NOBODY IS MORE SURPRISED THAN US! GKTW alumni return! 10/21 MOVING DAY!!

[thebeesknees]

Judy, continued prayers for Rachel, and Lisa as well.

Diegosmom, goodness, what a shock for you. I am so glad you noticed something was wrong and got it checked out right away. We'll be praying for his healing as well as strength for you.

 

[kaoden39]

Diegosmom, our thoughts and prayers are with you. What a hard thing to have to go through.

Beesknees, how is school going for Benjamin? No bully problems I hope.


Michelle, I am praying for JJ.

Judy, I am praying that appointments went well. I am praying for your family.


Thoughts and prayers to all.

 

[VBAndrea]

Judy, I am sad to hear Lisa is having some additional health problems. I pray it's something short term that can be resolved. I hope you got good news concurring that Rachel is improving. I pray for your dad's health as well. Look how far he has come in the past year. He really is doing amazing despite all the trials and tribulations that he endures on an every day basis.

I was in NC on Tues and Wed. We went to Asheboro and stayed a night at a hotel. We let the kids swim after we arrived and we went to the zoo the next day. The hotel was great -- just simple and inexpensive but the employees were so hospitable. They had a small indoor pool but the vast majority of the time we were the only ones in it. They gave the kids free ice cream in the evening and had a nice included breakfast. The zoo was free for us since they have reciprocity with our zoo in Norfolk. The zoo was amazing but sadly we got rained out, so we only saw Africa. Alexa was so sad that she didn't get to see the wolves. And yes, NC left us with another crack on our windshield. We had it repaired today, but it was borderline b/t repair and replacement b/c it was quite large. Hopefully it lasts a bit b/f we need to replace the windshield again.

I am hopefully going to look at a piano on Sunday. Alexa needs a piano for her Christmas piece. The keyboard just doesn't cut it anymore as it's only 5 octaves and her piece is a bit challenging. If the piano turns out to be purchasable (it's on Craig's list) I may even start taking lessons. Please pray that it's in the great shape the ad says it is in b/c the price is right!

APRIL: I think I might actually be as devastated as you are to hear the bully is at Benjamin's school again this year. I am really disturbed by this. I really will be thinking of you all and pray. I am so hopeful that since the child was caught that he knows he will be the immediate suspect if he starts anything again. I am also very sorry about Grandma Judy.

SHERIDEE: I am very sorry for the loss of your mother. My deepest sympathies to you and your family.

DIEGO's MOM: I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers as well. I hope Diego has a smooth recovery from the surgery and handles the rest of his treatment well.

Prayers to all in need.

 

[katiee37]

That is SO cool! Lisa has been in a few mags through the years and I was happy to have BOTH girls together on the cover! What part of Maryland are you from? (Pete is from Westminster).

I'm in Baltimore County, about an hour from Westminster!

Praying for Lisa's additional issues and Rachel's continued recovery!

 

[ladylyons]

So I just wanted to check in with all of you and asked for prayers for Diego (and me)...we will hopefully be done by Jan and it will probably take him another year to get back to his normal tigger self lol...

Glad you caught this quick and were able to get everything going quickly. I'm so sorry it did end up being cancer. Prayers for a fast recovery for Diego and for you to.



Judy continued prayers for your family and the girls. I hope things calm down enough for you over these next few weeks so you can enjoy your vacation!! Can't believe it's almost here.

 

[blessedmom4]

I need to get to bed; however, had to share happy news. The testing at the concussion clinic shows Rachel IS improving. We still need to limit her activity and avoid anything that could further damage her brain. He was discussing activity we need to avoid and asked if we had plans for our local amusement park anytime soon. I told him we were heading to Florida in four weeks and he said she should be fine by then. Praise God! Rachel is able to do things that have been off limits (screens, reading, etc) in 15 minute increments...he said we still need to limit her and make sure she takes it easy, otherwise she can have huge setbacks. If we notice her symptoms increasing/worsening we have to back off and take it easier...joy...she is 15, she has things to do! There was a funny moment yesterday at the clinic...the nurse (who was an airhead, her words, not mine...she even had hand written numbers on the INSIDE of the exam doors to remember what room she was in) came to ask me if Rachel was really in 10th grade, she thought she "looked like she was in 7th" and perhaps Rachel was confused. Rachel is 5' 8" tall. She decided she thought she was younger because Rachel doesn't wear or need make-up. As the nurse put it, "I am not used to seeing girls without inches of eye makeup on"...how sad. I started wearing makeup as soon as my Mom would allow me to and Rachel is allowed to, she just chooses not to most of the time. Lisa on the other hand...would wear it most days if she could.

No time for responses, but ANDREA, I can't believe you were so close and didn't let me know. We had an MD appt in Concord Tuesday at 3 PM...I was only 75 minutes away! Seriously though, glad you got away!!

