So it's been a while...

Sorry guys, I know it's been a while! So what's changed since last time? I had my preop appointment on January 22, at which I did not completely pass out! The nurse was really good when she drew my blood, and I got about half-way through my passing out routine, but she did a great job of keeping me from going over the edge. FYI, my routine is: start crying, can't speak anymore and breathing gets very difficult, start to melt over to one side, my eyes start to roll back in my head, my hearing goes, then I completely black out. I only made it to when my eyes started rolling back this time, so YAY! Everything else there went fine. Then I had my surgery bright and early on January 23, which was a good thing because it did not give me a whole day to worry about it. Although I have to admit, I was a mess at the hospital that morning (partially because they blew the vein in my hand, put the IV on the side of my wrist, then put another port on the other side of my wrist to draw blood-that one HURT!). The surgery went smoothly and as expected. They removed the entire mass and determined that it was what they thought it was-a fibroadenoma about the size of a golfball. It's been about a week since the surgery, and I haven recovered quite nicely. The surgeon said that the incision looks very good (it's about 2 1/2 inches long and all my stitches are internal) and I have been given the okay to do any activity that does not cause me pain or involve vigorous activity (jogging, jumping on a trampoline, stair-stepping, etc.). She said that the incision should be completely healed up in about 2 weeks and I will be good to go. We also got the results back from the skin biopsy that the dermatologist did on my back...it's benign! They removed the entire mole and no further treatment will be necessary. YAY! Many praises that all my stuff went so well.
Grandma had her second surgery on January 26. This time, she is experiencing more postop pain and had some more trouble coming out of the anesthesia. Her CT scan is scheduled for February 11, so we are really sitting on pins and needles waiting for the results of that scan. Hopefully this will bring good news for Grandma...it will be the first time in a long time that she's received good news about her health.
Brittany also got some pretty crummy news about her situation...the surgeon that her doctor referred her to is not willing to operate. I'm not sure what her plan is or who else she has appointments scheduled with, but I do know that this is very hard on her. I'll post any new information on her situation as it comes my way...
Here's to high hopes of February bringing good health our way! Please continue to pray for us all including my parents as all our situations and their associated stresses are starting to take their tolls...

Another Health Update

Well Grandma is not doing as well as last time I posted. When she went back for her post-surgery appointment, they discovered that there were some cancerous spots in the skin at her mastectomy site. She has to go back in to surgery on Monday, January 26 to take care of this problem, which is not at all what we expected. I went with her, Grandpa, mom, Aunt Tammy, and Aunt Gloria to an oncologist visit on Monday. As it turns out, she has a very rare form of breast cancer called "Triple Negative" and this particular type has a much higher recurrence rate than other types of breast cancer. The doctor seemed optimistic about her outlook as long as they kept on top of getting her in to the office and getting scans done regularly. He wants to do a CT scan after her surgery, then based on those results, maybe proceed with some radiation therapy. Grandma is very opposed to chemo-therapy at the moment because she already doesn't feel well and doesn't want that therapy to make her feel so much worse. We just have to keep praying for God's will and for Grandma and the doctors to do what they can all agree is best for her specific situation. The good news for the rest of us is that there isn't a solid genetic link right now, so we're not all at super-high risk just yet. The oncologist just warned us to make sure to keep up with our own scans and to our own advocates when we speak with our doctors to make sure that any treatment plan is unique and right for our individual situations. He was a very good doctor and I greatly appreciate the way he is taking care of Grandma.
Brittany's situation hasn't really changed since last time. We are still in limbo until she speaks directly with her surgeon about setting up a date to remove the scar-tissue mass in her liver and her spleen, which they estimate to be about 10 pounds by now. As a comparison, the average adult human spleen is about half a pound. She is still in a lot of pain and is very anxious to visit with the surgeon, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
As for myself, I had an appointment with a dermatologist on Monday. My surgeon was worried about one spot on my back, which turned out to be fine, but the dermatologist did find another one which she chose to remove and biopsy. I was so proud of myself because I did not pass out when they numbed me up with the injection! However...I certainly did pass out as soon as I got up. I made it through the needles and the razor blade and patching me all up...but when I got up to leave...I only made it to the front desk. Then, I had to be carried to a room where they gave me a bed to lay on and wouldn't let me leave for about 30 minutes which is when my color finally came back. That was probably the most action that dermatologist's office has seen in quite some time! The poor girl behind the front desk was pregnant and had just had minor surgery, so she was doing well just to be at work. I probably scared the daylights out of her! Ryan (who absolutely hates blood and guts and stuff) is having to change my dressing everyday because it's on my back...poor guy. But I'm healing up nicely and he only has a few days left. We should find out the results of the biopsy next week sometime. The other thing is that I have my lumpectomy on Friday, and I'm totally freaked out. I have a pre-op appointment on Thursday afternoon at which they will be drawing blood...at least these guys are at a hospital and it's not too out of the ordinary when I pass out. Then there's the anesthesia/surgery thing...I'm not a fan, but know that I really have to do this. At least I get to take a few days off work, right? Sorry, I crack jokes sometimes when I'm uncomfortable. Please pray for me! I do want to thank everyone who has offered to help us during this time and thank mom and dad for going to the hospital with us that day...it really means more than you know. Hopefully it will go smoothly and as planned. I'll be much better once it's over and I'm back home!
For each of our situations and for those not mentioned, we just have to keep our faith strong and be grateful for the good people in our lives to help us through these situations.

