They're everywhere!

Last Tuesday afternoon I had to make a trip out to Ann Arbor with Kirsten for a doctor appointment. As I was nearing the area to look for the office, it seemed as if every street I passed had some type of coffee shop at the intersection, and some even had several! I just found that quite funny... definitely fit right into the stereotype of the place! Of course, if I was to be completely honest, I'd have to admit how I wished I could've stopped at one for a cup of hot coffee! (Not a Starbucks, tho... I'm more of a Beanery fan myself!)

Rating your child

I've noticed a pattern of a few specific things that I've been procrastinating on, all related to my Mommy duties. They revolve around doctors - appointments and tests. If I take a moment to look back, I think I really got burned out on all that stuff when we were going thru Kirsten's nose surgeries. (See the page about her if you want to read prior history on this.) I mean, outside of the nose issue, we still had so many little medical issues and such that really added up. Most of it was related to her being a preemie, too. I'd say for the first solid four years of her life it was busy. Then it trickled down to a few, the main one being her nose. Now that we've taken a hiatus from treating that, I see that I've kinda put the brakes on everything! I decided to get my fanny in gear a bit and took her to the genetics doctor that she's seen since birth. (The visits are somewhat related to her nose issue.) Anyway, two years ago at our last visit, I was supposed to take her down to the lab for a blood draw, which I didn't do. So after our appointment on Wednesday, I did it. Took her down for the draw, and didn't even tell her until we got into the little cubicle. Well, I had a quick flashback to some blood draws from when she was younger... that girl's got a good set of lungs, Niagra Falls hidden in her tear ducts, and the strength of... well... let me just say that it takes several adults to try holding that girlie still! It was like that when she was young, and it's like that still! Cute thing - as soon as the needle left her arm, the tears quit and she said "I'm not crying anymore!" Awwww! Needless to say, she was over-emotional and sensitive the rest of the day, which messed up some plans we had. Part of the joys of parenting!

One of the other issues I've put off with Kirsten is testing for ADD/ADHD. Part of me is quite hesitant about this, but I know I need to at least follow through and then we'll process whatever the doctors recommend. The hard part has been finding a doctor that does the thourough testing. Example: Last February I put our name on a waiting list for this department at Children's Hospital. They just called back during the holidays! I did find a doctor out in Ann Arbor, and we have a 4 hour appointment next Tuesday. I have to bring with me some forms that I and Matt and Kirsten's teacher need to complete. It's called the "Connors' Rating Scale" and it asks a bunch of questions. I'm having a hard time committing to these answers! "Does not seem to listen to what is being said to him/her" - well, I often have to repeat myself to Kirsten and get in front of her face to know she's listening, but... she is listening! So how do I answer that? Then there's so many that apply to her quite often - "Excitable, impulsive" - "Restless or overactive" - "Talks excessively" -YES! That girl's mouth rarely closes!!! I'm nervous about locking into these answers that could be negative things, but... I suppose it is necessary for the doctor to understand more of Kirsten outside of her office. I'll just suck it up and do it... maybe Monday night!

Diagnosis confirmed

Yesterday we found out for certain that my Mom has breast cancer again. For lack of time, I'll just copy/paste some of the info from an email I sent out to some people tonight about this...

"The surgeon figures he got it all, he said it was the same kind that she had 20 years ago (estrogen dependent), and he said it’s level of aggressiveness is “medium.” She went to see an oncologist yesterday afternoon, and that doctor said he’ll be checking some hormone markers, and will call her when those results come back. Based on if they come back positive or not (which she was told they most likely would be), the treatment plan will be radiation and medication (Arimidex, instead of the Tomoxifin she thought they were going to use). She has an appointment with the radiologist on Thursday for the initial consultation and to talk about the plan.

My Mom seems in good spirits still about this. She feels it was contained and that this treatment will just prevent reoccurrence. She seems confident that God is in control, and she’s in His good hands!"

I'll put some updates here from time to time on how things are going. I suppose if I have moments of feeling really free, I might open up & share some of my thoughts on this.

So far, so good!

Just a quick note for those of you that know... my Mom had surgery for breast cancer on Monday, and it went very well! Long story short - huge family history, including the fact that she had it 20 years ago ('85), lump found in remaining tissue area (from the side removed in '85 - w/no reconstruction), surgery 2 days ago. It went well, the doctor removed the tumor (pea-sized) and some surrounding tissue (1/2 dollar sized in total), and we just wait for results now.

Thanks and praise to God for the smooth procedure! Hooray!

Meeting the McGlassion Girls

Last night after work I had the privilege of meeting Corinne & Joslyn!


Wow! Those girls are just so darned cute! I just loved looking at their petite little features... the faces, the ears, the fingers... just so - perfect!
I didn't get to touch or hold them, but that's okay. They were out & about too much yesterday & really needed to just be left alone to sleep. It was a little rough having to hold myself back, but I know I'll get my chance soon enough! :) But talk about a walk down memory lane...

