Catching up....

I have lots of stories to tell, well, maybe not too many, but several for sure!  First I will give you the GOOD NEWS!  Dina had her port taken out!!  Isn't that fantastic?  The first few days were hard with some pain and lots of discomfort, couldn't sleep on her right side, but she is healing and all is good now! 

I had another CT scan, saw the oncologist and all is well with that also.  Sent the report to the urologist as we had a scan from the lungs down to the pelvis done to check on those stones.  Well, I still have some stones in the kidney.  However, I have no pain and feel really good!  And more good news is that there is NO bacteria infection from a urine test!!  Yeah!!  However, I do still have stones and there are two kinds (fortunately NOT the proteous bacteria) I grow both the calcium oxalate and the calcium phosphate kind!  Which is odd because they are totally opposite.  the doctor believes I have what is called renal tubular acidosis...so now we need to figure out why and how to prevent more from growing.  I will be seeing a nephrologist and have a complete work-up done to see how we can conquer this thing (good thing I have met my deductible!!).

So I would say that Dina and I are on the road to a full recovery!! 

Now for the fun stuff!!  In June we were in AZ to watch Ellie play Volleyball in a tournament in Phoenix...we love watching her play!!  And it was Lily's birthday while we were there, so we did lots of fun things with her!  Dina, Lily and Lily's friend, Jane and Ellie were the only ones to join us...Jamie and Jalen stayed home and had fun!

               

Here are the girls having a good time at Mirabel.

 

                          

A very rare site - seeing Papa in the pool!!  It was HOT!

Lily's B-day...she chose a new Italian restaurant we discovered...Lily is on the far right.

Lily is our animal lover, she wanted to go to a pet store, so we did and she held the guinea pig

Heidi and Dina...good friends since grade school and her family just moved to the area!

For Lily's birthday Scott, Dina, Lily and Jane all went horse back riding into the hills around Cave Creek..they all had a blast!  Lily said it was the best birthday ever! 

To end the evening of Lily's birthday, we took her and Jane to an amusement park, again the little girls had so much fun running around to all the rides, they even did a zip line over the park!!

Sorry, sorry sorry!

So sorry I have neglected keeping you all posted on these "stone" issues!  Ha...right now I am waiting for a 4mm stone to pass!  Yikes you say!  Well no worries, I am NOT in pain...unbelievable as that sounds!!  I had an x-ray and it showed that stone to be fairly close to the bladder...so I am now I on Flomax to help relax things so that it will pass easily.  I guess the x-ray also showed some obscurity in the kidney, which could mean more random floaters around...not sure, but I will have a CT scan on July 15 to determine if everything got cleared out or not!

In the meantime, life goes on, right?  The Foelker's house did NOT sell, we were so sad about that.  The potential buyer could not get financing for the back empty lot.  In the meantime, we have spent several days cleaning and hauling things to either the dump or the Goodwill store.  We discovered an empty garbage can cemented into the ground in the storage area off the family room.  It is one of those old garbage cans that was buried and had a lid that you step on to pop it up...not sure how the garbage people retrieved all the garbage in a hole, but there it is.  Scott is going to fill it with gravel and then pour cement on the top...hopefully we can make it look a little better..it does have a rim about an inch that sticks up above the ground so he is planning to pound it down to make it flat!  Bill had all sorts of man made platforms, covered with many carpet pieces (of course) in this back storage space...it was an accident waiting to happen, for sure!  So we hauled everything out of there, it is a really nice storage area.  Things are looking good though...the house is finally all clean and we will go over today for some "staging" to get it ready for showing!

Sunday was Father's day...can you believe I did not take a picture of the "Big Father"?  Not sure how that happened...my thought was on getting a picture of Dina and me with our short hairs.  She looks so beautiful (of course a mother always thinks that!!) and I know this will be the last time she will ever have short hair..so I wanted a picture of us together...can you figure out which is the daughter and which is the mother?  *wink

I pulled out my camera and the first thing she said was, "What are you doing?"  She told me she didn't look pretty...no make up on today!

 

We not only celebrated Father's Day with a BBQ in their backyard (notice all the Tiki lights behind them?) we also celebrated their 14th anniversary!!  They left the next day for three days in Coeur d'Alene for a little golfing and relaxing without any children!!  We cannot be happier and thankful to Our Lord for giving us good health for Dina...the latest scan still showed remission!!

