Moving on...

I've spoken with the scheduler for Hannah's urologist several times a day for the last few days in order to figure out what we are supposed to do. So, the news is that surgery will likely go as planned. The insurance company will consider her primary care doctor as one of the 2 other "opinions" necessary to continue and we can use one of the doctors in the urologist's practice that we go to. Great news! Also, Hannah will not have to go to the appointment that has been scheduled with another urologist in the practice - he is just going to go over her doctor's films and notes and discuss the "options" with me just as Hannah's urologist has done. No more tests or procedures for her until the surgery. Thank goodness! That appointment is on Friday (October 5) in the afternoon. I don't foresee any surprises with that appointment.

Brandon joined Boy Scouts today and is going on his first campout with them next week. We are going to go up tomorrow and spend the night as a family. I'm looking forward to relaxing. I'll post pictures in a few weeks when I get all the patches and stuff sewn on his shirt.

Brent is still waiting for another set of interviews with the company he really wants to work at. (Can't post the name or it may give away location.) We are hoping it will be early in the week next week and that they make a decision very soon after. He wants out of the company he is with so badly.

Kodi and Maya get along - mostly. We've had a few fights but so far nothing drastic. I don't know what we will do if they do get into a really bad fight. But so far so good.

Brent's cousin - dr. suggests a bilateral mestectomy and reconstruction surgery even though the cancer is at such an early stage. Her age and family history predict that a future incident of breast cancer is likely so it would be better to take care of it now. They've seen the surgeon, the plastic surgeon and now the oncologist. Surgery is scheduled for Oct. 4th. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and
peace of mind for her. Pray for no complications.

Hannah - Brent contacted the insurance and someone told him that we can have one other opinion and it can be from the same practice. The urologist's office is checking into that and I should hear from them tomorrow or Monday as to if all is well and we can move forward with the surgery for her.

I hate insurance companies

Hannah's urologist office called today and said they had an approval for the surgery then they didn't because Brent's company has some "clause" in it that says we have to have a 2nd AND 3rd opinion before surgery. There is no way in **** I'm going to have Hannah do another VCUG. I'm so upset. Brent is going to try to get it all straightened out. We have a little less than a month before the surgery and all this has to be done well before that in order for the surgery to proceed.
I'm so frustrated.

My baby is 3 today!

Hannah turned 3 today! We went out to dinner tonight with my parents and Brent's mom. She was embarrassed when we sang Happy Birthday in the restaurant. I'll post pictures when I download them later.

She is such a sweet girl. I'm so glad she was born.

Hannah's Birthday Party

Our birthday girl!
Singing - she was a bit embarrassed.
Enjoying her cupcake and ice cream.

Birthdays

Brent's Grandpa's birthday was today. This is one of the only pictures I have of him. I posted it before when Brandon had to do a time line. Look how little he was - I think he was a few days old.

Tomorrow is Hannah's birthday party. The cupcakes are not coming out like I wanted but I'll make them work. I can't believe on Monday my baby will be 3! She is getting to be such a big girl.

updates

Continued prayers -
Brent's cousin - waiting to find out information from doctors - surgery scheduled for October 4. Pray that decisions will be filled with peace. Pray that chemo won't be necessary.

Brent - had some interviews this week and he thinks they went really well. He wants out of the company he is with. This company has adoption benefits (bonus!) I want him to be happy in where he is.

Hannah - no sign of UTI's but the medicine she is taking is horrible. We have to hold her down to get it in. We got it flavored in the flavor she likes, they added a sweetner to it - nothing works. She cries "Get me out of here!" is her new one. We hold her down and tell her if she spits it out we have to do it all over again. I hate that this is happening to her. Year 3 for her will be better

Can the terrible 2's strike 5+ years later? :)

*sigh*

I'm still tired. I don't think I ever "caught up" from the other night when I was up until all hours because my body wouldn't go to sleep. My job is going well but so very tiring. The kids keep me busy the whole time I'm there. I fell asleep long before Brent even came to bed last night which is very unusual.

Brent has a job interview tomorrow and Thursday. We are really hoping something comes of it.

