Here's a couple pictures. The first one is from February. I know it's hard to see differences because of what I'm wearing, but I can see some.
This picture is from today.
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Here's to 20 more!
Friday, March 20, 2015
Progress!
Today marks a milestone for me! I've lost 20 lbs! This new lifestyle is getting easier. Lots of veggies and fruit and lean protein. It's more of a way of life now. That's not to say it's not hard. I still would love to go pig out at buffalo wild wings. I did have that for a cheat meal a couple weeks ago (a smaller portion) and while it tasted so good.. I was reminded of why I can't have that alot! I felt awful afterwards!
Here's a couple pictures. The first one is from February. I know it's hard to see differences because of what I'm wearing, but I can see some.
I can tell a difference in my face a little bit. My jeans are definitely big on me now. Good thing I have a stock pile of old jeans that are all smaller sizes. I held on to them in hopes of someday... Some day could be here!
This picture is from today.
I'm really working hard to see more changes! I'm walking about two miles every night (when it's not bitter cold!) and trying to work out in the mornings, although I must admit I've been slacking a bit in that area. But I can tell a big difference just since I started walking.
Here's to 20 more!
Here's a couple pictures. The first one is from February. I know it's hard to see differences because of what I'm wearing, but I can see some.
This picture is from today.
Here's to 20 more!
Monday, March 2, 2015
Claiming the Chaos
**Disclaimer: This post is more for my own records. It's lengthy and will probably bore you. But down the road I know I will want to remember this.**
I want to remember last week. I want to remember our thoughts and feelings. Our tears and our prayers. I want to remember the way we clung to God with every phone call, appointment, test and result. I want to remember the way we clung to each other.
Last Tuesday, February 24th I took Tenley to an ultrasound appointment at Elkhart General bright and early. Dr. Ansari had requested that we do this just to make sure they weren’t missing anything with Tenley’s odd symptoms. The ultrasound took about 30 minutes or so, and they asked us to stay while the doctor looked over them just in case they needed to redo anything. When Tenley and I were sitting in the little waiting area the tech came back twice to ask me specific questions about Tenley’s symptoms. I could tell by his tone and his pointed questions that something was wrong. When we left EGH we had to go straight to Memorial for an appointment with Dr. Ansari. Tenley fell asleep on our drive to Memorial and so I called my dad. I told him that I just knew they found something and that we were about to have some answers. When I arrived at Dr. Ansari’s office, Tenley was not feeling well. This ended up being almost a good thing because the doctor could see what we dealt with on a bad day. He agreed that something was clearly wrong. Her lack of appetite was getting worse and her fatigue was obvious. When we were waiting on him in the exam room Tenley was telling me how she just wasn’t feeling well. I hugged her and prayed. I remember telling God that he made me strong enough to handle whatever was about to come our way, but that I just wanted answers. Dr. Ansari had the results back from the ultrasound, but he needed time to look them over. So he sent us home and he said we would receive a phone call later.
Later couldn’t come soon enough when I just knew they found something. That evening a nurse called to let me know that Dr. Ansari wanted us to have more blood work done and also have a hepatitis panel done on Tenley as soon as possible. When I questioned her about this she couldn’t give me much information- just that “someone will be calling to explain this more to you tomorrow.” I was a little short and ask for some information at that moment. She told me that they did find that Tenley’s liver was inflamed and had some spots on it that weren’t normal. Usually this points to hepatitis or leukemia. I was grateful for the information that she did give me, but more scared than ever. We hit our knees that night and prayed for Tenley’s health and healing.
