NewhouseNewz

My Dad has only ONE Chemo left!!

2008-07-21T14:55:00.002-05:00

Today is Monday, July 21st and Mike and I just celebrated 23 years yesterday. I can not belive it. I should still be 26. Whoop!! Taylor just returned from Camp Bandina and had an awesome week. Shelby also just returned from Camp Summitt. It is in Grapevine and she made some wonderful new friends. Kendall has been gone almost one month visiting her cousins and friends. I really miss her. Tonight we will all be together at the "AREA WIDE" devo. I remember as a teenager, we would never miss the area wide devos. Taylor and her daddy leave on Friday for "Trek". They are headed to Colorado to hike a 14er. There are about 28 people from our church/youth group going.

My dad will finish his chemo this next week. We are hoping his numbers are all good and he will be able to have a body scan/pett scan in 6 to 9 weeks. We are continuing to pray for the complete healing and strength for our daddy. He has been such a trooper throughout the whole process. The cure rate for colon cancer is so great. We are believing that this will be the case also.

Mike's dad, Tom, is recovering from his corrective surgery to repair his eye lid and make it easier for the lid to close after his very extensive Melonoma surgery. Most of the feeling on the right side of his face is gone. We are praying also for his strength and fast recovery. Once this is done, Mike's mom, Beverly needs to have a knee replacement. That surgery can not happen until she gets a "thumbs up" from the cardiologist. She must have a stress test, which she can not do the walking on the treadmill one due to her bad knee, so she must do the medically induced one that she is dreading!! Pray specifically that she will have peace with this plan.

Our summer is quickly coming to an end because Drill Team starts in one week from Wednesday. Shelby has joined Taylor on Drill Team. Taylor is not happy about it but she will have to get over it. heehee.

My twins will very quickly turn "18". That is completely impossible!! We are trying to plan something very special. The problem is that drill team is about to over take every day of the next month. :{

Fun and rest to you all,

Kim and Crew

Today is Thursday and it is Dr. appointment Day

2008-04-10T16:47:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone,

Today is a new day!! Hallelujah!!

Tom and Bev went to MDAnderson today. Amy drove, thank you Amy. They saw Dr. Ross, the Melonoma doctor. Dr. Ross said all margins were clear in the pathology report. He was pleased and he will not return for 3 months. Next was on to the head and neck surgeon. I failed to mention before that Tom had a syst removed on his right forearm. The stitches were not removed from there today. Pathology was clear there as well. The drain line in his chest was not removed. It continues to produce over 30 cc's of fluid in a 24 hour period, therefore, it must remain in for a few more days. Monday Tom will start therapy for his facial muscles. The doctor removed over 11 staples and probably as many stitches. Only every other external stitch was removed. The internal stitches will dissolve on their own, eventually. There are at least 11 more staples that must be removed next week. The swelling has VERY slowly started to go down. Also, as a result of the swelling, there are some stretch marks on Tom's cheek.

I can hardly believe that one week ago today, we were sitting at the hospital!! Please continue to pray for Tom and Beverly for a continued recovery.

Have a great day,

Kim and Crew

Today is Run-off Election Day

2008-04-08T09:59:00.002-05:00

Good Morning,

Today is Tuesday and it is run-off election day for Texas. We have a dear friend in the run-off so I will be leaving to go and "work the polls" today. Scott Golemon, we are praying for you!!!

Amy took Tom and Bev to the doctor yesterday. Only one drain line was removed. It is the one behind his ear. I believe he will sleep better with that particular one gone. It is very difficult to only sleep on one side of your head. In a few days, they will return to have every other stitch removed and some staples. Hopefully, they will remove the additional drain line then as well. The head and neck surgeon restated how pleased he was with Tom's outcome. He said that it was the most difficult surgery he has ever done and that he considered it an honor to have been there. There were probably 5 surgeons in the OR that day. Tom will not regain the ability to raise his eyebrow/forehead on the right side. If it becomes a problem, there are procedures to do that will help with the position of his eyebrow. With therapy and healing, the use of his top and bottom lips on the right side may get better. He is able to move them now but the swelling is VERY great right now and very uncomfortable. His right eye is also very swollen. Some family have seen a picture, so multiply that by 4 or 5 times. That picture was taken the day after surgery and it had not been a complete 24 hours post surgery. The surgeon restated how terrible melenoma is and why they had to be so aggresive in their search for the terrible cancer. It could have easiliy been hiding in a small place on his face and they wanted to check everywhere. Beverly is completely exhausted and will not rest when he rests. You know, it's the mother thing!! Please continue to pray for them both.

My dad went yesterday for his second round of chemo. He has ecome sensitive to cold drinks. He said that it is like putting your tongue to a 9 volt battery and that tingle is all over your mouth and down your throat. The doctors also stated that during cold weather, you will also notice the change when you touch a car door handle. The sensitivity will affect your whole body in different ways. They took blood work yesterday and we will know the results later.

Taylor went to UIL Choir competition last Friday. All the choirs were awarded "Sweepstakes" from our high school. That means they achieved a Division I in Performance and a Division I in Sightreading. We are very proud of her hard work. Shelby competed in the Top Hands Horse Show for children with disabilities at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. She received a 2nd place trophey in English Equitation and a 6th place trophey in Western Equitition. She also competed in Trail but we are waiting to receive that award. It has rained every Tuesday since the rodeo and we have not gone to the barn. All my girls competed in Leadership Training for Christ over Easter weekend. Taylor and Kendall did Bible Bowl. They have been studying I Samuel. They did great and we always have a great time. Taylor did Intermediate Interpreting and she had to interpret a 4 minute communion prayer. She did awesome. Shelby competed in Small Chorus and equally did awesome. Kendall overall did 5 or 6 events. We are happy it is over for this year and our Sunday's can get back to normal. OK, I think that is enough bragging for now. heehee!!

Pray for me as I move closer to a mediation date with our school district over educational issues with Shelby. It is scheduled for April 25, 2008.

More updates to follow,

Have an awesome day, and Praise the Lord and all things!!!

Kim

Today is Sunday

2008-04-06T21:48:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful day at church and our cups were filled. We are so blessed and we try hard to remember that.

Tom's first full day at home was an adjustment period. He is very uncomfortable with the drain lines in and they are doing their jobs. I know Tom will sleep much better with them removed. His face has continued to swell and he is very uncomfortable. He has very limited movement with both top and bottom lips on his right side. Also, at this time, he has no ability to raise his forehead on the right side. We know that the swelling plays a big part in that and we continue to count our blessings. A family from Kentuckey that we met and shared our day with last Thursday is facing a very hard trial. Marcy's husband has a brain tumor. They will be traveling home tomorrow and we pray for their safe travel and the healing hands of our Lord to be with them all the way.

We are also saddend to hear today that a sweet family, Ben and Becky Powell, lost their 16 month old son yesterday. We have been praying for Ethan for over a year and they have been at St. Judes since Ethan was 2 months old. Many thousands of people have been praying for Ethan and we all still BeLIeVe. God's timing is not always our timing but the Lord knows the answers.

My father, Lonnie, starts his second round of chemo tomorrow. Please pray that both our dads continue to get stronger and remain strong through out these ordeals.

I will update tomorrow after Tom returns from MDAnderson. Pray that Tom and Bev will get some sleep tonight.

I am still thinking of you, Fran, and pray you have a peaceful nights rest as well. All my Love!!

Good Night Everyone,

Kim

Tom is Going Home

2008-04-05T10:23:00.002-05:00

Good Morning,

I just spoke to Mike and he said they have been released. They are waiting on Dana and Bev to bring him some clothes to go home in. The weather changed here yesterday and cooled down quite a bit. The head and neck surgeon said to come back on Monday to have drain lines removed and later in the week they would need to remove the stitches and staples. Things are going according to plan.

We are blessed,

Kim

What a Difference a Day Makes

2008-04-04T17:49:00.002-05:00

Tom had a pretty good night. Medically, he was stable and wanted to get out of bed around 3 am. They were disturbed every hour with vitals so tonight they have requested no vitals later during the night. Tom has been out of bed and walking the floors several times today. Shelby got to speak to him this afternoon on the phone and it made her feel so much better. She was really worried about her "Pa". Tom was about to try to enjoy his dinner. It actually sounded pretty good. He has been changed to oral pain meds and his IVs have been removed. Things are looking up. We are thinking maybe home tomorrow.

Keep my daddy in your prayers. He starts his 2nd round of chemo on Monday in Corpus. He did very well with his first round. He had a little numbness in his fingers and toes and his lips. I hope he continues to do that well.

