Christmas Blessings

With great joy I share with you that Mom is home for Christmas for the first time in years! Yeah! What a praise to God! She has been home close to Christmas...the day before or after but not home on the actual day. She is so happy! Dad and Mom will be celebrating Christmas at the ranch this year with Mark's family, along with Tim Rice (Dad's cousin) and his special friend, Betty. Mom is singing God's praises and is so thankful for this opportunity. Emilee helped decorate the house to make it more festive for Christmas and Felicia will be doing a bulk of the cooking. All in all, a great time is expected with much to rejoice about.

Mom continues to struggle with her health, some days are better than others. She is grateful for each and every day and takes no day for granted. Her kidneys are her biggest concern of late now that her loss of sight and liver have stabilized. God is so merciful. To think that five and a half years she was told that she would only live for 21 days if she didn't seek medical treatment. Mom is a walking testimony to the glory of God.

On behalf of my precious parents, we would like to wish you all...

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

and

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving! Mom was abundantly blessed to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends in Cayucos. Dad and Mom joined Mark's family and the Berry family for a wonderful day filled with joy, fellowship and delicious food. Felicia and her sister prepared a special Thanksgiving feast with delightful french twist. How fun!

Mom continues the thank God for her health and all the mercy He graces her with each day. Mom, whose cup is always half full, is thankful that she at least is no longer legally blind in both eyes. One of her eyes has improved slightly and she is most grateful. She is able to keep what she eats down and isn't having to report to the Infusion Lab daily. She is thankful to be able to spend most of her time at the ranch. It is quite the testimony that she looks for things to be grateful about instead of griping and complaining about what isn't right in her life. I am so proud of Mom and praise God for her. She is praying that God would continue to keep His hand of blessing upon her and orchestrate things so she will be home for Christmas this year. Last year, she was in the hospital. If Mom comes to mind, please continue to pray for her health and that God would grant her the gift of being home for Christmas.

Many Blessings to you and your family!

Grateful

Mom is grateful to be home again. It was determined that an overdose of one of her medications was contributing to her weakened health. So with a change in her medication intake, she was discharged and sent home. Yeah! Mom had wanted to be home in time to attend the memorial service of a dear friend and long time pastor, Scott Bond. With all praise to God, Mom and Dad were home to attend the service which Mom said was helpful for closure as she mourns this great man's passing. Scott Bond had been the pastor of the Creston Church for many years and will be missed but not forgotten.


Mom continues to struggle with her sight and is grateful for what sight she does still have. She has been able to keep food down and sleep better a night. What a praise! Each day is a gift and Mom knows this. It is Mom's goal to enjoy each day.

"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."

~Psalms 118:24

Long Over Due Update

Stasi, Dad, Mom, Tamy and Mark

Grandpa and Grandma with 17 of their 18 grandchildren

Dad, Tanna, Rainee (1st great-grandchild) and Mom

After a relatively uneventful summer with regards to her health, Mom now finds herself back in the hospital. She is feeling much better and hopes to be out soon. She was have lots of trouble with her electrolytes, vomiting, dehydration and processing the tetracycline she is current taking. A positive note is that the medication she has been on to help with her blood and platelets has been working great in that area, although it does wreck havoc on other parts of her body. Mom hopes to be released in the next few days. I hope it will be soon. Dad struggles when Mom goes into the hospital. Each visit seems to get harder on him. He just hates to see her have to deal with so much. If you happen to be near Stanford Hospital, please feel free to drop by and say "hi" or call her at 650-498-3073.

The photos above were taken at our family reunion in August. We all had a wonderful time! What a blessing that Mom felt well enough to enjoy the day. For many of us, it was our first opportunity to meet Tanna's new daughter, Rainee (8 months). What a sweet little girl! How time flies! Mom and Dad are now great-grandparents, Mark is a grandpa, and Tanna is a mom. Four generations were represented at our reunion. God is so good and faithful.

Thank you for thinking of Mom. All prayers said on her behalf are greatly appreciated. Many Blessings!

Always Grateful

Mom is home and doing better. As always, she has the joy of the Lord on her lips...in spite of the fact she truly doesn't feel good. She is grateful for her pain medication that she takes constantly. She is grateful that she still has sight no matter how little and that her lack of sight has given her bad headaches. She is grateful that the doctors don't think she had a heart attack and that her recent condition may have been caused by an imbalance of some sort or another. She is grateful that she can hold food down even if it means eating "stick to your ribs" oatmeal first each day. Mom always finds the joy in every condition that she finds herself in. Her strength and joy truly comes form the Lord.

Mom is also grateful that she was recently able to attend a play at North County Christian School. It was about the life of Helen Keller. She said it was wonderful! Haustin took her to see the play and Garrett was in the play. How fun!!

If you think of Mom, please say a prayer for her. She would be most grateful.

A New Challenge

Mom had some unexpected trouble this last weekend. Doctors think that Mom may have had a heart attack and she is currently under going tests. Mom will meet with Dr. Shrier on Tuesday and hopefully receives some answers. There is some debate about whether she should be taking aspirin to prevent future heart attacks. If she takes aspirin her heart may be protected but with her extra thin blood, aspirin could cause unwanted and dangerous bleeding. If she has had a heart attack, it was most likely mild which is a very good thing.

On a good note, Mom's platelets are at a 40 (they usually are in the 10 to 20 range) and her red and white blood cells are almost at a "normal" level. Wahoo!! The new experimental medication that she is on has been working on her blood positively. The flip side to this is that her liver, kidneys and lungs are still in very tough shape. Not good. Mom's greatest comfort is that God is in control of her health.