On Wednesday, February 25, I received a phone call while I was at work from the person who was to give me more information about Tenley’s liver. She told me that we needed to go today to get blood work done and that they scheduled an appointment for us at Memorial with an oncologist at 1:00 the next day. Of course this scared us to death. I tried to remain calm as I called Mike to let him know what was going on. I scheduled an appointment for blood work for later that afternoon. Tenley has been such a trooper through all of this. She has handled every test very well. Even if it’s not enjoyable by any means. I received two more phone calls that day from the Memorial Oncology dept. They were so sweet and helpful and made sure that we were okay. I’ll never forget the kind way we were treated by them in the scariest of moments. Mike and I prayed Wednesday night knowing that Thursday would be a big day. Mike took a half day on Thursday so that he could go to the appointment with us. When we arrived on the Pediatric Oncology floor at Memorial, we were taken in to a regular hospital room. We had been warned that their exam rooms are regular hospital rooms, so this took away our fear and Tenley was able to lay down and watch tv while we waited. Eventually, Dr. Morrison came in with Tenley’s blood test results. She let us know that while Tenley’s first blood test showed an incredibly low white blood cell count, this last one was normal. However, her uric acid level was high. Usually this means infection, but so far we hadn’t found one anywhere in her body. But no sign of hepatitis, which we were thankful for. After examining Tenley she gave us two options. We could get down to business and find out whether this was cancer or not by doing a bone marrow test. This test is invasive and painful and they have to put her under for that. I cringed at the sound of all of that. Mike and I looked at each other and I knew that we were both wanting to avoid that. Our other option was to do a CAT scan from her pelvis to her sinuses to see if there was an infection hiding somewhere that we were missing. She gave us some time to think about these options while she checked on some lab work. While she was gone she called Dr. Ansari and they decided to work together on Tenley’s case. I was relieved that they were doing this. They both agreed that Tenley has been through a lot of testing and a CAT scan might be the way to go for now. We couldn’t have agreed more. They scheduled us to be back at the hospital right away the next morning at 7:30am.
My mom came with Tenley and I since Mike needed to be at work. I know how badly he wanted to be with us, but he also knew that as our primary insurance provider- he needed to be there. I didn’t tell Tenley much about what the day would hold, which was better. She didn’t have anything to stress about. When we arrived they made sure she was comfortable and she played for a bit before getting her set up with an IV. I won’t lie, this was awful. I held Tenley so tight so that she wouldn’t move and all the while she yelled “let go of me!”. I broke down and couldn’t stop the tears from coming after a week’s worth of testing and exhaustion. After they had the IV in she bounced back and was ready to play. They put frozen on a big tv for her (they know the way to her heart!) And let her pick out a toy from the toy closet. Of course, she picked an Elsa barbie doll. She drank the “juice” that she needed to drink for the cat scan without asking any questions. When it was time for the cat scan she got very nervous. They had me get into the machine first to show her that it wasn’t bad. She got in and did okay. We had a few tears, but I can see how this would be very scary for a little child. My heart broke each time a tear fell. But I kept praying that this would bring us closer to answers. She was a brave little girl!
They were able to get the results back right away. To my surprise- the scans were completely clear and normal!! Praise the Lord! In just three days her scans went from frightening to normal. The doctor may have called her a mystery, but we certainly know who our ultimate Healer is! We are of course thrilled. We do still have concerns and questions. We will go back in two weeks for more blood work just to make sure everything is as it should be. We will watch Tenley and her symptoms carefully. We got a glipse of the old Tenley last night. It has been months since Tenley ate a full meal - and last night I made a new soup and she ate three bowls! Plus two bowls of applesauce and two slices of bread! We were THRILLED! Thank you for your prayers. We covet them and appreciate them more than you’ll ever know!
I want to remember last week. I want to remember our thoughts and feelings. Our tears and our prayers. I want to remember the way we clung to God with every phone call, appointment, test and result. I want to remember the way we clung to each other.