Love to all,

Kim

Tom's Update #2 9:30 pm

2008-04-03T21:34:00.002-05:00

Good Evening Family and Friends,

We got home a little after 9 pm and got the girls to bed, so I just now have a chance to update. Tom had a very long day. He was told it would be around 2 1/2 to 3 hours but that was a gross understatement. The nurses that were updating us felt that the scheduler left out a component and that is how that information was under on the hours. Tom went to recovery around 4 pm. We were not allowed to see him until a little after 6 pm. He was placed in a private recovery room because he was having hallucinations. I got tickled and he asked "who was laughing?" and Beverly told on me. I got in trouble. Anyway, Tom did really well in surgery. All his vitals were stable and medically everything looks really good. The only thing that was said to us was that he will have a little bit of a weak lip for a while but that things would be better with healing and therapy. We are so blessed. They removed the melenoma very early in the day and the head and neck specialist worked the better part of the day. He was with dad for about 6 hours. Once he was done, the oral surgeon removed 2 molars on the right side that will be affected by the spot radiation that will follow once Tom's recovery is complete. There was no need for a skin graft. We are so happy about that. The surgeon said that he felt like the graft would have been big and bumpy so he worked hard to not have to do that. The incision is about 24 inches long. It goes from the middle of his cheek to his ear, down below his ear then down his neck, continuing down his chest until almost to his nipple then makes a fish hook curve toward the middle of his chest. I know that is hard to imagine but he in a sense, moved the skin up his neck and face almost like putting on a pair of hose. He slowly walked that skin into place so that it will not pull at all. He was trying to cover an incision where he removed about in inch wide of tumor and tissue.

Last evening on CNN, Tom watched a story about John McCain and his surgery. John McCain had the same exact treatment for his melenoma 8 years ago. Dad felt relieved that his recovery looked so good.

It is 10:25 and I just called Beverly at home. He was finally moved to a room at about 9 pm. You are not going to believe it but his nurse's name is "Cora". She was telling Dad that she was "Momma Cora" and she would be taking care of him tonight. That was really sweet.

I pray you all have a peaceful nights rest.

All our love and blessings to all,

Kim and Crew

Update #1 3:40 pm

2008-04-03T15:39:00.002-05:00

Tom has been in surgery since 7:30. They actually started the procedure at 8:10 am. Everything is going very well but it is 3:40 pm and he is still in. The head and neck surgeron has been working since a little before 10 am and is still going. (so we think) Once he is done, the oral surgeon will come in and remove a few teeth that will be affected by the radiation treatments that will follow once Tom has recovered from these procedures today. After he is done, the plastic surgeon will do his magic. We are expecting to hear something around 4:00 pm. Please keep Beverly in your prayers! Dana, Amy, Mike, me, and a couple from Memorial (David and Terry) are here and we have been telling funny stories to keep Beverly from crying!!

I'll try to update soon,

Love to all,

Kim

Tom's surgery is tomorrow

2008-04-02T22:03:00.002-05:00

We have been praying this day would come so that we would get it behind us!! Does that make sense? Tom's surgery for the Melenoma tumor on his cheek will be tomorrow. The cancer had spread to the largest saliva gland on his cheek. It supplies 80% of the saliva to that side of his mouth. There are many nerves running through this gland that control the movements of your face, from your forehead, eyelids, cheek, lips, mouth, and chin. There will be several surgeons on hand to assist. We expect at least one night stay. We will keep you posted. Dana arrived tonight and is staying at Tom and Bev's. Mike and I will join them after we get Shelby off for school. Amy will be there as soon as she gets her crew in school as well.

My dad did very well with his first round of chemo. He is not supposed to loose his hair and he was not that uncomfortable. He did his loading dose and went home with a 48hour pump. When he was finished with that, he returned to the clinic, they removed the pump and he will be off the chemo for 2 weeks. This process will continue for about 6 months. Please pray that he remains strong and he can tolerate this long series of chemo.

More updates tomorrow,

Love to all,

Thanks for your support and prayers,

Kim and Crew

Mike is in Panama City

2008-02-13T09:57:00.003-06:00

Mike is in Panama City and will be there for the rest of this week. We always miss him very much when he is gone.

I hope this update finds you happy and well. My daddy, Lonnie, went home from the hospital last Monday, February 5. I came home on Saturday, February 3 to drive into Montgomery for Taylor's choir "Showtime - The 70's". We had a great time and enjoyed the show very much. Taylor, as always, was spectacular!! She also received a great surprise Monday night. One of her best friends invited her to attend "The Jonas Brothers" concert here in Houston on Thursday, February 14. She is blessed. She is also taking this same friend with her to the "Hannah Montana" concert on March 9.

Anyway, Daddy has been recovering very nicely. He did not want my sister, Lindy, to go down and hang with him and help him out last week. He has really enjoyed being in his own bed and not in the recliner in the hospital. He will have a follow-up visit this week with his surgeon to remove stitches and to discuss the plan for chemo. His surgeon will then refer him to the oncologist. We are getting prepared for a 6 month plan of treatment. I hope and pray he remains strong and his body handles the treatment well. My best friend's husband checked out the doctor in Corpus for me and we feel that the treatment can be handled there. We may need to bring him here for a second opinion and if the plan can be followed in Corpus, then Daddy can do it there. Please continue to stand with us and pray that Jesus will prevail in all things.

Mike's dad, Tom, is doing his treatments at MDAnderson. He has not been tolerating the chemo and was taked off the treatment in order for his counts to recover. I need to get an update on his progress.

My sweet Shelby was sound asleep last night and went into a full tonic clonic seizure. Taylor has become so accustomed to the sounds of Shelby's breathing that she heard her pattern change and woke up immediately. Within seconds, Taylor was out of bed, had the light on, and was at Shelby's side nurturing her through her seizure. She spoke to her in such a sweet tone. She really loves her sister. Within no time, I woke and realized from the sounds what was going on. It lasted for quite a long time (but not long enough to need her rescue meds). So, Shelby gets to stay home today and we are headed out to have bloodwork for new levels. I felt that she was coming down with something because she has had several small seizures over the last 2 weeks (not enough to up her seizure meds).

Shelby's good friend, Thomas, is coming down Saturday for a day trip. They want to go to the movie and out to eat. He is so sweet to make the trip. They met at the "Texas Youth Leadership Forum" last summer.

We had Kendall's birthday party last Saturday, February 9. We had a great time and I must say, her cake was awesome. I have become quite the cake maker. She has a ball each year trying to plan it. She enjoyed her friends and they did all the girl things. They got their hair done, nails, and makeup. They also did the runway. Boy, am I glad that is behind us!! heehee

Please know we think about all of you often and wish you all the best. We pray for you daily (our prayer list is quite long) Please keep our family in your prayers.

All our love,

Kim and Crew

Today is Kendall's Birthday

2008-01-29T23:24:00.000-06:00

Well, today is Kendall's 11th birthday and I am in Corpus with my daddy. I have a special prayer request for you. We ask that you stand beside us as we pray for my daddy to be healed. He had a colonectomy yesterday. The doctor found a tumor the size of a small fist and removed 24 inches. He is in ICU and we hope to make great progress tomorrow. We are expecting to receive the initial pathology tomorrow or Thursday. He is in great pain and we are praying he can get that under control. We are asking that you stand beside us as we face these trials. We trully believe that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. (and that goes for all of us!)

Kendall had a great day even after giving me much grief about missing her birthday, yet again this year. I missed it 2 years ago for Shelby's surgery. I made her a cake on Saturday night, Mike took her to breakfast this morning (and she got to school just at the end of PE-which she is excused from because of her wrist surgery), and Jennifer made her another cake today. Shelby gave her the gift from her and her Dad let her stay up a little late to read a new book. Doesn't sound to bad, huh?

Taylor is coming down with something and she is losing her voice. She has been practicing for her choir's "Showtime - A Tribute to the 70's". That is before my time, heehee! This Friday she has 3 performances and Saturday she has 2 shows. The nighttime shows include dinner.

As you can see, there is always much to update. Oh, I almost forgot, a dear friend and sister in Christ, lost her middle son in a car wreck last week. Our sweet friend, Brandon (17) will be so greatly missed. Our church family at Westbury has faced so many trials in the recent years and we care for them deeply. Keep Beatrice, Charles, and Bradley in your prayers.

Peaceful nights rest to you all,

In Him,

Kim

I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe

2008-01-12T13:04:00.001-06:00

The Morning after Surgery

2008-01-09T11:02:00.000-06:00

Good Morning,

Kendall is still asleep and it is 11:00 a.m. Whoop!! She is taking her pain meds every 4-5 hours. She has feeling in her fingers but can not move them. Her doctor said to add an anti-imflamitory today (he wouldn't let me add it yesterday). She has been a real trooper about the whole thing. We have scheduled her follow-up for Monday, January 14. She will go back to school at least by Tuesday.

