Kodi Update

I am cheating and just copying what Tracy J put up on Kodi's site today! :)

By the numbers:

9 hours of surgery

2 bone marrow samples

3 units of blood

2 units of platelets

2 kidneys intact

1 pancreas intact

99% tumor removed

100% relieved!

Kodi is out of surgery and being moved to ICU. We haven’t seen her yet, but Dr. Miller came out to let us know let everything went well. He said it was a long, difficult procedure, but that Kodi did extremely well. He was able to save the kidney and did not have to remove any of the pancreas.

There are still some small nodules remaining in/on the kidney, but they appear to be calcified and “dead.” The only way to remove them would have been to remove the whole kidney. The remaining courses of chemotherapy should be able to kill out any microscopic active cancer cells. (Spine and rib area were left alone today – treatment should take care of these as well.)

Kodi has an incision that spans across the entire abdomen, IV’s in both hands, and another arterial catheter in one wrist. Dr. Miller tells us that she will be very “puffy” from the transfusions/fluids, and she will have the NG tube for about 5 days. I’m assuming the epidural is in place, but we did not confirm at the time.

Please continue to pray for Kodi’s recovery. We still have a long way to go!

Thank you guys so much for your prayers for them today. It's such a relief for me to have it over, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for them. I'm hoping to get to run over and see them for a little bit when I go to Stephenville in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get down there before Kodi has her transplant b/c I won't get to visit her for sure for awhile after that. Glad that today is over and I can go to bed tonight knowing that she is resting tonight.

--Jenn

Kodi Update/Prayer Requests

Kodi is doing well. All of her tumors have shrunk significantly. Tomorrow is the big day. She has surgery tomorrow to remove what's left of the tumors. The big concern right now is that there is a very good chance she will lose her L kidney when they remove the tumor b/c of where the tumor is. Pray for steady hands for the doctors, calmed nerves for Tracy and Tracy and the girls, and for good pain control for Kodi. Often times that is one of the hardest things for post-op kiddos is being able to get their pain under control.

Secondly, please be praying for my friend Cali. She has an AV malformation in her brain that they found back in May. Since then she has had 3 different surgeries to embolize (cut off blood to) the area and she was supposed to have surgery today to remove the malformation. Her surgeon called her last night and due to some complications with scheduling, his partner was not going to be able to be in the OR today and he and his partner don't do these type surgeries without both of them in the OR, so they had to reschedule her surgery for Aug. 9. To make matters even more stressful, her husband coaches football at SFA and their players report to camp on Aug. 10. Cali really wanted to get this surgery done sooner rather than later so that Jake would have to miss as little of football stuff as possible, but God obviously has different plans. Pray for patience and peace for Cali. She's like me, she's a worrier, and so this whole process has been VERY stressful for her. Pray for Jake that he is able to discern where his time needs to be spent at each moment, whether it be with Cali or in the office/on the football field.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers for Jake and Cali and for Tracy and Tracy and Kodi and Maegan.

San Antonio/Boerne/Life in General

Last week we went to San Antonio for the last day of coaching school and our annual coaches retreat. It was a blast. We had a great time in San Antonio and then we headed to Boerne on Wednesday. On our way to Boerne, Billy and I made a detour and stopped in San Marcos. I spent $100 and I got two cardigans, 5 shirts, a pair of Teva flip flops and six pairs of socks...I was pretty proud of myself! Once we got to Boerne we just hung out and relaxed. We had some AMAZING Mexican food that night and then Thursday we got up and after Sarah C. got in from the airport we all packed up and went to float the Comal. I was kind of disappointed b/c the sun never really came out so it was kind of cold, but we still had a blast. That night we ate dinner and watched the Rangers game and then Friday morning everyone got up and cleaned up the house and headed our various directions. Billy and I had planned on going to Houston, but then decided that we needed to head towards home and stop and play along the way instead of driving the opposite direction. Needless to say, we found ourselves in Dallas at a Rangers game on Friday night. It was very fun seeing as how we were in a suite 3 or 4 suites down from the former president's suite. Coach Carthel had called a guy to see if he had extra tickets for us and he did. We thought that they were just going to be decent seats on the bottom level, but really didn't care where they were as long as we got to go see the game. So when we got our tickets and walked in and asked the little Rangers guy where we were at and he directed us to the suites we were WAY excited. The people who let us come were very friendly and they love baseball as much as Billy and I do, so we had a blast. Saturday morning we got up and went camera shopping. We decided to go ahead and make an investment in one so we got a Canon Rebel EOS T1i. I LOVE it!!!! It's takes fantastic pictures and we spent less than I had been expecting on it, so that was a definite plus also. While we were at Fry's to get the camera, Billy called his friend Shawn to see about getting more memory for our computer. You see, it has been slower that molasses on a cold day in Vermont for MONTHS now and I was ready to throw it out the window. Needless to say, all it needed was a little memory. It works beautifully now. I am so excited. Maybe I can actually download some pictures now without sending the computer into a downward spiral! Overall, it was a great trip and a great way to end our summer. Billy started back in the office full-time today and kids report on Aug. 10. Can't believe that football season is already here again!!

