Results of Luke's MRA

Luke had his MRA/MRI today and we were given the unofficial results from the test. The anesthesiologist that did the sedation on Luke during the test said that he has a rare congenital defect called a vascular ring. There are about 5 different types of vascular rings and we don't know for sure yet which one he has but I think he has a right aortic arch. Which basically means one of the vascular arteries that comes off of the aorta splits in a place that it shouldn't and wraps around the esophagus and the trachea then comes back together on the other side constricting both of them. This explains the breathing difficulty he has associated with him eating solid foods. Though this a rare condition, it is correctable and the surgery for it is has been almost 100% successful. While it is a major surgery, it will be done by a cardiologist who would consider it a straight forward procedure. We won't find out the official diagnosis or the specific type of vascular ring he has until tomorrow and we won't get the details until we see the cardiologist after we get the referral tomorrow. So, we will give another update when we get more information.

As for me, I took the news of the surgery much better than I thought I would so your prayers must have worked! Thank you so much for the prayers and support. We are so encouraged by all of the people that are keeping Luke at the top of their prayer list. We have even heard that people in Europe are praying for him!! I know that the Lord has great plans for my little Luke and I am ready to get this problem fixed so we can move on and see what those plans are. Praise the Lord for answers! Thank you again!
Love, Pamela (and Matt)

PS When I went to see our pediatrician after the scan to talk to him, I noticed Luke felt really hot and asked them to take his temp. It was 102.8 and after a little checking around the doctor found that he has another ear infection so please pray that the fever would go away quickly and that he wouldn't have too much pain from the infection. Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday!

(shh. . . I know this is supposed to be wordless, but since it's my first "Wordless Wednesday", I wanted to explain. This is a challenge/meme/idea I found from my blog roll, "Blogger Chicks". The idea is to have photos that speak for themselves once a week. This photo was taken in Vaughn Bay in September 2006.)
p.s. I know it's not quite Wednesday, but I have a really busy day tomorow and I'm not going to stay awake till midnight tonight! :)

Longfellow

Happy Birthday to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow! He was born today in 1807. Three facts I didn't previously know about Longfellow:

1. He once lived in a house that was occupied for a time by George Washington.

2. He was good friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

3. His wife had the first OB anesthetic administered in the United States.

Blessings to a Mom's Heart

Me: Mommy loves?
Rylie: Rylie!
Me: Who else loves Rylie?
Rylie: Daddy and Mommy!
Me: Who does Rylie love?
Rylie: Jesus!

She's also been telling me lately that God made her toes, her eyes ("blue, Mommy"), her ears, her "two knees", etc. And of course that He made play dough!

She told our friend Rachel that she was sitting where "Daddy sits and reads Bible". She is more observant than we know! And, I am so thankful that she has such a wonderful Daddy to observe!

At church we have a t.v. in the Fellowship Hall that plays the sermon for overflow, crying babies, etc. Rylie and Abby have dubbed it the "Papa Show" (because they see their Grandpa on t.v. preaching). Yesterday, when Rylie saw her Daddy on the t.v. she said, "Daddy on t.v.!". I asked her if it was the "Daddy Show", she looked at me like I was very silly and said, "No, it's Papa Show". I asked her if Daddy was just a guest on the "Papa Show" and she told me yes! (Ryan wasn't too pleased about that.)

Four times on the potty yesterday! (and lots of M & M's)

Randomly, she'll look at me like I'm the only person in her world and say "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" in the sweetest voice I've ever heard! (yes, she's also done this to Daddy)

All these, and many more, are blessings to my heart!

Newest Luke Email News

Hi everyone...
Well, long story short... someone dropped the ball in getting the scan approved by insurance and they had to cancel it at the last minute. It is a blessing in disguise, as it turns out though because he was actually approved for a more in-depth study called an MRA (with an MRI of the chest also). We thought we would have to wait many more weeks to get him in but the Lord provided and there just happens to be an opening on Wednesday of this week when they are able to get the 2 radiologists and the anesthiesiologist to see him at 8 in the morning. So, thank you for your prayers and for your concern. Please keep praying and we should have some answers this week!
Love, Pamela

Newest Luke News

Here is Luke's Mommy's newest email update about baby Luke:
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to remind everyone that Luke's CT scan is tomorrow (Monday) at 2 pm. He will be put under for the scan so it shouldn't be too bad for him but he can't have any intake after 8 am so he will, without a doubt, be upset long before 2 pm. Matt and I are very nervous about finding out the results of this test. The doctors seem fairly certain that his aorta is wrapped around his esophagus which would require surgery to fix but we are still hoping that is not the case and surgery won't be necessary.

To my friends and family that have put their trust in the Lord, I ask that you would please join me in putting my baby before the Lord once again. And if you would, please pray for me as well. My faith is strong and I trust that the Lord is in control but I am his mommy and I'm scared. If he does require the surgery it is a major one and they will be working with a vital organ in his little body and that really frightens me. I feel very helpless in the whole situation and I know that praying is all we can do (and what mighty things can happen through prayer, PTL!) so again I ask for your prayers for my boy and for my family. I thank you all so much for the love and support you have shown us throughout this time.
Love, Pamela

My Daddy

Here you go Dad! You are on my blog! :) This is a picture of the best Daddy and Grandpa in the world! You are very special to me! I love you!

My Grandma

This is Delores. She is my Mom's Mom, my Grandma, Rylie's Great grandma. She is a wife, a sister, a volunteer at the hospital. She is loving, caring, and creative. She is now also a fighter of breast cancer. She is strong. She will survive. She needs your prayers.

She was just diagnosed with Stg 1 breast cancer. She will have an MRI to determine if it has spread or not. Then she will have surgery, either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. Following that, she will have radiation every day for six weeks. Please pray for her and my Grandpa's salvation and for her healing!

