Christmas Chaos

I can't believe the holidays are almost behind us! So much preparation and excitement...then it's over in the blink of an eye. I think we had the best Christmas yet this year. So much to be thankful for and so many people to share it with! The holiday kicked off with Sami's school party and "Winter Program". Her class sang "The 12 Days of Christmas"...she practiced so hard to get it just perfect. The next day was her Christmas Ballet/Tap Recital. She did AMAZING! As much as I hate to admit it, I love watching her - she just glows when she's dancing! After the performance we went to Red Robin with some good friends and family, finishing off the night with a hug from Santa. The next week was the daycare party (aka Granny's house). Every year the kids draw names and exchange gifts. This year my mom decided to have the children buy gifts for Toys for Tots and a police officer came to the house to collect all of the toys. My mom had done a wonderful job preparing the kids by talking to them about the real meaning of Christmas and importance of giving. The officer that came was wonderful and the kids were so excited to load up her car (I'm sure it helped they got to see inside and hear the sirens!). It was a wonderful way to instill the message and let the children feel the gift of giving. Christmas Eve we spent the afternoon at Grandpa and Grandma Reeder's house with all of the cousins - 6 to be exact all under the age of 7 1/2! The kids had a blast and exchanged gifts. They drew names this year and were so excited to see what each had gotten. We went from there to Papa and Granny's house with yet another cousin. We ate more than we should have and were showered with wonderful gifts. Papa lucked out and got a Wii which all of us have been enjoying. Christmas Day was all at our house. The kids started waking around 6, too excited to see if Santa had finally come. Matthew got a Thomas the Train tricycle and his own Dyson vacuum from Santa. Sami was so excited when she saw all of the bedding to turn her room into a High School Musical room! The kids were so cute opening their presents and being silly! I baked an egg casserole after that and soon we had a house full for brunch. That afternoon we had even more join the festivities and we had a wonderful "linner" (Thanks Lisa for the recipe - it was a hit!). It was such a relaxing Christmas. Usually I am rushing to get the meal ready and make sure the kids are occupied. This year I got most of it prepared the night before and once it was in the oven, I was sitting on the couch enjoying a glass of wine with the rest of 'em! We are so blessed to have each other, our health and our Lord this day and every day. Most of the time I am too rushed and stressed to look around and take it all in. Our holiday continued on Friday. We went over to Grandma Linda's house for an Italian Feast - we were all sick of the typical holiday foods by this point! The kids had drawn names here also and had a great time opening gifts. Aunt Jana had a great idea - all of the kids made homemade cards for the person whose name they drew. The kids loved making them and were so proud of themselves when they gave them away. It was a great idea! Aunt Shelley brought goodies to make ice cream sandwiches and we spent some great quality time with all of them! It was a long, very busy holiday - but a wonderful time each and every moment!! Merry Christmas Everyone and thank you to each person that helped to make ours so wonderful!

(I'm still sorting through all of the Christmas pictures...those will be up in a couple of days!)

Fun in the Sand

This last weekend we went to the coast for the first time in 2 years!! Needless to say, we were overdue! Matthew was only 3 months old the last time we went and, obviously, had no idea what was going on. That was the first time Sami had actually enjoyed the sand and not cried. SO we were so excited to head over and spend the weekend playing in the sand and eating completely unhealthy food! We had a great time. We got there around dinner time on Friday so we just watched the waves from our hotel room and the pier after dinner. The next day we set up camp on the beach around 9:30am (after cinnamon rolls of course!) and didn't go back to the hotel until almost 3pm! We took the EZ Up, our chairs, blankets and lots of toys. The weather was fabulous..almost hot! We could not have asked for a better day and then we finished it off with yummy McClintock's! The kids were so cute building their sandcastles and playing in the water. Sami did not want to get out all day..she loved every minute of it. Matthew, on the other hand, loved the sand and mess..but the water was another story. He would be fine until the water reached his knees, then he would take off running back to dry land. Sunday we checked out of the hotel and headed to Avila. We went the the Avila Valley Barn where the kids fed some goats, checked out the chicken and ponies and I found some great Thanksgiving goodies! We had lunch at the Apple Farm before heading back home. I wish every weekend could be that weekend....

