Saturday, May 12, 2007

More medical stuff and packing

Dear friends,

I only have a few minutes. I have lots of packing to do today. Greg gets home Wednesday and we will be tearing out carpets and moving furniture for a new carpet install on the 21st. Then Jenni's graduation on the 24th, her party on the 25th and the house on the market on the 26th. Then I will take a long nap!

I went to see my oncologist on Wednesday. He feels that one of the lumps I am feeling is definitely nothing to worry about, but one on my side he wanted the surgeon to check. He put ASAP on the order, and I was in to see her the next day. She told me the sad news that she feels that the only way to know for sure if it is something to be concerned about (cancer) is to remove and test the tissue. So that means a surgery, probably somewhere around the week of June 11th- no date set yet. My dear friends Betty and Gene are coming on the 12th and 13th, and I am so excited about that. Surgery will just be an outpatient thing and I have been through it enough times that I know the drill. She wants to do this before we move because she knows that even though usually these things are nothing or just scar tissue, sometimes they aren't. She knows me and my case, but doesn't want to hand me over to other doctors who won't have my history like she does. I also had a heart test yesterday as there are family history issues along with cancer treatment side effects to check out. I feel like my heart has been working hard lately. So that too is just precautionary. I will get results next week. I have a non-contrast CT scan on Tuesday to check my lungs. I have had little nodules in there for years. They hadn't changed in the whole 8 years we have been checking. Dr. Bourg just wants to make sure that is still the case.

So, how to pray? Pray that I would get all the packing that only I can do done before Greg gets home. I am tossing a lot! It is exciting. I have friends coming to help me- even this afternoon, plus Jenni and Jesse, and Allison will get home on Tuesday. Did I tell you we got the hot tub fixed? Jenni and I used it the other night after her AP test and it was nice to sit and talk. She took AP Calculus on Wed., AP English on Thursday and has AP Physics on Monday. Wednesday is her last day of school. Her end of the year concert has been Thursday through tonight. I went last night and am going again tonight. Dancing, costumes, etc. Amazing! I am sorry Greg is missing it, but I spotted a friend videoing it last night. Jenni has severe senioritis. Our Taiwanese students came to visit last night and stayed for an hour. Heng Hua looked startled when I told her Jenni has senioritis and laughed when we explained what it is. She said her room mate has it too! Well, I will stop and get back to packing. Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings- Nancy

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Tales of tails, jaws and houses

Hello all!

As the end of the school year approaches, the kids are on the computer more and more. So after they finished their homework, finally it is my turn on the comupter. I went to the dentist last Monday for a recheck on the surgery he did in January. Since the nerve was damaged, he has been monitoring the healing process. Since the part he didn't remove was still hurting, and the parts he did remove now don't hurt, he agreed to take out about 1 1/2 inches, 3/8ths inch deep of jaw bone- I think the last area of concern. So on Wednesday a week ago I had him do that. I am still somewhat sore, but it is gradually hurting less. I will eventually get a pathology report on the tissue he removed. The good news is that the pain medicine for my jaw, also works on my tailbone and sore shoulder. I can't drive when I use it, but at least I can sleep.

Now for the house hunting update- Greg looked at houses on Saturday in Spokane where he is currently working his 2 weeks for May. He saw 6 houses I think, and at one of them, he took me on a virtual tour while we were on the phone. If was my afternoon break during the women's retreat from my church I was on. He called my during dinner very excited to tell me he had found the perfect house. He and the realitor went and made and offer and after a counter offer, we agreed to buy the house at that price and it was declaired done. We close June 13th although we won't be there that day.

So let me tell you about this house. Another house we looked at while we were there fell through, and this one has almost all the pluses that one did. It is a ranch, 2 years old, the basement is unfinshed, but is framed and the electrical is already in. The first floor has a very open floor plan (ideal for company), a bonus room above the 3 car garage, 3 bedrooms and there is an open kitchen and covered patio. The basement is ready for 2 bedrooms, a full bath a family room and a large storage room. So it meets our goal of enabling us to host the staff of Partners where we will be working as well as international visitors connected to the ministry. We expect lots of friends to be visiting and when our kids are home, we will have enough room too. So we are excited at this answer to prayer. I will try and go see it with Jesse in early June. Greg discovered that one Partners International family lives within a mile of our new house and they have a son in the same school and same grade as Jesse will be. He is excited for Jesse to visit so he can introduce him to everyone before school gets out. Jesse will also meet and audition for the music teachers so they know to expect his barritone next year. The music department in our school here in CO is very sad to see him go. We will possibly go from the 3rd to the 6th.

Tomorrow I go to see Dr. Bourg, my oncologist. I have lots of questions about how you can tell the difference between scar tissue and cancer. I want him to have the gift of interpretation regarding some new lumps I feel. I have no idea if he will order any tests to help him decide, or if it will be clear to him. I vote for scar tissue.

Jenni takes her AP Calculus test tomorrow, and has AP Physics and AP English coming up Friday and Monday. Then she graduates on the 24th. Laura is going to Grove City next week to walk in her graduation. Jesse is trying to end up with a 3.0 or higher so that his car insurance will be lower. So he is working on end of the year projects to try and end the semester well.

Greg has been meeting with all of the staff one by one and getting to know them. The first morning he was there, he didn't have a key and waited outside for a half hour for someone to come and let him in. He is staying at a residence inn where he has a small kitchenette. He has lots to do with his new job and is staying busy. He gets home on the 16th and I am supposed to have all the extra stuff of my life sorted into categories, get rid of it, or put it into storage, only holding back on what we need to have to live between now and mid July. I am the clutterer, so I now have to deal with that. Pray that I would be able to move through these things quickly.

We actually got our hot tub fixed last week, hoping that it wll help us sell our house. It hasn't worked much in the 16 years we have lived here, so that is exciting. Our new house won't have one, but there will be good rivers to play in there.

I thank you for your reading to the end of yet another one of my entries. I shared my testimony at the women's retreat I went to last weekend. I felt that it went well, but was horrified to find out afterward that I had gone terribly over my time limit. I have to trust God that He will use it, but I will need to apologize to those working the schedule. I know that can be stressful when you are on that end. The women I met were just fantastic. Many new and fun relationships, some with women who are trying to find their way to God. Amazing. Thank you for praying for me. I honestly think you are helping to sustain me during this stressful time.

God bless you! Nancy