This is the day that the Lord has made...

...Rejoice and be glad in it! --Psalm 118:24--

This morning was rough, I'm not going to lie. Mom's hair started falling out in clumps. Big clumps. I am exhausted and emotional. We cried and we are sad.

I went to work upset, but God sent me exactly what I needed... A good laugh.

You see, a 90-year-old lady came in with one of her legs wrapped in bandages like a mummy. One of my co-workers said "Good gracious! What'd you get yourself into?"

The lady replied, "Well, I was playing football" So, Jennifer said, "Did you win?"

The lady replied with complete seriousness, "Girl, I always win."

After she paid for her medicine and left. While we were all laughing about her bold personality (she about talked our ears off...), she came back in. This time she was with another lady who had been outside on the phone. The sweet little old lady said "I'm going to pay for this young woman's medicine, how much does it cost?" Turns out, the young woman didn't have any money to pay for her medicine and the 90-year-old woman had struck up a conversation with her outside the store (not suprisingly). While we were getting her medicine ready, the old lady was talking to the young woman about God and forgiveness. She was telling her to pray for guidance and put all her worries on the Lord. She paid for the medicine and they went their separate ways.

So, thanks God for reminding me of your love for us through awesome people like the woman in the pharmacy today.

---------------------

You probably won't hear from me for a few days as the big weekend has come! I'm going to Raleigh tomorrow night for Candice's Bachelorette Party. Friday we have the Bridesmaid's Luncheon and the Rehearsal Dinner, and Saturday is the big day for Candice & Jacob -- my "brother-in-law" and "sister-in-law" except, they aren't lawfully in-laws yet, haha! So that's where I'll be and don't worry - I'll post some pictures when I get back!

Baby Stellan

Y'all, I seriously need you to pray for Baby Stellan - you know, Mckmama's blog? It's her 9 month old son who has ups and downs with SVT (super-fast heart rate) when she was pregnant with him and since birth. The doctors told her and her husband that he would surely die before he was born - but he did not. At 4 months old he started experiencing SVT again and went to Boston for surgery that failed because he was so small. His doctors have been trying to use medicine to put off a re-surgery until he gets older. However, this past week he was readmitted into the hospital in their hometown and his condition has greatly worsened. He will be flying back to Boston.

Please pray for this precious little boy and his family. Millions read Mckmama's blog and have witnessed God's work through Mckmama's family. You can read her blog to get the full details and entire story by clicking here. Please, please pray!

Back in town ... for a little while.

Hey!

I am back in town after being in Charlotte for the second weekend in a row for Teaching Fellows. I will be posting a "real" post tomorrow but I just wanted to "stop by" and say that I am alive and well!

Mom is doing okay - it is a better day emotionally than the last few days. Still scared, sad, frustrated, tired... but hopeful.

I hope you have a blessed night and enjoy some time with your family and loved ones!

Dear Satan

Dear Satan,

Lately, I have learned just how conniving and evil you are. I have been mad at God when I should have been mad at you. You have grabbed hold of and attacked my family. I am sick of it and I am sick of you. I am disgusted. You will not fool me any longer. I kept thinking, “Why has God allowed my mom to get sick again?” “Where is God?” “What is He doing?” when He is the One that has healed my mom and protects our family. You are the one who has preyed on us. My frustrations were with God instead of with you. In my moments of weakness, you have deceived me and spoken untruthful words to me. My doubts, worries, and fears are not thoughts from my Lord and Savior, for He is good and desires good for His children. The Bibles says, “The devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.” Revelation 12:12 and I have learned how true this is. But, your time is up. As the Lord said in Zechariah 3:1-2, “I reject your accusations, Satan! Yes, I rebuke you!” So get away from my family, shut your mouth, and leave us alone. You are wasting your time. We have chosen to follow God. We choose good and not evil. In the name of Jesus, stay away from us. My God is and will always be victorious. We choose to be on His team, and you don’t stand a chance.

Daughter of the Most Powerful, One and Only God,
Laura

Hey Hey!

1. Mom is doing okay, as well as expected -- she used a knife to cut her chicken tonight, which was a huge step! It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. She's extremely tired and has headaches occassionally, but she's truckin' on! Thanks for your prayers and support!

2. Senior Conference for Teaching Fellows was great! We got to listen to Ron Clark - who was every bit as good as I expected! He's such a great speaker! He's the guy from "The Ron Clark Story" movie with Matthew Perry (Chandler from Friends) and he's a former Teaching Fellow. He's fantastic.

3. At a workshop at the conference I learned that my personality type/learning style is a "Clipboard." This means I like planning, organizing, details, practicality, list making, perfection... uh.. You think? HA! I didn't need an evaluation to figure that out. I have a To Do List and my calendar sitting in front of me now.

4. I start class in exactly 1 month from today. Meaning I move into my new apartment in less than a month! Meaning I have A LOT to do! Where has this summer gone?

