It has been quite a while since my last post. I keep trying to be better at posting more regularly, but then either nothing that I think of as "noteworthy" happens or I just get too busy that I forget. Most of the time I feel like I am under a pile of life "stuff" that boggs me down, and lately it seems to be growing. Here's hoping that this year will bring time to MAKE things noteworthy!
I found out last fall that my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. My grandpa had been diagnosed in the '90's so my dad was getting his PSA levels checked regularly, thankfully. This is the reason that it was caught so early, and the reason that he was able to have robotic surgery to remove his prostate and required no further treatment. I didn't accept the news all that well when my parents first told me. For those that really know me, it is no surprise - I don't initially handle bad news all that great if it deals with life & death, and have not always handled death gracefully. Once I really absorbed what they had told me and got all of the pieces of information, I was able to realize that this was not bad news. Yes it was cancer, but the bottom line is that it is not a bad cancer to have and it was caught so early that he had options. The day came and my sis and I stayed with my mom while dad was in surgery, chatting and perusing the hospital gift shop. Everything came out great and the pathology showed that it was all contained and removed, THANK YOU GOD.
He had 6 weeks to recover and then he was to undergo his second surgery/hospitalization of his life (quite impressive really that both happened within a few months of his 65th birthday), a 3 level spinal fusion. Spinal stenosis has been causing problems for him for a while and after working with a neurosurgeon for almost a year it was decided that surgery was his option. Once again we found ourselves in a hospital for what was this time a very long day. Surgery went perfectly and after wearing a collar for a month he got the OK to take it off this past Friday, and he is once again able to drive! That made my mom's day more than anything ;-)
Christmas this year was a lot of fun with E. He definitely knows how to unwrap presents, but we enjoyed watching him so focused on what he was getting that he would forget he had more to unwrap and I would have to finish for him while he played with his new toys/books. By the third family celebration he was finally unwrapping all of his gifts instead of the first one or two. I try to keep the amount of toys we have down to an amount that he can play with everything he has - I never want him to have so much that he doesn't know what he has and doesn't play with half of it. We got a lot of great books this year and a few great toys too.
We continue to want to expand our family, but there have been some issues this time that forced us to take a month off of treatment. Hub has also (during that month) started seeing a neurosurgeon for his continued back problems. His latest MRI showed something his doc didn't care for, so the referral process began. Thankfully, the neuro they sent him to was dad's surgeon, so I had met him and got a great first impression from him that day. Surgery is an option, but they are trying everything they can before they bring that to the table. We spent an hour last Wednesday in a pain management center while he got an epidural to help the sciatica he has been suffering from. As of this morning a shot that should have helped him for 2 weeks is no longer helping, and barely did at all anyway. He has been limited in the things he is allowed to (or can) do with/for Eli and that has really been bothering him. Hoping and praying that something gives soon so he can restrengthen the bond he and E have! More tests and whatnot in the immediate future and hopefully a decision will be made by the beginning of next month what to do to help him. Not sure what that means for the baby thing for us, but I have faith that if our family is meant to expand then it will, when HE says it's time.
E is growing SO much. He is starting to get a little bit of an attitude at times, showing us the "twos" are right around the corner. At the same time though his independence is rapidly growing too. Once he learns he can do something on his own he does it repeatedly and does NOT want help with it, no matter what. His vocabulary is off the charts - we have officially lost track of what he knows because there is just so much. He is the parrot that I never knew I always wanted ;-)
Hope you all are healthy and happy and had a wonderful Christmas and New Year full of blessings!