My father-in-law, Tom, spent the day at MDAnderson yesterday. His appointment was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. They didn't start the biopsy until very late in the afternoon. They discussed the protocol for the chemo at length. They decided to go with the study. His plan is oral chemo daily with interferon injections once a week. I told him I would have to come and give him the shots because I can not see him or Beverly giving the shots. The interferon injections are to build his immune system and help him feel better. Anyway, the pharmacy at MDAnderson took over two hours to deliver the meds to the clinic, by this time it was around 6 p.m.. Tom and Beverly decided not to stay because they were exhausted and would have to remain there for another 2 hours for observation. They agreed to return to the clinic this morning and start the treatment and then start the 2 hour clock. Sounds like a plan, right.

I spoke to my dad, Lonnie, last night when we got home with Kendall. He spoke with his doctor yesterday and discussed the events of Sunday and how he felt. His doctor decided to move up the colonoscopy to tomorrow. He made the appointment with a doctor that is a colon surgeon as well, and he will do the procedure. The doctor has prepared my dad for the possibility that this could be colon cancer. We are sad by that news but will not know for sure until the biopsy is done and the results are back. I told daddy that we will seek out a second opinion here in Houston. If the doctors in Corpus can follow or implement that plan, then he could do treatment at home, if not, he would be coming to here. My sister, Melinda, is here too, so she can help.

We know that God has a plan, and that we must endure our trials. Paul prayed not that the early Christians trials would be removed but that they would endure their trials. He knew they would emerge stronger on the other side of the trial. Mike and I were discussing that last night. So as you can see where I'm headed with this, our year looks like it will be one we must continue to remain focused and keep our eyes on Him. To remain positive and strong in knowing that He is the prize and this life is no cake walk.

Thank you to all of you for praying with and for us as we work everyday. Your love is what helps us with these trials.

All our love,

Kim and Crew

Tomorrow is a Big Day!!

2008-01-07T20:42:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is a big day for all of us. Kendall will have her wrist surgery at Methodist hospital. We found a ganglion cyst in her wrist that was causing great pain. She was having trouble writing and flexing her wrist. If the cyst was not painful, we could have left it. But as it turns out, when in pain, take it out. She will have her wrist in a splint. The problem is that she is left handed and the cyst is in her left hand.

Tom will start his chemotherapy tomorrow. Tom went to MDAnderson on Friday, Dec 21, 2007. They were not pleased that the tests were over 6 weeks old and the study protocol called for his lision to be a minimun of 10 mm, therefore, he was asked to re-do all the scans. On December 27 and 28, he did as asked and the results were called out last Thursday, January 3, 2008. The results were good in that there were no signs of the melonoma spreading at all. The spots on his lung, liver, and kidney were found to be nothing. The spots on his face are called melonoma clusters. The protocol for the study is oral chemo daily or IV chemo with Interferon. We will know which one tomorrow. His appointment is at 1:00 p.m. Dr. Ross will once again do a needle biopsy then start the study. It is his preference to keep Tom for sereral hours to observe his reaction to the chemo. Mom and Dad are both very weary of what is ahead and we as a family solicit all the prayers you could possibly muster up.

At the same time we were preparing to tomorrow, my sister, Dawn, called from Corpus yesterday and told me that she had taken my dad to the ER. He became very weak suddenly and his bloodpressure dropped to a very dangerous level. All tests were run and Dawn, Randy, and Daddy were pleased with his care. Nothing was discovered from those tests except that Daddy is a very healthly man and we are blessed. He will be following up with his personal doctor to try to discover the cause and some other diagnostic tests will be run next week on the 15th to hopefully help.

As you can see, we have started this year off with a bang. We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of love and food to go around. We ate ourselves silly at Matt and Amy's. Carter and Dana came with their family but we missed David and Joyce and their crew. David started a new job and had to work on the 26th. We started school today and are almost halfway through the year. Whoop!!! I just found out today that my nephew, Corey, graduates from Clements High School on June 6. That is so hard to believe. My nephew, Matt, graduates from Abilene Christian University in May. I am expecting Magna or Suma for sure. He has been on the Dean's List (I think) every semester. He will start Graduate School at Hardin Simmons next semester.

Please be in prayer for Kendall tomorrow. I wish they did not have to put her completely under but they always do for children. I will keep you posted (heehee)

Love to all, and peaceful rest!!

Kim

"For One More Day"

2007-12-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

Hello and Blessings to Everyone,

Tonight, the Hallmark movie, "For One More Day" is on tv. I have been reminded over the last few days of times I need to take to tell those I love and treasure how I appreciate them. I also want to remember the "reason for the season". Of how Christ died for all of us and that we are receiving that gift daily. Take the time, don't let it pass!! You will only be blessed by that action.

It has been some time since I updated you with Tom's news. It has really flown by. The update we were waiting for took a little longer to receive and then it took me a little longer to post. I hope I get it all right for you.

Tom and Beverly went to MDAnderson on Tuesday, November 27 for an update with Dr. Ross. After waiting several hours, Dr. Ross wanted to present Tom's case to his colleagues and see if he was a candidate for a particular study. This was to happen on Monday, December 3. Dr. Ross said he would call on Monday evening and he did not. His call came on Wednesday late afternoon, December 5.

Tom's results were: there is no spread to his brain. We are so blessed. There were several suspious areas of concern. There were spots on his lung, liver, and kidney. At this time we do not know what those spots are and we are praying they are nothing. Tom and Beverly were told of a study were he would take oral chemotherapy for 2 months and then be re-evaluated. He will continue to be followed every two weeks by Dr. Ross. Surgery will happen in the future to remove the spots on his face along the incision line from the first surgery. We are hoping the chemo will reduce the size of the tumors on his check. There was no discusion of radiation that I can remember. He is hoping to start the study within the next week. I hope I didn't miss any parts of this news.

Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas. Please remember to keep those you love close and tell them often how you love them.

I will be taking Kendall to have an MRI of her wrist tomorrow. She has been complaining of chronic pain in her left wrist for sometime. We have had several x-rays and they were negative for a bone fracture. We will then meet with the Orthopod on Tuesday. If that does not lend an answer, we will then see Rhumetology. Pray for her that she (and we) will have an answer soon.

Our Thanksgiving was very nice but I was disappointed that my mom, dad, one sister, and my nephew did not make the trip. We had all of Mike's family accept Dana and Carter. My sister, Melinda, and her family did make it and we had about 25 people for dinner. It was busy but so much fun to be together. The weather was beautiful but we did not have snow like Charles and Margie and their bunch. They are soooo lucky. heehee I will have to remember the cold weather in Abilene when we are all together this summer. My nephew, Corey, had a wonderful football season. He had is last game last night. Corey's team, Clements Rangers (in SugarLand) played the defending state champs, Katy Tigers for the Regional Finals. They had a wonderful season and we are so proud of him and his great friends. What a way to end your Senior year. Go Corey!! Love ya.

A peaceful night's rest to you all,

Love,

Kim

As We Approach Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

We are blessed in so many ways !! We are continually amazed by the answers to prayers and how things happen.

Mike and I are asking everyone to pray for his mom and dad, Beverly and Tom, as they face a upcoming battle. Tom was diagnosed with Melenoma this time last year. He had surgery at MD Anderson and faithfully followed up with his care. In the last 8 weeks, several syst looking things grew back inside the margins of the first incision. He has once again been confirmed with Melenoma and his team is very actively trying to establish the depth and width of this new activity. Over the last few days, Tom has undergone whole body scans and will have an additional brain ultrasound on Tuesday, Nov. 20. On Tuesday, Nov. 27, we will meet with the head of the Melenoma clinic, (his doctor) Dr. Ross, to establish a plan of treatment. As we take this step as a family, we are asking you to faithfully pray and BELIEVE that he will be healed!! Pray like he was your own dad!!

Beverly also will be undergoing some medical intervention at the same time. She is very strongly considering a knee replacement surgery that needs to be addressed and we know this is weighing very heavily on her heart. She is such a wonderful Christian woman, mother, and friend and we need strength and support as these days are ahead.

My dad, Lonnie, is having trouble with his back and has decided to cancel his trip to come to the country for Thanksgiving. Kendall cried when I told her because this is his big trip of the year and she always remembers her "Grand" being with her on Thanksgiving. I asked Daddy to keep us in his mind and if he feels like it at all to please come as we will all be together this year. Both sides of the family minus Dana and Carter. They are going to California to be with Carter's family. This is the first year without both of his parents and his brothers and sister all wanted to be together.

