Mom Update

At her last yearly exam her HPV came back positive and she went back to retest to see if it had developed and it had so they did a biopsy and it came back positive. Her OB/GYN said that the biopsy (scrap of her cervix) showed very severe dysplasia. So they have scheduled surgery for this Thursday to do a cone biopsy of her cervix and see if the cancer cells have penetrated thru the surface of the cervix. Then she will meet with the gynecological oncologist, have a hysterectomy and decide if they will do chemo, radiation, more surgery, etc....

Her doctor was not optimistic about this being just in her cervix. She was very concerned that it had already made it to her uterus or farther.

My mom and dad will be celebrating their 32nd wedding anniversary in September and have been completely faithful. I say this to show how long you can have the HPV virus and without the HPV test at your yearly you will never know. This is how HPV becomes serious.

90% of cervical cancer contains HPV DNA. So...If you have a daughter GET HER VACCINATED!!!!!! Nothing is worth leaving your child vulnerable to cancer.

Some may be shocked that I would share such intimate information in such a public area...
Pride=Ignorance
Sharing=prayers for my mom & awareness for others

We are still here...

So this past week or so has been a little crazy... my mom is having some health issues and it has my head spinning and my stomach in knots. She had a biopsy come back positive... She has lots of doctor appointments in the near future... We are praying...

...a few of my favorite pictures...

my mom and dad dancing at my cousin's wedding...they are still so in love after 32 years!

me, my mom and my sister, I was 3 or 4

my mom with Corbin at Christmas

my mom, me and Jenn...I LOVE this picture!

my mom and Devin last summer, isn't my mom gorgeous!

At My Wits End

Good news: Devin is completely better!

Bad news: Corbin is sick!

We are sssoooooo over our kids being sick so we are using lots of Lysol & bleach products for stuff like this!

Joe and I are suppose to go out of town this weekend to finally celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and we will have to cancel if BOTH boys aren't well....

We have a doctor appointment for Corbin this afternoon, please pray that a)it is nothing b)she can give him something to clear it up.

we WILL survive

Having a sick child is not only heartbreaking but completely exhausting!

Last Thursday I noticed Devin had a slight dry cough but no other symptoms but Friday evening I noticed that his cough was a little worse and I could hear the tightness in his chest so I gave him an Albuterol breathing treatment and he was fine.

And then came Saturday... He woke up wheezing and when the breathing treatments weren't working I started to get concerned so I took him to the Cook Children's Urgent Care Center near our home. He was diagnosed with an ear and upper respiratory infection but still no real fever. We were sent home with antibiotics, steroids and instructions to keep the breathing treatments at every 4 to 6 hours as needed.

Sunday he took a turn for the worse. His wheezing was horrible, coughing so hard he was vomit ting, had a temperature of 102.8 that we couldn't break and the last straw was when he was whimpering trying to tell me something and it made NO sense...he was out of it! So Daddy took Devin back to Cook Children's and they tested him for all kinds of flues and did chest x-rays and this time he was diagnosed with Viral Pneumonia. We were instructed to administer his breathing treatments every 3 hours for the first 24 hours and every 4 hours as needed thereafter.

Has anyone else had to give their 3 year old, that is on steroids, a breathing treatment? OMG! A few times it took me AND Joe to restrain him. I swear D turned into the HULK! He is always a well behaved child and does not throw temper tantrums so this was quit an experience for us.

His fever FINALLY broke yesterday and we have gotten him to eat at least once a day the past two days. His wheezing is gone but he does still have the tightness in his chest and we are able to give him the breathing treatments every 6-8 hours. He actually slept ALL NIGHT last night!

I am taking Devin in to see the pediatrician today for a follow up appointment and we are praying that we get a good report!

Thank you to all our friends and family who said prayers for our sweet boy!

On Monday my sister called to check on Devin while he was engrossed in Thomas The Train and I put her on speaker so that she could talk to Devin:

Jennifer: "Hi Monkey. Are you feeling better"
Devin: "ya" (all pitiful and week sounding)
Jennifer: "Uncle Chris and I prayed for you to get better"
Devin: "ya" (again, all pitiful)
Jennifer: "Is Jesus gonna make you all better"
Devin: "no"
Jennifer: (laughing) "Why not monkey"
Devin: "ya"

He is such a little man...he already has the automatic yes/no responses down while watching tv.

Family Day at the World Aquarium

So...since last Saturday we have been battling Devin having an UTI. I was a little freaked out at first, really how does a 3 year old get that?! The doctor reassured Joe that he could have gotten it very easily and any mother of a little boy know how much they like to "explore" their little boy parts... ; ) He hasn't had a full night sleep in four nights but seems to be doing better with the antibiotics.

