Baby Rosemary

My sweet niece is doing much better this evening and my sister Kim is also doing better.  Kim was released today.  Rosemary is off oxygen and my sister is able to nurse her as long as Rosemary's oxygen saturation levels don't drop, otherwise she gets a bottle.  I am not sure when they will do another blood workup but if she continues to do well and her blood work looks better, Rosemary will be released in a couple days.  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers in my sister's behalf.  I know without a doubt they make a difference and we are grateful for the continued blessing and miracles we see all around us.

Needed Prayers

My sweet sister had a beautiful baby girl last night.  This morning they noticed her temperature was dropping and after some tests found that she is suffering from pneumonia.  She has since been sent to the NICU and will be there for the next few days assuming all goes well.  I don't have to tell you all how difficult it is to watch my sister and her sweet little one struggle through this after our experiences last year with Aaron, nor can I tell you exactly how difficult it is to be the one going through it and my heart breaks for the fear I know she is experiencing, it is overwhelming to say the least.  I do know though that we made it through that difficult time with the many prayers that were offered in our behalf and it is that reason that I ask you once again for those prayers for my sister and her family.

My deepest gratitude,

Denise

Face Time

Ronny left for his big business trip this last Sunday.  He flew to London for meetings then they took a train to Brussels the following day.  The kids have enjoyed doing face time with him on our new computer.  Our older computer didn't have a camera and I don't know that it would have supported face time so we bit the bullet and got a new computer, or new to us as it's refurbished from Apple.  I pretty much let Ronny take care of it and get want he wanted.  Next time I may have to reign him in some as I opened the box to a massive computer!!!  I laughed I told him I didn't think we were buying a TV but it sure feels that way, especially when he tells me it has better HD then our new TV upstairs!

With the time difference Ronny gets online right when the kids are getting home from school.  Unfortunately its about midnight his time which makes for a very long day for him.  I think having the kids be able to see him though makes his absence not so hard for them, although I am sure they will be excited when he does finally make it home.

Ronny has commented on the really rich food and of course the chocolate!  He loves trying new things so I am sure he is in heaven.  He seems pretty wiped out each evening so I know he is busy.  Ronny is a home body.  He likes to travel but only for a couple days unless we are with him.  Usually about the 3rd day he is gone he will start to get pretty homesick, that's usually when I get the whiney phone calls about wanting to come home.  I think with all the busyness and the fact that we severely limit the phone time (as its $1.50 per minute) has helped with the homesickness.  I think the crazy time difference helps a little too.

We are gearing up here for a really busy week starting tomorrow so we won't have too much time to miss him either.  Between soccer, state debate finals, more soccer, and my sister's wedding next week we will be running on overdrive!  If all goes well Ronny will make it home for the wedding, hopefully just in time to help with the kids while I make the cake!

A Quiet Place To Visit

Last Friday I got a call from the monument company saying they were at the cemetery ready to put in Aaron's headstone but were having trouble finding his grave. Trying to describe where to find the plot was proving difficult so I jumped in the car and headed down to show them where he was. What I didn't expect was the flood of emotions that came on the drive down. Of course when I got there just a few minutes later they had found the site. We have been anxiously awaiting this for a couple months now and we are happy it has finally been placed.

Last night for Family Night we took flowers over and showed the kids how the vase on the side works. Visiting Aaron has become a regular thing for our family and now we have a place to put flowers will we come. Anytime we are near the cemetery Joseph will ask if we can go visit Aaron. When I ask the other kids if they want to go the answer is always a resounding YES! I am a little surprised by their exuberance sometimes but whenever we pull in they usually quiet down. Peaceful feelings are always abundant there and I wonder if that is why the kids want to go.

Fun Times

Here are a few photos of things that have been keeping us busy the last few weeks.

Family Nights at the park.

Charley and I were given tickets to the YW general broadcast. We took Trax up and went to dinner afterwards. It was a great experience to go with my daughter and the talks were great!

Evening walks around the lake with Ronny. This one happened to turn into a 5 mile walk but it was nice to get outside and enjoy the sunset together.

And of course the Pinewood Derby. Joseph won the Bear division and Sam came in 4th in the Wolves division. They designed, cut, and sanded all by themselves. Dad helped with the weights, wheels, and paint.

One picture that I don't have is one from the district debate contest. I was busy keeping three boys quiet while their big sister debated the merits of buying local produce. She did well enough that her and her partner will be competing in the State Debate Contest next week. She has done a great job and has been working and practicing this for weeks. We are sure proud of what she has accomplished.

Post-Op

So before I start with the updates let me just say I was NOT planning on taking this picture, Heaven knows I would be pretty irritated if Ronny had taken one of me like this, but he insisted and had it posted to his Google+ account before we left the hospital so I figured it was blog worthy here.

Ronny's surgery went well. Getting his IV didn't go so well. It took 3 tries, lots of oxygen, and lots of extra attention from the nursing staff! I think that was the worst part for him. His tumor was removed and his PTH levels were cut more than in half immediately so Dr. Hunt was sure it was just the one gland affected. He did check 2 others though to make doubly sure. Ronny also had a few swollen lymph nodes which concerned the doctor so he had those biopsied while the blood tests were run. Those came back benign so as far as we know we are done other than a follow up visit. All went smoothly so he was able to come home this afternoon. Ronny is still pretty groggy and is in some pain but he is listening and taking his pain meds and is now sleeping.

He is cleared to go back to work tomorrow although we'll make that decision in the morning. He can't drive and is usually pretty out of it when on prescription pain meds so I get to help make that call tomorrow! The doctor told him he can't run for at least 7 days and then only mild activity after that, the nurse told him mild activity did not include running. He is not so happy about that. Thankfully the doctor wrote that down in the discharge notes so there is no arguing for at least 7 more days on that topic.

Pre-Op

This morning Ronny and I met with Ronny's surgeon up at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. The resident came in first (we know the drill with teaching hospitals!) She was great and so funny. She told us they typically schedule surgery for those with urine calcium levels over 400, Ronny's was over 1000! So surgery is definitely in our future! After she was done Dr. Hunt came in and did everything again and then told us that 90% of these tumors are just on one of the 4 glands but with Ronny's blood and urine levels and history of symptoms he told Ronny that his odds of primary parathyroid hyperplasia (all 4 glands affected) are about 50%. Once they remove the affected gland they will run more blood work while he is under anesthesia (the PTH half life is only 5-8 minutes), if the PTH levels drop a good deal then they know only the one gland is affected, if the levels don't drop then they will know that the other glands have problems as well. If that is the case they will take out 3 of his glands and leave the least problematic one in. The tricky part to taking out 3 of the 4 is that they have to find all 4 which means exploratory surgery and possibly an overnight stay as opposed to coming home a few hours after the surgery and a slightly larger incision.

We asked Dr. Hunt when he would be available to do the surgery as we are right in the middle of a job change and insurance change. Turns out someone canceled their surgery on Thursday so we got the open spot, hooray! Otherwise we would have had to wait until Ronny gets back from his upcoming trip to Europe. I know it sounds kind of strange that we are cheering for surgery this week as opposed to later, but that is just how we play this crazy game of life in the wacky world of strange medical anomalies.