Shelby and Taylor are sophomores and "thankfully", football season is over for us. heehee. Taylor tried out and made our school dance team. She is absolutely beautiful and loves dancing. School has been really tough this year because she is taking all Pre-AP classes and spending her time in choir as well. Shelby continues to amaze us with her ability to adapt. School is hard for her because she must rely on her helper (para-professional) to provide her with her supports. Last year was a mess and this year her helper has been sick quite a bit. Shelby has had quit a few substitutes. She is part of a new "cheer team" for kids with disabilities. She had a parent preview show a few weeks ago for all the kids at the gym. There were over 300 kids on various competitive cheer teams. This has become her favorite thing and we love it for her.

Kendall is in 5th grade and doing great. She is really tall and is heads above most of the other kids. She loves spending time with her cousin, and her best friend. Her schedule is busier than most and she is never home on the weekends. She loves to babysit and dogsit, ride her bike and play with her webkins.

Mike will be traveling out of the country tomorrow and will be home on Tuesday night. Pray also for his safety and that his business goes well. I would be totally lost without my wonderful husband.

Please know that you are trully blessed and remember that your families are the most important thing.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

I will update you after Tom's visit on the 27th.

Enjoy your weekend.

Love ya,

Kim and Crew

One Year Ago TODAY

2007-01-23T21:37:00.000-06:00

Howdy to All Our Friends and Family,

Today is the one year anniversary of Shelby's surgery. Thank you Lord that we have come this far. We celebrated at dinner by having fried chicken and teasing about the bones. It has trully taken this amount of time inorder to build up her immunity. She has had a really hard winter. She looks wonderful and we are glad we did the surgery, but we never want to go through that again.

As we celebrate our passing of time, we are very saddened that one of our friends and member of the church at Westbury (our former church) has had a major stroke one week ago today and he has not awakened from his coma. Don Booker is our age and is an identical twin. He is a wonderful Christian man, husband, and father (not only to his own children but the entire youth group at Westbury.) Please be in prayer for the Booker family all across the country.

It is late now and I will update on all the goodies later. Have a peaceful nights rest.

In Him,

Kim

2006-11-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

Today we are preparing to travel to Ft. Worth and visit with Dr. Dale Swift on Monday in Dallas. This is an informational visit to prepare our minds for a possible surgery. The surgery would be to implant a Baclofen pump in her abdomen that would pump a muscle relaxant into her spine and she would no longer have to take an oral medication. It would be much more efficient for Shelby and she should not feel sleepy from the medication. Her seizure medication does that enough. We have tried for one month to make an appointment with the surgeon in Corpus and his staff says he will not see us. We live too far away. I was very surprised and told the assistant that, "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I would be doing the driving, I didn't think you had any choice in the matter." I also asked for a return call from the doctor and to date we have not heard from him. Imagine that!! Maybe the Lord is trying to tell me something. I can not imagine what. heehee We will update again next week after our trip to Dallas.

We had a great Halloween and the girls were great. Taylor was an Egytian Princess, Shelby was a football player, and Kendall was a clown. We travel our neighboorhood on a trailer and the kids hop off at different homes. The neighborhood is very spread out. We also had dinner at a friend's house and we had a great time. We also stopped at our lake park and did the 'Trunk or Treat' thing.

Have an awesome weekend,

Kim

"Facing the Giants"

2006-10-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

Good Morning,

We went to see the fabulous movie, "Facing the Giants" on Saturday night with all our girls. It is a wonderful movie with many opportunities to share/apply your faith. One point in the movie was a parable in the bible of how there were two farmers that prayed for rain during a drought but only one farmer received rain. Who do you think was blessed by the Lord. (The one who prepared his field)

It has been quite a while since we have updated all of you and we have continued to follow Shelby's progress. Her back has done GREAT and we have moved onto finding out about doing 'soft-tissue releases' on her legs. We traveled to San Diego a few weeks ago to see Hank Chambers and received so valuable information. He also has trained a doctor in Corpus (can you even believe that, my hometown) He said that we should have gone all the way to her pelvis with the rods because her two last vertebrae will fail in the future. She may be 30 years old but they would fail. Boy, you can just see my response to that!! We decided not to go to her pelvis because we wanted to preserve her ability to rotate at her hips and be able to reach things. Also, we discussed several options with her legs and this would mean many surgeries with possibly a small benefit. If we just did the 'soft-tissue' and not the bone surgery, we would gain some time and range in her legs. This would mean releasing her hip-flexors, adductors, and hamstrings. We would follow with serial casting which would mean wearing casts on her legs for a week at a time to stretch the muscles for about 6 weeks. They would also use BoTox in the muscle belly in the operating room to help with the range and reduce the amount of muscle spasms over time. We also have received information from Dr. Leiland Albright about managing her tone. This would mean implanting a Baclofen pump in her abdomen. Dr. Albright is the doctor that is on the forfront in this areana and he referred us to a doctor in Dallas for more information. If we still had questions about it, Dr.Albright would be glad to see us. We have not considered doing the Baclofen pump because Shelby is still so tiny and weighs only 70 pounds, and the pump is about the size of a hockey puck. Also, we are not sure that this would not increase her incidence of seizures. (Only a few things to consider, ha) Also, the battery in the pump has to be replaced about every 5 years, and the FDA only allows a complete replacement including the catheter in her spine. The pump would need to be refilled about every 3 weeks and that would be done in Houston. The greatest benefit of the pump is that it is temporary. If if doesn't work, you can remove the hardware but the increased muscle tone would return. Our biggest concern about her increased muscle tone is that we must preserve the health of her hips, and all those muscles pull on the femurs which go into the hip sockets. We do not want to risk the possibility that she will dislocate her hips.

We will keep you posted and hope and pray that you will continue to keep Shelby and us in your prayers. We pray that we will make the right decisions and that Shelby will only benefit from those decisions. Also, Mike and I have 3 very close friends that are dealing with the trials of Breast Cancer at this time, Brenda, Deirdre, and Jonesa. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and PLEASE keep P.U.S.H. ing. (Pray Until Something Happens)

All our Love,

Kim and Crew

P.S. I am adding an update to this morning's post. I did not make it clear about Shelby's rods. No, they can not go in at this time. They would only go in and stabilize the last two vertebrae once they start causing problems. We are scheduled to see Dr. Dale Swift in Dallas at Children's on November 6. This will be a consult about the Baclofen pump. We are still working on an appointment in Corpus Christi to see Dr. Chris Comstock to do the muscle releases. It takes of whole group of professionals to make this plan work! Thank heavens for their talents and knowledge. Also, Taylor and Kendall are doing great and High School is fabulous. (After some wrangling with Shelby) Kendall is in the 4th grade and taller than her teacher. Her team this year is super and she is having a blast. I forgot to mention that while we were in San Diego, Shelby got to go to Sea World. She had an awesome day. Mike took us to the Hotel Del Coronado for Brunch and we enjoyed the Pacific before our return flight home. Our pilot on the return flight ended up being from Montgomery and his son is in a few of Taylor's classes. He really surprised Shelby at school a few days later when we all put it together. It is really a small world and your light must shine for all to see.

Have a Blessed Day!!

The End of School is Near

2006-05-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

Well Everyone,

We made it. School will be out in 6 days and I will have two Freshmen in High School and a Fourth grader. Tomorrow is Kendall's Field Day and Taylor and Shelby's Awards ceremony will be at 12:30. After that, decorating for the End of School Dance and all the exciting activities that will follow throughout the evening. Summer is filling up fast and the schedule has only a few available days for new activities. Taylor and Kendall will leave for Camp Tahkodah in Floral, Arkansas for 2 weeks on June 10. Mike and I can not believe that Kendall will be going and has never been away from home for more than a few days. She will have many friends there and our dear friends, Gary and Karen Keese, will be there on staff for that session. We will be traveling to Clarendon, Texas for the Newhouse Family Reunion on the weekend before the 4th of July.

Shelby has continued to recover very well. Her strength is amazing and she never complains. We are very concerned about her hips and her tight muscles in her legs. She will continue to need to 'tweek' her legs with her new back She is such a trooper!! We will probably be traveling to San Diego Childrens Hospital for a consult on her in the next month.

We are so appreciative of all the prayers, cards, food, and love you have offered up on our behalfs. Please know that we would love to have visitors. Come enjoy the sun and the pool.

All our Love,

Kim and Crew

Tomorrow I will be 43!!

2006-04-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

Boy, do I feel like it!! heehee

Shelby went to school last week for only 4 days because she stayed home on Monday with a cold. This week she will be there only 2 days due to doctors appointments and Good Friday. She is already very weary of the schedule. The excitement has worn off.

We did go to the High School and take the accessibility tour on Friday. She loved it. Boy, thoses kids look really big. I can not believe that my preemie twins will be in High School. It is impossible.

