Thursday, June 26, 2014

Happy Anniversary to "He Holds My Right Hand"

Today is the 5th anniversary of this blog.

My first blog post was short and simple. It was about my 40th birthday, and the mother's ring my husband gave to me.

You can read it here:
40 Years and Counting...

Since that first post, I have covered a variety of topics, including book reviews, ministries, inspirational music, autism, cancer, and ways to encourage others.

These are the top 5 posts in the past 5 years:

 
 
 
 


Thanks for reading, and for being a part of my blogging journeys.


Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Progression of My Hair

It was one year ago today that I finished a 6-month chemo treatment. Wow. Its hard to believe its been a year already since I finished!

If you remember, I lost all my hair with the treatments and, since then, it has grown back. It's fun to look back on the progression of my hair growth. Check out these pictures...

February 7, 2013
Hair started falling out

June 5, 2013
Getting close to finishing treatments
Completely bald


July 2013
Fuzzy Hair coming in


August 2013


November 1, 2013


December 11, 2013


January 12, 2014


February 2, 2014
 

March 30, 2014

 
June 13, 2014
I have bangs!
 

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

EL Has Mild Sleep Apnea

I was reading through some old posts, and realized I never updated you on the post I wrote back in March about A POSSIBLE SLEEP DISORDER FOR EL.

The Sleep Lab appointment was on April 18th. David and JJ stayed with my parents that night, while I stayed at the hospital with EL. It was a long, rough night but we made it through. Here's my biggest question: Why do they call it a "Sleep Study" if you barely get any sleep! Ha!

In this picture, EL is getting hooked up for the night. Besides the sleep study wires, they also did a full EEG on her to check for any seizure activity.


Here she is trying to settle into her bed. I had the pull-out chair next to her. We sat and watched a movie for awhile until it was time to turn out the lights. You may be able to tell by her expression that she was not happy about being there.


The hard part for EL was that she was not allowed to sleep on her stomach like she always does; that really upset her. But, what she hated worse was the breathing monitor they placed under her nose. It was very uncomfortable for her because they had to tape it on to hold it in place. She was such a trooper, though.
 
Despite being awakened several times throughout the night (bathroom breaks, nurses checking on wires, etc.) EL did manage to get some sleep. Not much, but at least enough for them to get some results.
 
It took a month to finally get a call from the doctor with all the results. Thankfully, the EEG did not show any epileptical discharges this time. So, apparently, the medication is working to control her seizures. They did, however, diagnose her with mild Sleep Apnea. It runs in the family, so it didn't really come as a surprise. 
 
They gave us our treatment options over the phone:  (1) Wait and watch, (2) See an ENT for a consult on her tonsils and adenoids, (3) Use a C-PAP machine, and (4) Give medication to help reduce inflammation in the nasal passages.
 
We will be seeing the doctor again in July to discuss our treatment options more but, for now, we are choosing to wait and watch. Her oxygen level never went below 96%, so that shows us it is a very mild case, thank the Lord. 
 
Sorry it took me so long to give an update. (But, at least it wasn't "bad" news, right?!)  
 
 

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

When God Doesn't Run

My husband, David, has been a Paramedic for the past 26 years. As time has gone by, he has gained some valuable experience in how to give his patients the best care he can possibly give. One of the main things he has learned is that it is best NOT to run. He always tries to help in the quickest amount of time that he can, but he doesn’t run. You may be wondering, "Why not?" After all, if a patient is hurting, shouldn’t the medics get to him as soon as possible? Shouldn’t they just jump out of the ambulance and literally run to their patient’s aid? That’s what most people think should happen. In fact, there are times when David has been accused of being uncaring because he didn’t go as quick as others thought he should have. One woman actually yelled at him, "Why aren’t you running?!" This woman, and many others, believed that a lack of running meant the medics just didn’t care. But, that is far from the truth. Let me explain...

David had a partner once who was previously told she needed to grab the drug box and run inside as soon as the ambulance came to a stop. She was told it was her job to do that, so that is what she always did. But, when she changed ambulance companies and David became her partner, he gave her a different perspective. He explained to her that if she ran to the patient in that way, she couldn’t really give her best care. Why? Because:

1. Running produces breathlessness, and breathlessness produces the inability to think clearly. How can they properly take vital signs or get the correct drug dosages if they are out of breath and can’t focus their whole attention on the patient?

2. Running can cause a medic to trip and fall. How can they help their patient if they fall and injure themselves?

3. Running in with only the drug box and without the equipment needed to start the IV’s that ADMINISTER the drugs is not very helpful. How can they provide proper care if they don’t have all the pieces they need?

The key to proper care is to remain calm and in control of the situation; to stay focused. Running will not help them do that.

Now, to apply this to God and His relationship with us...

Usually, when we are hurting, we want God to run to us and rescue the day. We want him to hurry up and fix what is causing our pain. When he doesn’t help us as quickly as we think He should, we may begin to think He doesn’t care about us. But, the fact is, He has promised to give us all we need - but in HIS TIME, not ours - and sometimes that means we have to wait.

When God doesn’t run, its because He knows what is best for us. We need to realize we don’t have all the facts. We don’t know all the behind-the-scenes work that is going on in our lives. HE DOES!

When God doesn’t run, its because He may be waiting for all the pieces to come together that will provide us with the insight, guidance, and strength we need to continue on our journey as Christians.

When God doesn’t run, its NOT because He doesn’t care. Its because He is remaining calm and IN CONTROL of the situation. Trust in Him. You are in the best of care when you are in the care of His loving hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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