Surprise and pics of Amy in the Hospital and her Incision!

Today when I was running out the door to go to Weight Watchers, Steve noticed a young Deer out by our woodshed. He or she didn't seem to be one bit afraid of us, so I ran into the house and got my camera and snapped a few pics! Fun huh?! Its about time for a little fun, don't you think?

For those of you that haven't seen her spleen, here it is, all 8lbs. of it! Amazing huh! The other pic is her incision. They cut right through her belly button, that will be interesting when it is healed!
When Amy was in the hospital we decided to take pics of her and the luxurious room she was in. They had wood mouldings, fancy tile, and private rooms and an amazing view!Below is more pics of Amy's room and her red teeth, she could only have clear liquids before and after the surgery for a couple of days. She liked the cherry Popsicles. Mike was working on a survival book while he was there. Amy had a hard time breathing after the surgery for a few days, so she had oxygen.

Her lungs started to fill up with water, so she had to blow in that thing every hour 10 times to cause her lungs to fill up with air instead! For about two days this was Amy, pushing this button for more drugs from her epidural !Amy teaches the 7-8 years olds, they sent her these pics they drew!

The people at the hospital were very nice and accommodating. The couch Mike was laying on turned into a twin bed, they offered sheets and blankets if someone wanted to sleep there. Mike slept there on the weekend, and I stayed there during the week. It was a tough experience, she was there 9 days. I was having a hard time not getting discouraged, they told us starting with the 6th day that we would be going home, and then it would be one more day, etc. I realized the necessity of it by the time we left, but it was hard. I was very glad to take her home that last day. I am so grateful for modern medicine and that we live today. Amy will have 12 chemo treatments all together, she has had one, so 11 more to go! She did well with the first one. She will have one treatment every two weeks. It will take just a little under 6 months. They have come so far with chemo, she will have the one that is called AVBD. It is more mild and the long term effects are minimal. A few years ago it would have been cancer free for about 10 years and then she would get leukemia. I am so grateful they have continued to study and figured out how to make it take away her cancer and then have a long and full life with the ability to bear children. Her life will be so much better after she has recovered from her chemo treatments. I am so happy and excited for her to have a healthy body, something she has not had for 4 or more years. Thank you all for your prayers and support. It has touched me greatly. I love you all!

Amy

Well, a couple of days ago Amy called me in great pain and asked me to come over. I said I would. She was having great pain in her shoulder, and that added to the wait of 2 weeks for surgery was just a little too much for her. They prescribed vikadon for her, but it is a narcotic so 2 weeks? no way. Any way they said if the pain didn't go away the next day to come in. The pain was still there so much so she could hardly move and talk. We went to Dr's appt. and met with the Surgeon on call. He tried to talk to her, but she couldn't really talk or talk coherently, so I talked for her, I think that was the cincher, he said, "I don't see any purpose in waiting two weeks, so lets check her in at the inn, and do the surgery tomorrow." My first thought was, "there was a purpose?" Anyway overshadowing that was my desire to jump up and down and shout YES!!!! Amy was so happy the pain was a little less for a while and then came rapidly back.

It was so hard to see my little baby, (it is weird how they become babies in your eyes when it is so serious) so weak and sick. I don't think she or Mike could see how sick she had really become. I hadn't seen her in about 2 1/2 weeks. She looked pregnant and so small and fragile.

I could hardly stop thinking about how wonderful her life will be once this is all over and she is healed up. She will have energy, no night sweats, no nausea, a desire to eat, regular sleep habits, (or at least the ability to have them) and the list goes on. I was elated, mixed with of course the normal anxiety of surgery.

Well, she got out of surgery at 2:00pm or so, a little under an hour and a half. I think Mike and I heaved a big sigh of relief! It was a very happy moment. Mike is asleep right now, I think this has all done him in. I am so grateful for my health. I am so grateful I can be here and help with things. I am so grateful for Fasting and the power of the Priesthood.

At this point they think it is Lymphoma. They don't know for sure and won't know until they get the results back from the lab. If it is they said she would have 3 months of chemo. They act like this is a good thing that it is lymphoma. I saw the doctor in the elevator after the surgery and he said everything went great and she looked good, all her organs were healthy. He said with a look of relief on his face, there were no signs of that nasty intestinal cancer. So again even if she has to have something that results in Chemo, they seemed happy and relieved that it looks still like what they thought it was. I am grateful for that. I am just happy she is going to have a full life with energy and the ability to have lots of little kids running around her house singing and dancing with her.

Will keep you updated as things go along.

We love you all and from our whole family we so appreciate your prayers and love!