The beginning...

Photobucket Album

Here's some recent pics of our family. I hope that you enjoy them.

Well I suppose it is finally time I post on our blog. So here I (Tina) begin (again ;) )...

What a blessing these past couple of weeks have been. I have been "secretly" living my stay at home mom dream and on top of that I get paid for it!!! LOL (laughing out loud)! Just want to give a "thank you" to Jerry at Dr. Lemming's office for making that happen :) That's the best part for me. Some of you may or may not know...Aaron and I have been trying faithfully to discipline ourselves financially to pay off our debt (most of our debt consists of mainly Sallie Mae school loans). It has been so heavy on my heart to stay home with Katherine, but in the "natural" our situation financially seems that it will be awhile for that to come to pass.

BUT God...He works in ways we can never fathom or faintly understand. God has such a bigger picture of what is to come. Like a friend of mine said...we only see a "piece of our quilt"...God sees the entire masterpiece...and I know that it is beautifully woven.

I have been able to stay at home with Katie these past couple of weeks because of what they have finally diagnosed as a malignant brain tumor (that has probably been growing for quite some time....maybe ten years?). Did I mention that I am loving being able to stay at home and love on my little girl and husband...and all because of a brain tumor! Some moments I feel a little guilty because I am now being paid to stay home and love on my family... but I always smile and thank God for my little guilty pleasure (I am smiling from ear to ear as I write this...so don't think I feel too guiltly for being home. LOL.)

On Tuesday, February 2, 2009 at 2:30 a.m. ish Aaron woke up to what was finally decided as me having a seizure. (The Tuesday before I had a brief seizure during the time we typically get up and dressed for work, but we hadn't understood that it was a seizure at that time. Aaron mentioned I was acting confused, kind of in a stupor, slurring my words and just acting funny, but I quickly (within a few minutes) began acting normally and we went on about our day. I didn't have any other symptoms so we dismissed it and went on. The following Monday (Februrary 1st) I wasn't feeling up to par at work. I had shortness of breath, feeling a bit dizzy and nauseated...so I decided that I would make an appointment with my G.P., Dr. Lemming (who always gets me in quickly and calls back the same day!) the next day. Well I didn't make it to the next day...I had "the seizure" that next morning.

Aaron called my next door neighbors to watch Katherine and they took me off in an ambulance to the hospital. I was at the hospital for three days. They conducted CAT scans, Chest X-Rays, MRI's, blood work, etc. (My G.P. later told me that they actually tested me for drugs. LOL! Which I thought was hilarious.) to figure out what had caused the seizure(s).

Long story short...they say it's a brain tumor that they think is an astrocytoma (there are different grades of these things, but I won't bore you with details because truthfully they are just giving their best clinical judgement and can't tell us 100% what exactly the type of tumor it is until a pathology report comes back) . Here is a website that gives you a short and sweet version... http://www.sleh.com/sleh/Section004/index.cfm?pagename=Brain%20Cancer&PageMD=CANCER.

Since being home (February 6th) Aaron and I have consulted and had three neurosurgeon opinions from the best of the best in this country. Praise God we live in Houston where people come from all over the nations to find the best medical care. A couple of days ago, we decided on a neurosurgeon with God's guidance and help, Youssef Comair, M.D. and his team at St. Lukes Episcopal Hospital in the medical center. We are at total peace with our final decision and are excited that we have some closure on a surgery date and pre-op procedures.

The following are what is coming up for us...

February 23 (Monday)- A.M. --pre-op blood work, etc.

P.M.-- 1 p.m. Functional MRI

March 2 (Monday) -- 6 P.M. --Stealth MRI (don't really know what all this is, but I am just giving you what I know. LOL!) They do shave my little punkin head at this appointment (the gist...the tumor is in the right top front half of my brain) not sure how much...hopefully not too much! I do love my hair :)

March 3 (Tuesday)-- 6 A.M. --Check-in for surgery

8 A.M. --Surgery is underway...pray for my team, including the neurosurgeon, nurse practitioner, anesthesiologist, etc. They say it could take up to 8 hours. We'll see. Oh did I mention the awesome, really cool part for me...is that I actually get to be awake during the surgery! They get to ask me questions and make sure that I can move my legs, etc. Just think...I can say that I have been awake while someone actually picked my brain. LOL.

We do want everyone to know that we have a lot of confidence in our team at St. Lukes (we think they are the best!)... BUT our ultimate faith and trust is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the great Physician and Healer and although we don't know exactly what this process "looks like" we KNOW that He has already completely healed me (spiritually, emotionally and physically) :)

So this is where we are at in our life...at this moment. (Did you know...This took a lot of brain power to remember and type all this (the medication they give you for this stuff...can make you a little loopy).

God is so sovereign and faithful...He has given us so much strength through all of this. Yes, I am human and have gone through a grieving process and a reality check of what this all looks like from maybe your perspective looking from the outside in...but know that my GOD has given US the grace in this situation from the inside looking out. Sometimes things from the outside looking in can appear completely overwhelming because God hasn't given us the grace to go through those situations, but know that those going through them...He has given the grace to make it through.

So this is my tidbit from my corner of the world today...our blog will continue to be updated so that all of you are informed of what is going on. This seems like one of the most practical ways we can keep everyone in the loop...without being overwhelmed with phone calls, texts, emails, etc. We pray that this helps keep you in the loop, but please if you feel the need to talk to us please call.

Lastly, Aaron and I want to thank everyone who has kept us in your constant prayers, thoughts, prayer chains, etc. We are truly blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives! Thank you again for everything you have done to support us...even the practical things. We love you and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers as well.