Mom has been at the apartment since the weekend. If all goes according to Mom's plan, she will be heading back to the ranch tomorrow. I pray she will get her heart's desire. Thank you for your concern for Mom. Many Blessings!

Joy in the Lord

No matter what Mom seems to be dealing with, she always has joy in the Lord. Mom's eyesight continues to be a challenge. Tomorrow she is due to have injections in her eye's (sounds awful just thinking about it!) to help her remaining sight from deteriorating. Mom said that the first couple of days after the injections, her eyes hurt more before they start to feel better. Although Mom has many medical challenges, this does not stop her from enjoying her life. Just today, Mom was blessed to join friends at church for a time of Bible study and then a luncheon afterwards. Being a small world, I received this from my dear friend, Rana...

"guess what
i met your mother today
what a sweetie
and boy oh boy does she ever testify to the glory of God!"

What a blessing to my heart that Mom is a joy to others as she is to me. If Mom comes to mind, please continue to pray for her. I know that Mom covets your prayers.

Mom's View

There is always something new with Mom when it comes to her health. This week there has been a major change in her ability to see. Mom has suffers from cataracts but now she is also facing new challenges with a condition called Wet Macular Degeneration. After visiting with an eye specialist on Friday, it has been confirmed that she is losing the sight in one eye. With treatment, the doctor hopes to repair the damage in the other eye so she won't lose her sight in that eye as well. Mom said that it was somewhat unsettling to have the doctor stick a needle in her eye but she is already starting to see some improvement. Praise the Lord!

Mom is dizzy but not in any pain. As a matter of fact, she hasn't needed to take any pain medication for a while. Yeah! She hasn't been vomiting as much thanks to her new diet of "glue" oatmeal. Mom said that if she cooks her oatmeal until it is of a "glue" consistency, then it "sticks" to her stomach and helps to hold food down. I am not sure how medically sound her "cure" is but I am grateful she has found something that will work for her.

It is amazing how Mom's faith and optimism never changes. She trusts that God is in control and is grateful for improved sight instead of focusing on her loss of sight. She is looking forward to going to church on Sunday. I am so glad that she is able to continue doing the things she loves.

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

GRANDMA MATTIE!!!

We Love you.

Today is Mom's birthday. She is going to spend the day having lunch with my sweet sister-in-law, Felicia, and her special friend, Jean. After lunch in Paso Robles, Mom and Felicia will be heading down to meet Stasi and Morgan in San Luis Obispo for some frozen yogurt. Mom is looking forward to a delightful and relaxing day. Sounds like fun.

Five Years

I recently had a wonderful conversation with Mom. It is not that all conversations are not great, this one was just a sweet reminder of God's faithfulness and mercy. It blesses me that we can talk about things of God and share our hearts freely. We were reflecting on the fact that this coming March Mom will have been battling the challenges of Aplastic Anemia for FIVE YEARS! Wow!

I still remember sitting in the doctor's office and hearing him say that unless aggressive and adequate treatment was received, Mom would only live for 21 days. After this news, Dad, Mom, Stasi and I went to lunch. During lunch Mom began teasing Dad about just needing to make a full size stand up poster of her and put it in the dining room so each morning he could come in and have their daily "state of the union" conversation. She figured he'd hardly even miss her when she was gone if he went with the poster idea. Dad kept saying, "That's not funny Dianne" with each new "plan" she had...giving her car away, etc. This was all done in good humor, although Dad wasn't appreciating it much. I was. Mom was showing us all how she was going to handle the challenge before her...with humor! I believe that it has been her great outlook on life, her sense of humor, and her strong faith and trust in God that has given her the last five years. The life expectancy of the average patient with her medical condition is two years. God has mercifully given her three extra and Lord willing, there will be many more years ahead.

Mom's condition doesn't change much. She deals with excessive pain, vomiting, break through bleeding and the need for blood and platelets. Some days are better than others. She has felt bad for so long that she has forgotten what is it like to feel good. She is grateful to be able to spend most of her time at the ranch. She is finding the good in every day God has graciously given to her. Recently, I had surgery that left me in a similar condition as Mom for about three weeks. As I struggled to recover, I couldn't help but grow in my sympathy and admiration for Mom. Her walk is so hard. I about fell apart with my trial and she keeps walking with hope.

I am very proud of Mom. She trusts in God and it is reflected in her daily life...what a testimony.

Doing Better

Mom was released from the hospital a while back and has since celebrated Christmas at the ranch with family...her perfect plan... just a little bit later than originally expected. A blessing nevertheless.

When I talked with Mom this evening, she had just taken a nap after spending time in town for church and lunch with Mark's family. They had lunch at a Chinese buffet place that both Mom and Dad enjoy greatly. Mom is always so thankful when she can eat out since this is not something is always allowed to do with her health issues.

Mom says that she is doing better this week. She is gaining weight which means that she is able to keep food down. Yeah! She feels better is very pleased about how things are going. She will be returning to Stanford on Wednesday for a regular check up. I asked how it is that things are better as of late. She said that a mass amount of antibiotics, platelets and some red blood cells have been the key. Now she is consuming lots of yogurt to put back some of what the antibiotics have "killed" but all is well since she has always liked yogurt. She is still on all the rest of her medications to help keep things in balance. Not an easy task but Mom said that Dad is great at keeping her medications organized.

Mon and Dad are thankful for all the prayers, encouragement and support given on her behalf. Thank you for caring. We appreciate you greatly.