October in a Nutshell

I cannot believe that it is already November...where did October go?! I am going to borrow my friend Mary's idea and just give a run down of our month. Who knew life could be so busy with only 2 kids and working part-time?!

October 1: I worked all day, had a dentist appointment and Sami had soccer practice.

October 2: AT&T installation ALL day long, but totally worth it! My mother-in-law comes for dinner.

October 3: I worked all day

October 4: Sami had a soccer game & Josh (our nephew) had a football game. That afternoon we put out all of our fall/halloween decorations. Sami loves the fake cobwebs! While I worked on the indoor decorations, Sami created her first floral arrangement. I must say, it turned out pretty good. Grandma Cilla would be proud...check out the picture!

October 5: Church, my month to teach Sunday School

October 6: I worked, went to the gym after work, Sami had ballet at 5:15 then off I went to our first PTA meeting

October 7: Picture Day at school

October 8: I worked all day, Sami had soccer practice

October 9: Bible Study in the morning, Uppercase Living Party in the evening

October 10:Funeral in the morning :(, babysit in the afternoon

October 11:Sami had a soccer game where she SCORED HER FIRST GOAL!! She was hurt earlier in the game with a bloody nose being the result. She was determined to never play soccer again. Well...Build-a-Bear bribery did the trick and she went back out to score her first goal. That afternoon she and I went to lunch and Build-a-Bear to fulfill the reward-GREAT DAY!

October 12:Church

October 13:Work all day, Visiting Day at Sami's ballet, Preschool Board Meeting that night
October 14:BAD DAY...I was rear ended by a guy going 50mph in a raised 4x4 truck. I had just picked Sami up from school and Matthew was in the car. I was at a complete stop behind a city bus that had just pulled over to pick someone up. The guy didn't see me until the last minute, so he did break and was able to go to the side slightly. His passenger side front end caught my drivers side rear end. The damage wasn't as bad as it could have been but I got whiplash, yuck! The kids were ok and asking for a snack just minutes after it happened. We still made it to Sami's 1:00 dentist appointment and to pick up my nephew from school! Needless to say we were all exhausted come that evening!

October 15:I worked all day, Sami had soccer practice in the evening

October 16:Women's Bible Study, my mother-in-law comes for dinner

October 17:Volunteer in the classroom, took dinner to our friend Ray who recently lost his wife

October 18:Sami had soccer - our turn to take snack, shopping for my godson's baptism
October 19:Taught Sunday School, my godson Mason was baptized with a get together afterwards-I am so blessed to be a part of his life. I love that whole family!

October 20:I worked all day, met with the auto adjustor to get the car fixed and Sami had ballet

October 21:Hair appointment, chiropractor appointment, met with our Pastor to practice for our Lay Witness at church

October 22:I worked all day, took the kids to get flu shots on my lunch break, chiropractor appointment and Sami had soccer practice

October 23:Women's Bible Study, massage at chiropractor, mother-in-law over for dinner

October 24:Volunteered in the classroom, Sami had her awards assembly where she was given STUDENT OF THE MONTH FOR RESPONSIBIBLITY!!! Grandma Linda and Papa came to watch as she was surprised with the award, we are so proud of her! I had a chiropractor appointment and that night we got pizza for dinner (her favorite!). I surprised Sami with tickets to see High School Musical 3! We had so much fun just the two of us on a "date" as she would say! The picture has her teacher Mrs. Basso in it...we feel so blessed to have her as Sami's teacher, she is amazing!

October 25:Sami had soccer game, Joshua had a football game, practiced with our Pastor one more time

October 26:Church, we went before the congregation and gave our Lay Witness about our experience with Matthew. You can watch the entire service for that day at http://www.vumc.org/ and click on Video/Audio Communications. It was a powerful experience that Cory and I will never forget but are glad it's over! We went to Hillcrest Farms pumpkin patch in Reedley afterwards with my parents, brother, his girlfriend and my nephew. A great way to the end the weekend!