On a totally different subject...I have been reading a book and doing some research, and have decided that at least for awhile, I am going to go vegan...only where food is concerned for now. No I do not expect all of you to go vegan also, but this book that I have been reading brought up some very interesting points about the processes our meat and dairy products go through. This is not to say that I am going to be hardcore and never eat cheese or yogurt or meat again, but I want to try this and see if it helps me feel better. I have not been feeling great as of late (as in the last 4 months or so) and maybe a change in diet is what I need. Please do not try and make special accommodations if I am coming to your house, or am going out to eat with you. I am going to make this fit into my life and not the other way around. I would NEVER expect you to go out and buy special food just for me, nor would I want you to. For the most part, I'm just going to be eating lots of fruit and veggies and whole grains. Like I said, this is not a permanent thing at this point...just something I want to try to see if it helps me feel a little more human.

On that note, I have to get off of here and get my house clean. I'm having a Scentsy Party here tomorrow night, but am going to be gone to Lubbock all day tomorrow with a friend taking her little boy to the doctor so I gotta get all my cleaning and errands done today.

Peace!

Camp 2010

So I had a blast at camp last week. It was a fast and furious trip, but a much needed one. My mom went with me b/c I had to drive back a day early to go back to work and didn't really want to drive back by myself, so it was good to have some quality one on one time with her. I made it through the week with only one kid with a broken bone, so I think I did pretty good. It was nice to get away and just enjoy the peace and quiet. My mom scared the ever living tar out of me on the way home, because she fell asleep driving and I just woke up to the sound of us hitting the rumble strip and then the ditch. It scared me to death! Needless to say when we stopped for a bathroom break 15 miles later, I took back over the driving duties.

I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then had last night off and came back to work tonight and tomorrow night and then I am off for a week. I can't wait!! Yesterday Billy was gone camping with a bunch of the other coaches, so I got to play while he was away. I spent 3 1/2 hours painting pottery and it was heavenly! Then I went home and cleaned up the house a little bit and then made dinner. We ate as soon as Billy got home and then we both crashed like rocks.

We leave on Tuesday for San Antonio/Central Texas. I am thrilled that this week is finally here, but it's bittersweet at the same time. While I know we are going to have a blast and have been anticipating this trip since I found out we were going, this is also the last week before Billy hits the football grind full-time again. I'm praying that we just enjoy the week and the time that we get to spend with each other as well as friends.

I guess that's all for now. Nothing else really very exciting going on. I'm hoping that maybe we'll get some excitement at work tonight to keep me awake. So far it's not looking so good.

Camp 2010

I leave this morning to go to camp with 4th and 5th graders until Wednesday. I am going to be the camp nurse. They are actually staying through Thursday, but I have to work on Wednesday night, so I have to come back a day early. I'm excited though. It's going to be a blast. Camp holds some of my best memories in life no matter where I was at for camp.

Hopefully I'll be bright eyed on the drive this morning. Last night, or should I say early this morning, we woke up to the boys barking. We, like usual, told them to be quiet and rolled over to go back to sleep...well, that's when I noticed that it looked like someone was in our backyard w/ a flashlight. I then heard voices, and immediately woke Billy up...so glad that he was home for this one! Come to find out, the cops were chasing some 15 year old kid through our neighborhood and had been in our backyard b/c he had been hiding back there. I don't know if they ever caught him or not. Billy, being the good concerned citizen that he is, got dressed and went outside to investigate and get the scoop...I, on the other hand, stayed in my nice warm bed and waited for a report!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Random

Well, found a housekeeper and she comes on Friday!!! So excited! Guess I better get to cleaning before she gets here! How sad is that that I am going to have to clean my house before the housekeeper comes...she is a friend of mine that I didn't even realize was cleaning houses until I started asking around for suggestions. I'm so excited for it to be someone that I know I can trust and that I know will do a good job. It's always a good sign when you go to their house and it's immaculate right???

In other news, on the way home from work this morning, I saw what has to be the funniest stinking bumper sticker ever!!!!! :) It said, "I promise I'm only speeding because I have to poop." I don't know why, but I was crying I was laughing so hard. Call me weird, but it was funny.