Happy Birthday!

Monday (January 19) was Ryan's birthday, so we spent most of the weekend celebrating! He played golf with his dad Saturday morning and played on his new Nintendo Wii that afternoonwhile I ran some errands and took the pups for a nice long walk. Then we headed to my parents' house for some good BBQ dinner and yes, more playing on the Wii. We actually got everyone in on the games and really had a blast! Then on Sunday, we went to church then met Ryan's parents, his sister, and her boyfriend Will at Buca di Beppo for lunch. After lunch, we went to see "Paul Blart, Mall Cop" with his parents then spent a quiet evening at home with the fuzzy kids. Ryan had to work on his birthday, which totally sucks, but we went to dinner at Saltgrass which he really enjoyed! I also surprised him with an ice-cream cake! I hope he had an absolutely wonderful birthday weekend!

Our Future Olympic Gymnast

Here are a few pictures of Aimee (she's only 3 years old!) at her gymnastics class!

She does so well and always seems to have a great time.

A Relaxing Weekend...

We had such a nice weekend! Saturday, Ryan played golf in the morning with his dad while I ran some errands. I took Grandma and Grandpa breakfast from Whataburger, got my hair cut, went to a birthday party for a family friend's little boy, then headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a late lunch and to finish visiting with them, mom, Tommy and Gloria, and my Aunt Cherry. Ryan shot a 64 that morning at golf-that's 8 under par! Go, Baby, Go! Grandma and Grandpa are doing very well! They have plenty of help in town, so that makes it easier, but they are really doing much better than we anticipated. We got Troy (the birthday boy) some terribly abnoxious toys, so Ryan and I have been warned that "we're owed one." Oh well...he loved them! Then, that evening, I caved in and gave Ryan his birthday present (a Nintendo Wii!) over a week early. I have to admit...I'd had it since November, so I had kinda been taunting him with it, so I kinda felt sorry for the guy! Plus, if he knew this is what he was getting, then he could ask his parents or my parents for some games or something to go with it. So we ended up playing on that all evening and ordering in a pizza.
Sunday, we went to church and to lunch. We had planned on going to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, but were sadly mistaken and it doesn't start until NEXT weekend! Upon that sad news, Ryan and I went home to tidy up a little, then he headed back to the golf course for some more practice and I took the pups on a 4-mile walk, then spent about an hour at the dog park with our Husky/Wolf mix friend named Kota. Goosey got scared when some dogs started getting a little too rough, so she was actually the one to tell us that it was time to go home! Normally Mav gets tired or Ryan and I are ready and we have to nearly corner Goosey in order to leave, so this was a welcome change of pace. We had dinner brough in again that evening and just watched a little TV until it was time for bed...oh how relaxing it was! We were definitely ready to get the week started off on a good, rested note. Hope everyone has a good week!

