Newest Grandma Update

Grandma's biopsy results came back this morning, and they revealed what we already expected: that she has Stage IV lung cancer that has spread to her bones. She has decided to go ahead with radiation, so that is wonderful news, and treatment begins tomorrow afternoon. I will tell you that GM has been discouraged lately; who can blame her? But luckily this morning she seemed to be in better spirits. As my mom told me, I can't think too much about this diagnosis. It really does make my stomach churn and I choose not to go there. Pastor Tom's sermon Sunday could not have come at a better time, nor could it have been about a better topic: fear. As I sat there in that pew, he reminded us that worrying solves nothing; in fact, it can be downright debilitating, and that only about two percent of what we actually worry about comes to happen.

So instead of focusing on the "what if", I'll remember these Bible verses. Gosh, they certainly help.

Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:30
And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

1 Peter 5:7
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

And for my personal favorite...

Matthew 6:27
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Ah, I feel better. Honest. God, I know Grandma is in your hands. And at 29 years of age, the reality of all of this is sinking in. I don't like this diagnosis, but I, Cathy, have no control over what happens, and that's why I have faith in You.

Thanks again for all of you prayers and support. Keep 'em coming.

Grandma Update

My grandmother was diagnosed with bone cancer on Monday, and needless to say, this has been a very difficult week for her and my family. Grandma is one of my absolute favorite people in this world. With this soon-to-be-89-year-old, you will find a charismatic, imaginative, opinionated, and laugh-out-loud hilarious woman. If you're in a room with her, and she's talking, you're guaranteed an entertaining story, and more than likely, she'll have you laughing so hard you're crying.

Because I've grown up in the same town as Grandma, she's always been around. Friday nights when Chris and I were younger, you could find us at Grandma and Grandan's house. And it was almost guaranteed that Chris and I would be loaded up with popsicles, Tang, shoesting potatoes, frozen Hy-Top pizza, and eating Cool Whip out of the container. Heck, we might have just renamed Grandma's house "The Sugar Shack!!" I thank Grandma for my love of all things television. At Grandma's house, we were going to watch something good. Talk shows, Mama's Family, Wheel of Fortune, cartoons, game shows, we watched them all! And every Sunday after church, our family headed to Grandma's house to eat lunch and visit. Every Sunday. I loved going over there and watching football, reading the newspaper, and chatting with Grandma. I will always cherish our weekends we spent together.

I think that's what makes a diagnosis like this so difficult. Grandma has ALWAYS been a part of my life. She's ALWAYS been there. I've grown up with her, and she's become the fifth member of our family. Especially once she moved in with my parents almost five years ago.

One thing I know about Grandma though is that she is one tough cookie. She has been living in pain for quite some time, and while we are thankful to finally have a diagnosis, we certainly wish it wasn't the one given to us. But you know what? Things happen for a reason. God has a plan for all of us, and while that's hard to understand in the present, we have to keep faith that things will turn out as they're supposed to. Has this week been difficult? You bet. Have I bawled my eyes out on more than one occasion? Of course. Am I sad that my grandmother's bones have succumbed to this horrible, horrible disease? More than you can imagine. But I am also SO very grateful for prayers that have been sent her way and the outpouring of love and encouragement we have received. I have asked some of you to pray for her continued sense of humor and for her spirit to not be diminished, and I am happy to report that those prayers have been answered.

She is having surgery tomorrow (Friday) at noon to have a rod implanted in her left leg because the cancer in her femur has made her bone so brittle that it will soon break without reenforcement. The doctor will also perform a biopsy at the same time, and we'll have more information after those results come back.

As I mentioned, yesterday she was in much better spirits, and for that, I am so unbelievably grateful. I know that God answered yours and my prayers, and here is proof that her sense of humor has not diminished: As of yesterday morning, she was still contemplating whether to have the rod surgery or not. Here’s Grandma's conversation with the oncologist yesterday in her hospital room:

Grandma: Doc, I have a question for you. If it were YOUR mother in my shoes, would you still recommend to her that she have the surgery to implant the rod?

Doctor: (thinks for a second) If it were my mother, I would tell her the same thing, that she needs the surgery.

Grandma: Well then doc, since you said that, I have another important question I need to ask you: How do you feel about your mother?!

Isn’t that hilarious? Ah, good ol’ GM! Gotta love her!!!! :) I'll wrap this up by asking you to pray for strength for her and my family, wisdom on the part of her doctors, and courage for her as she faces this. Thank you so, so very much for all your support and prayer. Please know that it means the world to us.

The Many Faces of Abby

Here is our "little ham" in action!

HappyExcited

Scared

Sweet Sad
Contemplating

Silly!

And here's just a sweet one of our little girl!

Oh, and I can't forget two of my favorite guys: Matt and our nephew Clark. What a doll! :)

Oh what two years olds will say!

Conversations with Abby from the past couple of days:

As I'm changing her diaper this morning:
Abby: God held me.
Me: (thinking that this is coming out of left field) God held you? Like a baby?
Abby: Yes.
Me: (confused) Where did he hold you?
Abby: Right there (points up toward the ceiling)
Me: Um, OK. What did God say to you?
Abby: (says something indecipherable)
Me: What? What did God tell you? (I am anxiously awaiting what her imagination can come up with!)
Abby: (smiles mischievously) Pop!
Me: (grinning): Popsicle? He said the word Popsicle to you?!
Abby: YES!
Me: (doubting) God told you that you could have a popsicle?!
Abby: YESSSSSSS!
Me: Wow, Roo. You will do anything to get a popsicle, huh?

