Baby Worries

Again, not my baby....

My friends baby most likely has to have a kidney transplant and that cannot happen until the baby is 20 lbs... she is less than 5 lbs now.

So we will wait, and see how the testing goes.

Moms (and dads) have to burden so much for their children, not matter how old. And it never ends.

Please pray for my friends and their baby girl as they continue through the many trails.

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Work at Home Moms Health Insurance

If you are a work at home mom, or even a stay at home mom, you probably are struggling to choose about health insurance- it is expensive! When I started staying at home, my husband had insurance I could have been added to, for $300 a month! That is a lot on a teacher's salary! So I started investigating for a great policy that we could afford. I found a great site that allowed me to compare benefits and see how much I would pay. We do not get sick often, so I found a policy that had a higher deductible that paid for well baby (I think most in FL have to). It is better to have a high deductible that you can afford than not having any insurance. Even major medical is a better option. Just imagine the what if's and make your decision.

If you want to check out it out for yourself, use the free quote service of eHealth Insurance. Better safe than sorry later!
Need Health Insurance? FREE Instant Quotes!


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Cancer Free

A wonderful post for my 200th post! My husband's PET scan came back cancer free! He is done with chemo and hospital visits! He will go back for a scan in 2 months and regularly after that to make sure all is clear. Praise God!

And 200 posts later, I am still here. Hope you will be here at 300.

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Cancer Celebrations

My husband will complete his last full week of chemo treatment today! Yeah! He will have two short treatments over the next two weeks and then a PET scan. So far, the blood work looks good. This is a cause for celebration! We are almost at the end of the tunnel. He has felt good, but has a severe smelling issue and an aversion to the hospital food he could once tolerate. Someone has had to bring him meals for lunch and dinner each night! We are praying for good health in the coming week since he would like to return to work after 5 weeks away. We know that this is all part of God's plan and we will make it to the end.

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The Second Round of Chemo

Today begins the second round of chemo. My husband had last week without any treatments and now it is a full week of inpatient treatments. He tried to get out of the inpatient thing, but the doctor said he thought it would be best to keep the kidney good. Hopefully he will be out early Saturday since we celebrate Halloween on Saturday in our city. If not, no biggie, we will go visit the hospital in the cute costumes!

As I keep saying, this is a short time in the scope of our lives. Two more months, we are done! The healing has begun and all of this is just formalities!

Keep praying!

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Chemo, Chemo, Chemo

Chemo started yesterday. My husband is doing an inpatient treatment to keep him hydrated and protect his kidney. If I am lacking in my blog, you will know.

His treatments are for 5 days and out for 15. It will go over three or four courses. Keep praying!

More Hospital Time

My hubby is back in the hospital... again for lung problems. He had trouble breathing and a pain in his chest. So he went in and has had a full cardiac workup. They think it is a lung infection. He was given steroids and antibiotics and is doing better. More hospital time! I am glad one of us is healthy....

Please keep us in your prayers. He will have an out patient biopsy on his lung Wednesday. We are pretty sure it is cancer but they are making sure before the prescribe chemo.

More to come!

Diagnosis: Cancer

In some past posts, I mentioned my husband has been in the hospital and has had some surgery. He had a mass removed from his testicle that was cancerous. he went to the oncologist today who first told him to do two courses of chemo. He later called back (after consulting with Lance Armstrong's cancer doctor!) and said that no treatment, but consistent scans throughout the years is another option. We had to think carefully, but he is going with the observation plan. The likelihood of the cancer returning is possible with either option, of course lower if we treat it now. If it does return without treatment now, he will have to have 4 courses of chemo then. What is the right answer? Only time will tell. Please pray for us in the coming months, years, as we continue to deal with a variety of medical situations.

Friends are great!

Since Rick's surgery this week, our friends from church have been wonderful in bringing up dinner the past few nights. Not only is it nice to not have to worry about cooking, it has been wonderful to not have to go the grocery store. It is nice so we concentrate on the other things. I so appreciate my friends (and my sister in law, Angie) that have provided us dinners. Words cannot express how wonderful it is to not have to worry with that!

Thanks everyone!

Surgery Update

The surgery went well on Tuesday- it took less than 1 hour. They kept him overnight to make sure the kidney was okay and then we came home. We will wait on the biopsy results until next week.

While we were there, friends from our church were also at the hospital. The wife has been in the hospital for weeks, on a ventilator for the past 12 days. They made the decision to let her go this morning and she died peacefully at 10:21 am. Both taught 1st grade Sunday school and taught many children the books of the Bible and Bible passages. She was loved and will be missed.

They did decide to take her off all machines because of her direction in her living will. If you do not have a living will, research the information you need for your state and make your wishes known. It makes it a little easier on your family if the decision has to be made.

The Next Surgery

My husband's surgery is Tuesday morning, so we will be going towards the hospital tomorrow and staying the night since we have to be there at 5:30 am! We are faithful that God is in control! We know it will work out according to His plan. Please be in prayer for Rick and the surgeons and his family. I will let you know how it all turns out as soon as I can.

Hubby Has More Surgery to Come

Well my dear hubby has more surgery to come next Tuesday. This time a tumor. They will remove it, then biopsy it. We are thankful the tumor is localized and may or may not be cancer, may or may not need chemo or radiation. We just have to wait and see. Be praying!

Rick is Home

After another chest x-ray yesterday, they let Rick come home. He has to blow into this tube a few times per day to keep his lungs working and he has to go back to get a CT in 4-6 weeks. Other that that- it is an answered prayer! On Saturday, they actually moved him to the transplant floor- I guess because they want any transplant patients on the floor, no matter how long it has been. The funny thing, it was like going from the Super 8 hotel to a Ritz. His first room was small, old, nothing on the walls, and a view of the former courtyard that is now enclosed by buildings. He moved to a view of the bay and Raymond James Stadium, a room with a couch, a chair, pictures and a clock on the wall, and one nurse to every 3-5 patients! Too bad he only got that room for the last 24 hours! I told him to request that earlier if he has to go in again... which he won't... but just in case. :)

We do have to change our summer plans, we were going to go camping (which Rick did not want to really do anyway) and the doctor told him that was out- we can go to the beach, but not to camp! That sounds good to me!

The Real Problem

I was able to drive over to see Rick today. My dear sister kept my kids all day! Finally, we saw the pulmonary doctor. Luckily I was there to ask the right questions and hear the answers! The first thing is that the chest x-ray did not really show the pneumonia but did show something. The CT scan they did showed the pneumonia, so if that had not been done, they would not have known he even had it! It is in his lower right lung and probably in the left. The main problem is that transplant patients sometimes get different strands of illnesses that cannot be treated the same way. So he is in the hospital for three more days, waiting to see if he has the common form of pneumonia and if these antibiotics work. If they do not work (if his symptoms do not go away by Sunday), he will have to have a procedure to get a sample of what is in his lungs on Monday. So keep praying that his lungs will clear and he can come home Monday.

So He Had to be Admitted

Rick was admitted to the hospital at 3:00 am and the ER dr. said he thought it looked like he had bronchitis. So we were hopeful he would come home today. They did a CT and it turns out he has pneumonia. He has to stay tonight to get IV antibiotics. The nurse told him it would be once a day for four days! He saw a doctor this morning, but no since, so he told them he wanted the doctor to come see him tonight... and he still has not, even though it is 9:00 pm. It is very frustrating because the nurse tells you answers that may not be the correct answer and the doctor cannot be found to give the correct answer. Also, Rick did not want me to drive over there since I had the kids, so now he is lonely since he has not seen us for a day! So tomorrow we will make the drive and visit for a little while. Hopefully this won't be a long stay!