I'm Home

Released from the hospital today.

Surgeon's office will call tomorrow with instructions and dates for colonoscopy.

On the way home from the hospital Don took me to Applebee's. We shared a Triple Chocolate Meltdown for my birthday cake. YUM!

Crazy Few Days

I was so excited about my sister having her first baby and about getting to keep my 10-year-old nephew that I continued to power through some increasingly painful stomach symptoms. Toni gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lynnli Jane - picture in previous post, on Thursday 6/23. That evening and the next morning I was still making excuses in my head for the now severe pain in my abdomen. When I took Gage to the hospital Thursday night to see his baby sister for the last time that day I had to confess to him that my stomach was hurting when I walk and ask him to walk slower with me. Being the wonderful little gentleman he is, he happily shuffled slowly into the hospital with me. By the time we left the hospital I could barely bare the pain of standing up or walking.

Friday morning I took Gage back to the hospital where we joyously took turns holding his beautiful baby sister then we walked over to McDonald's to have lunch together then back for more baby holding. Gage is going to be a terrific big brother - he is so proud of Lynnli and loves her so much.

We left Gage with his parents and Don took me to the Dr. office for my 3:10 'work in' appointment. We finally saw Dr. Scott about 4:15. Things started moving quickly and I had blood and urine tests and a CT scan. The radiologist read the CT scan and Dr. Scott was sending me to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy by 4:30.

To shorten the story a bit I will just say that what should have been a quick surgery and easy solution to my problem became a bit more confusing. During the surgery the surgeon found that my appendix was not the only organ swollen - all my organs were inflamed. He left my appendix in and closed the incisions. They are in the process of trying to find out what is going on. The Dr. thinks it is colon related. Blood tests show a strong white blood count - which ruled out cancer. THANK YOU JESUS!

I have been on two different types of IV Antibiotics and a steroid since Friday night. Last night I FINALLY got to have some clear liquid to eat. That went OK so this morning they let me eat real food for breakfast. Swelling and pain are much improved and I am feeling better than I have for weeks.

The plan for today is to see how my body responds to the food I am eating. I MAY get to go home this evening (which would be great since it is my birthday!). Unfortunately I will have to come back Monday or Tuesday for a colonoscopy. The surgeon said last night that he is thinking I may have Crohn's Disease. I was hoping for a more short-term problem but if it is Crohn's Disease it is something that can be managed many times with diet and medicine.

Please pray for my Dr.s that they will have the wisdom they need to make a correct diagnosis.

Lynnli Jane Storm has arrived!

Look at this beautiful baby! She's my niece, Lynnli Jane Storm. She was born this afternoon and weighed 7 1/2 lbs and was 18 1/2 inches long.

Her mom, my sister Toni, had to have a C-section but both mom and baby and doing great!

We are now at home watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 with Lynnli's proud big brother, Gage. Gage can't wait until after breakfast tomorrow morning so he can go hold his baby sister some more. Today we went shopping and he got a cap that says "Big Brother" and a shirt that says "I love my baby sister". Awesome kid!

IT'S ALMOST HERE!

I can't believe after all these years and all this hard work I am actually graduating in 6 days! To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

There were a couple of really rough months that left me doubting my career choice and myself. But the Lord gave me strength I've never had before and helped me grow in wonderful ways. What a blessing to look back and see how He was there for me. Giving me the strength and ability to make changes. He was shaping me and changing me into a better person and teacher, and he used a wonderful Christian teacher to guide me through.

He also helped me to see and appreciate what a wonderful husband he has blessed me with. Don has remained consistently loving and supportive through the hardships and trials and he always celebrates my success with pride and enthusiasm. Who could ask for anything more?

We will be having a cookout on Saturday May 14th beginning at 1 PM. Come on over and celebrate with us! If you need directions or additional information you can call or text me at 316-633-1923.

PRAYERS NEEDED

My Sister-in-law's dad, Kent Radcliff, owns a ranch near Dexter and was burning pasture when he fell off the back of a truck. He has broken all his ribs on one side, his clavicle, and his collar bone. They may have to put a steel plate in to keep his ribs from puncturing his lungs. They life-watched him to Wesley where he is in ICU.

I believe Kent is around 70 years old, plus he has sugar diabetes, so I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers for a quick and complete recovery from his injuries. Also, please pray for my SIL, Noel, her mom, Paula, and Kent's sons.