Hopefully work is a tad bit more lively tonight than it was last night...oh my goodness...wanted to pull my eyes out last night!

Life...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Billy has been in and out all summer working camps, and the Lord has definitely blessed us with enabling us to use that money to pay off some debt. We are getting closer and closer to getting the credit card and medical bills paid off! :) I've been working lots and have started orienting a new nurse recently. I am so excited about her and the other new grad that we have. I think that they are going to be great nurses and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them already!!

We took a quick trip to Billy's mom's back in June. It was good to go visit everyone for a couple of days, but oh my stars was it hot!!! I was sweating like a fat girl on her first date, just standing still!!! We had a lot of fun, and while we were there, we went to a Sugarland concert in Shreveport. It was a blast. We took Billy's best friend Carlos with us, and I'm pretty sure that he will think twice before ever going to a concert with us again! :) I have a hard time sitting still in my seat when it's a song that I absolutely love, and I have absolutely no qualms about singing along, so needless to say I loved every minute of the concert and as Billy says, I "bounced and sang my little heart out!" Most of all it was just nice to get to hang out with Billy for a couple of days. It definitely did our hearts good.

This past weekend we got to go to Dallas for my friend Megan's wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad that I got to go and help out. I was just the helper girl for the day and did basically whatever needed to be done, but it was a great day and I am so happy for Megan. Last summer I went to see her in a production of Grease and ended up being her date to a wedding for a friend of hers. While we were at the wedding, we talked about how her mom had been commenting that she just knew they were going to be planning Megan's wedding for this summer. At the time Megan had never even met Kyle, so she just kept telling her mom she was crazy, but lo and behold, like always, momma knows best and Megan did indeed get married this summer.

On Saturday night after the wedding, Billy and I went to downtown Ft. Worth and walked around for awhile and then went and ate dinner at Texas de Brazil. Oh my gosh!!!!!!! It was SOOOOOOOOOO good. Even though my feet hurt like crazy b/c I had worn blisters on the bottoms of them from having worn my next shoes for so long, dinner was wonderful. Billy and I were talking on the way down, and he made the comment that this was the first time that we had been on a vacation/weekend getaway since we had started dating where we weren't worried about whether we were going to have enough money to get us through the weekend or not. It was so nice to not have to stress about the finances and just enjoy the weekend. On Sunday, we got up and went to Six Flags for the day and had a blast. It was nice b/c it didn't really start getting packed until we were leaving so we didn't really have to spend a whole lot of time waiting in lines, and I was so proud of Billy b/c he actually rode some roller coasters. He is not an adrenaline junky like yours truly, so even the thought of getting on a roller coaster makes him start to loose color in his face. I can't even remember which ride it was, but we got off of one of the roller coasters and he said, I feel like I should be sick to my stomach right now, and I looked back and he was white as a ghost. Bless his heart...he was trying to be adventurous for me, but I'm pretty sure that that particular coaster pushed him way closer to the edge than he likes to be!!! :) After Six Flags we ran back the the truck and enjoyed the air conditioning for a little bit then went to the Rangers game. It was so much fun, even though the Rangers lost, and it was actually not near as hot as we thought it was going to be. The fireworks at the end of the game were fabulous, even if we did keep getting nailed with all the debris from them fireworks.

Billy is in Denton for one last football camp this week, and then we get to go on a little getaway with all the other coaches' for a couple of days and then Billy and I are going to follow the lead of my sweet friend Whitney and her husband Jason and go hang out in Houston for a couple of days for one last trip and then it's back to the football grind. I can't believe that it's already July!! Time has flown by this summer!!

The most exciting new development for us is that we have decided to hire a housekeeper to come twice a month just to do the deep cleaning kind of stuff like dusting and cleaning the bathrooms really well and doing the floors really well. I'm sure some of you are thinking what the hee haw...you are a young married couple with no kids, how on earth do you need a housekeeper...I've been thinking the same thing, but here's our reasoning. Our schedules are so different from each other (he works days, I work nights), and we are both so busy with work, that by the time we get home and have time to do all the deep cleaning, it usually falls on the one or two days a week that we actually have time to spend/see each other, and I don't enjoy spending the precious few hours I have my husband to myself, cleaning the house. So since Billy got a raise, and I got a promotion that comes with a raise (which was not planned), that is our present to ourselves. So now the search begins for a housekeeper.

I wish I had pictures to put up from all of these adventures of late, but unfortunately, my camera has died. I'm hoping that I can at least get the pictures that are on my memory card off and downloaded, but we are on the hunt for a new camera as we speak.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I'm off to workout and then head to work.

--JB