Recovery

It's been three days since surgery and I am able to somewhat see straight today. I hate general anesthesia. It makes your world blurry, hazy for a few days and all you can do is lay around and watch tv. It gets better each day, although, I am very tired today and will have to nap. Yesterday, I couldn't nap until late and was woken up by Shane about 30 minutes later. Today, I will tell the boys not to wake me if I am sleeping. Yeah, right!

So the night before surgery was bad. For some odd reason, I can not digest the bowel prep. It just sits there until I throw it up and then I panic that they won't do my surgery the next day. Luckily, the plumbing started working around 5am (9 or so hours later than it should have). We had to wait a little while for my surgery to began as I was second in line for my doctor that day. It wasn't too bad. They let Shane come sit with me in the pre-op room for a little while and he got to enjoy me getting my Demerol shots. They also have full wireless there so Shane was able to work all day.

Recovery was not fun. I had trouble getting a breathing pattern established, not unusual for me and I had the shakes real bad...nothing more Demerol won't help. We finally left the hospital after 6pm as we waited for traffic to die down. I actually felt no pain at all until about 10pm that night. Since then, I hurt when I move but laying down isn't so bad.

What they found was more endometriosis and adhesions. My uterus is fine on the inside but pretty ugly on the outside. It was attached to my bladder and they left it that way. My fallopian tubes were attached to my pelvic wall and my right ovary was attached to my uterus...these they unattached. I also had endo on my large bowel..this is a new spot for it to grow. I think and pray that this is what has caused me so much misery the last few months and will be better now.

My doctor said it is time for my uterus to come out. And, when that happens they will take my ovaries, tubes, etc, too. I have to admit that I can't wait. First, though, we have to transfer our remaining two embryos. And before that can happen, I have to check my thryoid. Not having enough thyroid hormone when you are pregnant can be very bad to the baby. I am quite sure that some of the problems Jacob has (tics and anxiety) is because I was hypothyroid when I was pregnant with him and didn't know it.

Prayer Requests: pray for quick recovery so I can be a mom and wife this week. Pray that my thyroid will be ok enough to transfer the embryos and that God's will be done with the embryos. Pray that this will all happen quite fast so that I can have the hysterectomy within the next few months.

Surgery Tomorrow

The hospital has told us to be at the hospital at 9am tomorrow. That is not the best time as getting there that late means that I am the second surgery for my doctor that day; and, as I well know, that means we may be waiting for a while. If all goes on schedule, though, I will be in the preop room about 10:30am and in surgery by 11:30am. The surgery should take around 2-3 hours. We should be home late afternoon (hopefully, not in traffic as I will be in pain).

Please pray that the surgery is not delayed for any reason as I will be dehydrated andd not feeling well at all. Please pray for Shane as he will be sitting around waiting for a long time. Please pray that tonight will not be too bad on me. I have already started the dreaded bowel prep, in fact, I accidentally started it an hour early. Please pray that the surgeons will be able to remove all endo that they see and not leave any. Please pray that they will not have to remove my uterus as we do stil have two frozen embryos waiting to be transferred. Please pray that my pain will be minimal. Please pray for my parents as they keep Jacob the next night or two and that Jacob will be ok with this. He seems to understand (I think he is just excited about spending the night at MiMi and PawPaw's.)

Special thanks to my prayer warriors and my friends that are bringing me yummy meals afterwards.

First Day of Second Grade, Etc.

Jacob started second grade today. He was dressed and downstairs at 6:45 am...25 minutes before I told him he had to be downstairs. The best thing was that he brought home NO homework and says he won't for at least a week. I hate when they push too much on the kids too fast. Of course, there were lots of papers for me to fill out...my homework, as Jacob called it.

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Tomorrow I start my pre-surgical diet. It is just very bland food like chicken, pasta, pound cake. Enough to keep you pretty full. I have my day planned out though to keep my mind busy and not on the next day when I get to do the dreaded bowel prep, which is worse than the surgery or any pain afterwards itself. I will spare you the details as many have done it; but, my body doesn't tend to take to it very well and it will be a tough night for me.

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If you are wondering about any adoption news. Well, there isn't any. We have not heard from the agency. Last month was tough as I wondered why we were not being picked. I think I know why now...God knew I was going to be having surgery and that He would be taking my Grandmother home. The last few weeks have not been conducive to having a newborn; but, I am sure we would have made it work. Now, I have to get my energy back from the surgery and get started on some projects around the house (Shane shudders when I say this as he knows how much work I can come up with...that's a whole other blog). I am praying though that the baby will come soon...I am ready! Please pray for patience.