This weekend will be Easter Weekend and we will finally be competing at LTC at the George R. Brown Convention Cneter. 4,000 kids from all over Texas will be having a great time of work and worship. I think Kendall has decided to throw in the hat for Bible Bowl. It has been really hard to encourage her these last few days. She is worn out. She is also really being pushed for TAKS testing next week. The schools put toooo much pressure on our kids for these state mandated tests. Enough of that!!

We pray you each have a wonderful and blessed Easter. We are so very thankful to have Jesus as our Lord and to fully understand the sacrifices he made for our salvation.

Much love to All,

Kim and the Crew

Good Morning - I'm Free

2006-03-31T09:23:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it?

I have a whole 4 hours to do laundry and clean house. Whoooppieeee!! What freedom. No, just kidding. Shelby went to school yesterday for 2 hours to kinda get things set up on transfers and stuff, and today is the first day to ride the bus. She was picked up at 8:30 and will be at school from 9 to 1. She will be home at 1:30. She actually has a sore throat today. I guess all the hugging yesterday got to her. I hope she will feel better by Monday.

I can hardly believe that she is back. When the surgeon signed the form that said she would be out for 6-8 weeks, I thought he was nuts. There would be no possible way that she could possibly be back after such a big surgery. How could she handle being upright for so many hours and be comfortable with those rods in her back and 30 screws holding her together? Well, Monday will be 10 weeks since the surgery and almost 12 weeks since she was in school, and I think she is absolutely AWESOME!!! She was very happy this morning. She made brownies for her class and wanted to celebrate.

Taylor has been so very busy. She is competing in track, she is doing UIL Social Studies (Tuesday is the Test) and she has had UIL Choir (Concert and Sightreading) The girls' choir received II's on stage and all I's in sightreading. They were happy with that because they said the judges were really hard on the stage performance. She is really happy that today is Friday. Tomorrow night at church, we are having a family night with a comedian, illusionist, and our youth minister will be singing. Taylor will be spending the night with 3 other girls, so as you can see, she has no time to rest. (Not to mention Saturday we 'Spring Forward') Oh what energy these young'ens have!! She is such a beautiful young lady inside and out and we are EXTREMELY proud of her.

Kendall has been invited to spend the weekend at her best friend's grandparents home in the country. She is very excited. She has been teaching 2 year olds in bible class and absolutely loves it. She has asked me everyday to call the coordinator to see if she can continue with the class even though her LTC commitment is over. We are very proud of her and her commitment to 'Bible Bowl' this year. They have covered Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. (All the kids have been studying for many, many months)

Thanks for reading as I have rambled on about my kids. I'm sure you all understand. Thanks again for all the prayers and love that have been shown to our family these past 6 months.We have trully felt and been 'lifted up'.

All our love,

Kim and crew

Hello Everybody - It's me, Shelby

2006-03-24T09:22:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to thank each one of you for praying for me during these last 8 weeks and before the surgery. I knew that you had been praying because everything came out fine. It was a little rough for awhile, and I hate to 'throw up', but it was worth it because I am 3 inches taller and I have a new 'cool' bed. I still get really tired after sitting in my wheelchir for a long time but I think that I can do school for at least 4 hours. I'll keep you posted.

I really hope it is not 'Too' cold to go to the Fair Grounds, everyone says that these new rods in my back will get really cold, and I hate to be too cold. But I really neeeeed to get some 'Kettle Corn'. Mom said that all the rides are out for this year. That's ok, I can always ride next year.

Thank you again and keep ckecking back, I will let you know about school,

See ya,

Love ya,

Bye ya,

Shelby

Today is County Fair Day

2006-03-24T08:37:00.000-06:00

Howdy Everybody,

We have lived a lifetime since we last updated you. We found out from Shelby's surgeon at the last visit that the episodes of throwing up (for 2 weeks) was actually a problem caused when your spine is straightened. Between 2 to 3 weeks after surgery you can create new pressure points on your small intestine and your small intestine does not like to be touched, changed, or messed with in any way. On the start of the 3rd week to the day after surgery, 'Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome' took over our home. The only thing that made us feel better was that there is nothing to do about it but let it work itself out. You treat the symptoms and keep her comfortable.

Today is 'County Fair Day' here in Montgomery County and it is freezing outside. We talked to Shelby's teacher and we are planning on joining them for a few hours. Shelby is eager to see her friends and see her teachers. We will have a meeting next week about her school schedule and she plans to go back to class for half days starting next Thursday. I can not believe that she thinks she feels well enough to go back. Yesterday was the 8 week mark of our surgery. When our surgeon told us that she would be out for 6-8 weeks, I thought he was nuts and there was no way she would be back so soon after such a significant surgery, well, we will try this. I hope that this will not be a relapse in her recovery. She has surprised us all so far! Her spirit is so wonderful and she always seems to think of others first. I am most worried about her bus ride to and from. I would drive her but she needs her power chair at school and her power chair will not fit in my truck. Tomorrow, Shelby has been invited to her girlfriend's bithday party, so we are going to go there for a few hours. She should have a great time.

Stay safe and check back for Shelby's update,

Love to all,

Kim

Today is March 5

2006-03-05T23:11:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,

It has been almost one week since I have updated you. So Sorrrrrry!! I went to Ft Worth for a conference on Friday and Saturday and the girls were here with Mike. They all seemed really happy to have me home. It was definitely not a vacation. My brain was on 'overload' the entire time. We have an appointment with Shelby's surgeon on Tuesday. We are expecting nothing but good news. Shelby finally stopped throwing up last Monday night really late. We were all very happy about that. We have been back and forth so much with that and we really do not want to go back, not even one step. haha She has had a pretty good week. She started school, but she will not tell her teacher that 2 hours is too much at one time. She is beginning to be able to tolerate a little more each day, though. She was even outside for some beautiful sunshine.

Kendall and Taylor went to church for bible class with our neighbors that worship with us and Mike and Shelby joined them one hour later for worship. Taylor is teaching beginning sign language for LTC and Kendall is trying to work in her bible class teaching before convention, Easter weekend.Taylor has been trying to work in teaching the song to Kendall at home because they are both so busy they can not get together at church to do it.

I will update everyone after we have our appointment on Tuesday.

Have a Great Monday!!

God Bless,

Kim

Today is a Great Day

2006-02-27T11:40:00.000-06:00

Guess What?

Shelby went to church yesterday. She begged me to let her go. She said she just 'had to get out of the house'. She sat in her manual chair for entirely tooooo long. It does not have a tilt on the seating system so it was really hard. She was given a pain pill before we left and given Mortin at church. She was so happy. She is going to start 'homebound' school tomorrow.

Well, it is now 2 hours since I started this update. Shelby came into the room and told me she was having terrible stomach cramps. I asked her if she wanted to lay down and she said yes. Before we could get there, she started throwing up. We have a plan from her peditrician and that will follow with a GI consult, and flat panel x-ray of her belly. He does not think this is directly related to the surgery because she has had a few days of feeling good. He does feel that it is from the throwing up and the lack of fluids in her system. The lack of fluids has caused a really slow tummy. Exciting stuff, huh??

We appreciate your prayers, she just has to get over this hump.

We will keep you posted,

Kim

One Month Anniversary haha!

2006-02-23T14:25:00.000-06:00

Today is Thursday, Feb 23, and Shelby is still not over this. We have had many discussions with her Dr. about this being something more than a 'rotovirus'. She is feeling a little better but the nausea is not completely gone. She can go several hours and feel great if we do not put anything into her system other than liquids. We are in discussions about bowel obstructions, also a problem that arises from having your spine straightened that puts pressure on the small intestine that in turn causes the small intestine to block it's own blood supply. That condition arises several weeks post op. We really do not think that is it, because Shelby would REALLY be sick. Shelby has not ever done anything by the book though. Yesterday, you could not even touch her tummy. She got in the shower for about one hour hoping to relax her tummy and then her back started hurting. After she got out of the shower, she then started throwing up again. We had a plan of action and a time frame in place that if she was not better by 7:30 or 8:00 pm, we were going to have to take her into the ER, well, at 8:00pm she made movement in the right direction. She was so happy she was able to stay home. This morning, she woke up feeling good, but after she ate breakfast, she was sick again. Now we are back to the beginning. I will keep you posted on our plan for the weekend. Our doctor has really been working with us to try to not have to go to the ER. That would really be torture for Shelby. We will continue to pray for small steps forward. She is taking in larger amounts of fluid at a time and that can only help. Please pray this will all end soon. She has been asking me, 'why is it always her?' Well, you know that makes me cry. Boy, we are a sight!! haa.

