Surgery

I like what someone told me one time about surgery. They said, "Surgery is not major unless it's happening to you!" How true that is!!! I've had over 2 months to worry about this surgery, and it seemed the closer the date got the more worried I became. I had to continuously take captive the thoughts which were not true, noble, lovely, pure, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy, and turn them over to the Lord. I tell you, it was a BATTLE!!!!

But, then, the BATTLE became BEAUTIFUL!!! I knew people were praying for me, and I heard such words of encouragement from many people this past Sunday night, BUT I still was very nervous. I prayed about God giving me a peace about the surgery, but I just couldn't stop worrying about it...until Monday night. I can't explain it, but it had to have been people praying for me. I FELT God's peace wash over me, and I actually slept well until 3:30AM when my alarm clock went off!!! I got up, got ready, and still I was peaceful. Was I still worried? Yes, a little, but God's peace was stronger, and I RESTED in it!!! It was amazing. In my Bible reading from the previous day, God gave me such words of encouragement to cling to. It came from Isaiah 43, verses 1-2.

Now, this is what the Lord says - the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel - "Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are MINE. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire and the flame will not burn you."

And then in Isaiah 43:4, He said, "Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and I love you, I will give human beings in your place, and peoples in place of your life. DO NOT FEAR, FOR I AM WITH YOU!!!!!!"

I literally clung to that last line, and I constantly repeated it throughout the day, on the way to the hospital, and even as I lay there in bed, waiting for them to poke needles and such in me.

The surgery was supposed to only take about a couple of hours, even though they allot 3 for it. My surgery took 3 1/2 hours. My doctor told me I got all of his 17 years of experience in that one operation. My thyroid was large, much larger than what anyone realized. We knew it was underneath both sides of my collarbone, but nobody knew that it had grown around my voice box to where it almost touched on the backside of it. The doctor came in the next morning to shake my hand and congratulate me, telling me that I was in his top 10 most worst surgeries he's ever done!!!

Let me just say that I know God's hand was in it. We can't live in "what if's", but who knows what would have happened to my voice if we had waited any longer about having my thyroid removed. I imagine I might have been without a voice, which is NOT a terrible thing, but it would have been an adjustment. I'm so thankful that God in His infinite wisdom orchestrated all of this, and the surgeon got the thyroid out without any complications other than it being physically tiring for him!!!

Praise Reports

I don't know how too many people get by without prayer. I'm a FIRM BELIEVER in prayer. We've been praying about my upcoming surgery and how much my thyroid is extending into my chest, if it is at all. PRAISE THE LORD I received a phone call that it is NOT extending into my chest, and it should be no problem to remove. We were also concerned about insurance not covering the CT scan, but we received a letter stating that they are!!! God is so good!!!

I went for a laryngoscopy last week to check out my vocal chords. That's where they take this tiny camera and shove it up your nose and down your throat to take pics of the vocal chords. It didn't hurt at all, but was more of a pressured feeling in my nose. I'm just thankful that I didn't sneeze!!! LOL The ENT doc told me my chords look good. (There is still a risk, however, with them being damaged during surgery, but I'm just relying on prayer and my Lord!)

Then today was echocardiogram day to check out the heart murmur I've had since I was a child. My pediatrician back then seemed to think I would outgrow it, but I never have. I haven't received the results from it yet, but I did find out the name of my murmur. It's HOCM. I have NO CLUE as to what that stands for. The technician told me, but it was so long and such an unfamiliar term that it basically went in one ear and slid right out the other side. 8)

Surgery is 1 week from Tuesday, and I greatly appreciate prayers. My mind is my worst enemy, and that is where I have a battle going on most of the time. I have to take my thoughts captive and surrender them to the Lord, and ask Him for His help to replace them with true, noble, lovely, and pleasing thoughts. And yet again, prayer is working!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, is there something that you need help with? Are you going through a difficult time? Prayer works!! Let me know if I can pray for you, and I will do it! God bless!

WOW!!

Oh my! It has been such a long time since I have blogged, and there have been many events that I have missed celebrating on my blog. So, in order to get "caught up", I'll just hit some highlights, and maybe later I can go back and add a few pics! :)

We started back to school in August of 2009. S., started 2nd grade, and C., is in 1 1/2. :) He needed some repetiton with some math and phonics skills so rather than stressing, we're repeating! Isn't that what homeschooling is about? Being flexible - seeing a need and doing what helps your child the most? (Maybe not doing what is most convenient for you.) Anyway, both are doing great, and I'm seeing C. having much success, so I believe it was right for him. S., amazes me, and sometimes I wonder how she learned to read as well as she does. She has some struggles as well, but mostly it's just becoming frustrated with herself because she doesn't get the correct answer right off the bat.

