...And The Battle Continues!

Let me apologize for being absent from blogging, but I'm sure that y'all understand the reasoning.  When I left off last time my daughter had not yet completed her first round of chemo, so let me catch y'all up. She went that Monday and finished up that round of therapy and was able to return to school for 1/2 a day on Tuesday. On Thursday she had her blood work done and her WBC  counts were almost nothing. She had to miss a day of school and was very unhappy about that. Finally on Tuesday of the following week her counts were back up and she was able to go to school for the rest of the week. It was so good to pick her up from school and see her run to meet me, what a blessing the Lord gave us. We were able to go with her Sunday School class last Saturday to a local amusement park, it was so good to get away for a few hours and not think constantly on our situation.   She had to return to the hospital this past Monday to begin round two of chemo. We spent three days there, but she did so much better this time. Her number one complaint with the chemo is that she just feels so tired all the time and that just when she feels like she is getting back to "normal" it is time to start all over again.  I have to take her again today for her injection to help build up her WBC and RBC counts and then Monday for the last treatment this round. It is a 22 day cycle that will just continue to repeat until she is cancer free and we are hoping and praying that time will come sometime soon. Through all of this I have been reminded daily of the verse,

Psalm 46:10a 

 Be still, and know that I am God:

I know that the Lord is looking after us and helping our entire family through this. He has blessed us with an amazing hospital, doctors and nurses to care for her.  He has allowed us to live close by so our family is not apart during this time. He has giving us family and friends to encourage and support us. His blessings and mercies have been too many to name and I thank him everyday for each of them.  Her battle is not over and she is fighting this cancer with all she has in her, but she knows her strength comes from the Lord and he is with her. Sometime within the next two weeks they will do more scans to see how the cancer is responding. It is very hard to wait so long, but I know that the Lord is taking care of her and  I know that he still can do miracles, which is exactly what we are looking for. Thanks to all of you for the prayers and please continue to say them for us, it means more than you will ever know. 

The Battle: It has begun!

Let me start off by saying what a week we have had, it has been unbelievable! Let me fill you in on the events of the week: 

 Our daughter had her surgery on Monday to put in her port, she did great and had no problems. The site is still a little sore, but they say that is normal for about the first week.  She also had a bone marrow biopsy done which came back negative. That was a huge blessing and much needed good news. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon and began her first chemo treatment. It really zapped her, she got sick on her stomach, but thank the Lord she had no throwing up.  When her doctor came to visit on Tuesday he said she did so good they were going to move up her treatment time for that day. She was so pitiful that night, just tired and grouchy. In fact she was out by 9:00 and she slept almost the whole night, only waking up a few times. On Wednesday the doctor was so proud of her and how well she was doing they moved up her last treatment and let her come home a day early. We were so happy!! She was very excited to come home and sleep in her own bed. 

On Thursday, she went to school for the whole day and that took a lot of her energy. She came home did her home work and spent the rest of the night laying on the couch.  She only went to school 1/2 a day on Friday, she had to get an injection to help build up her WBC (white blood cell) and RBC (red blood cell) counts. She felt good enough last night to go spend the night with her grandmother and I'm glad she was able to. 

I have to admit that my anxiety level has been greatly reduced. It was so hard for me to sit here at the house day after day knowing that this horrible cancer was in her body and there wasn't anything being done. From the time of diagnosis to the time she began her first treatment was 10 days. I have to say that was the longest 10 days of my life!! I have never been a patient person, but I have had to learn to have some through this whole process.  She has one more chemo treatment on Monday and that will complete her first round of therapy. She will get a couple of weeks off and then start the process all over again. After that they will repeat her scans and see how the cancer is responding. We are praying it will all be gone and she will be in complete remission. It is a very long wait for me!!  Just knowing she is being treated and getting medicine makes me feel so much better, but there is still the anxiety of the unknown and I believe that is just the mother  in me. I know that the Lord is working in all of this. He is not only working in our daughter, but in our lives as well. I ask that you please continue to hold her up in prayer, it is greatly appreciated. 

The most scared I have ever been!!