Prayers for Diego continue and I forgot to tell you Amy I AM praying for your loss as well as Sherri's Mom! This is why I hesitate to mention anyone, but I KNOW yo al know I am praying for each and everyone of you. Gail, thrilled for Billy and the kids loved the story!

Pete, the girls and I have to be out of here at 6:50 in the AM...I hope I can fall asleep quickly....when we are in Florida I am going to sleep till 7 at least one day...I hope!

 

[ladylyons]

Yeah!! Glad there is some improvement for Rachel!!! Get some rest!!

 

[blessedmom4]

I am up, showered and ready to go! Claiming a GLORIOUS day!

Praying for all of you in need!!

 

[cogero]

Judy make sure to check my PTR, it should make you smile

Oh and I am so very happy Rachel is improving. I gave C the option of wearing make up when school starts but she probably won't to her it is no big deal since she has to wear it for Dance shows.

She is a mascara and lip gloss girl LMAO.

 

[lovethattink]

Judy, that's great that Rachel IS seeing improvement, and good news in particular for the trip.

At this point, it looks like our trip up north is off. The last two days were really bad with the majority of the tics being full body and they were very wild. He had one of those in the van and I was so afraid he was going to hurt himself and the van. We are going to try our weekend trip this weekend as a testing ground. But it's looking more and more like we will be here in FL when you are.

 

[danygirl]

Prayers for all


It disturbs me that Benjamin has the bully in his classes. We had a situation a while back, and our. School system has an official bullying complaint form. Once that was filed we were able to demand that the bully not be in class with either dd. sure enough, when they changed class schedules at the start if the new semester the bully was in my youngest class. One call to the school to remind them that we had paperwork on file and the situation was fixed.

My older dd could use prayers thus week that a situation at school is resolved in her favor. She made a mistake and the fallout has been far reaching. She has learned her lesson and suffered enough and she needs some compassion and a second chance.

 

[thebeesknees]

Andrea, bummer about the windshield! But it sounds like you had some wonderful family time together at the zoo and the hotel. Fingers crossed the piano works out! I used to teach piano lessons before I got married and really miss it. I've started Elisabeth already, but am thinking of switching to having a lady at church teach her. I think she'd make more progress with someone else teaching her instead of ole' Mom, and I'd be more motivated to make her practice every single day if I was paying for the privilege of doing so!

Judy, SO glad to hear that Rachel is definitely showing some improvement! I hope she doesn't overdo things now that she has the green light to go ahead a little at a time. prayers that she will be in great shape for your trip and will be able to enjoy everything to the fullest. Continued prayers for Lisa as you seek to get her the best treatment possible for these new symptoms, especially now that you will be losing your special doctor.

Grandma Judy's memorial service it this morning, but I couldn't go. Ezra came down with the stomach bug on Thursday morning, and even though his fever is gone, he is still coughing quite a bit and sounds terrible. I know the church will be packed, and as we have so many elderly/immune compromised folks in our congregation, I didn't want to risk exposing anyone if he is still contagious. I also know that he is still recovering and didn't want to expose HIM to anyone else and risk being sick again for school Monday. So I sent David and the big kids and will stay home and relive some of my favorite memories of her. I hope her family knows I would have been there if I possibly could have been, she was such a very special lady.

Benjamin is off to a bit of a bumpy start for MS. He doesn't have the same schedule any two days in a row: Monday, Wednesday and Friday he has all classes, Tuesdays he has odd-numbered classes for 90 minutes each, Thursdays are even-numbered for 90 minutes each, and he alternates PE and technology every other week. My mind is spinning with trying to keep his schedule straight! AND, he has lunch at 10:35, how dumb is that?! The PE teacher started them off with fitness testing and Benjamin tested low for every single activity, which put him at the brunt of the jokes in the locker room afterward as "The WORST kid in PE in the whole 6th grade!", so he was kind of down every day this week about that. BUT, it was a real eye-opener for him to see how lazing around all summer really took its toll on his body. And since I was wanting to get back into running, anyway, we agreed to be fitness buddies and try to get in shape together. There will be a retest in the spring and I told him I look forward to seeing him make great progress by then. We all walked over to the park after dinner last night, and Benjamin, Elisabeth and I did the first session in the couch-to-5K program while David sat with Ezra and Skyped his brother. Boy, was I wiped out! I am in SUCH terrible shape!! But I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my kids doing something I know is good for us. And having to be accountable to each other is going to be really good for everybody.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend spending time with your families!

 

[Redwavess]

I havent been on the Dis in forever...things got crazy before our trip in the beginning of June (which we had a great time by the way)...then Diego flew home with my sister (to Mass) to spend 3 week with my parents...

I picked him up over the 4th of July weekend and then the nightmare begin...

We had noticed in Disney Diego had sort of a pot belly...I didnt really think much of it...he is super skinny and I figured just gaining weight and lots of kids have a belly before they grow a few inches...