Weekend at Canyon Lake

We spent last weekend at Canyon Lake. Shane's dad has a house and boat there. We spent both Saturday and Sunday on the water and had a blast. Our friends, Larry and Jeanette, their daughter Kendra and son Ethan, came with us. Larry bought a wakeboard, which only Shane was semi-successful on. We also had a huge tube, called Big Bertha and skis. Big Bertha said she could hold 4 people but 2 adults was barely comfortable. The boys loved tubing the best and would beg us to pull them forever.

On Saturday evening, Kendra watched the boys so we could eat out at Clear Springs Cafe...great food. Before that though, we got caught in a bad storm on the lake and had to cross the lake in the rain. Not much fun and wouldn't you guess that that day was the first time they had seen rain in days, if not weeks. Here are a few pics from our weekend:

Kendra climbing tree outside of house

Larry and Big Bertha on shore....she was too big to take when we wanted to pull someone behind the boat; so, we took turns hanging out with her in a cove.

Ethan and Jacob

Jeanette and Kendra on boat

Jeanette is an awesome skier!!!

Shane on skis...he's good too.

Jeanette and Shane in the kitchen

Back to the Grind of Life

Today I got home from Longview where we buried my Grandmother on Tuesday. I know I spoke about her leaving us last Sunday evening in my earlier post; but, I wanted to share with you an amazing story. When she was admitted to the hospital, the doctors asked her some basic questions to see if she knew what was going on, such as, what day is it, what is your name, etc. She answered the questions correctly, surprising since she was there for confusion. When the doctor asked her if she knew why she was in the hospital, her response was, "I am here to praise my Jesus!" She knew she was going home and she was ready. I find much comfort in that.

Jacob handled the viewing and funeral very well. We prepared him ahead of time about what he would see and might feel and reminded them that she was in Heaven and we should praise God for that. He kept asking to see her at the viewing and we obliged, not sure why he was asking. He was very concerned about seeing her again at the funeral the next day and was relieved that he could. I finally figured out that as long as her body was nearyby, to him she was still with us. Once he realized that they were closing the casket and he would not see her again, he stood and stared at her for a long time and finally cried. It was very hard, but he finally was able to say goodbye to her. Like I said, he is doing ok now and is very excited that I was able to bring some of her things home with me. He really loved her!

The day after the funeral, we went through her apartment. Not a fun job as she had so many crafts but it was a healing way to say goodbye. We had some good laughs at the things that she kept and our memories of her. I still get upset but I rejoice with her in her new life and can't wait to see her again...someday.

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Praise God! My surgery has been rescheduled for next Thursday so I don't have to wait too long. There is much to catch up on at the house right now and with you all online...so I better get to work.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers for our family!
Laura

God Gives and He Takes Away

Yesterday was a very sad day for us. The Lord decided to take our Grandmother home. She was 93 years old and is the one that Jacob and I went to visit last month in Longview. Up until this weekend she had lived on her own, the last year in an apartment in an assisted living facility. Either Friday or Saturday, my Uncle Ralph went to check on her and knew something was amiss. She was admitted to the hospital where they diagnosed her with pneumonia. My parents had already headed up to Carthage to visit some friends on Friday and spend the weekend with her so they were there until the end, as were my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Raph. On Sunday, she was feeling better, eating and talking. That evening she went in a flash, surrounded by her sons and their wives. She did not suffer at all. God knew that that moment was the perfect time to take her.

Here is her obituary:
http://www.jimerson-lipsey.com/index.cfm

My Grandmother was a special woman. She was the adoptive mom of my dad. She was a Godly woman who loved her church and her Lord. She had a passion for books and libraries. She spent hours on end making crafts..some silly, some beautiful. Our Christmas trees are full of her goodies. She loved to cook Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and, I think, Christmas Day was her favorite day. She and Jacob had a special bond and he bought a twinkle to her eye. I am so glad that he will remember her as a woman full of energy and playfullness and not a sick woman, as he never saw her that way.

Please pray for our family as we say goodbye to her for only a little while as we will see her again in Heaven. We know and rejoice that she has been "made new" in His sight. I like to think of the second that she went, peering up into Jesus' eyes full of love for her and then the eyes of the man she was married to and in love with for over 65 years. And, she has a job in Heaven watching over our unborn babies.