I've been working on Hannah's birthday - if you are in town and you want to come it is at my parent's house - just swimming and cake and ice cream. (This is for family and friends in town) She wanted a castle cake but I couldn't find my castle cake pan in the boxes in storage. She is getting cupcakes - the website I used as inspiration is http://www.cupcakefun.com/ideas/puffeduppetalscupcakes.cfm I've never made anything with fondant so I'm hoping they look okay. Brent helped me make all the petals we need and they are in a container drying. I'm making the cupcakes tomorrow and I'll probably decorate them on Friday night.

I'm tired but I can't sleep. I really hate nights like this.

Surgery

Hannah's surgery has been scheduled for October 23 at 11 a.m. She has to fast for 8 hours before (no water, no food) and has to be at the hospital at 9 a.m. The surgery will last for 2 hours.

Kodi is home and adjusting to Maya. The family that had her wasn't as bad in person as I felt they were on the phone. The dogs are trying to figure out who is the head dog. Maya being a "puppy" at only a year and Kodi being an "adult" at 7 years don't necessarily "mix" all the time. Maya wants to play all the time and Kodi is pretty mellow. The other issue we are having is food. We've always just left a bowl out for Kodi since he never ate a full meal at once. Well, Maya has been eating more than her share today. We are going to have to feed them at together in different areas. This has been a learning experience for all of us. I never wanted two dogs at once but we love both of them for different reasons and could never willingly give either up.

Another prayer request - one of my student's 3 week old brother passed away this morning. I know it was a co-sleeping accident but no more than that. I feel so badly for this family. Noone should ever have to lose a child.

Update

Hannah's appointment is over. It wasn't fun. She cried, I cried, we left. She cried from the time we got her undressed and up on the table and didn't stop until we went to my parent's house and she fell asleep on Brent's lap. She has not gone to the bathroom since she was finished with the procedure which was over at about 10:00 this morning. (It is now 3:30) She keeps complaining that she has a "rash" and can't go to the bathroom. I imagine she feels like she has a diaper rash or something. We are trying to convince her that she has to go to the bathroom but she is very stubborn. I feel so bad for her. We are pushing fluids and icepops and anything that will encourage her to got to the bathroom. Every once in awhile she says "Ouch, ouch, my heiny" in a high pitched voice. But she refuses to go to the bathroom. When she does go it will hurt (burn) but then her stomach won't hurt.

She will have surgery to correct the reflux. This will protect her kidney from any damage from UTI's that gets. It will not stop the UTI's. We will have her on long term antibiotics until we are sure that she has outgrown them. (The antibiotics are specific for bladders so if she builds up resistance it won't cause problems if she needs antibiotics for something else in the future.) We decided that since the surgery was 99% effective and the other option wasn't a guarantee that this was the best choice. She would have had to have the VCUG again to see if it worked and I don't want to do that. We are waiting for the scheduler to call us with a date for the surgery. She will be in the hospital for about 3 days. We'll take the day off when she has to go in then my mom will sit with her during the days, I'll pick up Brandon, my mom will switch with me with Brandon, Brent and I will both spend the evenings with her and I'll spend the nights at the hospital, Brent will pick Brandon up from my mom and take him home for the evening. We don't want her to be alone for any length of time at the hospital.

More news: someone found Kodi. We still haven't gotten him back. A vet in town called as soon as we walked into my parent's house this morning and said a woman brought in "her" dog to get his claws trimmed and vaccinated. She told the vet that he was a stray that they have had since the end of July (Kodi went "missing" on July 27). The vet decided that since he was a well kept dog (and purebred) that they should scan him to see if he is microchipped. Well, he is! They got our name and phone number and the vet called. She gave me the woman's name and phone numbers and I called right away. I left a message on her cell phone but her house phone doesn't have an answering machine. Susie did a reverse look up (or something) and found out the address. It is almost directly across Swan maybe a mile away (less by the way the crow flies). I passed the house on my way back from picking Brandon up from school and there was a truck in the driveway so I called the house phone again. I told the man who answered who I was and why I was calling. I asked when I could come by and pick up "Snow" (the name they are calling Kodi fitting since his pedigree name is J********'s Kodiak Snow). He didn't sound very happy about it. He questioned me as to when "Snow" went missing - July - what kind of dog is he - American Eskimo. Said his wife would call me back. I had called the vet back earlier and the receptionist told me that the woman was a regular so she must have pets and must realize we would be missing him. The woman said she would follow up on getting him back to us but the vet didn't seem convinced. We have the law on our side since he is microchipped in our name. We have his pedigree. I'm even thinking that he was due for 2 of his shots so I would even be willing to pay the people for those two but no more since if they had taken him to the vet before or to the humane society or animal control they wouldn't have had to pay for these shots. I'm guessing that they realize he is a beautiful, purebred dog with a wonderful personality and they don't want to give him up. They may fight us a bit. After 2 months I don't think we should even offer them a reward or give them one should they ask. They had our dog for 2 months - Come On! We'll see what happens. They are supposed to call my cell this afternoon and make arrangements with us for pick-up. I'm feeling a little leary.