But when I picked him up in Mass his left side looked swollen...At first I still didnt think much of it...he is very active and said it didnt hurt. We were suppose to leave on Sat but he ended up with a fever so we didnt leave till sunday night and did the long drive back to NC...took us about 14 hours and we got home early morning monday...I had to work on monday and really kind of forgot about his belly but then remembered it again monday night...a friend and I were loookinf and noticed it was hard...On Tuesday I showed Diegos dad and we decided I needed to bring him to the doctor...

We went on Wed July 10th...they did blood work and doc said well blood was good so we dont have to worry about cancer. He thought it was an enlarged slean and scheduled us for an ultra sound the next day.

I was told it was just some sort of infection...well after ultrasound I was taken out in the hall and said there was a mass but they werent sure exactlly where it was so needed to do a CT scan...and they couldnt get us an appointment so we went thru the ER and spent the day handing out...It wasnt till 5pm (we had been there since 9am and Diego couldnt eat or drink) that I finally got the news no parent ever wants to hear...ITS CANCER...

We were admitted to the hospital (thankfully we were at Duke) and the next day Diego had his kidney removed...we were home less then a week later and 2 weeks after surgery he started chemo. Just had his 4th treatment on tuesday...that one was horrible with throwing up and all...and to top it off I ended up with a really horrible cold. Feeling so much better today...And Diego is at school and I am at work...first time all week for both of us...

So I just wanted to check in with all of you and asked for prayers for Diego (and me)...we will hopefully be done by Jan and it will probably take him another year to get back to his normal tigger self lol...

We have a caring bridge page if anyone wants to folllow.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/diegohernandez/journal

I know I hadnt been on this thread (well the last one) for very long but really would love the prayers...

Oh my gosh I am so sorry to hear this!! Prayers for Diego, you and the whole family!!

I hope that the treatments go better than the 4th one did!! And prayer for cold germs to stay away!!!

Big Hugs,

Madeline

 

[Redwavess]

I need to get to bed; however, had to share happy news. The testing at the concussion clinic shows Rachel IS improving. We still need to limit her activity and avoid anything that could further damage her brain. He was discussing activity we need to avoid and asked if we had plans for our local amusement park anytime soon. I told him we were heading to Florida in four weeks and he said she should be fine by then. Praise God!

Hooray for improvements for Rachel!!! I've been waiting to pop in hear and hear that!!! Prayers for continued improvement!! And so glad to hear that this will not effect your plans to Florida!!!

Hugs,

Madeline

 

[Redwavess]

This has been a particularly unbelievable week, even for me, so I will spare you the details. I simply ask for concentrated prayer for Lisa, who is experiencing some additional/new health concerns; continued prayer for Rachel (concussion clinic today, hoping they agree she seems better); prayers for my Dad who is having some Chemo related issues; and our transportation needs.

Thank you for your support of us and each other. I am humbly grateful.

Prayers said for Lisa, Rachel, and your dad for healing!!! Prayers for you and family for your transportation needs and for comfort during these medical issues!!!

Is Lisa's issue heart related? We just had a scare with Mallory on Wednesday... she collapsed on the PE field at school and we had to take her to the ER. Does Lisa participate in PE? It seems as if I need to get Mallory an alternative to PE. If you don't have time to answer I totally get!! We can chat about CHD stuff when your life quiets down.

Big Hugs,

Madeline

 

[Redwavess]

I just wanted to let you know mama passed away this afternoon. She can see and walk again. We talked about this when we talked a few weeks ago. I hope everyone is doing ok Morgan will be here tomorrow night I think everyone is at peace she went down hill very fast. Tell the kids we said hi and I will send Lisa pictures of some of the new outfits for the dolls.

Hugs and prayers of support to you and your family during this time!

Madeline

 

[McDuck]

So glad to hear Rachel is improving-- I am continuing to pray!!!

Judy, I don't think in my half-awake on the app DIS-ing in the mornings, I have ever thanked you for your kind offer of Miss Kaity and I visiting you!

We are settling into our new normal. I am noticing some slight changes in Kaity's behavior, but I am sure she will settle back to her sweet self.

 

[happybelle]

Praise God for the excellent news about Rachel. Praying for Lisa's needs and the needs of all those who have asked. I hope you get some sleep tonight Judy.

 

[DisNorth]

sheridee32 I am sorry for your loss.

Diegosmom, sorry to hear about Diego I will keep him and you in my prayers.

Prayers for JJ, sorry to hear he has been having some rough days. The tics sound very scary to witness.

Judy - Hope you are having an good weekend. You all and your father are in my prayers. Sorry to hear there are additional issues with Lisa.
I am so glad to hear that Rachel is improving!

 

[happybelle]

Good Morning Judy. I hope it is a quiet day for you. Prayers coming your way.