BOW-Heads and a Boy

If you have daughters, then you know how much fun it is, to get them all dolled up and make them feel special. My girls have been picky about the clothes they wear from an early age. It's so funny the way that happens. It's like a female instinct to want to match. Thanks to a super sweet friend of mine, taught me how to make bows a couple years ago. Since we have three girls this has turned out to be a wonderful thing. If you buy all your bows at the mall, you know how expensive they are. Think of that times three every time you buy a bow. You could go broke just putting together one outfit. Making hair bows is now one of my favorite hobbies. The girls always feel pretty when they have bows in their hair. Today the girls are wearing some of my most recent bow designs.

Watermelon Bow

Fall Bow

I Have "FALL"en In Love

Signs of Fall are here in Texas. I love this time of year! The weather is beautiful! Cool days and even cooler nights! We have had a lot of rainy days lately, which I love. I love this sort of weather. I love cloudy fall days that are crisp and make me want to make apple crisp and homemade chili. Do you know what I am talking about? The smells are wonderful. I love driving down the road and seeing pumpkins and scarecrows and all the fall colors. I just absolutely love this time of year...I just wish it would last longer.

Here are some pictures of the Quads that were taken yesterday. We pulled these dresses out from the back of their closets. And they even had to wear a sweater over them so they would not get chilly. A perfect fall morning.

My Life Could Be A Grey's Anatomy Episode

We got some good and bad news this week. Good news is that there is a very slight improvement in my blood clot compared to about 2 months ago. Bad news is the doctor had the interventional radiologist study the films and they have determined that it has been too long for the procedure we were hoping for to be affective. There is nothing the hematologist or interventional radiologist can do to help treat me. The next step, the doctor is referring me to a vascular surgeon. Hopefully, they will have an answer to take care of me. Otherwise, there is no telling how long this very large blood clot will take to resolve.

In other health news, Monday, the doctor sent me to the emergency room for some tests. For the last several days I have been having severe chest pains, and tightness. Making it hard and painful to breath. I have also had a lot of swelling in my arms and hands. At first it was an immediate worry that part of the clot may have broken off and traveled to my lungs causing a Pulmonary embolism. However that is not the case, thankfully. The doctor says I have a pleurisy. And the doctor says I probably have a blood clot in my arms. However, since my treatment would be the same as the treatment I am already receiving for the leg clot, they did not scan my arms. There is no treatment for pleurisy. You just treat the pain. I'm already on heavy pain medications so there was no reason to keep me in the hospital. They sent me home and I'm back to resting. I was told it takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks for the pleurisy to go away.

"What is pleurisy?

Pleurisy is swelling (inflammation) of the thin layers of tissue (pleura) covering the lungs and the chest wall.

The outer layer of the pleura lines the inside of the chest wall, and the inner layer covers the lungs. The tiny space between the two layers is called the pleural cavity. This cavity normally contains a small amount of lubricating fluid that allows the two layers to slide over each other when you breathe.

When the pleura becomes inflamed, the layers rub together, causing chest pain. This is known as pleuritic pain.

Pleurisy is sometimes called pleuritis.

What causes pleurisy?

In young, healthy people, an infection of the lower respiratory system by a virusor bacteria may cause pleurisy. Pleurisy usually lasts a few days to 1 or 2 weeks. In very rare cases, the virus or bacteria may spread and cause pleurisy in others.

Other causes of pleurisy include air leaking into the pleural cavity from a lung (pneumothorax), injury to the chest (such as a broken rib), tuberculosis or other infections, or a tumor in the pleura.

Other conditions may also cause pleurisy. These include rheumatoid arthritis,lupus, sickle cell crisis, pulmonary embolism, or pancreatitis. Pleurisy may also develop as a complication of heart surgery.

What are the symptoms of pleurisy?