Thanks for checking in with me!  We are heading to Arizona on Thursday to watch Ellie play some volleyball in a big nationwide tournament in Phoenix...Dina is going and will have Lily and a friend of Lily's...we decided to join them...the weather will be hot for sure.  We understand it is above 100 even way north where our house is...YIKES, record high temperatures for north Scottsdale!

News update

Just wanted to let you all know that Dina is still feeling fabulous and looking just as great!  Short hair is very appealing to her...I MUST get a picture of my two girls together with me...I think it might be the last and only time they will both have short hair...the caption might read something like:  'Can you tell which is the mother and which is the daughter?'  Ha Ha...only the  "color " of hair can tell for sure!!!

As you all know, I have been dealing with a UTI since the lung surgery (last November 25).  It actually showed its ugly head mid December.  So I have been treating it since that time and while I did get some relief  while on the various antibiotics, it was always back as soon as I finished.  After the last round, and I had just started up again, I could tell things were not good.  So I went in for more testing.  The doctor seemed to think that perhaps the five kidney stones that we knew were in my left kidney (from all the scans I had prior to the lung surgery) was harboring the bacteria making it difficult if not IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of it.  Last Thursday I was in day surgery for a laser lithotripsy.  I went in at 9:30 am, had the surgery about 10:45, was scheduled to leave at 2:30 pm, actually left at 7 PM!  Hmmm...I don't do so well with pain pills and anesthetic it seems.  I was quite nauseous in the recovery room and stayed an hour and a half longer than planned.  And I had some vomiting issues in both recovery and in my room.  Okay...I was finally able to go home and went right to bed and pretty much slept away the first two days at home.  The surgery was a little more invasive and intensive than originally planned.  The largest of the little stones back in the fall was measured at 5 mm....what the doctor faced was a boulder about 2.5 CM!  (That is about an inch!)  He was absolutely correct in assuming the bacteria latched onto the stones... and it grew and grew...very rapidly!  the surgery itself took longer, he had a lot to blast away, he tried getting in there and pulling it out, but was unable to do so.  I have a stent which will come out next Monday and I shudder to think what will come out with it and afterwards.  This type of bacteria which I am growing is almost impossible to get rid of once it gets into the kidney...much easier in the bladder.  Scott and I have been doing some reading and we have lots of questions to ask the doctor when we see him on Monday.  It seems I may always have this and since I seem to make stones, I may have this procedure done many more times in my lifetime and will need to be on a low dosage of antibiotics for the rest of my life...well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, those are just possibilities...there could always be a miracle!

So how am I feeling?  Really not so great.  I stopped the pain pills and only taking ibuprofen and that seems to be working for me.  I have a lot of burning, and cramping and back aches, and generally just feeling very yucky.  I am hoping once the stent comes out, some of those symptoms will disappear. I am continuing with the low dosage of antibiotic, plus a hormonal drug, plus the cranberry capsules, and the 1000 mg of vitamin C.

Oh...and I am not bothered one bit by this rain...if I have to feel crummy, why not have the weather be just as bad!

Now for some good news.  Bill Foelker's house sold before we even put it on the market!  Someone stopped by while the inside was being painted and left a card.  Scott called and he has given us earnest money!!  Yeah!  That was easy!  Then, we started looking at houses with Lacey hoping she could find something and move into a house a little bit bigger for her family.  She found one in Hebb Park and made an offer and it was accepted.  That put her and Aaron on Fast Track to get their own home cleaned up, fixed up, repaired, painted and everything else that two dogs and three wild kids can do to a house.  In very short time, they managed all of that and the day we left for Disneyland, May 16, her house went on the market and the next day someone offered full price for it!  Yahoo!!  It looks like this summer will be a big move for Lacey...a five bedroom and bathroom home, TV rooms, bedroom for each of the kiddos and their house guest, Aaron's step sister.  I will post some pictures soon...!!

That's it friends!  I will let you know what the doctor says on Monday!!

Disneyland HERE we come!

                                WARNING!  PICTURE HEAVY!!

It has been a tradition to take the kids to Disneyland for their 5th birthday...we actually missed Jalen's last year, but his parents took their family...so it wasn't missed by him!  We did miss Addie's 5th, but after talking it over with Lacey, we decided it would be better to wait one more year so that Tristan will have grown and would be able to go on more rides.  So this was the year...and we were there for Lacey's official birthday!