We also took a trip to the beach in August. It had been years since we had been, so I was really looking forward to it. The kids were, too! My, how I love to sit in the ocean and just watch the tide roll in and out. It's so relaxing!! To top it all off, for the first time in my life, I saw dolphins!!!!! Now that was a great sight. There were at least 5-6 or more at one time. I can't tell you how many pictures I made just trying to capture the perfect shot!! Anyone who knows me, knows I love to snap and snap and snap!! :) This was probably the most relaxed trip we have ever had. We did NO shopping. We just swam and sat in the ocean and pool, but we did go out to eat some. One can't travel to the beach and NOT get fresh seafood, so we included that in our plans!!






In September, we celebrated some birthdays - C.'s, my dad's, and mine. One big thing that took us all by surprise was while we were out celebrating C.'s birthday a day ahead of time (because of hubby's work), we received a shocking phone call. We were told that my dad had gone for his stress test results, and received bad news. Now, of all people I know, I NEVER, EVER would have expected my dad to have heart problems. He exercised everyday, ate well, etc. - a picture of "health" you could say. So this news pulled the rug right out from under my feet. We were in a public place, laughing, playing games, and having a blast, but that all turned to fear, sadness, and devestation. Because the blockages were so bad Dad was going to be brought by ambulance to the hospital so he could undergo open heart surgery the next day (C.'s birthday). The doctors said if he had a heart attack it would have been massive and killed him. The next day, we tried to make C.'s birthday very special even though we had to celebrate in the hospital's waiting room. We had cupcakes and sang to him. He really didn't seem to mind, and I was so thankful. Well, Daddy is okay after having quadruple bypass surgery. I'm so thankful that God had been and still is watching over him!



On Wednesday, November 18, 2009, we awoke to a wonderful surprise. Santa had come and brought us Disney World tickets!!!! We had only a couple of weeks to get ready, but we were SOOOOO excited (including me)!!!!! Then, of course, we had Thanksgiving. Hubby had to work, so the kids and I went to my Mom's. It's always a delicious meal, and I even made an old dish in a new way this time. I made Green Bean Casserole, but I didn't use any cream of mushroom soup or fried onions. I'll try to put the recipe on my blog, but it was absolutely delicious!!





December is such a big month, full of celebrations and parties, but our biggest was when we went to Disney World. We left on Thursday, December 3 and came back on Friday, December 11. What a trip it was!! It was so much fun, mainly because we were able to take our time and not feel rushed since we had a full week to visit all 4 parks!! And, the place we stayed was AWESOME!!! The condo was lovely, and they had a Pizza Hut on sight as well as a deli. It was super clean, which is what I like when I am away from home.

We met some of the characters. One highlight of our trip was eating with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald at Chef Mickey's. I think this will be a trip that is treasured and remember by all of us for many years to come.




































Christmas seemed to arrive in no time at all since we were gone the first week of December. Hubby usually has vacation time that he has saved so that we can all be together even before and after Christmas. It's always a welcoming time!

Because Santa had told the kids he might bring them a few small surprises if they behaved, he came back on Christmas Eve. :)

Hubby and I celebrated 17 WONDERFUL years of marriage the day after Christmas!! I can honestly say that I married my best friend, and I truly appreciate God blessing me with him.


We took our usual trip to the mountains, but we left on a Sunday this year with the intent of "dropping in" on a church on the way. Since we arrived too early to a couple that we had in mind, we decided to go to another along the way. It was a blessing!!! All of the congregation sang the first verse of Amazing Grace in English and then they sang it in Cherokee. Since we do not know the Cherokee language, we just listened. What a blessing it was!!! It reminded me of what I've heard others talk about when they've been on a mission trip, and people are worship in a different language. It gave me glory bumps!!! :)

We really enjoyed our time at Dollywood, riding the rides and such. We didn't want to come back home.

We rang in the new year just being at home, and we drank our Welch's Sparkling grape juice! :)

We did something different on New Year's Day this year. Instead of heading to Mom's for collards and black eyed peas (yummo!!), we had our Christmas gathering with hubby's family. We had a good time, but I sure did miss those awesome collard greens my mom cooks!!

Well, I think that gets me caught up for a while now. Oh yeah, I do have an appointment coming up Monday with a surgeon. I found out in December that my thyroid is so large that it's already growing underneath both sides of my clavicle. My doctor said it was so large that when it is removed my voice would probably change. So, if you read my blog, please whisper a prayer for me. I don't know when the surgery will be, but I'm assuming we'll set all of that up on Monday. Thanks so much!!!