Surgery Date

I was able to find a great thoracic surgeon.  His name is Richard Bowman.  He squeezed me in for a consultation between heart surgeries yesterday.  After looking at my CT scan and my MRI he said they should be able to do a minimally invasive procedure where they make three, one inch incisions between my ribs under my right arm.  They will use scopes and remove the entire tumor.  It will be biopsied, but he strongly believes it is not cancer and that it won't grow back.  (sigh of relief)  My surgery will be on April 11th.  It's during my mother's spring break (she is a teacher) so she'll fly out and stay with my kids while I'm in the hospital.  If everything goes right during the surgery, I should only be in the hospital for 3 days.
I feel really good now that I have so many questions answered and a plan to get the mass out of my body.

Tumor update

So I had my MRI this morning.  Not the most comfortable thing I've ever done.  An hour with my hands stretched up over my head- ugh.  If it weren't for the stinging pain in my arms I could've had a nice 1 hour nap.  Oh well.
After all the tests I am feeling more confident that the tumor isn't cancer.  Really the only major problem with this tumor is where it's located.  It's kind of sandwiched deep in my chest between my spine and heart, sitting on top of my lungs.  Heart, spine, lungs- hmm- all pretty important organs.  So after the MRI they determined that there weren't nerves from my spinal cord that were mixed up in the tumor.  That means I most likely don't need a neurosurgeon- I'll need a thoracic surgeon. 
What is a Thoracic Surgeon?
A thoracic surgeon is a medical doctor who performs operations on the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. This also includes surgeons who can be called cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiovascular surgeons, general thoracic surgeons, and congenital heart surgeons.
(I had to look that up )
Next step- find a good thoracic surgeon.

Tissue Mass

I had my follow up appointment after my CT scan of my chest.  I have a tumor, just bigger than a golf ball in my upper chest.  The doctor said that it doesn't appear to be cancer- but I am going to have to have surgery to have it removed and biopsied.  Next week I'm going to have a MRI to see some more details and see how it is interacting or entangled with surrounding nerves (since it is close to my spine).  Then I will find a neurosurgeon and get it removed.

This is my original post after finding about about the tumor in my chest:

 I probably won't post this blog post...  On Wednesday I got a call from the doctor saying that there is a small tissue mass that showed up on my chest x-ray.  My next step is to get a CT scan.
I don't know what to think.  I'm calm knowing God is in charge.  I'm relieved knowing that 9 times out of ten it is nothing to worry about.  I'm thankful I have so much love and support from my family.  I am so glad we put money away in our flexible spending account.  But I'm also sad.  Sad that there is a possibility it could be bad news- that I could need surgery or worse that I might have cancer.
There is so many things running through my head.  What if I die?  What if I get really sick?  Who will help take care of the children?  Do I ask someone to move in with us?  If I loose all my hair- I'll have to get some cool hats, maybe a wig cause I have a HUGE scar on the top of my head (this thought makes me laugh).  Why didn't I schedule the CT scan for an earlier date!?  Why don't I live closer to my mom?  I miss my sisters.  I wish someone was home to hold me while I cry.  And worst of all- WHY the heck am I even worrying!  I literally don't know if anything is even wrong!  Ha- I'm such a worry wart.  I inherited that from my mother ;) .
I know I have more to do.  Here in this life.  I know God has more he needs me to accomplish to help his Kingdom grow here on earth.  I don't know, however, if that means I'll be completely healthy doing it.  Maybe something I have to endure is cancer.  If so, then ok, God knows what is best.  I trust him.  All my other worries will be addressed and everything will work out.  Trusting in the Lord brings unimaginable peace.

Garden 2011

This is our cute little garden!  I'm so excited about our garden this year, I can just feel that it's going to be a productive garden.
I tried out a new method this year- Square Foot Gardening.
So my 4x4 garden is going to have 16 different plots to plant whatever my heart desires.
So far I've planted tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, onions, spinach, cilantro, parsley, carrots, cucumbers and zucchini.  Yummy.  (and yes, I love to make homemade salsa, why do you ask?)
The smaller 3x3 bed is for the kiddos.  The each have 3 square feet to plant in.  I need to get their plants in the ground by the weekend!  So far they've said they want to plant strawberries and watermelon.  O.K.  We'll see how that goes. ;)
Whatever the result, I'm looking forward to teaching, tending, and learning about gardens this summer- oh yeah, and eating!

My friend is growing a square foot garden too- check it out! 

Decorating a Cranial Orthotic (Baby Helmet)

My niece has torticollis and plagiocephaly (stiff neck muscles and a flat head)...  So for a couple months she is going to wear a helmet made specifically for shaping her head, preventing further flattening and helping to strengthen the correct muscles.

I think she looks absolutely adorable in it.  Her mama wanted to dress it up a bit- give it a little love (and decoration!).  So she called me, because she knows I will try anything.  Even when I have no idea what I'm doing!  So after shooting off my mouth about- "Oh!  We could decoupage some fabric on it, add some crystals!  It would be so cute!"  She went out and bought some fabric and came over.  About an hour before she showed up I realized that I in fact did not know what I was talking about.  So I did what you would've done, I googled it.  NO ONE- at least that I could find- had used fabric to decorate the helmet.  There were plenty of people who used paint, stickers and even decoupaged paper onto the helmets.  But I couldn't find one example of fabric.  So I did what I always do- I did it anyway.

You will need:
Mod Podge
Fabric- 5 coordinating types
a paint brush
a sharp small pair of scissors
Fray Check
(and if you want, some crystals!)

 We cut little squares of each type of fabric about 1" or 2" squares (not exact).  Coated the cleaned outside of the helmet with Mod Podge.  Placed the squares of fabric randomly so the entire outside was covered.  I used sharp little scissors to trim around the edges and then finished the edges of the fabric with Fray check around the outside of the helmet.

They left while it was still drying, so we didn't get to put the crystals on yet.  BUT  I think it turned out great- like a girlie patchwork quilt.  Only time will tell if this will hold up or be a complete disaster- I'm hoping for success!

I promise to add updates.

UPDATE 3/8/2011

Isn't she cute!
Crystals and last layer of Shiny Mod Podge added
(Schwarsky Crystals glued on with Elmer's craft glue)

After a month, it is holding up perfectly.  Her parents only have to touch up the edges occasionally with Mod Podge after a thorough cleaning of the inside with rubbing alcohol.