A Health Update

First, Grandma Hill had her mastectomy on Monday and it went very smoothly. She had to stay in the hospital until Wednesday because she started to run a little fever due to an upper respiratory infection, but the surgery itself and recovery from that appear to be going well. The doctor seemed to think that the cancer had not spread to the lymphnodes or anywhere else, so hopefully this surgery will be the end of the cancer-talk for Grandma. Thanks again for your prayers and support!
On Tuesday, Ryan, my mom, and I had a meeting with my surgeon to set up my own lumpectomy for later this month. I'm very blessed by the fact that my tumor is not malignant, but nonetheless, the surgeon still highly recommended that it be removed as soon as possible. The surgeon did also find another much smaller mass, but it appears to be either internal scar tissue or fibro-cystic, so it will not need to be removed-thank goodness!
Brittany is doing all right, but she is in quite a bit of discomfort and the people in her household seem to be either passing around pneumonia or just coincidentally coming down with it at the same time, so please continue to pray for her health.
Please also keep my mom in your prayers-she has a lot on her plate at the moment!

Brittany and Grandma Update

Thank you all very much for your prayers and support regarding my Grandma Hill and my sister Brittany.
It was nearly unbelievable when my sister called the other day and let us know that the biopsy showed that the mass in her liver was not malignant. They are not going to have to put her through chemo/radiation (her health is already in a fragile state) and they're not going to have to do a liver transplant. That was just absolutely wonderful news! They're still going to remove her spleen as it swells and causes her a lot of pain, but that is most certainly better than having a liver transplant. Please continue to pray for her as she goes through the consults with her doctors and gets her treatment plans set up.
As for Grandma, her mastectomy is tomorrow, so please keep her and my Grandpa in your prayers. I will let you all know how she is doing later this week.

Ringing in 2009

Well considering that I was very sick with a bad upper respiratory infection (which I am still fighting...ugh!) and that Ryan had to work New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, we had a very low-key celebration. We went out for Chinese food, perused Target for a game to play (with no luck), then tried Blockbuster for any good movies (again, no luck there either). We got home at about 9:30, got cuddled up on the couch, and watched the New Year's Eve shows as we barely kept our eyelids peeled open until midnight. Here are some pictures of our party-animal selves!

Ryan would prefer not to share his resolutions for the new year, and I don't really like to make "resolutions" for the new year, but maybe "goals" instead. Here are my "goals" for 2009:

1. RELAX! Last year, we had the wedding (and showers, rehearsal, honeymoon, etc.), a trip to the ER with a certain cooking incident and consequent days home in bed-rest, my college graduation, both of us got new jobs, we moved from Austin back to Dallas, and really tried to do anything and everything that we could once we got back. I want to sit back this year and enjoy life and all the blessings we've been given!

2. Pay closer attention to the way I treat my own body. Whether it's the foods that I put in my body, the amount and types of exercise I am getting, or the way that I am treating myself in a more spiritual/emotional way (including the way I let stress effect me), I want to pay better attention to what effects these things are having on me. I think this will encourage me to make more time for myself and to treat my body better.

3. Keep up with this blog and/or a scrapbook!

Christmas Videos

Apparently all of the videos that Ryan made from the Christmas footage are way too big to post. Sorry! Just trust us on this one...we had so much fun getting to see everyone and giving the pups their presents!

Pics from Christmas

Finally...here are a few pics from Christmas! It's mainly Christmas Eve because Christmas Day is on the video camera...hopefully that will all be posted later today.

Here we are! Ryan, me, Kelly, and Andrew at Fleming's for dinner on Friday.

This is what Ryan did during most of the festivities (this was on Christmas Eve)

Me, Mom, and Aimee in our Christmas PJ's

Mom and Dad at Dinner on Christmas Eve

Me, Ryan, and Aimee on Christmas Eve

Aimee making cookies for Santa...yes, there was very close supervision with the knife! This was her first year to do this and she got such a kick out of getting ready for Santa!