be for the faint of heart and feeble as this approaches the realms of nastiness in some regards but has moments of how we can direct our thoughts towards the throne of God.
As this story begins... it begins with a different throne. The throne in which all of us will recognize throughout the going ons of the day. Yep, everyone takes part in this throne and that of the porcelain kind--the toilet!
It was just shortly before 9 AM this morning and I was busy getting all three kids ready for the day. Skye did not have school today as it was a student holiday and teacher work day for the county. As I was dressing Paisley in her princess costume for her first Princess class at Romp 'N' Roll, Skye announced that she had to go potty. Well, Skye soon finished and flushed as I soon realized that I too had to go. I quickly finished Paisley's hair and told Skye to finish getting ready and to keep an eye on Ian for me real quick.
I opened the lid and everything looked fine. I proceeded to sit upon the throne and take care of my business. Afterwards, I flushed and discovered to my horror that the toilet was plugged. I looked at the clock and decided that an hour was plenty of time to finish dressing all kids and embark out the door and unclog the unsightly, agitating sight!
I ran downstairs, grabbed the plunger and quickly ran back up the stairs again to attack the throne. Plunge plunge plunge plunge FLUSH. Water rose but it slowly retreated. Plunge plunge plunge plunge plunge FLUSH. Water rose but not too bad. I looked at the clock and I thought to myself that I better get going because I want to take care of this thing before we go and so I plunged harder and quicker than before. Then I flushed. Water rose but went back down slowly. I was getting frustrated by this point. PLUNGE PLUNGE PLUNGE PLUNGE and FLUSH! Water rose but this time it kept rising. Uh oh! I thought to myself. Heart started pounding as I saw the nasty brown water rising ever so close to the edge of the bowl. Now it has gotten this high before but it has always stopped before going over, I thought to myself as I took a deep breath.
PHEW! It stopped... as I went to grab the plunger again, I realized that the water stopped only momentarily! It was most definitely going to overflow! I GASPED and started grabbing bath mats and such and throwing them away from the toilet. All of a sudden I heard the terrible sound of dirty water streaming out of the toilet. WHAT TO DO! WHAT TO DO! I thought frantically. I grabbed the trash can trying to catch the forbidden water from flowing out--like that worked. Then I went for the shut off valve but the water still kept flowing out of the toilet!
And then I did what any other frantic woman would do in my circumstance, I screamed and ran around in circles! My screams were soon joined by my girls screaming as they saw me run from the bathroom into the hallway and then down the stairwell. I did manage to grab older towels and call Scot during the frantic screams.
What a disgusting mess! Scot came home and together we cleaned the toilet and the floor with Clorox Bleach. I also ran my disheveled self out the door because I was determined to get Paisley to her class. In my haste I took a wrong turn, but soon realized my mistake. As I dropped Paisley off and started back home in the car, I tried to calm myself down and was trying to think of anything positive about the craziness in the last hour or so. As I drove, I noticed cars stopping for geese crossing the road. They were slow but I thanked the Lord that they were crossing the road so that I could catch my breath so to speak. I noticed one goose limping but determined to get across the street with his fellow geese. That goose inspired me to be strong and hang onto the positives and persevere as I thought about the towels and floor mats that were ruined. Again I thanked the Lord for the simple reminder in the midst of it all.
Well, as I was turning into my neighborhood a few minutes later, I looked in my rear view mirror as I normally do to make sure the traffic behind me was stopping too. I noticed a fancy blond in some expensive SUV flaring her hands at me because I guess my turning into my neighborhood with my indicator on was an inconvenience for her. I quickly raised my one hand back at her to let her know that I noticed she was acting like a you know what. I pulled into my parking space with my blood boiling. I thought to myself that I really would have loved jamming on my breaks making her slam on hers and then I could have gotten out and given her a piece of my mind. Oh I was angry!
As Scot went back to work, I fed Ian a late breakfast and began to clean the rest of the bathroom. As I was cleaning, I spilt dirty water on the newly cleaned floor. Unfortunately, I muttered "damn" under my breath to myself and then I decided to change my tude. I said to myself "God is for me and God is with me." Then I started to realize as I was disinfecting and scrubbing that I have been wanting to redecorate the bathrooms anyways and now I have an excuse to start. I also realized that I had not used any of my gift cards yet from Christmas to the likes of Kohls and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
My spirits lifted as I found the silver lining in things for the rest of the day.
As this story begins... it begins with a different throne. The throne in which all of us will recognize throughout the going ons of the day. Yep, everyone takes part in this throne and that of the porcelain kind--the toilet!
It was just shortly before 9 AM this morning and I was busy getting all three kids ready for the day. Skye did not have school today as it was a student holiday and teacher work day for the county. As I was dressing Paisley in her princess costume for her first Princess class at Romp 'N' Roll, Skye announced that she had to go potty. Well, Skye soon finished and flushed as I soon realized that I too had to go. I quickly finished Paisley's hair and told Skye to finish getting ready and to keep an eye on Ian for me real quick.
