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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Wish Jill a Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE
You are an amazing woman, an amazing wife, an amazing mother, and everyday I give thanks to God for bringing the two of us together.
I hope you have a wonderful birthday Jill 
Thank you for loving me.

Love,
            Dave
(Sorry folks, she left herself logged on so I hijacked her blog to wish her a happy birthday)

Friday, March 28, 2014

Week 5 Update

Dave is doing well.
His throat feels much better and the sores inside his mouth are starting to heal
the swelling on his tongue has gone down too
he's starting to eat more solid foods and getting back to a normal diet and he can even taste more food now too
overall his weight has been stable and he has even gained a few pounds back
he does have some swelling in his neck under his jaw which the doctors told us would happen and they have a funny name for it. 
this is common after surgery to remove lymph nodes and he keeps massaging it which helps reduce the swelling and also some of the pain
the nerves in his jaw are starting to respond better too
he still has a little droop on his right side but it is much better
Dave's hair is growing back too
we cut it short when he started it and now the hair is growing back at a pretty good rate
his facial hair is growing back too but not the same
i don't think he will be able to grow a beard again or at least not for a long time
the hair only comes back in blotches on his face which is sort of odd so he is just keeping it clean shaven for now
We have cut back on his pain medicine and he hopes to cut it all back in the next week
our hope is for Dave to be cleared to go back to work early next month at least on a temporary basis so he can start feeling "normal" again

we have had a crazy week otherwise at home
we have some stomach bug going around
Gabe was puking for about 5 hours the other night
Dave and I were constantly doing laundry throughout the night
I can't say we have ever done that before.
We went through so many sheets, pillows, blankets and pads 
he kept rubbing his head in it
we had to keep washing his head off under the sink all night
crazy is all I can say





 The next day he was fine but Jeremiah got it
so he missed school that day 
he seemed to be puking more than Gabe 
but today he seemed great
back to his normal self again 
 Jonah and I have tummy aches but I am hoping it stays away from everyone else


I was talking to the older 2 boys(actually working through one of our boy books we have) about hair and puberty and stuff
 and we hit the subject of breasts 
and they asked what the purpose of nipples were on boys
and I laughed so hard
Odin says"  boys have nipples for muscles and girls have nipples for milk then"
seriously this parenting thing is funny
How do you keep a straight face?


I love how this girl doesn't care what she looks like!
We use to wear wigs all the time in high school
heck we would go into town with wigs on
 and dress all crazy just for fun because we loved it
I will try to find some pictures
Olivia you are a free spirit just like your mama
and I love you dearly for it.


Have a great weekend
thank you for all your continued love and support
we love you dearly!!!

Monday, March 24, 2014

bittersweet
All these weeks we have been walking in and out of St. Vincents
through the valet parking/emergency entrance
pass the patients with anger and pain on their face
or tears surfacing 
the kids like to cause a problem going through those automatic revolving doors
I think the valet parking attendants are glad were not there
past the sweet greeters that so kindly try to beat you to the automatic door button
love that
such sweet volunteers
pass the people in the larger waiting room
where you can gladly add a piece to the big puzzle 
which I always wonder if it ever gets done
I  wonder why the patients are there
sometimes I wish we all had a label on our head when we were in the Dr.s office
not really
 but it would be sometimes easier to start conversations that way
my kiddos always grabbed a candy or 2 from the jar by the nurses station
they are  the candies that are dum dums without the stick
of course they take all the purple and red ones
or help themselves to a cup of hot cocoa
Jonah brings his own marshmallows 
gotta love that guy 


our forever friend Tom
who is battling colon cancer
who the kiddos now write too
they love pen pals


we excitedly wait to see Tom, maybe Glen or meet a new person that is before Dave
we love talking to these people and getting to know them
I feel like they just become part of your life and your journey
hoping to bring a little love and joy to their hearts
I always wonder what it's like to be a nurse/Dr. in that department
I would love to just hang out in the waiting room spreading love, and joy to others and praying for them
what a great job that would be
we were trying to figure out what random act of kindness to do for the patients
since we have only baked for January's random acts of kindness
it was a little tricky but we managed

we first tried to drill into the boxes and thread the letters but that was a mess



then the kiddos wrote their own little notes


then we added a prayer and a cross


then we added one of these

Choose Joy Fundraiser



wrapped them up, prayed over them and gave them to one of the nurses to 
randomly bless others with
it was so much fun
 love wins

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Week 4 Update
 
Dave had hoped to cut down on his prescription pain medicine earlier this week
He cannot go back to work while he is on these medications so he was trying to speed things up to get back to work
 
He cut out the medications completely earlier this week but it did not go well at all
He was up at night in a lot of pain
His mouth is still full of open sores that look like canker sores and some are on his tongue that have caused it to swell up and it really hurts too
 
Now we know he was not ready to go off the full medications yet
The doctors had him go back on his pain medicines to give it more time to heal
 
This is very frustrating to Dave because he wanted to try to go back to work but he is going to need more time to heal
I had to remind him that most people need 8 weeks to recover from head and neck radiation and he was trying to do it in 4 weeks
 
We drove up to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota yesterday for another long day
Good news is both doctors who examined Dave said he is doing great
His neck is healed but they still have him doing his exercises and on the inside of his throat there are no signs of any problems or infections...praise God!
Starting next week they want him to try to cut down on the pain medicine and slowly cut it down  over the next couple weeks until he is all done
 
It was hard to watch them use the scope on Dave
they numb up his nose and then put this device inside that goes up his nostril and down his throat that the Doctors look through
every Dr. that looks at him has to scope him
It looked very painful and Dave said it is painful but he is used to it now
It has a camera on it so they were able to show us all the spots where the tumors were located and praise God it all looks good and healthy
 
We drive back home today and are scheduled to return here in June for more tests
 
Thank you to everyone for their continued support and prayers
Thanks too for my Mom and Dad watching the kids while we traveled here
 
Thanks to God for his amazing love and healing powers


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Week 3 Update
Dave is now in week 3 of his recovery and doing well
mostly good news this week
his neck looks great and healed nice
his stretching exercises are helping too and his range of motion for his neck is really good
his weight is stable now and he hasn't lost any weight for a week 
Dave can eat some solid foods and his taste is coming back
his hair is growing back nicely too


Dave's throat still hurts and it still has some tender raw spots inside his mouth
his tongue is still swollen so that makes it harder to talk (hurts) and swallow too
he still needs pain medicine but yesterday he started to reduce the amount and little by little he plans to reduce it even more
we go to the Mayo Clinic next week for a long day of medical appointments and follow up with his team of doctors
I will post updates after that trip with more information

Thank you for continued prayers and support
Love wins!
PEACE BE WITH YOU


Tuesday, March 11, 2014


Joy


 those cheeks






those toes






that nose and lips





we can't imagine life without this little guy in it










Jonah having fun with Gabe








How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127:5



Children are the most unique and creative of all God's gifts. And each one must be received this way--as God's unique gift to you.
Part of this gift means that you will be transformed into someone you'd never have become without them. It's a gift of spiritual growth and discovery, experienced each day as you relearn life through the eyes of your children.

Love Wins

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