Living Life Upside Down

To say that our lives have been turned upside down would be an understatement.  On Friday, August 3rd, late in the afternoon, we met with the oncologist at St. Jude who told us that the diagnosis had been changed.  Reid has spindle cell sarcoma which is worse than Rhabdomyosarcoma.  The oncologist also said that Reid's eye (not just eyeball) and everything in the orbit will have to be removed in order to give him the best chance for survival.  Then, he told us that we were going to be admitted right then to start chemo.  This journey is a roller coaster ride for sure.

We were admitted and Reid began his first round of chemotherapy late Friday night.  He handled his chemo like a champ.  We were released to come home to Baton Rouge on Tuesday, August 7th.  We drove in the driveway, and I immediately pulled out to take Wyatt to his open house at school. School started on Wednesday.  To say that we missed Wyatt over the 12 days that we were in Memphis would be a vast understatement.  We are very thankful for the friends and family who kept him busy and loved on him while we were gone.

On Saturday, August 11th, we noticed that Reid was breathing more rapidly than normal.  We called Memphis that night, and they told us to watch him to see if anything else (like a fever) developed.  On Sunday morning, we called the St. Jude Clinic in Baton Rouge.  Dr. Jones (the oncologist) told us to bring him to the ER.  We spent Sunday through Thursday in the hospital at OLOL.  Reid had viral pneumonia the best that they could tell.  He had to be on a nasal cannula for oxygen.  It was scary and sad to be home yet have to be in the hospital.  We knew that because of chemo his immune system would be suppressed, but we did not expect a 5 day hospital visit.

We leave on Wednesday to go back to St. Jude.  Reid is scheduled for an MRI on Thursday morning to see how the tumor has responded to the first round of chemo.  We will then meet with the ocular oncologist who is supposed to perform the surgery.  WE NEED A MIRACLE!  I cannot bear the thought of Reid losing his eye.  We can SEE a noticeable difference in his eye just from the first round of chemo.  We are praying that God has healed the tumor to such a GREAT EXTENT that the doctors will be blown away.  PLEASE PRAY FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR REID'S EYE TO BE SPARED!  

We will be admitted for the second round of chemo on Friday evening again.  We actually liked being in the hospital over the weekend.  It was quiet, and the nurses were very nice.

Please pray for me.  I am having a very hard time with all of this.  Pray for me to have peace that passes all understanding.  Pray for me to have strength to put one foot in front of the other and do what has to be done.

Pray for God to unfold something miraculous through this journey.

Memphis

We arrived in Memphis at about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.  Lance and I HATE the word SURREAL, but there was no other word to use to describe walking into the front door of St. Jude's for the first time.  I have discovered that this is a roller coaster ride.  One day you feel good....the next day you feel terrible.  Today has been a good day, and I have no doubt it's because so many had us in their hearts, minds and prayers today at church.  We have not been to church in 3 weeks.  That's the longest we have missed church except when Wyatt and Reid were born.  I miss it!

Thursday we met with the oncologist here.  Friday we had an eye doctor appointment.  This week coming up will be filled with scans and tests.  Some will be repeated that were done in Baton Rouge, and some will be new.  Lance and I are growing impatient.  We are ready to start down the treatment path.  Please pray that we will be patient this week.

We went to the Children's Museum yesterday, and today we went to the Memphis Zoo.  Both of these places were very nice.  Reid is not "sick", so to think he has this terrible problem is hard to comprehend.

Many have asked what they can do to help us.  If you can afford it, I would ask you to make a donation to St. Jude.  Do you realize that EVERY SINGLE thing here is paid for?  All medical expenses AND all housing, food and gas/airline tickets.  Even our admission to the museum and the zoo were paid for.  And because Baton Rouge has an affiliate clinic, all expenses incurred there will be paid for as well.

Please pray for the following things this week:
1) First and foremost, for all scans to be clear.
2) For Reid's eye.  Pray that throughout this process his eyesight is not damaged.
2) For minimal pain for Reid this week.
3) For abundant strength and patience for Lance and me.
4) For us to be able to come home for chemo treatments. 
5) For Wyatt to have perfect peace.  School starts in 1 1/2 weeks, and I am here.  It hurts my heart to be so far away from him.
6) For our parents.  Their hearts are hurting as well. 
7) For Reid to live a long and healthy life once we have journeyed down this road. 

We are blessed with our families and friends.  We so appreciate that you are all praying for us!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

"For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD."  Jeremiah 30:17

Life Changes In An Instant

Now is the time for the post I have been thinking of in my mind.  The post of how do I tell people such horribly bad news.  I can start by saying that this is a place I never dreamed I would be.  A place that made me cry on the inside for others.  I have always prayed for God to bless us with nothing but health.  I can't pretend to understand why this has happened.  A family that I used to go to church with years ago had a family member in Colorado during the shooting at the movie theater.  Thankfully she wasn't shot, but her friend Bonnie Kate was.  The mom put a quote on Facebook.  It says, "In every situation God is doing a thousand things that we cannot see and do not know."  I can't imagine why this path was chosen for us.  I would give anything in my power to change places with my baby.  If all he had to endure was what he endured last week at the hospital, that would be too much.  But to think of what lies ahead is suffocating.  I must trust that God has gone before us.  He knows the plan.  I must trust in His Sovereignty. It's the hardest thing I have ever done.