He was finally having relief yesterday and he was getting restless in the house so Joe took the day off of work and we took the boys to the World Aquarium about an hour from our home. It was a HIT with all four of us! Corbin was in awe of all of the sounds and loved looking at everything! Devin was SO EXCITED about EVERYTHING!!! When he saw a fish he would scream "FISHIES". When he saw a bird he would scream "BIRDIES". P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S! Joe and I both enjoyed the aquarium but of course the best part for us was enjoying the experience with the boys.

Of course I took a ton of pictures, about 300, so I picked some of my faves to share. Enjoy!

This was hilarious! Just as I was about to take the picture the little crocodile jumped and snapped and Devin and he freaked! Devin kept saying "No crowcodile Daddy! PLEASE NO!"

God is Good!

Now that my heart has stopped aching I can tell the whole story...

On Friday when I was at the doctor with Corbin his appointment was going great! The doctor and I were chatting and laughing and talking about how cute Corbin is... ; ) Out of nowhere she got very serious and wouldn't look me in the eye. She noticed the measurement of Corbin's head on his chart and immediately remeasured it to confirm what the nurse wrote down. She started feeling his head and poking around... The doctor pulled out his growth chart and explained to me that his head was in the 25% when he was born and it had jumped to the 75% and that the rest of his body was consistently in the same percentile group, so his head was drastically changing and his body wasn't. Then she had me feel the top front portion of his head, the area right in front of his "soft spot". As soon as I put pressure on his head my heart sank!!!!! It was swollen and it felt as if there was a mass beneath the skin. It wasn't a bruise or anything like that...it was a strange feeling, almost like it was a "gooshy mass" under the skin. She then said that she was going to look at Devin's chart to she if maybe Devin had something similar as a baby and that she would be right back. She never came back! The nurse came in to give him his immunizations and then gave us the paperwork and "orders" for the CT scan that they had ALREADY scheduled for us. That evening when we were at my parent's house I had my mom and dad felt it and it they felt the same thing....

When we got the call from the doctor's office today with the results from the CT scan her words were "It came back negative...it is an empty void". As soon as Joe got off the phone and told me my mom and I were brought to tears! I immediately put pressure on that same spot the doctor had pointed out to me on Friday and there was NOTHING there!!!! All I could feel was his skull! I absolutely believe that God answered our prayers and healed Corbin!!! It would be easy for anyone to say "Oh, there was nothing wrong with him from the beginning"...but I will give all glory and credit to God!

We were so touched by the overwhelming amount of emails, comments, phone call, etc. expressing concern and offering prayer support for our sweet boy. I do believe that God tests our faith and I do believe that God uses these types of circumstances to teach great lessons. In this circumstance I realized just how much my faith and my relationship with God effects my children. I learned that there is so much more good in others than I realized. I learned that in an instant our world can be turned upside down and you have to love and appreciate those dear to you because we aren't promised tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses to all for bombarding heaven with prayers for Corbin!

Here is a picture of Corbin from his dedication with sweet Pastor Claunch!

This outfit was the same one that his grandfather, dad, uncle and borther wore for their christening/dedications

Sunday Song For Corbin

We take Corbin for his CAT scan tomorrow morning at 7:45, believe with us that it comes back clean! Here is the song I keep singing in his little sweet ear...

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, and to take him at his word; just to rest upon his promise, and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him! How I've proved him o'er and o'er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust his cleansing blood; and in simple faith to plunge me neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; just from Jesus simply taking life and rest, and joy and peace.

I'm so glad I learned to trust thee, precious Jesus, Savior, friend; and I know that thou art with me, wilt be with me to the end.

Who Says Narcotics Are Bad?

Saturday morning I awoke to horrible pains on the right side of my back. Within minutes I was on the floor in pain, hugging the toilet and begging Joe to call an ambulance. Turns out that I was passing a Kidney stone! The ambulance tech gave me morphine and anti-nausea medicine but there wasn't much relief for the pain. Once I was at the hospital I begged the nurse for something stronger, I can't tell you the name of what she gave me but it only took about 30 seconds for relief to finally come! By the time I had the CAT scan the stone was in my bladder but SURPRISE SURPRISE there is another one just sitting in my Kidney waiting to give me some more pain! They sent me home with Vicodin, anti-nausea meds for Chemo patients and instructions to drinks lots of water. Once I am feeling a little more coherent I will get the pics of the boys in their Halloween costumes up. Hope you all had a better weekend than we did!

Reality Hits

On Wednesday I posted about the 2008 Komen Race For The Cure and briefly mentioned that this cause is important to me...tonight I found out how important it is. When my dad was a child his mom's, my grandmother, mother died of breast cancer. I found out this evening that my Grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer three weeks ago. (family history frightens me) My father's family is very private and doesn't share very openly or with many details. I don't know what stage she is or how severe her situation is... she had surgery to remove the lump but AGAIN no details. This makes me all the more aware of my own health and the importance of being aware of what is happening to my body.

Please keep my grandmother in your prayers.