Prayers

1. Hannah has her VCUG tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9:45 a.m. It isn't necessarily a painful procedure (at least that's what the doctor tells us) but it is uncomfortable for her. We are hoping that the doctor will sit down with us afterwards and discuss the next step which is likely surgery. Brent and I dread the crying and discomfort for Hannah but we know this is what we need to do for her.

2. A cousin of Brent's found out she has breast cancer. Luckily it was caught early and we are waiting to hear how she is and what the doctors are going to do. She has two little guys and I imagine she is scared and nervous. I've been thinking about her a lot this week.

3. Our SIL's mom has been not feeling well and the last I heard the doctor's couldn't find what was wrong. She was supposed to schedule an appointment with a neurologist.

4. My uncle has cancer that has recurred and has started chemo again.

5. Today is September 11th. That speaks for itself.

More on Maya

We picked Maya up at the humane society on Saturday. (We have never found Kodi) She was listed as an Australian Cattle Dog mix - all the pictures I've seen of Australian Cattle Dogs look nothing like Maya. She looks like she has a bit of shepherd in her as well. She also has no tail.

She loves to play fetch - doesn't seem to tire of it. She doesn't bark (or hasn't yet) She is crate trained and sleeps well in it. She is housebroken. She is perfect for our family.

Maya

pictures

Apple picking
Boothill

Hannah at Tombstone.
This is the kids getting ready to go into the mine.I love this one of Brandon leaving the mine.

Brandon has been working on a project for school on an ancient civilization. He chose the Han dynasty. We did research together on the internet and in some books we had. He told me what he wanted to include then we typed it up (mainly due to neatness issues!), Mumpie scanned some pictures that were related to what Brandon inclued and presto - a beautiful presentation for his class. He is practicing in this picture. It is due next Friday. (I'm glad he finished it early though!)
Hannah got a birthday present today from Brent's best friend Scott and his wife Michelle. She LOVED it! It is a Barbie Island Princess dress and the doll. The doll sings two songs that I think she learned within minutes of opening the doll because she played them over and over and over.... I don't know if Scott and Michelle read this blog but if they do - Thank you!

Hannah Update

Hannah seems to be feeling better. She loves her medicine too so that makes it easier to give it to her. I don't remember if I posted but she isn't on Cipro anymore - dr. took her off it and put her on Cephalexin which isn't as potent to her. If the infection comes back after her course of this antibiotic then we will give her the Cipro to "kill" the rest of the infection.

Her urologist's office called this morning and moved up the next VCUG as I requested. She goes in next Wednesday (the 12th) at 9:45 a.m. Hopefully they will be able to see how many "connections" the double ureter has to her bladder this time and determine the next step. (likely the surgery) I'm going to take the day off work and either my mom will go with us or Brent if he can get the time off. If he can't I'll get all the information from the doctor and bring it home to Brent so we can decide what to do.

She does have Grade 4 reflux and the information that I have gotten so far points to "replumbing" that side of her bladder which would mean a stay in the hospital. At this point I think we just want it all fixed so we don't have to worry about kidney damage from these UTI's. I have to remember to ask the doctor if this will stop the UTI's and if not what we do to stop them as well. I hate that she is on long term antibiotics - even if they are generally for the bladder only.

November 25

that is the date of the referrals for this month. 4 days worth. I know they are bigger days though. It feels like they may never get through November.


In other news - we took a family trip this weekend. Down to Bisbee, Tombstone, and Wilcox. We went into the mine, watched the OK Corral gunfight and picked apples and pears. I'll have pictures soon