Prayer Time At The Sand Box

Well, it's been a hard day and it's only 4:30. I still don't have the outcome of my biopsy. I've talked with the surgeons nurse and the results aren't even available yet. She said she would have the dr. call to see if he can rush the results but that if more testing was necessary then it could take a few more days.

Sadie is taking a small bottle (1/2 gentlease formula and 1/2 breast milk) about every 2 hours and she's keeping it down although she has been really fussy. We burp her throughout her feeding and that seems to help a bit but it's still hard to see her in pain.

Bekah has been telling us for a few days now when she is going pee-pee...we thought she's finally realizing she doesn't like having a wet diaper and she wants to be changed. Well today she started screaming in pain and grabbing her diaper when she is going pee. I called her pediatrician but they were all booked and told me to take her to her ER. I then started crying and my mom had to finish up the conversation with the nurse. We asked for the dr. to call us, pleading for him to just call in a prescription for her since we were fairly sure it was a bladder infection. Plus, the thought of spending more time in the ER was awful. A few hours later Keith called again to talk with the dr. and found out he had called in some antibiotics for Bekah! Yay for caring dr's! I hope Bekah will be feeling better soon - it's hard to handle both girls crying from pain...it makes me want to join right in!

You may be wondering about the title of this blog. Well, after all this happened we all went outside for some fresh air and met a new mom named Nicole near the sandbox and we started sharing what was going on in our life and day. She asked if we went to church and if she could pray for me. We all started crying and as Bekah played in the sand and Sadie slept on my mom's shoulder, Nicole prayed for me and the family. God is so good to send a neighbor out just when you need a little extra encouragement and prayer!

A Questions For Moms...

I'm having to change from breastfeeding to formula and so far Sadie doesn't seem to be doing very well with the change. I know she's ok with the bottle and pumped breast milk but when I tried to give her formula yesterday afternoon she threw up so much she got down to her stomach acid. Last night Keith took the late feedings so that I could get some extra sleep. He gave her a bottle that had 1/3 formula and 2/3 pumped breast milk. She took it once but was awake for 3hours and refused to take more when she got hungry again so I had to get up to breastfeed.

Do any of you have a formula suggestions or any ideas on how to make this change easier for all of us? So far we've tried Enfamil iron, gentlease, and lactofree.

Thanks for you help. It's hard enough to not be able to breast feed Sadie for as long as I did with Bekah but to see her struggle though the change is heartbreaking....and stressful.

something worse...

It's midnight and we're both exhausted after being at Sierra Vista all day. Tonight, after performing a biopsy and taking out one whole lymph node, the doctor came out and told me that it looks like Cara has Hodgkins Lymphoma. Cara tells me that when the doctor told her the diagnosis she responded by telling him about the fun and spunky short hair cut she was planning on having if her hair is going to fall out from chemo.....she was just coming out of the anesthesia and was a little loopy. Apparently, out of all the cancers, this one is really treatable, and we'll know more in two days with the official results. Our world is spinning right now, but we need some sleep...and we're resting in God's goodness and presence. Thank you for your prayers, your calls, and your visits--keep praying!!! We love you all.

Psalm 73:23-26

Swollen Lymph Nodes?????

I share this information with all of you hoping that you will pray for Keith and I tomorrow.
As some of you know I went into the ER a few months ago with big lumps in my neck that appeared overnight. The ER dr. ran some blood tests that came back fine and because I was pregnant decided to send me home, but told me to come back if they didn't go away.

Well...they never did, so I finally went back to the ER on Friday, even though Keith was out of town in Texas and my Mom had to watch the girls. Fortunately, my sister Lacey was able to stay with me in the hospital. But I needed to go in since the lumps were starting to put pressure on my esophagus and it was difficult to swallow.

The first dr. I saw was going to send me home with the explanation that lymph nodes swell for many reasons, saying I should eventually see my primary doctor. Then there was a shift change and the second dr. decided to run more tests after seeing how large the nodes were (I'm very thankful for this second dr.). The blood work came back normal, so then he ordered a chest x-ray which didn't show anything and a CT of my neck and chest with and without contrast (he also talked about running a thyroid test with the blood taken earlier but I was never told the results). Then the CT came back showing more swollen lymph nodes in my neck and chest. I knew about the ones that were popping out of my neck but I had no idea that I had more!!!

At that point the dr. wanted to admit me overnight for a biopsy and further testing. I was a little shocked but so so grateful that I was finally getting somewhere. He had another dr. look at my neck (I think it was the surgeon) and he felt it would be better to let me go home for the weekend since it was Friday evening and all the dr.'s that were needed had gone home. So I left around 7:30pm after being there for about 5 1/2hrs!

I was told to come back to the ER Monday morning at 8:30 for a biopsy and sooner if I got to the point of not being able to swallow...or breath. I also have to make an appointment with an oncologist for this upcoming week. It sounds like the swollen lymph nodes can be anywhere from being benign, to be caused from cat scratch fever (I was scratched by a cat about a week before the lumps appeared) or something worse. I'm trying not to think about the something worse right now (although at times I feel I'm failing miserably) but it's hard when you don't have much information to go on.....so I welcome your prayers today too.

I'll keep you updated on the results of the test and how everything goes. Thanks for your prayers - I know Gods in control but it's still hard to wait and wonder.

Growing Girl

My mom came over yesterday for a little while and held Sadie for me! She also gave her a bottle so I got a feeding break. I decided to take the opportunity to snap a few pictures of my little 3week old since she was looking oh-so-cute.

Fly Fly Go Away

Yesterday Keith went to Wal-Mart to get a few things we needed and on the list was a fly swatter for Bekah. We've been keeping our front door open a lot lately since the weather has been so nice but that means that we also have some flys buzzing around. She always wants to play with the fly swatter but I never let her since it's nasty....so we decided to get her her own and she loved it!

Nap Time Fun

A few days ago I had both girls down for a nap at the same time...YAY...that means I should be able to lay down also...right? Well, not when you have an almost 2 year old who would rather play than sleep. She started by throwing her doll Sally and her ni-ni (passifier) out of her crib, then she needed something to drink, then after an hour or more of jumping in her crib she started wining again. I went in to check on her and I found her stuck in her bumper. Silly girl! Oh well at least with all the crib play time she hasn't figured out how to climb out yet.