October 27:got the car to the shop in the morning, I worked all day, chiropractor appointment and Sami had ballet

October 28:Volunteered in the classroom, massage at chiropractor's that evening, everyone came over to our house for pizza and pumpkin carving.

October 29:Worked all day, chiropractor appointment after work

October 30:Women's Bible Study, massage in evening

October 31:Happy Halloween! Volunteered in the classroom for the "Fall Celebration", had a chiropractor appointment afterwards. That afternoon the kids got dressed in their costumes (Sami was Minnie Mouse and Matthew was a surgeon) and we went out to Westgate Gardens where my grandma lives for their festivities. Afterwards it was chili dogs and trick-or-treating with the family.

Not the Last MRI :(

We met with the surgeon this morning. The neuro team reviewed the MRI and the area where the surgery was performed looks great. Unfortunately they did find a "spot" on his right 8th rib. The radiologist thought it was most likely a fibrous nodule and benign. Nevertheless it means another MRI in one year and to just be aware of it in the meantime. They don't think it will grow like the malformation did, but they will monitor it and see what it does. It's definitely not bad news but just not the news I was hoping for. I would have liked them to say "he's perfectly fine, we never need to see you again!". But at least it's not for another year. Dr. Guzman was in surgery when we got there so we initially met with one of his residents and he had us worried. He was the one who gave us the MRI results and said we would need to come back in 3 months for another MRI and bone scan?! Cory and I were shocked ... thinking "here we go again" but fortunately Dr. Guzman and his partner Dr. Edwards were back and came in with him to go over the details and what the plan of care would be. I was so relieved to see him walk through the door. He seemed very casual about the nodule and didn't think it was anything we needed to investigate further at this time. If he's OK with it..I'm OK with it. So, we just enjoy our healthy boy and let the good Lord continue his healing. I am sure that a year from now we will have that official "never come back" I was hoping for this time!

Matthew's Last MRI, we hope?!

We drove up to Palo Alto yesterday and Matthew had his MRI this morning. The anesthesia definitely affected him more this time. He took a LONG time to wake up and even longer to be steady on his feet. We finally left the hospital around 11:00am and just relaxed and slept a lot of the afternoon. We will meet with the neurosurgeon tomorrow morning to go over the results and any further care he needs. We are hopeful that this is the last trip we will have to make up to Stanford and will be putting this entire ordeal behind us!! I couldn't have imagined how well he would be doing at this point. There is no indication that there will be any problem with the MRI and he won't need any further tests, procedures, surgeons, or hospitals for a very long time!!! We continue to thank God each and every day for the healing he performed on Matthew. The last time we walked through those hospital doors we thought we would be leaving with a horrendous diagnosis and a long road ahead of us. To walk back in only 3 short months later with a healthy, active 2 year old was almost overwhelming. There are so many children here for their cancer treatments - it reminded us that could have been, should have been us. But the Lord had other plans....and for that we are immeasurably grateful and blessed. We will update the blog again tomorrow afternoon after the appointment but we don't anticipate there being anything but a clean bill of health to report. Thank you for the continued prayers and support...what would we do without our family and friends?!

"2,4,6,8 Who Do We Appreciate...Girly Gators"

Sami had her first soccer game today. We practiced a little outside last night and I was telling her "Ok Sami, tomorrow there are no butterflies, clovers or ladybugs!". Well, we get to the game and the girls are warming up...here comes Sami ,"Mommy I found a ladybug!!!". I should have known then it would be a long game :) Actually they all did really well for it being the first time any of them ever played an actual game. Yes, we scored a goal for the other team .... yes, there were a lot of girls holding hands and jumping around .... and there might have even been a few butterflies found. But, all in all, the girls all did fabulous and Sami had a great time. We're keeping our fingers crossed she continues to love it!! Here are some of the pics we took - this age is just too cute!!

Matthew Turns 2!