There's our little Peanut when she was born. Corinne & Joslyn look so tiny, but they're even over a pound more than Kirsten was at birth! Hard to imagine! It was definitely weird... when I first saw the girls, I immediately felt my eyes tearing up (I did a good job of holding it back, tho!). I felt this jab in my heart... instant flooding of past emotions all at once. This was the first time I've seen babies as small as Kirsten since she was that size. I remembered the smells of the soaps, the sounds of the monitors, the feelings of fearing the unknown. When talking with Nicole, I remembered those emotions that she must be experiencing. Amazing how something that's supposed to be so wonderful can be so terrifying. But it's also so very... indescribable! Definitely a miracle and a precious gift from God!

I was glad I caught myself last night from talking too much about when Kirsten was born. I mean, I did some, don't get me wrong! LOL I couldn't help it! I wanted to let them talk... to just take in the glory of those two little sweeties... it's about them! I just hope Matt & I can be a bit of a sounding board for Craig & Nicole with any thoughts or questions or feelings they need to share. We've been there. Not with two babies, but we've still been thru the whole gambit of the preemie world. And I know, each child is different in what they endure. I remember how good it felt to talk with our friends Julie & Brian... they'd been thru that with their boys (they were the first preemies we knew, born at 32 weeks). I just hope we can be an encouragement & comfort to our friends now... that they know we understand, we support them, and we love them!

Corinne & Joslyn... welcome to the world, little sweeties! You've got an awesome family and you are already loved beyond measure! :)

P.S. I put some details about the girls on the Paradox blog...
be sure to check it out!

Evelyn Claire George

Fifty-one years ago today my sister Evelyn was born. Ten years ago this past November (22nd), Evie went home to be with God. These past several years I've had my ups and downs about missing my sister. One of the parts that's been the hardest for me is the fact that Kirsten never got a chance to meet her. Evie absolutely adored babies... I know she would've just loved holding our little Kirsten! She probably would've gotten a kick out of Kirsten's hyper-shakiness (that she's done since infancy!), and she would've enjoyed talking with Kirsten as she grew. I'm sure Kirsten would have a captive audience with Aunt Evie whenever she'd talk about medical things (like her surgeries, and her never-ending fascination for blood and bones and such!). As the youngest of 7 kids and the last to marry, I was looking forward to my sister's excitement over my child. The fact that I missed out on that experience really makes me sad. But you know, I can say I know for a fact that Evelyn's in Heaven. I'm not sure if this is Biblically correct or not, but for my human mind's sake, I'd like to think that Evie's been talking with God about Kirsten's health matters. It's somewhat comforting to let myself think that my sister's been up there with our Father, kinda looking out for her niece.

It was fun growing up with Evelyn! She was the 3rd out of us 7 kids, and there was about a 15 year difference between us. Since she was handicapped (mentally retarded to an extent), she always lived at home. Little sidetrack on her mental status... there wasn't a specific diagnosis with her, but I bet in this current day there would be one on the books. My Mom's even heard of a few that she thinks might have been what Evie'd be categorized into, but back then... she just didn't know. Evie was smart, don't get me wrong! But she was just slow enough that she would've lived with my parents forever. Sure, she could've been in a group home if she wanted, but she didn't. She graduated high school, went thru a trade-type school, and was very active in a Parks & Rec program that Sterling Heights offered for the handicapped. Evie LOVED God! She read her Bible and memorized verses. I can just hope that words she'd learned came back to comfort her when she was struggling with her cancer and treatments. I'd believe God has the power to do anything, and I'd like to believe He allowed her mind to be clear with things like that when needed. Evelyn was a music fanatic! Her absolute favorite style was opera. Yes, you heard me... opera! She'd play their music all the time... often singing along as best as she could! She knew all the famous singers and could tell anyone their stats. Speaking of stats, there was something about the way her brain worked... she'd write various numbers in notebooks on a daily basis. She's record scores of players on Jeopardy. Even after she passed away, my Mom found papers upon papers of random numbers all over. It'd be interesting to find out just what she was doing with those. I'll have to ask her when I see her again! (Almost makes me wonder... could she have been a genius in a way?) Evie loved her family, each and every one of us. And she was fun! She was happy, full of life, living in the moment. I never saw her worrying about future things. Sure, she had emotions like the rest of us... even her little sister could push her beyond her breaking point! (And she could push back HARD! LOL) But she just had this attitude that was amazing... taking things in, enjoying food and people and experiences, not stressing about the little things, trusting in God and in those around her... what an example!

I sure miss Evie. I know I'll see her again someday, but I still miss her. And love her as much as I did when she was here in person.