I opened the lid and everything looked fine. I proceeded to sit upon the throne and take care of my business. Afterwards, I flushed and discovered to my horror that the toilet was plugged. I looked at the clock and decided that an hour was plenty of time to finish dressing all kids and embark out the door and unclog the unsightly, agitating sight!
I ran downstairs, grabbed the plunger and quickly ran back up the stairs again to attack the throne. Plunge plunge plunge plunge FLUSH. Water rose but it slowly retreated. Plunge plunge plunge plunge plunge FLUSH. Water rose but not too bad. I looked at the clock and I thought to myself that I better get going because I want to take care of this thing before we go and so I plunged harder and quicker than before. Then I flushed. Water rose but went back down slowly. I was getting frustrated by this point. PLUNGE PLUNGE PLUNGE PLUNGE and FLUSH! Water rose but this time it kept rising. Uh oh! I thought to myself. Heart started pounding as I saw the nasty brown water rising ever so close to the edge of the bowl. Now it has gotten this high before but it has always stopped before going over, I thought to myself as I took a deep breath.
PHEW! It stopped... as I went to grab the plunger again, I realized that the water stopped only momentarily! It was most definitely going to overflow! I GASPED and started grabbing bath mats and such and throwing them away from the toilet. All of a sudden I heard the terrible sound of dirty water streaming out of the toilet. WHAT TO DO! WHAT TO DO! I thought frantically. I grabbed the trash can trying to catch the forbidden water from flowing out--like that worked. Then I went for the shut off valve but the water still kept flowing out of the toilet!
And then I did what any other frantic woman would do in my circumstance, I screamed and ran around in circles! My screams were soon joined by my girls screaming as they saw me run from the bathroom into the hallway and then down the stairwell. I did manage to grab older towels and call Scot during the frantic screams.
What a disgusting mess! Scot came home and together we cleaned the toilet and the floor with Clorox Bleach. I also ran my disheveled self out the door because I was determined to get Paisley to her class. In my haste I took a wrong turn, but soon realized my mistake. As I dropped Paisley off and started back home in the car, I tried to calm myself down and was trying to think of anything positive about the craziness in the last hour or so. As I drove, I noticed cars stopping for geese crossing the road. They were slow but I thanked the Lord that they were crossing the road so that I could catch my breath so to speak. I noticed one goose limping but determined to get across the street with his fellow geese. That goose inspired me to be strong and hang onto the positives and persevere as I thought about the towels and floor mats that were ruined. Again I thanked the Lord for the simple reminder in the midst of it all.
Well, as I was turning into my neighborhood a few minutes later, I looked in my rear view mirror as I normally do to make sure the traffic behind me was stopping too. I noticed a fancy blond in some expensive SUV flaring her hands at me because I guess my turning into my neighborhood with my indicator on was an inconvenience for her. I quickly raised my one hand back at her to let her know that I noticed she was acting like a you know what. I pulled into my parking space with my blood boiling. I thought to myself that I really would have loved jamming on my breaks making her slam on hers and then I could have gotten out and given her a piece of my mind. Oh I was angry!
As Scot went back to work, I fed Ian a late breakfast and began to clean the rest of the bathroom. As I was cleaning, I spilt dirty water on the newly cleaned floor. Unfortunately, I muttered "damn" under my breath to myself and then I decided to change my tude. I said to myself "God is for me and God is with me." Then I started to realize as I was disinfecting and scrubbing that I have been wanting to redecorate the bathrooms anyways and now I have an excuse to start. I also realized that I had not used any of my gift cards yet from Christmas to the likes of Kohls and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
My spirits lifted as I found the silver lining in things for the rest of the day.
Monday, January 17, 2011
REPEAT
I am going to find a positive gosh darn it I am...
God is our HEALER!
This past week has been completely crazy! This time last week, I had discovered I was experiencing fevers of 103; and by Tuesday afternoon, I found out that I not only had an ear infection in my left ear but that I had a pretty bad case of pneumonia. Yep, you read it correctly--PNEUMONIA! PNEUMONIA!
Who would have thought that 11 months after Skye, I would suffer both an ear infection and pneumonia just as she had experienced. This opened a ton of emotions for us. I could tell when Skye walked by my bedroom door and she saw me wearing a face mask that it brought back memories for her. She even stated how she wore one when she had pneumonia. And that was before I had revealed to her that I had pneumonia.
I was able to fight it at home. During the height of the illness and fevers and nausea, I thought to myself how strong Skye truly was and is; she suffered so much more than me and for a longer amount of time--much longer. I am in awe of her strength and I pray that she continues to have it and use it for the rest of her life.