OK..so I am a little late posting but better late then never right?! On August 24th, Matthew turned 2. We had a small party with family and celebrated not only his birth but also his recovery and health! It was all train themed since Matthew's most favorite thing at the moment is Thomas the Train! It was so cute to see his reaction to his balloons and cupcakes when he woke up from his nap and saw them. He kept saying "My Happy, My Happy" all weekend! It is amazing the difference a year makes. A year ago he was barely walking, had just stopped nursing and couldn't really communicate. Now he is a full blown toddler terror and we are loving every minute! He is jumping, hopping, dancing and yelling his way through every waking moment of every day. We are exhausted but so enjoy seeing him grow and grow!

Tag You're It!

My good ol' pal Mary let me in on her blogging game of tag, and a few weird quirks of hers as well. Once tagged you are suppose to reveal 6 of your own personal quirks for all to see, so here goes...

1. I can't stand socks! As long as there are shoes covering the socks I am ok, but once the shoes come off my skin starts crawling. Seeing socks rub on carpet or socked feet rub together is equivalent to nails down a chalkboard for me. Bizarre I know but I can't help it!

2. I love organization too much...there are areas of my house you would never know that but for the most part I love to be organized. My label maker is my best friend! There is just nothing better than a freshly purged and organized cabinet/closet/drawer. I like things to be lined up and divided into categories, color coded if possible. I must say this is getting more and more difficult as the kids get older. Why can't they find the joy in perfectly lined up books on the shelf or toys arranged by type and size? Is there really a need to actually play with them?!

3. I am horrible at directions-taking them, giving them..it makes no difference I just plain stink. You would think after living in Visalia my ENTIRE life I would be able to get anywhere without thinking twice but no...I still need directions and even then get lost.

4. I am addicted to reality TV but especially the really dorky, can't believe I am watching it reality TV. The Hills, Real World, Real World/Road Rules, Tori & Dean....love it all! I record them and that is my nap time indulgence! I can't even tell you what intrigues me so much but I am hooked, plain and simple!

5. My dad got me hooked on this as a little kid and I still eat to this day - peanut butter and mustard sandwiches! I know that is sounds horrible but it is actually quite tasty! Granted I am a big fan of mustard...put it on sandwiches, macaroni salad even pizza! But this sandwich has to top the list...don't knock 'till you try it!

6. I am a closet adrenaline junky! Skydiving, bungee jumping, zip line through a jungle kind of adrenaline. But I will always be in the closet because I don't at all have the guts to back it up!! Maybe some day, when the kids are older I will do everything on my list...until then I'll just dream and live vicariously through those brave enough to do it!

OK, my turn to TAG and I choose: Jana and Crystal!!

Sami Starts Kindergarten

UGGGHHH!! My worst fear...I cried and she didn't!! OK, so not really my worst fear but a little bit of a blow to my ego. We had gone on Wednesday to meet the teacher and looked at the classroom. Sami's teacher is wonderful. She is very sweet and soft spoken. She was great with the kids and letting them warm up to her. When we left meeting with her Sami said, "I love my teacher, she is so beautiful!". So today Sami wasn't as nervous as I had anticipated. She was such a big girl walking up to that classroom. We were trying to take pictures of her with her friends and outside the school, she finally told us "only one more!". She was anxious to get in the room and have her day started. We went in, she put her backpack at her desk and sat down! The parents stayed while the teacher went over some information and went through how the morning would go. The kids all practiced lining up and where to go when the bell rings. When it was finally time for all of us parents to go, I kept trying to wave goodbye and was waiting for her to need one more hug or kiss. But no...she just gave a wave, blew a kiss and off she went. And I just stood there with tears streaming down my cheeks - I think Cory even got a little misty eyed! So it has begun, I am now the parent of a kindergartener. And I am so incredibly proud to be her parent!

First Waterpark Experience

What a blast! We had 4 free tickets for The Island Waterpark in Fresno that were due to expire next month so we decided to head up last weekend. The kids were both a little timid at first...we splashed around in the water, ate lunch and checked everything out. By about an hour into our visit, Sami was all over the place. Matthew still kept some distance but eventually went down a few slides on our lap. The biggest hit was the wave pool. I thought for sure Sami would be terrified when the waves came up but boy did she prove me wrong! She went out as far as they would let her without a life jacket and was body surfing all the way in. She was hysterical to watch. We came home exhausted but glad we went - and the fact that it was free was the cherry on top!