Last Tuesday, February 24th I took Tenley to an ultrasound appointment at Elkhart General bright and early. Dr. Ansari had requested that we do this just to make sure they weren’t missing anything with Tenley’s odd symptoms. The ultrasound took about 30 minutes or so, and they asked us to stay while the doctor looked over them just in case they needed to redo anything. When Tenley and I were sitting in the little waiting area the tech came back twice to ask me specific questions about Tenley’s symptoms. I could tell by his tone and his pointed questions that something was wrong. When we left EGH we had to go straight to Memorial for an appointment with Dr. Ansari. Tenley fell asleep on our drive to Memorial and so I called my dad. I told him that I just knew they found something and that we were about to have some answers. When I arrived at Dr. Ansari’s office, Tenley was not feeling well. This ended up being almost a good thing because the doctor could see what we dealt with on a bad day. He agreed that something was clearly wrong. Her lack of appetite was getting worse and her fatigue was obvious. When we were waiting on him in the exam room Tenley was telling me how she just wasn’t feeling well. I hugged her and prayed. I remember telling God that he made me strong enough to handle whatever was about to come our way, but that I just wanted answers. Dr. Ansari had the results back from the ultrasound, but he needed time to look them over. So he sent us home and he said we would receive a phone call later.
Later couldn’t come soon enough when I just knew they found something. That evening a nurse called to let me know that Dr. Ansari wanted us to have more blood work done and also have a hepatitis panel done on Tenley as soon as possible. When I questioned her about this she couldn’t give me much information- just that “someone will be calling to explain this more to you tomorrow.” I was a little short and ask for some information at that moment. She told me that they did find that Tenley’s liver was inflamed and had some spots on it that weren’t normal. Usually this points to hepatitis or leukemia. I was grateful for the information that she did give me, but more scared than ever. We hit our knees that night and prayed for Tenley’s health and healing.
On Wednesday, February 25, I received a phone call while I was at work from the person who was to give me more information about Tenley’s liver. She told me that we needed to go today to get blood work done and that they scheduled an appointment for us at Memorial with an oncologist at 1:00 the next day. Of course this scared us to death. I tried to remain calm as I called Mike to let him know what was going on. I scheduled an appointment for blood work for later that afternoon. Tenley has been such a trooper through all of this. She has handled every test very well. Even if it’s not enjoyable by any means. I received two more phone calls that day from the Memorial Oncology dept. They were so sweet and helpful and made sure that we were okay. I’ll never forget the kind way we were treated by them in the scariest of moments. Mike and I prayed Wednesday night knowing that Thursday would be a big day. Mike took a half day on Thursday so that he could go to the appointment with us. When we arrived on the Pediatric Oncology floor at Memorial, we were taken in to a regular hospital room. We had been warned that their exam rooms are regular hospital rooms, so this took away our fear and Tenley was able to lay down and watch tv while we waited. Eventually, Dr. Morrison came in with Tenley’s blood test results. She let us know that while Tenley’s first blood test showed an incredibly low white blood cell count, this last one was normal. However, her uric acid level was high. Usually this means infection, but so far we hadn’t found one anywhere in her body. But no sign of hepatitis, which we were thankful for. After examining Tenley she gave us two options. We could get down to business and find out whether this was cancer or not by doing a bone marrow test. This test is invasive and painful and they have to put her under for that. I cringed at the sound of all of that. Mike and I looked at each other and I knew that we were both wanting to avoid that. Our other option was to do a CAT scan from her pelvis to her sinuses to see if there was an infection hiding somewhere that we were missing. She gave us some time to think about these options while she checked on some lab work. While she was gone she called Dr. Ansari and they decided to work together on Tenley’s case. I was relieved that they were doing this. They both agreed that Tenley has been through a lot of testing and a CAT scan might be the way to go for now. We couldn’t have agreed more. They scheduled us to be back at the hospital right away the next morning at 7:30am.
 |
| At the hospital on Thursday |
They were able to get the results back right away. To my surprise- the scans were completely clear and normal!! Praise the Lord! In just three days her scans went from frightening to normal. The doctor may have called her a mystery, but we certainly know who our ultimate Healer is! We are of course thrilled. We do still have concerns and questions. We will go back in two weeks for more blood work just to make sure everything is as it should be. We will watch Tenley and her symptoms carefully. We got a glipse of the old Tenley last night. It has been months since Tenley ate a full meal - and last night I made a new soup and she ate three bowls! Plus two bowls of applesauce and two slices of bread! We were THRILLED! Thank you for your prayers. We covet them and appreciate them more than you’ll ever know!
 |
| Friday after receiving an IV |
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