We were in Canyon Lake this weekend and my mom kept us up to date on her progress but the end came as a surprise to all of us. We will be heading to Carthage for the funeral and will be staying in Longview. Please pray for our safety in travel and for peace and comfort during this week. Pray that Jacob will understand everything. I think he does. He knows her soul is in Heaven with Jesus and that her body is all that is left behind...but this can be confusing to a child.

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Surgery Update - I did cancel my surgery. Pray that my doctor will be able to fit me in very soon and that the pain and nauseau that I am suffering from will go away.

The Early Years

When Shane and I married, he was already living in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. I was living with my friend Karen and her mom, Sherry, close by. We stayed in the Dallas area for almost four years until I graduated from UT-Dallas but just couldn't claim it as home. We wanted our children to grow up near their grandparents, which was something that I didn't have when I was growing up. And, we missed our many friends back home. It also didn't help that the job market wasn't great in Dallas and I couldn't find a job doing what I wanted to do. So, in December 1994 we moved back to Houston. It was clearly what God had in store for us as I did get a job, and it was the job that I had always dreamed of having...working for Arthur Andersen. The only hitch was that they wanted to place me in tax, not audit, which worked out to the best thing as I love taxes (yes, I'm weird). Since Shane's job was in Clear Lake and mine downtown, we lived on the west side off of Briar Forest. We liked the area, but again, it wasn't home. So, in March 1996 we bought our current home close to our parents.

On to the hairdo's...as I said in my last post, I had some interesting hairdos in the 90's, but didn't we all???? I can't seem to get them to all upload for you to enjoy, but here are a few.

This was a Christmas picture that Shane and I gave as presents in 1993 or 1994. My hairdo isn't all that bad but Shane's is questionable and so is my sweater.

This is what I call the "poodle do." This was from Brian and Cassie's wedding in 1994 (I think).

This picture is from Karen's wedding (also 1994?). I loved my updo here but can't remember why I picked out the shiny fuschia bridesmaid dress.

Our Wedding

My neighbor Mike asked me when I was going to update my blog. I don't have anything new to talk about right now...except to say that we are going to Canyon Lake this weekend so I will have some new pics next week. So, since I don't have anything new to talk about, how about talking about something old.

Shane and I married January 4, 1992...seems like forever ago. We were both 21 years old...oh wait, that was forever ago :) We married in the chapel at Cypress Bible Church. The chapel is now painted crazy for the 3rd-5th graders. It looks nothing like it used to. When I was growing up, that was the main and only church building and I saw several weddings there; so, there was no other place that I wanted to get married. It was a beautiful wedding. The day went off without a hitch except for my hair, blame it on the humidity, and my cake wasn't exactly white...more like yellow/cream. It was beautiful, but not what I had wanted...oh, well. Here are some pictures.

We had our closest friends in our wedding. My cousin Elan and friends Karen, Cassie and C.C. were my bridesmaids. I can proudly say that they are all still close friends even though none live near us. Shane has his two closest friends, Brian and Byan, as his best men and his cousin Kent and my brother Randy (with the glasses) were groomsmen. Our friends Brian (yes, another Brian) and Steve were ushers. Notice the long hair on all the guys. It was probably the first and only wedding with a bunch of long haired rockers at Cypress.




We honeymooned in Cancun at the Fiesta Americana Cancun. It was a really nice hotel and they gave us a honeymoon suite with the balcony all the way up to the water.

When Jacob saw this picture, he asked why Daddy was wearing pink sunglasses and a pink bathing suit. Good question...I guess that was in back then. This was from a snorkling trip that we took. We had lots of fun. Unfortunately, I woke up the last day with some sort of virus and came home very sick. The first night home was a lot of fun. Gail made dinner and she and Rich had my parents over and we all sat around and opened up wedding presents.

These are all the pictures that I have scanned from our wedding and honeymoon. Next blog, I will introduce you to all the different hairstyles I had in the years we were first married.