Soccer...finally!

Sami started soccer the beginning of this month! We are still doing ballet/tap but thought we would start trying some other activities to see what she likes. So far she thinks it is the best thing ever! We surprised her with pink cleats, shin guards and ball which she loved of course...they were pink after all. So far it's taking her a little bit to warm up at each practice. She starts out shy and by the end of it she doesn't want to stop. Their team is named "Girly Gators" which Sami think is hysterical. She tells everyone they are going to chomp the other team...I don't know where she gets that competitive edge?! Games start next month and it will be interesting to see if she actually gets out there or not. My hope, of course, is that she falls in love with the game of soccer. But if not, I guess I can suffer through more tutus and slippers :)

Hmmm...

After looking over our last post, I realized something. The last picture with Matthew playing the guitar seemed out of place. I made it look as if the kids were running around while the rest of us let loose! They were both spending the night at Papa and Granny's house - not partaking of the festivities! That picture was taken two days later while Matthew tried to play Guitar Hero with Mommy. Just felt the need to clarify...

Cory Turns 30!!

My husband is officially in his 30's. And I love the fact that for the next 2 months I get to gloat and beam that I am younger than him! This past weekend we had a small get together with friends at our house. I must admit I wasn't exactly thrilled when Cory said he wanted to have a Rock Band/Guitar Hero party with good friends and drink beer all night for his birthday. But what can I say...it is his birthday not mine! So - I cleaned, cooked, cleaned some more then cooked some more to get ready for the big night. And I do think we all actually had a blast! One of Cory's best friends lives up north and was able to come down and spend the night with us. It was so nice to see him and I know it made Cory's birthday all the sweeter. Several people stayed until well after 1:30am playing that thing! The kids and I surprised Cory and got him his very own Guitar Hero III as his gift. I know..we are a little late on the band wagon with this one. The worst part is I think that I enjoy it more than Cory does! The kids think that it is quite silly to see Mommy "rockin' out" on the guitar - Sami's new phrase has quickly become "You Rock." Hey - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

CELEBRATING!!

YAAAA!!! What a fun holiday we had yesterday celebrating all we have to be thankful for! We had Matthew's post op appointment last week at Stanford. Everything looked wonderful, he is healing well and can now go back to doing anything and everything! We have to go back for one more MRI and appointment the end of September but otherwise can put this all behind us. It made our 4th of July celebration all the sweeter with no more worries or stress of what will come next. On Thursday we drove over to Tulare and watched the big fireworks-we just threw a blanket on the sidewalk a few streets away and enjoyed the show. On Friday we swam the entire day away, took a nice nap and then ate, ate and ate until time for fireworks. There were 4 different families, including ours, that had fireworks so it was quite the show. Sami had a great time playing with all the neighbor kids and doing sparklers. Note to others (and self) - never let the kids wear flip flops or sandals when doing sparklers. Sami burnt the bottom of her foot when one of the sparks went on her shoe...OUCH! Matthew was hysterical! He sat on the curb or one of our laps and would say "Boom Boom" while covering his ears - you'll see the cute pics! Overall it was a fabulous day full of blessings and thankfullness all the way around.

Pluggin' Along

We are now 12 days into our healing phase and we hit a snag. Matthew's top 3 stitches came out...and that top stitch had the knot that held the entire suture line in place. So, the top half of the incision has sutures that are not holding the incision together. Fortunately we are 12 days post op and a lot of healing has already been done. We spoke to the Nurse Practitioner from LCPH and took Matthew to see the pediatrician here in town. She applied steri strips to the entire incision and we are back to not getting it wet. We go up to Stanford on Tuesday for a check up with the surgeon, so they can reassess at that time. What else should I expect from a wild almost 2 year old boy?! Overall he is doing great. Still running a low grade fever but no one is concerned about that. We are all going a little stir crazy. Not being able to be around other kids, go swimming or to the park has been no fun. The doctor didn't want Matthew exposed to anything for the first 2 weeks so we have pretty much been at home. We take the occassional car ride over to A&W for some ice cream, then drive around and let the kids make the car as messy as possible. But hey...it is out of the house no matter how you look at it.