The symptoms of pleurisy are chest pain and difficulty breathing. The chest pain usually starts suddenly. People often describe it as a stabbing pain and it usually gets worse with breathing. The pain:

• May always be present, but it usually gets worse when you breathe in. You may avoid breathing deeply to prevent the pain.
• Usually is on only one side of the chest.
• May extend to a shoulder or the belly.
• Is usually worse when you cough, sneeze, or suddenly move.
• May ease when you hold your breath or press on the painful area." (www.webmd.com)

Another Masterpiece

Logan has been hard at work. Here is his second published piece of art. This piece of artwork is " a Piet Mondrian Inspired Shape Collage". What an artist!

Check out my new WHEELS!

I'm officially OLD. No, I did not turn 30 yet. I got a wheel chair! Thanks to this chair, I can get around in the downstairs of the house easily and go outside the house and to my appointments without passing out, from standing and walking with my walker. Whohoo!

There's nothing real pretty about it. Not exactly on the list of most fashionable accessories to add to your wardrobe. So to make it a little more me, I decided to decorate it with ribbon. So I made two bows to add to my chair. Now I'm styling.

(I'm exhausted and in pain, early bedtime tonight.) Look for current Health updates to come, from doctors visit, report from interventional radiology, ER visit, and more...

Being Real

A month after we moved into this house Donny lost his job. Thankfully, he was hired with another company soon after and a month later started a new job. Although, with this job he had to take a big pay cut. That put us in a situation where we were just barley getting by. Until about five months ago when the quads fell out of medicaid, and we lost all the supplemental income we were getting for the kids. That was keeping us afloat. Raising five kids is not cheap. We had recently gone through Dave Ramsey's Money Makeover which we learned so much from. Anything that was an extra expense was eliminated and we were down to the bare bones of what we needed to live. God made it really clear to Donny and I that we needed to sale our house. If not having money to buy groceries to feed our kids was not already enough. In June we put our house on the market. We have had almost a dozen 2nd showings, but no offers yet. Every month that goes by that we don't sale the house the worse off we become. When we do sale the house, we don't know where we are going to live. That's another part of trusting God to provide for us and show us the way, when he is ready. There's been many of times I have wished that I could see in the future--it sure would help at times; however we don't know what tomorrow holds--but I DO know WHO holds tomorrow...and I know He will hold our hands throughout the good and the bad.

Storms are hardly fun, the rain can most defiantly get overbearing, the heartache will continue…but the journey WILL come to an end…somehow, someway—with God we will get through this. Every day is a new one, not all will be good…but not all will be bad! God saw something special inside us and he trusts us with this journey, so no matter how hard the days may get I trust that he will guide me through the storm and help me to dance in the rain! Have you ever realized that it takes some people a hardship to really rely on God the way that we should always rely on Him? I'll be the first to admit I am guilty. I was raised in a Christian home, I've believed in Him very early in life...however I never let him guide me the way I am now. I never fully understood what it meant to give 'all' your worries to God, maybe because I didn't have many...however-I trust in Him more so then ever before, I believe in him more so then ever before and I have faith and know that "With God ALL things ARE possible."

I do believe in miracles, I hear of them happening daily…so I do believe that if it’s God’s time something could happen before then, and that is what I am praying for. I am praying for a miracle from God. I say it all the time, but he has a special plan for us. I truly believe that, he will not put us through anything we can’t handle. So whats next....we will keep on praying and keep on going down this journey knowing that with God we will be ok :) "I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13" God doesn’t give us more than we can handle…at times I wish he didn’t trust me so much. I do trust him and I am trying my very hardest to lean on him throughout all of this. God has a plan; a special plan—a plan that only he knows…I have Faith; that’s all I can have…he is in charge of the rest.

We have an ARTIST on our hands

Logan loves doing art projects. At his school they use this really neat art program where the students art work is downloaded online to share with the parents or others in a kids art museum. Logan has had his first official peice of artwork published. Check this out...One day this painting could be worth a lot of money. Way to go Logan, can't wait to see what artwork you will create next.