Kudos to her for name dropping God though. I'm just hoping when she turns 16 that she doesn't say that God told her she needs a new car and that she can start sleeping over at her boyfriends. Sigh.


Abby's little friend Ava started school Tuesday and so on our way to school, I thought it would nice if we said a little prayer for Ava on her first day of school:
Me: Abby, let's say a prayer that Ava has a good day. So, repeat after me. Dear God..
Abby: Dear God...
Me: Please..
Abby: Please...
Me: Watch... (preparing to say "watch over Ava")
Abby: (eyes light up): Watch DORA!!!!
Me (chuckling): No, no Dora! Okay, now repeat after me: Please watch...
Abby: Watch Elmo!
Oy. So much for our prayer. Sorry Ava! :) And not to worry Ellie, we said a prayer for you too yesterday! :)


We've been talking a lot about eye color lately, and Abby knows that she has blue eyes like her daddy, and that Mommy doesn't have blue eyes like them, but brown eyes.
So, last night while Matt and I were bathing her, I noticed that her left eye was a little pink.
Me (to Matt): Hey, do you see that? Her eye is pink.
Abby (stops what she's doing and looks at me like I've angered her): No, Mommy! It's BLUE!!


Speaking of Abby telling me like it is, this morning she was looking at her Cinderella book. She is very much into "pretty" things, princesses, etc. The other day she insisted on playing "dress up." What a hoot! Anyhoo, as she was looking at her Cinderella book, we were talking about the pictures. She became VERY concerned that Cinderella had lost her shoe. Abby LOVES shoes, and she always seems to notice when something is out of place, so the loss of Cinderella's glass slipper was disconcerting to her. Well, we began to talk about that and other aspects of the book, when she looked up at me, put her finger to her mouth and said, "Shhhhhh! No, Mommy. Be quiet. I read the book." Oh. Okay. Being put in your place by a 2-year-old is a very humbling feeling. :)


After I picked up Abby from school Thursday, I asked about her day. I also asked if she pooped while at school. Now, you moms out there understand this question. We are always on "poop patrol", right? Plus, the teachers had forgotten to put her sheet in her folder about what all she did that say, so I was clueless as to her bodily functions. :) Anyway, I asked her,
Me: Abby, did you poo-poo at school today?
Abby: No.
Me: You didn't poop? That's OK.
Abby: No poo-poo. I toot.
Me (laughing): You tooted at school today?!
Abby (now grinning too): YES!
Me: Oh Abby. That doesn't count.

Gotta love two year olds, right?

Abby also informed me that a crocodile was on her bookshelf this morning. Not to worry, though. According to her, it was a "little-bitty crocodile."

Ah, the imaginations. Gotta love them! :)

Park Pics

Here are some pics from the park the other night. We decided to enjoy the cooler weather (which has since been long gone, replaced by much muggier nights!) and feed the ducks. Enjoy!

Abby and her Daddy
Watching the ducks
Throwing bread Beautiful

Our little Roo

Little Ballerina

Gigglin' Gals

The two of us

My new favorite pic. My two favorite people in the world. :)

First Day of School

Today was Abby's first day of school at our church, and I am very happy to report that she did Awesome!! She walked in the room without even a thought about her mama! No goodbye hug. No kisses. Such a Big Girl. But, I'll be honest: a little "I'll miss you, Mommy" would have been nice! Oh well. I'll take what I can get, right?

When I went to pick up Abby from school, I was one of the last ones in line to pick up our little tykes. Of course I brought my camera, so I stayed until everyone left to snap some pics and chat with Abby's teachers about how she did. I am also very proud to say that the teachers said she was Fantastic! They also called her Caring, Helpful, and they expect her to be A Friend To All The Kids In The Class. That made my heart smile. They also reported that she was concerned about the four or five kids who cried during the day (I think those teachers should be given a medal--and perhaps some Advil--for taking care of crying two year olds for five hours!!). Abby does tend to get upset when other kids are upset, but luckily she didn't cry; they said she just seemed concerned--at a distance.

On the way home from the church, I called Matt, and as I was telling him about what all her teachers said, I started to cry thinking about how much those compliments meant to me. What they said made me feel proud to be Abby's parent, and I am so blessed to have such a sweet, sensitive, and social little girl. Roo, I wouldn't trade you for the world!

After we got home, I told Abby how proud I was of her for being such a Big Girl today, and as I was talking to her, Emotional Me started to tear up again. Abby looked up at me, saw me tearing up, put her hand on my knee and gently patted it, and said very softly and sweetly, "There, there. No cry, Mommy." How sweet is that?!

OK, before I begin crying again, here are some pics!!

Our big girl...

...who, if she had her way, would have worn this to school. (This was her outfit she had on at breakfast this morning!)This puts things into perspective:
First day of school this year... and the first day of school last year. Wow!

Here are some pictures from Abby's room after I picked her up:

Her assigned seatAbby walked over to this "Feelings" poster, saw the Sad Face, pointed to it and said, "Oh no." So, Mrs. Cinda asked Abby to point to the face that showed how Abby felt today. Abby then pointed to the Silly Face, as you can see here! Ha. Pointing to a book Now, while most kids would rather run home immediately after school, Abby wanted to run through the halls of the church instead! Her first artwork of the year.

Overall, a very successful day! I got some of the house cleaned, enjoyed a lunch with other childless moms (which meant I had "real" conversations and didn't have to deal with cutting up food), and got a big hug from my little girl after a few hours apart. I would call that a good day. Now, if we could only work on getting her to nap at school. These "no-nap" evenings are not the easiest in the world!!!

I hope y'all had a great Tuesday as well! :)