I think there is just something magical about  Disneyland when you bring the young ones...they are so enthralled with the magic and the sights, not to mention seeing your favorite Disney characters walking around!  We have in our midst a disney theme park master ride planner...namely:  PAPA!!  He kept all of our tickets and would walk across the park to get "fast pass" tickets for all of us, then come back and meet us after we had all just gotten off a ride!  His walking to and fro allowed us to ride on all the little kiddie rides...you know them...Dumbo the flying elephant!  the spinning Tea Cups!  and don't forget all about "Bug Land"  Oh yes, Addie and I rode some awesome bugs in "It's a Bugs Life"!!

Walking down Main Street USA

Getting ready for the ride:  California Soarin'  We did it twice...such a beautiful ride!

While Mommy, Daddy and Caleb were riding the ride below, Addie and Tristan were able to see "Woody" and get his picture taken with them!

Lacey and Aaron are in the third car car, the person with the hands up is Caleb, right behind Lacey.  (Note the big smile on Aaron's face!

Now look at Aaron!  This is a big roller coaster that goes so fast and makes turns and dips like you wouldn't believe...Scott and I were lucky to be the photographers with Addie and Tristan and Woody!

Ariel and Addie

Belle and Addie

Cinderella and Addie

Mulan and Addie

Aurora and Addie

You can walk all around the theme park and try to find the princesses...at just the right time, and stand in a long line, just to be told when you are getting close that they are taking a break!  Or you can do what we did, and have lunch in Ariel's Grotto and have the five Princess's come to you while you eat!  This was my  birthday gift to Addie...just Mommy, me and Addie having lunch with the Princess's...Oh, I don't think Addie ate too much, but she was so excited to have them come up to her and have them sign her 'guest book' and get her picture taken with them!  A highlight for sure!  This is a MUST for any young princess!!  Start saving, because it is the most expensive lunch you may ever have...but well worth it!  And the food was actually really good and there was a lot of it too!

 Addie was SOOO  excited to see Phineas and Ferb and the two dancers and when they invited all the young ones up to dance, she did NOT hesitate in the least.

Addie is to the left of the dancer, with her hands on her hips

White water rafting at its best!  Yes, we all did it and only a couple of us came out really wet...I stayed relatively dry!

And finally as we are heading out of the park...goodbye Disneyland...next adventure will be Disney World!  Scott and I agreed it needed to be sooner rather than later...one last Hoorah while we can still both manage to  walk the miles it takes to enjoy the grandchildren and to enjoy the park!

Another birthday post ~ Lacey

 High atop the city hills we had dinner at the Chart House to celebrate Lacey's 34th birthday.  We had a spectacular view and the weather was perfect!  So nice to share this evening with our daughter and son-in-law!

                    HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SWEET DAUGHTER!

Tristan's birthday ~ 4

This is the youngest of my  grandchildren...4 already!  It was a beautiful and warm day, Lacey hosted the family and cooked pizza for all of us.  the kiddos were able to play outside and the adults could sit on the deck and chat.  What a glorious day!

Everything is ALL GOOD, Friends!

First up, Dina...she did NOT have to have her third white cell booster shot!  When she went into the appointment on Monday, they drew blood and her count was 1280 (1500 is normal) and by all accounts her infections have cleared up!  Triple flips, backflips and sky high jumps!!!  (not me!  NO way!  But I would if I could!!)  Great NEWS!

A week ago Sunday, one of my favorite aunts, Elvera (my dad's older sister...will be 94 in  three months) had a heart attack and she also had pneumonia!  Not a good combination.  For two nights they told the family she would not last through the night.  Well, God is amazing in His works..He still needs her around, so she has rallied and is back in her assisted living home.  She is on oxygen and is eating "little" bits and still asking for some drinks.  My dad wanted to see her, so we made a one day trip so he could see her and chat with her.

My cousin Bonnie arranged to have his other sister, Carm come out to Kent and so we met up at a restaurant...Italian, of course! and also saw another cousin of my dad's and two nieces and one nephew.  We had a great visit and so lovely to see these relatives.  It was a long drive, but actually a very beautiful drive home...just a lot of sitting.  We would have preferred to stay over night at least one night, but my dad had an important doctor's appointment the following day and he could not cancel and reschedule it...

 front Left, around the table to front right:  .Hank, Carm, Carole, Freddie, Joe, Bonnie, me, Dad, Laurie