Update and Day Trip to Galveston

Update on surgery....I am scheduled for surgery August 19th to remove any endometriosis. I was questioning my decision but now feel that I have absolutely made the right decision, meaning I had a bad night last night. Now, let's talk about more fun things:

After the storm blew through, my friend Karen and her two boys, Steven and Jack, came down from Dallas for a visit. Yesterday, we drove to the Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin. You take a tram tour through the park and get to feed the animals. They have about 40 different types of animals. It was fun. Most of the animals come right up to the tram to eat. The kids get to feed them out of buckets. The ostich's and lamma's were too funny running right alongside the tram for more food. They would also stick their long heads in the tram. Other animals we really liked were buffalo, beeffalo (half cow/half buffalo), texas longhorn and the ostrich and emu's. The giraffe was also real cute. As you can see from my picture I got real close to him. My only complaint was that sometimes the tram went too fast to get any good pictures. They also have a petting zoo and pony rides. Their website is http://www.bayouwildlifepark.com/.

After we left the park, we drove on down to Galveston and ate at the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe on 14th Street. Great local restaurant. Then we took the boys to Seawolf Park and toured the submarine and destoyer. Here is a picture of the boys on the sub and one of Jacob on a gunner on the destroyer. Although we enjoyed the ships, I would recommend the Battleship Texas over this. The website for Seawolf Park is http://www.cavalla.org/ and http://www.galveston.com/seawolfpark/.

After Seawolf Park, we went to the Pier 21 Theatre and saw The Great Storm documentary about the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900 and killed between 6,000 and 8,000 people. It was great. The best part was when Jacob asked me if I was alive when the storm came. After it was over, he and I sat down and I answered his questions about why people were forced to burn the dead bodies or be shot and why loiterers were shot. The rest he seemed to understand. They also have a documentary on the pirate, Jean Lafitte. We will see this next time. Here is a link to their website: http://www.galveston.com/pier21theatre/

Right now, Karen is at the pool with the boys as I seem to have come down with some sort of virus. Tonight, we are taking the boys to Pearland Speedway as Jacob has been begging to race there for a while. It will be Steven and Jack's first time to ride a BMX track and to race, if they decide to. Should be fun. I will post pictures of tonight later on.

BMX

I guess you could say we are into alternative hobbies, like the drums. Last April, Jacob started racing BMX bikes. We usually go to Armadillo BMX in Conroe but sometimes we drive to the Pearland Speeday in, you guessed it, Pearland. Our first time to take Jacob to race, we took his bike that he rides at home to make sure he liked it and, you guessed it again, he not only liked it, he loved it.



Many people have asked us how we got into it. We have some friends, Larry and Jeanette, and all of their kids have raced BMX and motocross. Jarrett was pro BMX and is semi-pro motocross. I am not sure what Kendra is, but she use to race BMX and now races motocross. Yes, girls race BMX....in fact, many girls race and there are some really good ones. Their dad was a professional supercross rider back in the 80's. Their youngest, Ethan, who is now 6 and is Jacob's best little buddy started riding and they invited us along. The week after we first raced, we had bought him a Redline racing bike and a Thor racing outfit (all deals thanks to Larry and his connections.)



This has pretty much become our weekend activity. We race either Friday or Saturday night and sometimes race or just practice during the week. It is really hot out there right now but I am looking forward to going to the track during the Fall.

Jacob is doing great at it. He recently got his first place win. Apparently, there are not a lot of seven year old kids racing BMX in the Houston area, so he often races eight and even nine year olds. It would be hard for him to place first racing older kids, but he has come in second his last two races against the eight year olds...first place may happen.



One of the neat things about the track that we race at is that it is the home track of Kyle Bennett. Kyle is going to the Olympics in Beijing on the 13th and we should see him on TV on the 20th-21st (I think). This is the first time BMX has been recognized as an Olympic sport. Kyle is a really nice guy and loves to be around the kids on the track. Please pray for safe travel, fun and a win at the Olympics this month. Here is the article that appeared on the front of the Sports section last week in the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/woodlands/faces/5914740.html.

Kyle Bennett with Jacob and Ethan

Funny story...last weekend lots of people were gathered around Kyle to wish him well. Ethan kept telling his Daddy that he had something to say to him; so, Larry took Ethan over to see Kyle. Ethan looked up at Kyle and said "Don't crash!" That was it, don't crash. Not something we would think to say to an Olympian, but it was very logical to Ethan...don't crash or you won't get a win. Cute!