Love you all,

Kim

President's Day

2006-02-20T14:17:00.000-06:00

Today is Monday and Shelby's Peditrician wants to back up to only liquids for another 24 hours. It seems like that is all we have been able to do anyway. She had 2 bites of toast and several sips of Gatorade at 11:45 am (when she woke up) and could not keep that down. She also threw up when I sat her up about 20 minutes ago. (at 1:45 pm-A Rotovirus can last 7 to 10 days) She is such a trooper! I will update tomorrow. I also asked if we could go to a hospital closer to home if all is required is IV fluids. They will let me know.

See ya,

In Him,

Kim

Day 27

2006-02-19T17:25:00.000-06:00

Good Afternoon,

Shelby has not been able to shake this nausea and throwing up. Today is the 5th day and she may have to go see her pediatrician tomorrow. She may have that rotovirus thing that just hangs on forever. (Too bad it wasn't the 24 hour bug)

Shelby would enjoy hearing from her friends, if it is not a good time she will tell you. It gets lonely in her room. She can only sit up for a short time so she doesn't venture far from her bed.

Please pray that this passes TODAY and she can move on with her healing. (Throwing up with a big cut in your back is truly difficult) The incision looks better each day, though.

Pray for sleep and healing,

Love ya,

Kim

Day 24

2006-02-16T07:59:00.000-06:00

I know you are not going to believe this but Shelby and I have caught a stomach bug. We must have been exposed at the lab at Baylor on Tuesday. We were there to get blood work for the new seizure medication. Shelby is worse than I am. We are having a time getting pain meds and everything down. We have Zofran but she is still sick, Taylor and Kendall show no signs of it, yet! Boy, what a great weekend to stay indoors and out of the cold rain. We will keep you posted on visits until this thing clears.

Please pray that Shelby will feel better very soon!! You just wonder what her little body can take :(
Thank you everyone for your contined prayers,

Kim

Day 22

2006-02-14T19:35:00.000-06:00

GOOD NEWS!!!!

The infection is under control and the incision will continue to heal. We will return in 3 weeks for another checkup and Dr. Hanson said that the incision will take longer to heal but it will heal. We will have to be vigilant about care, though.

Yesterday morning when I went in to check on Shelby, she was in the middle of a full tonic-clonic seizure. It is impossible to know how long it lasted. It was not more than 5 minutes (that I timed). (Rescue medications are used if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes.) While we were in the hospital, the Neuro team did not follow the instructions of her private Neurologist. Then on Sunday, the 29th, Texas Children's Neuro team then encouraged us to change her medication to a new version of her current medication due to the fact that her previous oral medication was almost non-existent in her system and she had been on an IV for 6 days. Naturally it was a Sunday and we could not reach our Neurologist. We decided to make the change and contacted our private neuro, Dr. Ian Butler, on Monday. He likes the new medication but was not happy with the dose that the hospital team used. He asked me to ask them to update the dose and he was surprised they did not known better. Well, we paged the team and made our argument, they assured us the dose was correct and that Shelby would be fine. Well, they lied. She was not fine and 15 days later, yesterday, she broke through into a seizure and at bedtime last night, she felt like she was going to seize again and called us to her room. She was very shaken and upset because you feel so rotten after your body goes through that whole process. We did contact our Neurologist and made changes, we hope for the better. Are you wondering why I didn't make the change after we left the hospital? Well, I was so overwhelmed by all the information and surgery itself, that I believed them and wanted to hope that Shelby could stay sub-theraputic and not seize. (Seizure medication makes your brain sleepy) Shelby said she wanted to call the TCH Neuro team and give them a piece of her mind. (If you want names, email me. It was not Dr. Zeller)

We are happy to be home and we will hold on to the hope that we will not have to go back to the hospital. Everyone stay safe and Happy Valentines Day.

All our Love,

Kim

Day 19

2006-02-11T20:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Saturday Everyone,

I got to get out for several hours today and ended up at lunch by myself, so I called Katherine and Dwight (who had already had lunch) and they joined me to visit, then Amy Winters and Claire joined us. I really felt like civilization had returned. You must know that we were at Chuy's. I brought Shelby some 'Creamy Jalapeno' (her all time favorite).

I called Dr. Hanson's office Friday with several questions. His office did confirm that our appointment was moved from Thursday to Tuesday at 2:00 pm. I was so happy that Mike will be able to go with me. He did refill pain meds and the final thing was on Thursday evening I was laying Shelby down and her back popped really loud. I do not think that we broke a screw, but she was in a lot of pain and all I could think about was splitting a bone. Her bone density is low and the screws are about 4 inches long. She complained of it hurting when she took a breath and her back was very sensitive in that spot. I gave her Valium, that we use for muscle spasms, and realized that was what was making her wide awake and talking until 3:30 in the morning in the hospital. Unfortunately, this medication has a reverse affect on her, most people relax and rest, but NOOO not Shelby.

Her back looks better and the incision has not opened any more. The anitbiotic is working, but it is making her stomach very sensitive. We are thankful to have Zofran for the nausea. If we were to change antibiotics, the next choice would be a 'sulfa' based drug and she is allergic to that class of medications. So onward we go, daily!

Shelby is enjoying the Olympics on her new tv in HD. We are crowding into her room so we can all watch. Her 'Grand' (dad) would be very happy to know that.

Our sweet friend, Kris, is home. Her revision was almost exactly what Shelby had done. I was told that Kris was not physically strong enough for the complexitiy of the second surgery the first time. (Did that make sense to you?) Her recovery will begin again, but this time her pelvis has mended and she will hopfully be stronger. We love you Kris and are praying for you with all our effort. We love your family and all those helping in carring for your family and you!!

Keep the faith, we will keep you posted.

In Him,

Kim

Day 15 Part II

2006-02-07T19:29:00.000-06:00

Well,

An update would be Mike is leaving the country on Thursday, Feb 16 in the morning and Shelby's next appointment is Thursday, Feb 16 at 3:45.Can you even believe the odds of that one. We asked if there was any way to see us on Wednesday, they will let us know. They wanted to wait until the antibiotic was finished and he could assess the situation. If Dr. Hanson feels the situation warrents it, he will schedule surgery to clean up the site and re-close the incision, followed by an IV antibiotic course. Shelby is not going to go for that at all, so none of you can spill the beans until we know something more. Oh, did I mention that Dr. Hanson has scheduled a trip out of town for Friday, February 17 through Tuesday, February 21. Well, how do you think that will work out?

Pray that is will not need hospital intervention. Sharon, I'm calling you tomorrow!!

Kim

Day 15

2006-02-07T11:31:00.000-06:00

It has been several days since we last updated. Our last visit with the doctor was uneventful but we now have a problem. The open spot on her incision has now developed an infection. We called Dr. Hanson Monday morning bright and early and finally got a response when I called again at 4:30 in the afternoon. We are on an oral antibiotic and we will see him again in a few days. Shelby's pain level continues to be a key point in her recovery. We are still thrilled to be home and her recovery gets better each day. Our wheelchair guy will be here on Thursday and he will do comfort adjustments and order new seat backs and cushions if she needs them. We turned in a request for a new bed the Friday before surgery and it was approved last Friday. (I can not believe that was accomplished in 2 weeks.) That never happens!! Thank you Lord and all the people that were involved in that magic. It should arrive by the middle of next week. That will really help with the care that we have to give Shelby to keep her comfortable. We will keep you posted on the infection and future recovery.

Love to All,

Kim

Day 11

2006-02-03T20:01:00.000-06:00

Good News,

The trip to Houston was a long hard trip and we were just MINUTES ahead of a police chase and shoot out on I45 South to town. I literally mean two minutes ahead of an 'Ol Texas Gunfight'. We were so blessed to be ahead of all that mess. We went through all that to spend about 30 seconds with Dr. Hanson and for him to say that the site was normal and it was just drainage and that she was a little irritated from her internal stitches. We were so relieved and grateful there was no infection (yet - knock on wood).

What we are really on our knees about today is our dear sweet friend, Kris, has had to have what looks like an emergency revision on her back. She was in a car wreck about 3 months ago and the appliance failed. She seemed to be in serious pain and made a visit to her doctor. It seems that he decided Kris could not wait. Before we knew it, she was in surgery then into ICU. Please pray that she will be pain free, the doctors will fix what is needed correctly, and that she will not be discouraged. You have all been such prayer warriors for Shelby and we felt the love and encouragement all along the way. Our road has smoothed out a bit but we ask you to keep praying.

Tomorrow, Taylor will be singing in our Region Choir Concert at 5:00 pm. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments. She was James Madison in our school's version of the 'Constitutinal Convention' today. They were asked to 'dress the part' and she created her own costume. She wrote her won speech and the convention was performed for the whole school throughout the day.