Sami is doing awesome. This is the first summer she has really known how to swim and she is loving it! Everyday the first thing she asks is "when are we going swimming?". We wait until Matthew goes down for a nap and then go outside until he wakes up. She is jumping off the side, doing cannon balls and having tons of fun. Today she went to Papa and Granny's house and jumped off the diving board for the first time! She is turning into a little fish. We can't wait until Matthew can get in again - we can spend all day soaking up the sun and swimming ourselves into blissfull exhaustion! Here are some pics we took the other night of her swimming skills..enjoy!

Big Sigh of Relief

Dr. Guzman called yesterday evening with good news. The pathology report was in - the mass was a benign lesion, most likely a hemangioma. We will go for our post op. appointment the beginning of July and Matthew will need a follow-up MRI in 3 months. After that...we can put this all behind us! PRAISE GOD!!! We can officially say that we have 2 healthy, beautiful children. Matthew is continuing to improve with each day. He is off of the narcotic pain medication and just taking Tylenol, sleeping pretty much through the night and back to normal. I never thought I would enjoy watching him fight with his sister, but I do. Every moment I am reminded how fortunate and blessed we are. Each day I have thought about his roommate from the hospital and the countless other children we saw while we were there. Most of them have long roads in front of them, roads I cannot imagine traveling. When I let my mind go to worst case scenario, I tried to picture how I would handle being that mom. I couldn't...I couldn't imagine what that devastation would feel like. I feel so blessed I never had to find out. But each day I will pray for all of those children, all of those families. And every time I feel frustrated or overwhelmed, I am going to do my best to remember what could have been and count my blessing over and over. God had a plan for all of this...maybe that was it? I know that we will be better parents, friends and supporters simply because of what we have gone through. And hopefully, somewhere in the midst of all of that, God will be glorified and His kingdom will be expanded.

Our Blessings

Matthew is continuing to amaze us each day with his ability to bounce back from this surgery. He is running, jumping, crawling....just about everything he was doing before surgery. Occassionally you can tell he is uncomfortable or a certain position hurts more than others - but for the most part he is back to himself. Cory's boss and his wife bought Matthew a "Get Well Soon" gift...he came by on his lunch to give it to Matthew. He and Sami both loved it! Not long after came a delivery from the gang at his work - balloons and goodies for not only Matthew but Sami as well. We are so blessed to have all of these amazing supporters in our lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day business of life that we forget about the blessings that surround us. Cory and I are so fortunate to have not only wonderful family and friends, but employers who are understanding and supportive. Thank you just doesn't seem like enough...but THANK YOU!!!

The Comfort of Home

We made it home yesterday late afternoon. Matthew did really well on the ride home. He and I both slept the first half and he played happily the rest of the way. When we got home, my family and Sami were there waiting for us. Matthew was SO excited to see his sister. He is still a little wobbly on his feet, but he didn't let that hold him back. He was bending down to pick things up, throwing the toys like usual and trying to climb up into his favorite chair. Cory and I, of course, were ready to have an anxiety attack at any moment. We just want to put him in a bubble until he is perfectly healed! His night last night was wonderful...I think he would have slept all the way through if we hadn't been waking him up every 3 hours for medication. He woke up the same as he left off yesterday - ready to play! We will start cutting back on his pain medication today and see how he does. He should be taking just Tylenol by Wednesday. Matthew has got to be the bravest little guy...you would never know that just a few days ago he was going through a major operation. This has exceeded every prayer we said and hope we had - I could not have imagined all going this well! (Knock on wood) We will continue to pray that he only improves day by day and that the path report is as good as expected. PRAISE GOD! I am hoping to get some more pictures of him after his nap and I'll post them later on.