5. Candice & Jacob get married in less than 2 weeks! WOW! I can't believe it!

Friday Update

Hey, This is Parker and Laura wanted me to update you on her mom. She came home from the hospital this morning and is doing as well as expected. Laura made it to Charlotte safely and will be back on Sunday. If anything important happens she will find a way to get her blog updated.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Thursday Update on Mom

Hey folks,

Just wanted to let you know that Mom is *hopefully* going home tomorrow afternoon. Her treatment went well today and physical therapy was pleased that she could walk around fine on her on. Her hand/arm is still swollen and she has a lot of trouble moving it. She's been very tired, which is understandable considering she's having trouble sleeping. Anyhow, not much to update on, just taking it one day at a time!

Unfortunately, I am leaving tomorrow morning to drive to Charlotte for Senior Conference for Teaching Fellows (how inconvenient, huh?) I will be back on Sunday night. If anything important happens, I'll have one of my friends update my blog.

Thanks for the prayers, support, and love. Thanks for the cards, gift cards to restaurants, phone calls, visits -- everything. We need the love and support and prayers and I'm not afraid to admit it!

Update on Mom

First of all, thank you for your prayers! Second of all, thanks for the comments, emails, texts, messages, etc. PLEASE keep them coming. Words of encouragement and thoughts are so nice to read when we're feeling down. Really. So keep on doing it...

My mom's oncologist was very pleased with the results of the MRI. There are 4 small spots on her brain - 2 on the back, 1 towards the front, and 1 on the left side.

For now she will have 14 days of radiation to her whole brain (Monday through Fridays). Because the radiation is treating her entire brain, she will lose her hair again. After the radiation she may or may not have the Herceptin pill. Dr. White doesn't think it'll be necessary, but we shall see. Mom will have physical therapy for her right hand/arm since it has become very weak.
Today was very emotional - I think it just hit us all over again.

It was also a special guy's birthday today...Happy 11th Birthday Weston!

The nurses came in and sang happy birthday to him and taped a paper candle to a sprite. Haha! It was too cute! It definitely had us all laughing and smiling!

Curveball

Thoughts running through my head the last several hours:
- You've got to be kidding me.
- I can't freakin' believe this.
- God? Where the heck are you and what are you doing?
- I can't freakin' believe this.

Let me bring you up to speed. My mom has been experiencing some numbness in her right arm for several weeks and was scheduled to have a nerve conduction study... um, today. Last Thursday at the beach (which was wonderful by the way, we had a great time), she had a severe headache and some nausea. We just thought it was a sinus headache or something. Yesterday morning she woke up with a "litte black tadpole in her eye" (meaning she felt like something was in her eye...) It kept bothering her so she went to the eye doctor. The doctor was concerned about high blood pressure so they checked it out and it was very high. So an ambulance came and picked her up and took her to the ER. To find out what was going on the ER doctor ordered several tests - CT scan of the brain, blood work, EKG... - well, turns out she has 3 spots on her brain. Cancer.

Yuck. I hate that word.

So now she is in the hospital, getting more tests today - an MRI for one - and is scheduled to start radiation today. Her oncologist has been to see her this morning and is meeting with the tumor board today. She says that they have been seeing this in several breast cancer patients lately and that it has been very treatable. Yadda yadda.

Because of the tumors, her brain is swelling which is causing these symptoms (numbness, high blood pressure, headache, nausea...) They've given her Decadron, an anti-inflammatory, to help decrease the swelling and hopefully get rid of the symptoms. The radiation will help with that too.

Another oncologist came by this morning to talk to us. Apparently, the Herceptin (preventative treatment my mom had for a year and half) is made of large molecules that can't break through the blood-brain barrier so it is inadequate for brain metastases. While the rest of the body is clean, the brain goes without. He expects my mom's oncologist to have her go through radiation to shrink the tumors and use the Gamma Knife later, if necessary. There is also a new Herceptin drug in the form of a pill that does reach the brain that he expects my mom's oncologist will use. So... that is where we are now. My mom's oncologist is coming after lunch, the radiation doctor is coming around lunch, radation at 2:00 this afternoon, and MRI whenever they call her for it. We are sitting here at the hospital hurrying up and waiting.

I am mad and then I'm sad. I am strong and then I'm nervous. I am frustrated and then I'm worried.

We are in the process of spreading the word to our friends and family. If you want to do something, pray. Prayer is what we need the most.

Happy 4th of July!

So I wanted to do a patriotic post with lots of festive stuff - but hey, a girl's not perfect! I've been busy this week with preparing to leave for vacation, going to the river for the 4th, getting stuff together for Candice's re-shower (it got postponed because her granddad passed away, so please pray for her family), yadda-yadda-yadda-yadda...

Sooo... no patriotic post, but try to center in on the patriotic excitement I'm sending your way. Can't you feel in through your computer screen? No? Well, you can't say I didn't try.

I'll be enjoying the beautiful ocean, summer rays, lazy pool hours... you know all the fun things on vacation next week.

But... before I pack my bags I just wanted to give an [eary] shoutout to my best friend Amanda -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDA!
I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day!

Woot woot!