Have a blessed day,

Kim

Day 10

2006-02-02T12:56:00.000-06:00

Well,

It couldn't be easy being home so we are headed back to the surgeon's office. Shelby has developed an infection at the base of her neck and the top of the incision. It is very early and my nurse friend, Norma, looked at it for me and said we needed to have it looked. We tried to take a digital picture and email it to Dr. Hanson, but my camera is not the greatest. We are not wanting to wait any longer and especially with tomorrow being Friday, the traffic will only get worse. Please pray that this will easily be treated and things will be fine in a few days. Unforfunately, a low grade infection can brew for up to 6 months. Her doctor said she will not be considered infection free for 6 months.

Pray all day today,

Kim

Day 9 Our First Full Day Home

2006-02-01T21:23:00.000-06:00

Yeah, God is so Good!!

Home is a wonderful place. I tell you what, our state highway department needs to do a better job at laying smoother roads! haha Shelby was a trooper but it was horrible hitting all the bumps. We kept telling Mike to drive slower but it was impossible for a Houston boy where traffic is a 'game'. Today was a great day of rest. Shelby slept most of the day and then she said she was up for a shower,.then slept for several more hours. We were provided dinner last night by the Martinez's, and tonight by the Whaley's. We have been trully blessed by the hearts of such wonderful servants. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. I spent a few minutes today talking with the Family Relations representative from Texas Children's Hospital about our stay. We hope that our input will help other families that experience these long and difficult stays. (Especially when it does not need to be so difficult) You know, when the politics of work interfere with the needs of sick children, there is a problem. We also met two other girls that had a similar surgery. One was done by our surgeon and the other was done by a different surgeon. It is amazing to me how your choice of doctors can be of the utmost importance. Your outcome can trully be influenced by those choices you make. I would encourage each one of you to visit with several doctors before you ever make such an important decision. We are trully greatful. Also, here'e a "God Thing' for you. Most of you in this area know that traffic north of The Woodlands going into Conroe is always backed up. I can tell you that I have never seen a day when there was no traffic from about 4:30 to 6:30. Yesterday, at 5:40 in the afternoon we literally sailed through the bottleneck and past the San Jacinto River bridge. Mike and I both at the same time said 'That is a God Thing', we also joked about it being a National Holiday. If any of you prayed for that specifically, (Life Group) THANK YOU!!

Shelby will see the surgeon in two weeks for her follow up appointment. She still is in a lot of pain but her bed feels like 'gloryland'. We have to turn her every 2 hours. Keep us in your prayers.

Love to all,

Kim

Day 8

2006-01-31T21:05:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone,

We are home!!! We were trying to get home around 6, because Richie's closes at 7:00 and we NEEDED drugs. We are so thankful and tired. We will update tomorrow.

Kim

Day 7 Afternoon

2006-01-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

Second Post Today, boy I'm doing good. I have to make up for the weekend! heehee

This afternoon was really good for Shelby. She has her hair brushed and her own PJ's on. She is sitting beside me now on the 'Teen Floor' at the computer. Her doctor said 'maybe' we could go home tomorrow. She is really 'pumped' about that. Shelby wanted to be sure and let each one of you know that she REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, AND REALLY thanks you for being prayer warriors on her behalf. She said she couldn't have gone through this without each of you. Also, the 'teen room' is awesome, and we will try to come again in the morning. The food here stinks, don't try it. Mom brought me Luby's and it tasted like gold. I saved some for tomorrow.

As long as we have our pain pills we can do anything!! I'm bringing up a 'drugy' Gotto go,

Love you all

Kim and Shelby

Day 6 and Day 7

2006-01-30T10:14:00.000-06:00

Howdy!!

Boy, time really flew by and I did not have time to update you on my sweet angle's progress. When I joined Mike and Shelby on Saturday around noon, she was excited that the NG tube was gone and her Foley was gone. All she had remaining was her IV and Shelby was receiving her pain meds and her nutrition (TPN and Lipids - which is very hard on the veins because it is very thick) Her diet was barely 'clears' and so she could have only water, broth, or something like that. She was not interested in drinking anything yet, though. Slowly, her day progressed and by that evening she asked for crackers. She had to now get out of bed to use the restroom and we really had to plan receiving her pain meds. Well, needless to say, our nursing staff didn't think it was a problem starting a new procedure in another room when we needed to have meds. (We sometimes have to call the 'higher ups' to make things rock and roll correctly) Shelby was never really comfortable all day because her IV was killing her arm. I stayed with her Saturday night and around 2:00 am, she lost her IV. Instead of starting a new line, I wanted them to stop the burning nutrition, and advance her diet, slowly of course. Naturally, the next problem was that all meds had to now go by mouth. We had to work very hard the rest of the day to get the right things that would give her relief. She was SOOO uncomfortable. Sunday afternoon she finally got Pergoset. Fifteen minutes before Taylor walked into the room she was smiling. Taylor did not see any of the REAL pain. We slowly added more solids as the day went on and her day was really good as long as we kept the muscle spasms and pain under control. She had several visitors on Sunday afternoon. I may have told you that Sunday was Kendall's 9th Birthday and Matt and Amy brought her up, along with her two of her cousins, Elle and Harrison, and MiMi and Pa. Mike picked Taylor up at church on Sunday after she went to the "Girls' Reflecting Glory" conference at First Colony. Shelby and I will 'for sure' be there next year and we are staying with you, Miss Amanda Carter. If it's OK, heehee. Thank you First Colony for putting on such a FABULOUS conference and taking care of our young ladies in Christ. We love you all very much. Sunday night I came home with Taylor and Kendall. We all oversplet Monday morning and Taylor has her first 'tardy' in two years. (Sorry Taylor - I'm sure they will understand at the JR. High. She made it for Coach Grove's Algebra, though) I spoke to Shelby just a few minutes ago and she said she had her first good night but that she threw up several times this morning. (I was secretly wishing for a trip home tomorrow) I'm sure that will not happen now. Mike also just said that her Fellow, Dr. Anderson on the Ortho team, reduced her pain medicine this morning and did not tell him. I asked him to page him and ask him to change it back. Shelby has not been without excruiciating pain for more than 3 hours since this began. I asked him to tell him we would like at least one day without pain so that she would mentally move forward. The pain service at Texas Children's is not all that it is cracked up to be. I think several nurses need new professions! Shelby asked me to bring her mashed potatoes from Luby's with a roll and gravy. Thanks Amanda for the idea. I told her that we would just warm them later when she was ready.

Thank you again for your concern and expressins of love for Shelby. She has been hoping to feel good enough to go upstairs to the 'teen room' and check it out.

I will try to update again as soon as I can,

Love you all,

Kim

Day5

2006-01-28T11:03:00.000-06:00

Good Morning,

Shelby had a very fitful night again After the two X-Rays and all the activity from yesterday I thought she would really sleep but she was so uncomfortable with the gas build up in her system and she was unable to move because her small intestines were still asleep. My last converstion with her Ortho team was that the tube would stay inplace until there were some major changes. I was very disappointed for her! When I spoke to her this moring she said they were going to pull her tube. During the night she was creating a postive change shall we say. God sure created a miricle in the human body. There is no question that our creation was not by happenstance. (Do you like that word?) We trully pray she has turned a big corner. She has just been so sick. I will try to update this afternoon before Mike goes home for the evening. Tomorrow is Kendall's 9th Birthday. Shelby is excited about finally getting to see her sisters.

Love to all,

Kim

Day 4 "And This Too Shall Pass"

2006-01-27T17:36:00.000-06:00

Thanks John Burton,

Last night Shelby sat up at 5:30. She was in a chair beside her bed for about 25 minutes. Her pain management team decided to reduce her pump to 'on demand' and today they went to injections at 3 hours. She is still on Vallium for muscle spasms. She asked that she have her power chair brought up here from our home, so a wonderful friend, Irish, brought it in her accessible van. Irish is so smart that she knew to just leave the chair at the information booth and she did not have to wait on me and I could go downstairs at Shelby's convience. Thank you Irish. Well Shelby woke up after a very short night of rest. She wanted to "talk" all night. I finally told her that mom needed to get some rest after her, Shelby's, full body massage. She didn't want me to stop. (What a life, haha) Anyway, she was determined to get into that chair and roll out into the hall. Once in her chair, her stomach was upset again. I was afraid that would mean going back on the NG suction. She was reduced to 'gravity' then to clamped off. She was in her chair for 45 minutes. She was miserable! Once finally back into bed, she got more meds and a few hours of semi-rest. She has been complaining very much about her hands hurting where the IVs were. Her hands were swollen and had abrasions from the IV cathiters. I asked the nurse to move the IV and the day went down from there. After several sticks, it infilitrated. Then we spent hours, literally, trying to get a new line. Shelby was determined that she didn't need it and she could handle the pain (haha) (I was so proud of her) At the same time, we were working to try to have the NG tube removed. She has bowel sounds and the tube was REALLY irritating her throat. She continued to gag and cause herself much grief. We decided to have the abdominal X-Ray redone to determine if the illeus (sleeping bowel) had resolved itself. Once again, she had to lie on her back on the film in her bed to have this done. After much effort and crying, the tech double exposed the film with someone else's film. We get to do it again later tonight. Three nurses and many sticks later we needed a line for pain management and nutrition. Finally, the anesthesiologist that did her surgery and controls pain management walked in the door. I was thinking she had this certain aura around her head at that point!!! She got a line in pretty quick and 2 minutes later we had moraphine. Did I mention that we were WAY in the hole on pain medication. Shelby has cried for hours and I'm thinking she should sleep really well tonight. Of course, tonight is Mike's night and I get to drive home in the pouring rain. Doesn't sound right, does it? Taylor is going to "Girls' Reflecting Glory" at First Colony and Kendall will be at Aunt Amy and Uncle Matt's house this weekend. I just might sleep until noon tomorrow. (Not really)

OK you warriors, pray tonight without ceasing that Shelby will have an active bowel and the tube will come out. The IV will remain active for days and she can come off TPN and Lipids. She is off her heart monitors and pulse ox, (once you stop the moriphine drip.) Eating would be a GREAT thing to hope for, too.