Post-Op Day 2

After posting yesterday we had a rocky afternoon. Matthew had been feeling so well in the morning and done amazing working with PT, but once he got settled in the pain hit. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what we did and the pain meds just couldn't catch up with the pain. He ended up developing a fever and stopped drinking anything. They put him back on the IV fluid and gave him pain meds around the clock. He finally started to perk up around 8pm and got some good rest last night. He woke up this morning feeling much better and actually let Daddy hold him for awhile. Most of the day yesterday he didn't want anyone to touch him nevertheless hold him. The "Dr. Guzman Team" came in this morning and removed his dressing. The incision is probably 5-6 inches long and looks really good. There is a small collection of fluid but they expected that and said it would go away over the next 2 weeks. Dr. Guzman said that he had expected our afternoon to go the way it did...the fever only lasted a short time and he is not concerned unless it goes over 101.5 F. They are giving us a prescription for the Lortab at home and they want us to rotate that with Motrin every 3 hours. They expect him to be close to normal by the end of next week. SO...we are heading home this afternoon!! We cannot wait to be at home and see our little girl we are missing so much. We are looking forward to putting all of this behind us! Thank you again to everyone who sent prayer, love, support and encouragement our way. We love you all so much!

Post-Op Day 1

Matthew is doing absolutely fabulous...even better than the doctors had anticipated. He slept the majority of the night and by this morning was up in the chair eating breakfast. He hasn't needed any more IV pain medication since we left the recovery room yesterday afternoon and he is tolerating the liquid pain medication very well. The Physical Therapist came by this morning to assess Matthew and work on getting him moving again. He was a little hesitant until he saw the beach ball and ride on toy she had for him. It wasn't very long before he was walking up and down the halls and throwing the ball to us. We went for 2 long wagon rides and he just now fell asleep for a nap. The doctors came by after the PT session and they are pretty sure we can go home tomorrow afternoon! They said that he can have a prescription for the same medication he is getting here at home, and there is nothing else keeping us here as long as he has a good night. WOW...the power of prayer continues to amaze us. We truly could not have even imagined this whole process going as well as it has. Praise God!

The Verdict Is In

We received a call from the surgery department around 9:45 am that the surgery was completed, they were able to remove all of the mass and that the doctor would be out soon to discuss the findings. Around 10:15 am here came Dr. Guzman with a big smile on his face. He was indeed able to remove all of the mass. He removed a small amount of muscle to make sure there were clean margins and the muscle did not look affected. He did have to shave some of the vertebrae, there was a small amount of blood supply coming from the spine but he was not overly concerned about that. Initial pathology did come back....NEGATIVE!!!! We, of course, have to wait for the final pathology report beginning of next week but by their assessment and the preliminary report it was not a tumor! GOD IS GOOD!!!! Thank you so much for your prayers, we are so blessed. Not only was the news wonderful, the surgery only lasted a couple of hours, he had minimal blood loss with no need for transfusions and he is already eating and playing. We just got settled in our room and the doctor said there is a possibility of coming home either Sunday or Monday depending on how he does. We cannot believe how well this day has gone and we know it is only because of all of the prayers and the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Surgery Day

So this morning has been hard. We arrived at the hospital around 6 am. We met with the anesthesiologist after being interviewed and assessed by the nurse. The anesthesiologist was just as comforting and wonderful as the surgeon. She explained everything in detail and prepared us for after surgery. According to her, they are expecting the surgery to last 4-5 hours depending on what they find. She said that once he is in the OR it will take about an hour to prep him and put him under the anesthesia. Then around 3-4 hours for the actual surgery. She made us feel so at ease with the anesthesia aspect. Everyone was wonderful with Matthew and before too long he was getting goofy from the "happy juice." About 30 minutes ago we walked him to the doors of the OR. That was the most difficult time. The tears flowed regardless of how confident we felt or assured we were. So..now we wait. They should be giving us an update after 2 hours or so and we will update you all when we know anything. Thank you for all for all of the prayers and love sent our way. It gives us such comfort to know that all of you prayer warriors are hard at work right now! Keep praying...