STRESS IN FULL SWING

Well my last semester is almost half over and my stress level is HIGH! What with the budget cuts and everyone talking about how there will be NO jobs to get once I have my diploma and the anxiety of trying to make sure I'm not letting down the cooperative teacher or the kids I'm teaching, I'm feeling exhausted and emotional. Add to that the fear that when I do get a teaching job it is going to be non-stop work every waking minute like it is now and I am living on the verge of tears! In fact, I get to school before 8:30 every morning, leave between 4:30 and 5:00, come home and have dinner with Don, and sit at my desk trying to create the perfect lessons for 3 hours or more. Keep in mind that I am not even responsible for all the lessons yet. I am only teaching Reading, Reading Tier II, Social studies/Science, and Writing.

Some people try to be encouraging and tell me that I can always sub next year. This is true, and it pays pretty good money, but I could have subbed before I started spending all this time and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on an education. Frustrating! Plus the thought of substituting scares me to death. Walking into a classroom of students you don't know, where you don't know the routines, and have not seen the lessons you are supposed to teach - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAA!

On the plus side - I have been blessed to work with a really awesome cooperative teacher who has taught me a lot and the 4th graders I work with are incredible children that I really enjoy teaching.

So, I will keep trudging on and doing my best while hoping that next year I will have my own classroom of wonderful students.

Copy Cat Post

While reading some of my favorite blogs I found that my friend had a brilliant idea for the first post of the new year - so I'm stealing the idea and making a similar post.

Following are a few words that come to mind when thinking about 2010:

STRESS AND WORRY
Early in 2010 we were in quite a financial crunch. We had tuition, late bills, and car problems that left us feeling overwhelmed and a little lost as to how to get the problems under control. We cut back everywhere possible and did the best we could just to get by.

BLESSED
As time went by we were blessed with a financial gift and my parents unexpectedly offered to take care of the car. We took the car to their mechanic, thinking he was just going to repair the one thing that was giving us the most problem, and were overcome with gratefulness when we picked it up. You see, mom and dad had instructed them to go over the car and make any repairs needed. WOW! What a blessing.

I was also offered a temporary job at our church (the job I had given up 2 years earlier to focus on school) to work part time while they looked for a permanent replacement. The months spent working at the church provided us with the extra income we needed to further improve our financial situation.

We also painted our house this summer. A job we had planned to do ourselves - with the help of Don's brother, Jim. However, some really awesome men at church surprised us by showing up and painting for 2 days. The day Don went back to work all we had left to do was paint one side of the house and we felt overjoyed to have had such wonderful friends and to have gotten so much finished. They were not done surprising us yet! While Don was at work, 3 men came over and finished the job! Words could not express how grateful we were.

These unexpected blessings brought to light how blessed we are with wonderful friends and family and how God watches over us and takes care of our needs (even when we feel like we don't deserve it).

EXCITEMENT
Those of you who know me know that I have spent a lot of years at WSU. At times I have been unsure of what I needed to do with my life. I was pursuing an accounting degree but constantly felt that God had something different in store for me. After much soul searching and testing I changed my major to Elementary Education. The process has been so long I sometimes wondered if I would ever really finish or if I would fail at yet another goal in my life and leave us with the financial burden of all these years of tuition and struggling to make ends meet on one income. As I began my fall semester, I realized that it is completely possible that I will actually be teaching my own class of students at the same time next year. This was so exciting and it gave me the courage I needed to get through a rough patch in my semester and excitedly look forward to completing my education.

HERITAGE
This year my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. The Bible talks about the heritage that we are left from the generations before us. What a blessing that my parents have left a heritage of love and commitment for me and my siblings. This heritage was left to my mother by her parents as they were married 72 years when my grandpa passed away.

Looking forward to 2011 I am thinking of the word SUCCESS. It is impossible right now for me to put into words how I feel about actually getting through these next 20 weeks and walking across that stage and having that diploma placed in my hand. The funny thing is, I am just as excited to watch the growth of 'my' students as I go through my internship this spring. I know that I will face problems and setbacks but right now I feel confident that with the support I have had in the past and will receive from Don, Dr. Mukes, Penny Longhofer, Ms. Mog, and countless other friends and family that I will learn a lot, grow a lot, and be ready to walk across that stage with the confidence that I can AND WILL be a great teacher!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May it be filled with happiness, love, and more blessings than you can imagine!