First let me apologize for being blog absent for two weeks. Our family got some heart wrenching news a couple of weeks ago and I just haven't been able to write anything.  That is what my quickly thrown together blog is about this week. So here goes our story....

....two weeks ago our 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I can tell you that is the scariest sentence I have ever heard in my life, "I'm sorry, but your daughter has cancer."  I had to get the doctor to repeat himself so I could make sure I heard him right. At first I was just numb and in shock, but after that I couldn't breath and felt as if I was going to die.  For the first three days I just felt as if I was walking around in a fog, unable to even go about my daily routine.  After meeting with the oncologist and having a whole days worth of testing done, we have been told that this is highly curable and that they are very optimistic about her outcome.  We head to the hospital next week for surgery and her first chemo treatment. I would like to ask all who read this to please remember her in your prayers. I know whose I am and I know whom I serve and I know that my God is greater than this cancer. He is the great I Am, the maker of all things in Heaven and Earth and he is the great physician. I am putting my faith and trust in him!!

I'm sure that many of my blogs will be about our journey together as a family through this and also some of her story and input will go in as well.  I will do my very best to keep updated on all that goes on and ask again for your prayers and for you to please pass along this request for us.




 

What's so great about the new royal baby?

I know by now some of you are so tired of hearing about the new royal baby, in fact I have even heard people say, "What is all the fuss about that baby?!?" 

 

I am one of those people who are super excited about all the news coming out of London this week. It's something about that new baby that makes people feel good. I got to thinking about that. What is it about that baby that seems to effect so many people around the world? I came up with the following ideas: 

1. He is a new baby!!  

It is a simple known fact that when a new baby is born there is joy and happiness. Of course in the day   and age we live in that is not always true, but it should be. The birth of a baby is a new life, a brand new person coming into this world. I remember a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time (Gone with the Wind), Ms. Melanie says "That babies are life renewing itself.." I think that is very true! I mean if there was no more birth than all life would cease to exist. 

2. He is the future heir to the British throne!! 

I find it fascinating that I have been living long enough to see two future kings born.  I won't give away my age, but I remember when Princess Diana presented young price William to the world as a newborn. I remember thinking what a cute baby, but why is he on television. I didn't understand at the time what was so important about him, but now I do.  

3. He is bringing joy to his countrymen and others around the world!!

In the day and age we live in there is so much doom, gloom and despair. We hear bad news at every turn and it just seems to get worse everyday. The birth of this baby is giving happiness not only to his own country, but the world and in these times we could all use a little more happiness. 

These are just a few of my opinions about young Prince George and his royal birth. I think it's wonderful news and if you don't agree, just keep quiet and let the rest of us celebrate. 

"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Gettysburg: The trip of a lifetime!

Back during the week of July 4th we had the opportunity to take the vacation of a lifetime.  Due to an unforeseen emergency surgery the week before we decided to leave a day early and take our time driving up to our destination.  We drove up through Winchester, Virginia where we stopped to visit the Confederate Solider Cemetery. It is the resting place of 2,575 confederate soldiers and is located in Mount Hebron Cemetery. Most of the names are known, but there are still some graves that have never be identified. This is so sad to me. I can only imagine how the families of these men felt when their loved ones never came home and they never knew what happened to them.
http://www.mthebroncemetery.org/stonewall.html

When we left Winchester (I just love that name), we drove on into Hershey, Pennsylvania which would be our home for the night. The next day we went over to Chocolate World. We got to tour the factory, make our own candy bars and take a trolley tour around the city, it was lots of fun.
http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/

We then headed to York, Pennsylvania which would be our home for the next 3 nights. We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express, it was so nice and clean. The customer service was also fantastic!  The next day we drove over to Gettysburg to see the museum and battlefield. Can you say crowded!?! There were so many people there, but we expected that, it was only the 150th Anniversary of the battle. We learned so much about the Civil War and the battle there. Did you know that they estimate that 10,000 women dressed up as men and fought during the Civil War? They were only discovered when they were killed or wounded. Did you also know that for every man killed in battle, two died of disease?  Honestly it is a miracle anyone survived to go home to their families. My great-great-great grandfather was wounded at the the Battle of Gettysburg(he was on the confederate side of course), but thank the Lord he survived to return home, marry and have children.  When I consider the fact that my family would not be here if he had died, it is a very sobering thought. I also had a great-great grandfather that fought at Gettysburg(Confederate again, of course). Thank the Lord he made it home to finish raising my great-grandfather so that our family line could go on.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