Love you all,

Kim

Day 3 - Thursday

2006-01-26T16:51:00.000-06:00

I went home for the first time last night and Mike stayed with Shelby. I didn't get home until around 9:30 and finally got to bed around 11:00. Boy, that night flew by. It was so good to see and love on Taylor and Kendall. Of course, Taylor stayed up way too late wanting to hear everything about Shelby. What an angle. Shelby had a better night because she could not throw up anymore. All the nurses were to do was just turn every 2 hours or so and do vitals only 2 instead of three times. Mike said she had several bouts with muscle spasms and pain, but he was instructed to 'push the button' on her PCA pump. This morning I called at about 7 and she sounded so much better. She had just woken up and she had a little strength in her voice. About 45 minutes later she called me and her voice was very weak and she said, "Mom, guess what I'm doing?" To my surprise she said she was sitting in the chair beside her bed with a pillow behind her back. She made it to about 7 or 8 minutes. Just long enough for the ladies to change her bed and freshen her up. A few hours later she asked her daddy to sit up again, and she did. The surgery crew did rounds and her NG tube was retrieving mostly regular acids this morning and so they decided to clamp it off and try it without suction. Well, on the second time up, she threw up, therefore, back to the pump with suction. She was soooo mad. Her one goal today was to get that tube out of her nose. Since that didn't happen, she decided that she would sit up again at 5:30. We have started pushing her pump button every 6 minutes starting at 4:40. I hope we can make the experience a much nicer one. She really only needs to sit up 2 times today, but she is determined. You just gotta love her. She told me I had to stay tonight because her daddy tells too many jokes and they 'are not funny'. Mimi and Pa have been with her this afternoon and we have really appreciated that. Mike and I went to eat lunch together while she slept. I hope she has a really good night. Maybe she will get her tube out tomorrow night. There were no traces of blood today in her stomach. Praise God!! No scope tomorrow!!!! She will be NPO (no food or drink) until her small intestine wakes up. We will take each and every small step forward!!

Have a wonderful evening. Shelby's good friend Evin Van Dover had surgery today and they were in TCH Neo together when they were babies. Two girlfriends back together, too bad neither one knew. haha

Love to you all,

Kim

Day 2

2006-01-25T16:05:00.000-06:00

This day is worse than yesterday. Shelby has been throwing up since Tuesday morning at 12:30. Each time it has been a very large volume and very dark brown in color. (Boy, she is going to kill me) Anyway, she has been so miserable about throwing up that it has been almost impossible to turn her because each time she is turned, she has to be sat up and completely changed (bed linens too) I told her I couldn't believe she had not passed completely out from the pain. Finally, this morning, the Orthopedic service (who did the surgery) decided to insert an NG tube. (Nasal Gastric) for all you beginners, haha and do a Gastric Interologist consult. They agreed as well, also to put her on gastric acid suppressors and watch for 24 hours. Also, no food or drink until the observation period is over. (She acutally would rather never eat or drink again as of today) If they do not get a difinitive answer tomorrow, they will do a Endoscopic probe in Friday, under general anesthesia (on her back- she would rather die I'm sure) Also, they had to do a set of X-Rays from her bed on her back- I was crying through trying to find encouraging words)Oh yeah, they discontinued her Tordal (anti-inflammatory) and her Moriphine continuous drip. She only gets her pain medication on demand (if she remembers to push the button ) They had to do that to decide if they were causing the problems. Please pray all you prayer warriors that this will turn out to be nothing and her abdomin will wake up. This will not result in further invasive procedures, the tube will be pulled quickly and she can rest. There is not much of that going on for her at all. Shelby does not want to have visitors because this is a really bad time for her. We are getting pretty tired.

Much love to everyone and we know the Lord will answer those who ask in His name.

Kim

Day 1 Part Two...

2006-01-24T21:05:00.000-06:00

Day 1 Part Two,

Today is actually considered Day One (after surgery) As Taylor posted last night, we went into the hospital at 6:15. When we got there the nurse said that all our directed donors were no good to Shelby because they were the wrong type. Shelby was O+, not A+ like we had thought her entire life. Well, we felt that was too big of a risk and asked them to re-type her. That we did not have a problem with blood bank blood but we needed to know her type. Well, that put them a little behind and our surgeons were dancing in the aisles hoping we would let them have her. To our disbelief, Shelby is O+ and we are hopeful that Taylor (her identical twin) is the same, hahaha. We also will be requesting her medical records from birth from the same hospital to confirm the information we were given 15 years ago.

Anyway, Shelby had a pretty fitful night. Today has been terrible. She is in so much pain from muscle spasms, pain from surgery, and nausea (That we are all following and trying to keep up with) that she is miserable. She was sat up on the side of the bed (called a "dangle") for several minutes. At the same time the nurses decided to freshen up her bed and gown. Well, I'm surprised she did not just pass out. It seems the minute she finally gets comfortable, it is time to do the 2 hour turn. She is being rolled from side-to-side. She does not have to sleep on her back but she could if it wasn't so painful. I just got a call from Mike, Shelby was asking for me so I gotta go. I can not post from here (I couldn't make it work) so I am emailing Taylor and she will post this for me.

Please pray for her comfort and that her pain will be eased. The nurses say today is the worst. I do not see how it could be any worse than this.

Much love to you all and thanks for the praises of yesterday's successul surgery.

Kim

Day 1...

2006-01-23T20:10:00.000-06:00

Shelby went into sugery this morning at 7:40, but the sugerns didn't start the sugery untill 9:00. The entire procedure lasted untill 1:00 this afternoon. My parents finally got to see Shelby around 2:30. They're in a room now and are trying to keep her pain level in control. The Lord has answered some of our prayers. The sugery wasn't as long as originally planed. Please keep praying for quick healing, minnimal pain, and for no complications.

Love, Taylor

T Minus 10 Hours and Counting

2006-01-22T21:47:00.000-06:00

It's a little after 10 pm. and Shelby has a stuffy nose. We won't know for sure if it's a go until we get to the hospital and they decide if she can do this without adding any complications. If we were to reschedule this surgery it would be something like March before they could fit her in. I spoke with a nurse in the ER today and she said the hospital was overflowing with really sick kids. Please do not think about bringing any children up there. I would not want to expose them to all the really bad stuff up there. Pray for peace and good rest tonight and we are thankful for our loving God who will be in control tomorrow.

Much love to all,

Kim

The Countdown is On

2006-01-20T23:25:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Friday night, almost midnight, and I have been going over and over all the things I need to do before 7:30 Monday morning. We have had a really good week (although tiring). All the doctors have done their things and everyone says we are 'good to go'. We have had some good news also. We were told yesterday that the surgery will probably last 4-5 hours instead of 8-10. Also, the two surgeons have decided not to go all the way to her pelvis, but to stop two vertebrae above her pelvis. This will help with her recovery, and it will allow for more mobility in her spine. We are all for more mobility! Oh, another thing is that the anterior (front) portion of the release will be done orthoscopically through her side and she will not have to be moved during the surgery. Praise the Lord. All the prayers you all have offered up are being answered already!! Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you.!! We love you all and thank you for your support!

Kim

Intro to our blog!!!

2006-01-06T18:16:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

We wanted to create a place where we could update everyone on Shelbys surgery. Keep checking back for more info. about her. We're praying for a safe outcome. Specifically, we are praying for clear thinking for the surgeons, and steady hands. Also we are praying for comfort for Shelby, and a speedy recovery.

Love, Taylor