On Tuesday, June 26, I noticed Reid's eye was slightly swollen.  No one else in the world would have noticed.  The next day I was going to call his pediatrician's office, but decided to give him Benadryl and wait another day.  Reid and I went to our local library because Wyatt was at camp at Istrouma.  We actually ran into our pediatrician at the library.  She said it looked like an allergy and to keep giving him the Benadryl.  So I did that for the remainder of the week and weekend.  The next Monday I called the ped's office because it had not gotten any better.  We had an appointment for Tuesday morning, July 3.  I took him in, and I could tell she was slightly concerned.  She wanted us to go to an ophthalmologist.  We went to the ophthalmologist Tuesday afternoon.  She gave us some cream and told us to come back in 3 weeks.  Fast forward to Tuesday, July 17.  I took him back to the pediatrician because there had been no improvement, and it was actually getting worse.  She wanted an MRI done immediately.  We landed in OLOL at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday night.  The MRI was scheduled for first thing Wednesday morning.  A few hours later on Wednesday, we had a doctor in our room telling us that Reid had a 2 cm tumor over his eye.  Then an oncologist came in next telling us that she suspected Rhabdomyosarcoma.  A friend from high school has a son who was just diagnosed with this same thing in February.  How in the world is this happening?

A biopsy was scheduled for Thursday morning.  The surgeon told us that it would be a 30 minute procedure.  That turned into 1 1/2 hours.  It turns out that he was able to easily removed 50% of the tumor.  THANK YOU GOD!  He was not able to remove the whole thing because it would have been an extensive surgery.  The oncologist had already told us that he would not remove the whole thing.  After the surgery we were told we may know something by the next day.

Friday afternoon the oncologist came in to tell us that indeed it was Rhabdomyosarcoma.  She scheduled a CT scan and blood work for Saturday morning.  We had those tests done, and praise God they were both clear.  We were finally able to leave the hospital Saturday at around 1:00 p.m.

Today we found out that we will travel to St. Jude on Thursday, and we will have more appointments on Friday.  We are not exactly sure of all of the details.

A beacon of light in our stay in the hospital was our nurse Rikki.  She was an angel among us.  She contacted me yesterday via Facebook to say that she had been thinking of Reid and our family.  She asked me to keep in touch with her.  I was looking at her pictures because she said that she had a little girl that just turned 3.  On one of her little girl's pictures, there was the following Scripture.  "He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 5:9  I am claiming these wonders and miracles for Reid.  He was never supposed to be born.  We were told we had a less than 1% chance of having another baby "naturally".  He has beaten the odds once.  We are waiting to see his second miracle!  God must have BIG, BIG things in store for him.

Please fall down on your face, and pray for my baby's healing.  Pray for miracles to unfold every single day.  Pray for peace and wisdom for Lance and for me.  Pray for comfort and peace for both Reid and Wyatt.  We are so thankful to our friends who have brought us food the last few nights, and for ALL of the gifts that Reid received in the hospital.  We are blessed BEYOND MEASURE with wonderful friends and family!

"But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."  Psalm 3:3  Pray for a shield around Reid.  Pray that he will be shielded from Satan's arrows.  Pray for a straight path from here on out.  Pray for minimal pain for Reid.  Pray that he would be healed!

Monster Mash

I have needed to write this post for, oh, 2 months or so.  But I just kept putting it off.  Reid's 3rd birthday was March 23.  A while back I got the idea of a monster themed birthday party.  It was meant to be because I kept finding things that fit the party theme.  And my friend, the master baker, kept sending me monster cakes and cupcake ideas.  Let's just say when I grow up, I want to be my friend Michelle!!!

We had the party on Saturday, March 24 in the evening.  The weather was PERFECT! Here is the birthday boy trying to figure out what he can get into next!

My very artistic husband made this cardboard "photo booth" the morning of the party.  The kids ABSOLUTELY loved it!

Reid and his buddy Brinkley!

My older monster!

And now to the moment we all have been waiting for.....the absolutely fabulous CAKE!  It is beyond words!!!  The kids fought over the cake ball eyes!

And the precious cupcakes were the "icing on the cake".  Ha!  

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Reid!  Happy Birthday to you!

Reid and his buddy Luke

Our little family

The party was so much fun.  For once, I actually was able to sit back and take it all in!  I think all of the little kiddos (and big kiddos) had a lot of fun! I had a table set up with Monster Mash.  It was like a make your own trail mix table.  Towards the end of the party the kids started making their monster mash.  It was a hit!  I think I will incorporate that into parties from now on.

I can't believe our baby is 3.  Time is flying by!  Makes me OLD and SAD!  Soon he'll be asking girls out on dates.  Kinda like this...

 "Hey Melia, wanna go out with me sometime?"  Too cute!

Our friends have quadruplets.  These are the 3 boys with Reid.  Their names are Madden, Jagger and Rocco.  I laugh with their mom all of the time because Reid only ever says Jagger.  He talks about Jagger ALL OF THE TIME!  We think that he thinks they are ALL Jagger!  It cracks me up!

And because she is just TOO pretty to leave out, here is the completion of the quads, Miss Sloan!  Love her....want to take her home with me.....but I think her momma would notice.  Well, on second thought, maybe she wouldn't;)

Reid's party was a great success!  I'm already brainstorming ideas for next year!  Our beautiful blessing is growing up!  And he never stops moving!!!

One Duck Stuck

When Wyatt was little he loved a book called One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root.  It rained here A LOT over the weekend.  Reid was dying to play outside on Monday, so I finally let him.  He put on his rain boots and went to town.  Until he got stuck!  One little boy stuck...

March is Here!

March is here which means someone has a birthday soon!  I can't believe that 3 years have passed so quickly.  3 years ago at this time, I was BIG and pregnant, and waiting for our second precious boy!  The infertility chapter was finally closing, and new life was coming!  He has been FULL of life since March 23, 2009 at 4:15 p.m. when he was born!  And we wouldn't have it any other way!

February Challenge 29-Something You're Listening To

Can't think of a time in recent history where I have loved someone's voice this much!