 The following day we headed over to the re-enactment of the first day of the battle.  It was an amazing experience!! We had the opportunity to hear General Robert E. Lee speak, toured a living history camp and then got to meet General Lee and Lt. General Richard S. Ewell. I was so tickled to get our picture made with them and have a chance to speak to them.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/150th-anniversary-index.htm

On our last day we headed over to Amish Country. We got a tour an Amish farm and took an Amish buggy ride. It was a wonderful learning experience for us as we took in the Amish culture and discovered new things about them. The company we used was Aaron and Jessica's, they are in Bird in Hand Pennsylvania and the tour was fantastic. We then went over to the Good and Plenty for a traditional Pennsylvania-Dutch meal. The food was great and it was lots of it!!
http://amishbuggyrides.com/
http://www.goodnplenty.com/

Up North is a great place to visit, but I was very happy to get back home to my native South (No offence to my Yankee friends or readers intended)!

I hope that you have enjoyed the re-cap of our trip and that you have taken the time to explore, learn and discover some new things this summer.

"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Ancestry: Knowing your families story!

I have always been very interested in my family history (the story of my ancestors, who they were, what part of the world they came from, etc.).  So a few years ago I started a free 14 day trial with Ancestry.com (http://home.ancestry.com/).   I recommend this first step for anyone interested in their family history.  With the free trail you have access to limited things, but you can still set up your family tree with what you know and add to it as you learn new information.  Well, a couple of years ago I received a 6 month USA only membership for Christmas to do more research, that gave me access to all of the records they had.  I was amazed by what I discovered!!

I found out that my family has ties to the American Revolution, The War of 1812 and The Civil War. I also found out that my family immigrated here for several reasons. Most did it by choice, they came here searching for a new land, a new life and a place to raise a family.
 I did find out that a couple of them came here as indentured servants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant).
I also found out that one even came here because he had been convicted of a crime (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation).
His punishment was to be sent to the new world all alone. I have not been able to find out what his crime was, that is just one of the secrets I still have to uncover.

Most of the ones who immigrated here for a new life came into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and traveled down the Great Wagon Road south(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road).
I guess they liked the land and the area so good, they just decided to stay. (I'm so glad they went south, I love being a southerner!)  I like to think that maybe some of them came here with the hope of getting rich. As far as I know none of them ever did succeed in that, but they did find a new home and a place to raise their children.  I am very proud of my heritage, all parts of it, even the parts some may consider to be non PC (politically correct).  My family had a part in the history of our country from the very beginning.  They worked very hard as many other immigrants did; farming the land, raising their crops and their children without asking for anything and they fought for freedom for themselves, their descendants and all Americans that would follow after them.

Please take some time to know your history. I bet there are some amazing stories for you to discover. Just learning about them will give you a whole new outlook on life. I think knowing your history in very important, in fact I have always told my girls, "You can't know where your going, if you don't know where you came from!"

"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"

Happy Birthday America!!

First off let me apologize for the shortness of this blog, we have been on vacation and I have lots of unpacking and cleaning up to do! :)



Just a couple of days ago we celebrated the 237th birthday of our great nation.  It is a day full of backyard Bar-b-que's, parades, family get together's and of course fireworks.  It is often a time for families to go on vacation (like we did!). This day is very important to me, the birthday of my nation, my homeland.  My ancestors immigrated her in the 1600's and 1700's from Great Britain when the land was new and open.  They wanted a place to live, have a family and make a new life.  They fought for our independence in the Revolution and again against Britain in the War of 1812. I guess having such an old family history in this nation contributes to my love of country. My family has been here a long time, almost since the very beginning (later blog topic) and I love my America.  She may not always do right, but still I love her.  I'm not sure how y'all spent your 4th of July, but I hope y'all had a wonderful day. I hope you took a moment while celebrating to remember all who made it possible and everything that was done  to make and keep our nation free.

"That's my "two cents worth", what's yours?"