Ground Hog Day

The year 2013 has brought our family many Friday the 13th's and Ground Hog Days.   We are anxious for this year to be over and 2014 to bring in a whole new sensational year.   We started 2013 out by having Pre-Approval to adopt a 10 year old girl from China.   Then during a "brief" physical for the adoption my primary care physician's PA reminded me that I was overdue on having my annual mammogram done.   She did a breast exam and I try to do breast exams every month or so.    I was probably 5 or 6 months overdue for my mammogram.   Imagine the shock to find out that I had a density in my left breast and they did a biopsy immediately.   It was not good news.   I had triple negative breast cancer which is a very aggressive cancer.   Fortunately we had caught it early.   It was 8 mm when first detected and 9 mm two weeks later when it was surgically removed.   That is a pretty rapidly growing tumor.   It we had not been actively in the process of adopting....we may never have found the tumor in time.   I shudder to think how differently things could have worked out.  

Of course, we had to stop our adoption while I started fighting for my life.   One lumpectomy, many doses of chemotherapy and soon radiation and the oncologist says that this will be behind me in less than a year.   In the meantime, I have thought about that little girl whom we were pursuing.   She is still waiting for a family.   She is getting older and no one is coming for her.    We still want to, but right now we have this little problem....it is called unemployment.   My 6 month leave of absence  ran out before my cancer treatment was complete.   I had asked several times if I could extend my leave of absence and was told "Sure, no problem!"   Well, seems there was a problem.   So now I must finish my treatment which is just about DONE!!   And then I can reapply for my job or a job and hopefully there will be one for me.  

In the meantime we are going to do some fundraising to help bring our daughter home.   I have made a T-shirt that shows three very important things about Chinese adoptions.   Ladybugs bring good luck, so the shirt has a ladybug on it.   There is also a saying about the "red thread" that involves an adoption from China and most importantly there is a passage from the Bible

Isaiah 43:5

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west"

One thing that has been going great this year is the girls doing Taekwondo.    They have consistently moved up each testing session to the next belt level and they did not disappoint us this last time.   They are now all blue decided belts.   Tessa did pretty good in her form even with stitches in her right big toe!!

We really are the luckiest parents!!  I can't imagine our lives without these beautiful girls in it!!

Branson for the end of the season.

We had been planning a trip to Branson for a few weeks.    Then after the accident we thought about canceling.    Then I listened to the girls talking and it seemed to me that they needed to get a way for the weekend and try to think of other things and have a good time.    To get their mind off of the wreck and just enjoy themselves.   Of course, Daddy couldn't go because of the pain he is still having and the back brace that he has to wear is uncomfortable to say the least.    Then Tessa is limping around because of the stitches in her right big toe.   So I made an executive decision to take everyone except Tessa and Daddy.   We also asked our next door neighbor, Paige, to go along.   She has the girls over all the time for sleepovers and I just thought it would be nice to ask her to go.  That was a hit with the girls and with Paige.

So we took off after Zora's 8AM appointment Friday morning.   We were in Branson by 3:30PM.   Checked into our hotel and then off to find some school clothes for Rae, Zora and Jordis.   The pick for supper was Joe's Crab Shack, yummy!!   By the time we left there it was raining :(   We headed back to the hotel and the girls swam for an hour.   Then it was time to go to bed as we were going to be up and out to Silver Dollar City early Saturday morning.

Saturday morning was cold!  I dressed in two sweatshirts and my jacket and still froze!   The girls were on the move and kept warm running around from ride to ride.   I was glad that I not only had my scrub hat for my head but also my jacket hood.  I did manage to sunburn my face.   But the sun felt so good it was hard not to soak up some rays!

Paige is more of a dare devil than my girls and she was going to get a couple of them on the Outlaw Run Rollercoaster, but it was just not meant to be.   My girls were the stick in the muds.   Maybe next year!!

Sunday we slept in late and after checking out of the hotel we headed to Bob Evans for brunch.   Then back on the road again for home.   Of course, Sunday dawned much warmer than Saturday...oh well.  We are trying to decide if we will buy annual passes to Silver Dollar City or if we will try something different this next summer.   Maybe World's of Fun?!!

Head On Crash

Friday night was a very scary night for our bunch.   My husband and five girls had just left the house heading for McD's for a quick supper and then to Taekwondo for Sparring practice.   Less than 5 minutes later the unthinkable happened.   As they were crossing 93rd street a woman turned in front of them and they crashed almost head on.    The accident sent her vehicle spinning around once in the middle of the road.   It tore the drivers side wheel off our 2009 Ford Expedition and the force of gravity sent our SUV down the street north with my husband trying to get it to stop and working hard to keep it going straight as possible and not let it turn abruptly and start rolling.    He did keep it upright and eventually he drifted off the left side of the road and slammed into the culvert.   The force of hitting the dirt ditch tore our DVD player off the roof and sent it flying up into the drivers area hitting my husband.   Fortunately the airbags all deployed and kept Daddy and RaeAnne from hitting into the windshield.  