Due to allergies that I have to Sulfur and Amoxicillin, and hence other Penicillins, I was forced to use antibiotics that I cannot use while nursing. So now I have to use frozen breast milk for Ian and supplement with formula, as I pump and dump. However, pumping and dumping have been causing blocked milk ducts that I have never experienced previously, and I have breastfed 3 kids now.
Thankfully, my fevers broke late Wednesday night into early Thursday. Although I am fever free, I am extremely exhausted. It takes a couple of weeks to heal from pneumonia. In the meantime, I am a mother of three with very low energy.
When we thought that we were in the clear, Ian came down with a nasty case of mastitis. Yes, even infant boys can get mastitis and Ian found the way! While the pediatrician was examining him for the mastitis, she discovered that he also had an ear infection.
Today, as Ian's infection was showing great improvement, Paisley has come down with diarrhea. The difference today, however, than how I was feeling the other evening, is that I am determined to think of the positives even if I have to pull my teeth out trying to find them. I am going to trust in God. Through out the last few days, I have had to tell myself and repeat over and over again in my head that God is for me and my family, and God is with us. I would repeat it even if I was having problems believing in it's entire. And God has given me what I have needed to get through it.
God laid it upon my heart on Wednesday as I was repeating "God is for me and God is with me" to read my daily devotion. The author talked about the waves mounting but that I needed to look at God instead of the large daunting waves. Looking at God would give me strength. With in an hour of reading that wouldn't you know that God had a friend of mine send me such a positive and uplifting text message. One that described that things may be difficult today and that tomorrow may be difficult too but well this is what she wrote: trust in him and not worry...so i say drink lots of juice...get lots of sleep...take ur meds...say a lil prayer...wake up and repeat. When I read that, it made me cry especially the 'repeat' part. It was simple and it was true. And REPEAT seemed to be the theme. Either in my actions, my prayers or what I was repeating to myself.
One night, I also just prayed a prayer like David. I told God I was angry and that I simply didn't know how to pray...
While life has not really gotten much better in the last day or so, I am going to REPEAT.
God is our HEALER!
This past week has been completely crazy! This time last week, I had discovered I was experiencing fevers of 103; and by Tuesday afternoon, I found out that I not only had an ear infection in my left ear but that I had a pretty bad case of pneumonia. Yep, you read it correctly--PNEUMONIA! PNEUMONIA!
Who would have thought that 11 months after Skye, I would suffer both an ear infection and pneumonia just as she had experienced. This opened a ton of emotions for us. I could tell when Skye walked by my bedroom door and she saw me wearing a face mask that it brought back memories for her. She even stated how she wore one when she had pneumonia. And that was before I had revealed to her that I had pneumonia.
I was able to fight it at home. During the height of the illness and fevers and nausea, I thought to myself how strong Skye truly was and is; she suffered so much more than me and for a longer amount of time--much longer. I am in awe of her strength and I pray that she continues to have it and use it for the rest of her life.
Due to allergies that I have to Sulfur and Amoxicillin, and hence other Penicillins, I was forced to use antibiotics that I cannot use while nursing. So now I have to use frozen breast milk for Ian and supplement with formula, as I pump and dump. However, pumping and dumping have been causing blocked milk ducts that I have never experienced previously, and I have breastfed 3 kids now.
Thankfully, my fevers broke late Wednesday night into early Thursday. Although I am fever free, I am extremely exhausted. It takes a couple of weeks to heal from pneumonia. In the meantime, I am a mother of three with very low energy.
When we thought that we were in the clear, Ian came down with a nasty case of mastitis. Yes, even infant boys can get mastitis and Ian found the way! While the pediatrician was examining him for the mastitis, she discovered that he also had an ear infection.
Today, as Ian's infection was showing great improvement, Paisley has come down with diarrhea. The difference today, however, than how I was feeling the other evening, is that I am determined to think of the positives even if I have to pull my teeth out trying to find them. I am going to trust in God. Through out the last few days, I have had to tell myself and repeat over and over again in my head that God is for me and my family, and God is with us. I would repeat it even if I was having problems believing in it's entire. And God has given me what I have needed to get through it.
God laid it upon my heart on Wednesday as I was repeating "God is for me and God is with me" to read my daily devotion. The author talked about the waves mounting but that I needed to look at God instead of the large daunting waves. Looking at God would give me strength. With in an hour of reading that wouldn't you know that God had a friend of mine send me such a positive and uplifting text message. One that described that things may be difficult today and that tomorrow may be difficult too but well this is what she wrote: trust in him and not worry...so i say drink lots of juice...get lots of sleep...take ur meds...say a lil prayer...wake up and repeat. When I read that, it made me cry especially the 'repeat' part. It was simple and it was true. And REPEAT seemed to be the theme. Either in my actions, my prayers or what I was repeating to myself.
One night, I also just prayed a prayer like David. I told God I was angry and that I simply didn't know how to pray...
While life has not really gotten much better in the last day or so, I am going to REPEAT.
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