Latest with Liz...

After seeing the Hematologist yesterday the doctor has ordered another scan. I will be going to the hospital this morning for this sonogram. Pray that they can see everything clearly as they need to make decisions on what to do next. The doctor is going to discuss it with the interventional radiologists to determine what procedures would be possible to clear out the clot. He discussed one option he was thinking of, but was unsure if too much time had lapsed already, for it to be an option. It would however require me to be in the hospital a couple days. Monday, I will go back to the doctor and we will discuss the findings, results, what my option/s are and decide what we will do now.

Do our kids have a blood clotting disorder? *UPDATE BELOW

That is the question. (In case you don't know, I have a blood clotting disorder called Protein S Deficiency).

"Protein S Deficiency (PSD) is a rare blood disorder that affects just a few thousand people worldwide. It is one of several known risk factors for thrombophilia and can increase the risk of blood clots such as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary Embolism (PE)."

Since the kids had their last doctor checkup the pediatrician has been doing some research and talking to some other doctors. He called today and told me that it is very important for us to get all the kids tested for this blood disorder. The doctor says there is a 50% chance that they have it. It is a genetic disorder. The doctor is going to be contacting my hematologist and speaking with him to make sure they do all the right tests. When he calls back they will set up some time to bring the kids in to draw blood on each one so they can run this test. Of course we are praying that none of the kids have this blood disorder. I would hate for any of our children to have to go through even one ounce of what I have been through with this deficiency. The doctor said that typically it stays silent during the younger years and the older you get the more likely it is to cause harm.

**UPDATE: The pediatrician and my hematologist both spoke over the situation and have decided the appropriate tests to be done. Once we can get all the orders in our hands we will be able to set up a time for all five to go by the Children's Hospital for the testing.

Surgery, Blood Clot & Bedrest

I have yet to explain what happened since my bile duct procedure. Turned out that after the first procedure to put the stint in I had a very bad reaction to the anesthesia. I had seizure like episodes and ended up in the Intensive Care Unit. Once I was stable and everything seemed to resolve they decided to wait three days and then take the stint back out and do the second procedure where they opened it up. So they kept me in the hospital and I was going to get to go home after the second procedure. Everything went great with the procedure and my stomach was feeling GREAT. Unfortunately, I got a very large clot in leg. Ended up in the hospital a few more days. Went home, and instead of things getting better with the clot..they got worse. This point I could barely walk, and was in tremendous constant pain. Doctor saw me, sent me immediately to the emergency room. The blood flow in my leg was 100% blocked off. I was admitted to the hospital that day and spent a couple weeks there, getting all sorts of medications and treatments for the clot and pain.

Finally, I was discharged to go home two weeks ago. I have been on bed rest. I have a walker to use when I do get up, but the only place I am suppose to go is to the doctors office. So really I'm just getting up to go the bathroom. And I cant lift over 10lbs. So that limits me a lot. The medicine makes me very tired, so I take a lot of naps. And to anyone who thinks I am lucky, think again. Being on bed rest like this is far from fun. But the wonderful part it, is I'm able to be home with Donny and the kids instead of being stuck by myself in a hospital bed. Before I was discharged I was told that it could be a matter of months and even up to a year before this all resolved. So I am being treated by a pain management doctor to control my pain the best possible, the hematologist and cardiologist to watch and treat the clot.

Latest Update: Saw the doctor today. They tested my heart and it is great. The Doppler on my leg showed no change in the blood clot. It has not gotten any smaller, nor has it grown or moved. My INR levels were pretty high today. All in all, the doctor wants to see things are in a month, and if there is not much change, he wants to see about taking another look, seeing if another approach to treat the clot may be more advisable. Great news is the procedure on my bile duct seems to have been a huge success. I have had little to no pain or attacks in my stomach like I was all the time, before the surgery. I am so thankful it worked!