Fun Rainy Day!

Jeremiah and Caleb came up for a visit! We were going to go swimming or to the Black Canyon, but it rained on and off all day! So instead we made pancakes (Aidan had his first pancake!! No syrup for him!), built a fort (Aidan's first fort!), made homemade pizza and watched a movie! It was a great day!! There are so many pictures I have to do another slide show! We had a great day!

Happy Blueberry Face

Aidan loves blueberries and making a mess with them!!

Latest Medical Update

Because I am loving blogging so much and am posting lots of Aidan pictures (I can't help it! He is just so cute!) my medical stuff is getting pushed off the main page. You can always hit the link on the left side (under blog archive) to view any post, current or old. But I am going to post my most recent medical update on the left side under the "about me" section. Thank you for all the comments! This has been so fun!

Camping!

We went camping for the first and last time for the summer August 15-17, '08! We went up near Silverjack. It was absolutely beautiful! We were right by a stream and there was even a home made swing at the camp site! It was perfect. It was also the first time Aidan has been camping!

Aidan's First Tie!

Aidan wore his first tie to church today!! Such a handsome boy!

A Fun Day, Just Playing!

After church we went to Adam and Jodi's house for Adam's birthday. We had fun and are looking forward to getting to know them more. Aidan played in the water and on the trampoline and loved it.

Smart Smart Boy!

We are teaching Aidan sign language. Yesterday he started signing the word more!! It looks like it he is just clapping, but it is clapping with a purpose! He has been signing milk for a while now. Baby's are so much smarter then we give them credit for! Aidan learns so many new things every day that we can hardly keep up! Now we are working on please.

Officer Haifley Attacked!!

Jeff was attacked by two vicious dogs today!! Mini doberman pincher's! One of them hung on to his leg and the dog was completely off the ground!! Ouch! Jeff had to go to the hospital and get a tetanus shot and a prescription! His legs actually look worse than the pictures show!

Aidan's First Football Game!

Montrose High School had their first football game and Aidan wasn't so sure! When the crowd would yell Aidan would pout his lip out and then cry!! Tears would just roll down his little face! It was so cute and so so sad!

Our Precious Family and Friends,

I am starting this blog because so many of you, and even sweet people that haven't ever met me, are concerned and wanting every single detail of what is going on. It has been so hard to try to keep everyone updated, actually it has been impossible! So this way everyone can stay up to date. We want to be able to share updates on my progress, but mostly we want to share with you our blessings and joys.

His peace that passes all understanding continues to and always will carry us through all of the difficult things that we have to walk through.

Thank you for you heartfelt prayers, concern, thoughts and love. Through your amazing support we know how loved we truly are. I sit here with tears in my eyes and can’t even begin to express how much each of you mean to us and how special and taken care of you make us feel.

Please, please leave comments and let us know you were here - even if I personally don't know you yet. I may not be able to get back to you, but it means so much to know you were here and that you care!

Just so you all know everything I am going to start from the beginning…

The Rest of the Story...

On June 18, 2008 I had a routine laparoscopic surgery. I was recovering well and on June 25 my doctor, Dr. Gilham (who did the surgery) called to tell me that he had taken some biopsies that came back irregular. He said that they found cells that were either cancer or pre-cancer (3 of the 4 biopsies). He was on vacation and The Mayo Clinic had called him. He didn't want to wait until he came back to work the following Monday. He is a very kind and amazing man. Ever since we first met him (when I got pregnant with Aidan), we've thanked God to have such a wonderful doctor. Jeff and I lost it. We didn't even know what to do with this information! There wasn't very much to go off of yet. Dr. Gilham's nurse made an appointment for me to see a cancer specialist the next day (one of the longest 24 hour periods of our lives!!). He said that I have carcinoid tumors (a very rare type of cancer). They are almost always malignant and are usually found by accident. He scheduled lots of tests and scans so that we could confirm that it was this type of tumor, how many, how big and to figure out exactly what to do from there.

Since that appointment and others (including an appointment with my specialist, Dr. Kane, in Denver), I've had lots of lab work, scans (I found out I'm allergic to the contrast for the CT scan!!), a colonoscopy, endoscopy, capsule endoscopy (swallowed a pill that took thousands of picts), more bioposies and other tests, we have found out that I actually have a rare subtype of a carcinoid tumor, which are malignant. They have been unable to locate the exact location of the tumor or tumors. They think that they are really small and are just not showing up yet. Which is wonderful because we have caught it really early, but it is also frustrating because we can't find them!!

Today is August 20, 2008. We left Aidan in Montrose, with our incredible cousins Todd and Maya. It was very hard for me to leave him, but was the best thing for him today. We are going to Denver, and back, in one day for an appointment with a surgeon to talk about the next step. I pray for wisdom for him to know what needs to be done for me. I guess it is a pretty big surgery.
God is so faithful and has provided us with great peace. Here is a verse that we now understand more and love (a few people we love dearly told us this verse!): 2 Chronicles 20, it talks about how the Israelites didn't have the power to fight an unseen vast army, but they worship the Lord and He defeats the enemy for them! They don’t even have to fight! And because they trusted in Him, He not only won the battle for them he rewarded them!
These songs have also come to mean a lot to us; "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns and "I Still Believe" by Jeremy Camp. I would encourage you to listen to these great songs and read this bible passage. We all face difficult things in our lives and if we trust God he will take care of the battle for us, even if it is in a different way than we would have thought, and then He will use the hard situation for good and to glorify Him! We love you all and thank you for the precious gift from God that you are to us!

When this sweet boy smiles, he smiles with his whole heart!

Bath time is Aidan's favorite time! These pictures make me cry, because of the joy that radiates from our precious son.
He is the most amazing joy and blessing.
I don't know what we ever, ever did without him.

When our boy smiles, he smiles with his WHOLE heart.
We pray that is how he does EVERYTHING!

Surgeon Consultation in DenverAugust 20, 2008

We (Jeff, Dad, Mom and I) met with the surgeon, Dr. Gonzalez, yesterday in Denver. He confirmed that the type of cancer that I have is very rare. They still don’t know the exact location of the tumor (or tumors). He said he agrees with the other Doctors, in that they all think that there is a source that we need to find. The other possibility is that the lining of my abdomen has tumors on it, however that would be so rare that they would write papers about it if that is the case. So, surgery is scheduled for September 19th at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver. They will start laparoscopicly and hopefully find it - and then get it all out. That is supposed to last around five hours and would be around a three to five day hospital stay. If they can’t find it laparoscopicly they will have to do a large incision (low chest all the way down) and a more extensive surgery that could last up to 13 hours, with a hospital stay of up to 15 days. If they have to open me up more they might do a chemo wash, they put the chemo right into my abdomen and wash it around for about 90 min. We are all praying that it will be the easy find! I’m standing on the scripture that God has given to me in II Chronicles 20. I know that He is going before me to fight this battle. I know that the doctors can say what they want but God is bigger than any of it and He IS in control. I trust Him. We am really tired and really overwhelmed. I continue to be grateful for you your prayers.