Dad was on the phone immediately calling 911 and then me to let me know what had happened.   I grabbed my head cover and keys and was up there in no time.   I parked as close as I could, but there was already a lot of cars that were kind of trapped with the accident blocking the road.  I walked/run up and helped get the girls out of the car and was checking them over for wounds.   Jordis was already out of the car and sitting on something that someone had put down so she wouldn't have to sit in the dirt. Her neck was hurting and she had bitten through her tongue.   Tessa was still sitting in the vehicle and had blood all over!   It was from a cut on her right great toe.   I thought the toe might be broken and you could see her bone or tendon through the cut.  Someone had given her hankies to hold on the toe.   EMS wrapped it up with guaze later on and we sent her and Jordis to the hospital to be checked out.   The Fire Department and EMS had to cut Mark from the vehicle.   He was complaining of his neck and back hurting.   After arriving at the hospital and having CT scans they found he has a fracture in his cervical spine which they are not sure is old or new.   And he has one in his lower spine that occurs frequently from the sudden bending forward and then back from the force of the accident.   They have measured him for a brace that he will have to wear all waking hours for 3 months.   They are going to CT scan his cervical spine again once the brace gets here to look at the fracture up there again and decide if it is new or old.

Our family is grateful that they were driving our big, heavy SUV.   If they had been driving our smaller minivan we feel that their injuries would/could have been much more severe.   Even though it totalled our prime traveling vehicle, it is only a car and cars can be replaced our family can not.

We are so grateful for the EMS staff.   They were absolutely wonderful!!  Not only did they do a great job on site, but after they had taken them to the hospital they came back and checked on them again when they had another accident victim they brought in later.  They truly love their jobs!  

Jordis was quickly checked over and released.   She joined Zora and I in Mark's room.   Tessa was in another room around the hallway.   They CT scanned her abdomen and neck as she was complaining of her tummy hurting and we were hoping that she did not have internal injuries from the seat belt.   Fortunately she did not!!   They also xrayed her toe which was not broken but terribly torn up.   The PA put 5 stitches in it just to try and keep it somewhat closed so it would heal.   It will take longer to heal as it was deep and you could see her bone and some tendon in there but we will keep a close eye on it so if I see any infection starting I can take her to the doctor or back to the hospital for antibiotics.  I am changing the bandage once a day and putting antibiotic ointment on it.   We have found a slipper she can wear on that foot to walk in and she is doing pretty good.

The odd thing.   ZoraLin had a fortune cookie.   It said "God looks after you especially."   Okay I have never received a fortune cookie that mentions God personally before.   Zora was pretty much uninjured except for a scratch on her hip where the seatbelt rubbed her skin off.

Pre-op visits

When we first met Tessa, she was very self conscious of her right thumbs.  You see, she was born with two right thumbs.   She can give a two thumbs up with one hand!  I think that is totally cool and she has started to think so too.   However, once she was home from China for a while, her Dad and I sat her down and told her that IF she wanted to have surgery on her thumb to take one off, that would absolutely have to be her decision.   We explained that we would support her 110% in what she decided to do.   Well that day has arrived.   She quietly came to her Dad and I and told us she was ready to have the surgery.

So we saw the surgeon a few weeks ago and today we visited with her cardiologist and the PAT.  Pre-anesthetia team.   She will have surgery on November 22nd.   They will put her hand in a cast for about a month.   It is good that we have having one thumb removed.   One has two grow plates in it.   The other does not have any.   So basically one thumb would grow while the other would not.   So in her early 20's she would have one thumb that was short and stumpy and one that was normal.   The doctor will have to move some things around but she thinks that she will have a fairly normal looking thumb with complete mobility when she is done.

Tessa is just wishing it was over.  So are we!

Surprise!

Our deck man delivered a beautiful planter today and the news that our deck is officially ready for use after Friday.

Oh Happy Day!!

A walk on the "wild" side!

Kendalan asked me for a piece of paper Friday night.   Said she wanted to make a mustache.   I watched her draw it and then I left the table.   Imagine my surprise when she came up to me a little later looking like this!

The nice thing, we did not have to use a razor to take them off!   I love the face with or without a stache and a beard.   I hope she remains hairless in high school.  It could be embarrassing!!

Spirit week at school.

Kendalan and Tessa have been having a blast doing spirit week at school.   Homecoming is this Friday.   The most fun day after pajama's day on Monday was Mismatched day.   The girls came up with their own outfits.  And I think they were pretty cute.   Of course, I may be a bit biased :)

 

Eegan and Pugston was feeling a little left out so they go in the photo too!!