Here are some pictures of Jacob at the track:

Jacob's buddy, Ethan

Weekend Update

I got to spend some time last week resting up. Shane and Jacob went to the BMX track Thursday night and the Astros game on Friday night. Friday night was a guy's night out with our small group. So, I took advantage of my time alone and watched some movies on cable (I should have been doing some tax work but I just can't get my mind to work that hard.)

The movies I watched are Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank. I don't particularly care for her but it was a very good movie. It is based on a true story which makes it all the better. There are some amazing people in this world and the character she plays is one. The other good movie was The Hoax with Richard Gere. I have had it recorded for a while but it just didn't sound that interesting. Well, it is a very good movie too. It is also based on a true story.

The other movies are Reign on Me. It stars Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. Sandler plays a man who lost his wife, three daughters and dog on 9/11. I won't spoil the plot but it is also good. And, I saw Spiderman III. It was a Spiderman movie...what else can I say.

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Today we went to a shower for our friends, Paul and Wendy, at church. Paul and Wendy have just taken in four siblings, ages 2,3,5 and 6, two girls and two boys, who have been placed with them for adoption. The adoption won't officially take place for one year as it is through the state. The kids are very cute and very sweet. We look forward to getting to know them.

Please keep them in your prayers as you can imagine what a time of adjustment this is for all of them.

The Big "E"

What is the big "E"? Endometriosis. I know, I know, some of you are saying why is she writing about that? Well, it has crept up on me again so I thought that I would share. I was first diagnosed in 1997. The doctors say that I have most likely had endo since I started my cycles. I started having problems as a teen, but, back then all they did was put you on the pill. That minimized the problem for a few years, although, I am not sure that was such a good thing. In 1995, Shane and I thought it would be a good time to start a family, so I came off of the pill. Right away I knew something was wrong. At first the pain was once a month but eventually it became a daily thing. On one trip, I stood up out of bed and hit the floor writhing in pain. I saw my gyn the next week who said she suspected endo but wanted us to keep trying to get pregnant for another six months. I made it four months before I demanded surgery as I couldn't take the pain any longer.

In March 1997, I had my first laparoscopy. Apparently what they found was so unusual that not only did they decide not to operate but they also paraded med students in and out of the OR to look at me. What they found was that I had severe endo, Stage IV, and that my uterus was intertwined with my bladder. So, they sewed me up and told me that I would have to be on Lupron for 4 months and then have a laparotomy, where they cut your abdomen open.

I had no idea what I was getting into with the Lupron. It is the meanest, dirtiest drug on earth and if I knew what I know now, I never would have taken it. It did, however, have the effect of shrinking the endo by 50% by the time I had the laparotomy; but, I am not sure it was worth it otherwise. Lupron puts you into menopause. I gained weight, became severely depressed and started having anxiety and panic attacks.

In July 1997, I had the laparotomy to remove the remaining endo and had 1/3 of my bladder removed and part of each ovary. What I didn't know then was that every time you have surgery, your body heals by creating adhesions. The adhesions create much the same symptoms as endo itself, thus requiring more surgery. All in all, I have had 6 laparoscopies to remove endo and adhesions and one laparotomy.

The bad news is that I will be having another laparoscopy soon. I started having symptoms of pain and nauseau (a new symptom that I have never had before) last April. They have improved with diet but not gone away. The nauseau often puts me to bed early and had quite an effect on my vacation last week. So, I am opting for more surgery and waiting on the doctor's office to call me with the surgery date.

What is endometriosis? It is when the uterine lining plants itself outside of the uterus. The lining then acts where it is planted just as it does when you are having your period....and it grows and grows. Some women can have little to no endo and be in severe pain and some can have severe endo and little to no pain. In addition to being outside of my uterus, my endo has planted itself on my ovaries, fallopian tubes, kidneys, intestines, bladder and my bowel. This of course has an affect on your fertility and is the main reason why Shane and I had to go through infertility treatments.

Prayer request...please pray that I have made the right decision (I think I have) to go ahead with yet another surgery and that the symptoms that I am having will go away for at least another two years. The only remedy for endo is a complete hysterectomy (which is in my future but not just yet) and that may not be the end of the problem as the endo has grown on other organs besides my uterus and ovaries and then there is the issue of adhesions.

Right now, I am meditating on Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God" as I know that God is in control. Endometriosis is another "thorn in the flesh" that I endure and that is ok...because that is what God has planned for me. I know that sounds corny and may be unbelievable to some, but that is where my faith has brought me...to trust fully in God's plan.

...to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh...Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9