Towel Baby

Whenever Rylie takes a bath at Grandma's house, she is wrapped up in a big towel and held like a baby. She hams it up and says "towel baby" and has to see herself in the mirror and shown to Grandpa, and whomever else happens to be there at the time. She has taken this tradition home and now becomes a "towel baby" after every bath! These pictures were taken this morning because after her bath (with colored bath water - thanks Keegan! :)), she was wrapped snugly in her Nemo towel and wanted to "show Daddy". Daddy was at work so, we decided to take pictures and email them to Daddy. Don't you love this high tech world where we can still "show Daddy" even when he's 30 miles away?! And, don't you love the smell of freshly washed baby, especially wrapped up in their favorite Nemo towel?! I know I do!

Batman Comes To Play!

Rylie's cousin Gabriel came to play with us for a little while today! He is a year and a half older than Rylie, but he very much liked it when I put him "in charge" when I left the room! Rylie loves all of her cousins (she has 7!), and it's fun to see how differently she plays with each of them! She told me the other day, "miss Gabe and Bean too"! "Bean" is Bryan, her six year old cousin that she absolutely adores- he can do no wrong in her eyes! Thankfully he adores her too. She sees Luke and Abby more often but talks about her other cousins a lot. She doesn't get to see Ashley, Lindsey, and Sawyer very often because they live in another state, but she still loves them and likes to look at their pictures. We are very thankful to have such wonderful cousins!

John Wesley Quote

I read this in my book that I'm reading with my Mentoring group (Disciplines of a Godly Woman) . I thought it was a good reminder to trust our lives to our Heavenly Father!
"Take Thou the full possession of my heart. Raise there Thy throne, and command there as Thou dost in heaven. Being created by Thee, let me live to Thee. Being created for Thee, let me ever act for Thy glory. Being redeemed by Thee, let me render unto Thee what is Thine, and let my spirit ever cleave to Thee alone."

Luke, Rylie, and other thoughts. . .

First, an update on Baby Luke : his Doctor and the Radiologist are concerned that a part of his aorta is wrapped around his esophagus. This is potentially very serious and require surgery. He has a CT scan scheduled for a week from Monday. We won't know anything until then. The good news is that he's feeling much better than he was. His ear and throat infections are clearing up! He was able to stop the reflux medicine that was making him throw up. He is feeling much better! When I saw him today, he was smiling and giggling! He has the biggest dimples that just melt my heart! Please continue to pray for him and his family!
On the potty front, things are going good! Twice this weekend, Rylie's asked to go to the potty and actually gone! I'm so proud of her! Today we bought her some pull ups! She thinks they are "Dora Panties" and is quite excited about them! She was rather upset though when she accidentally went potty in them. Which is a good sign! I'm beginning to wonder if we'll be buying her real panties for her Birthday next month?! I've heard there are portable potty seats you can fold up and take with you so when you're not at home they can still feel comfortable to go potty.
Anybody know where I can find one?
We had a great time the other night on our double date! We were able to spend time with some friends that we haven't been able to spend much time with lately! Then, on Wed, we had Becky and "Arnon" (as Rylie calls him :)) over to watch Lost. They brought us dinner and coffee! My wonderful husband brought me beautiful roses and a loving card! Thursday night, Rylie got to spend some quality time with her Nana, her Aunt Elisa, and her cousins Gabe and Bryan (Bean)! She had a blast! She didn't even care that Ryan and I were leaving to go to Bible study! She loves her cousins! (And her Nana and Aunts! :)) And Aunt Elisa bought her some new toys for Valentines so she had fun with that too! Friday night we spent time together as a family! We went out to dinner and to the Christian bookstore. I found a new Amish book! I thought I'd read all of Beverly Lewis' books, but I found a new series of four books that I haven't read yet! So I bought the first one. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to read it yet. Tonight we had our Fellowship 8's Dinner at our house. Which meant, a day of shopping, cleaning, and cooking. But, the reward was a wonderful dinner with friends and ministry partners!
So, there it is, I haven't posted in a couple days, so you end up with a less than exciting run down of my week! :) Hope you all had a wonderful week and will enjoy the Lord's day tomorrow!

Becky'sYummy Pistachio Salad Recipe

Pistachio Jello Salad

Use a medium-sized bowl.
20 oz. can chunk pineapple
1 or 2 3 ¾ oz. box of Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding
8 oz. Cool-Whip
1 C mini-marshmallows

Combine: juice from pineapple and dry pudding and mix.
Stir in the pineapple. Add: cool-whip and marshmallows. Chill in the refrigerator.

This is the yummy salad that Becky made me when I had my tooth pulled! It's easy and really good!

Newest Luke News!

Here is the email update about Luke, from Pam, his Mommy! Please continue to pray!
Hello everyone...
Luke had his reflux eval today (formerly referred to as the swallow study, but I was corrected!). They did the eval, then took the films to the radiologist who came down to see him herself and talk to me about what she saw. At this point all I know is that his problem isn't reflux, part of his esophagus is constricted to about half to a quarter of the size it should be. We don't know what it is caused by but she thought it might be vessels in his chest that are wrapped around it constricting it. He will have a CT scan to see what the cause is. That isn't scheduled yet but I should hear from our doctor tonight about that. There won't be a plan for treatment until after the CT results come back. It was nice to get an answer to what part of the problem is, however, I was expecting a simple solution to reflux not a different problem all together. I will keep updating everyone as to what is going on and I ask that you please continue to pray for Luke and for Matt and I as well. I am thankful for the answers that we got today and am trusting the Lord to carry us through this scary time. Thank you all for your concern and your prayers.
Love, Pamela

My favorite Shakespeare sonnet: (in honor of Valentine's!)

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, not, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, thought rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."
-William Shakespeare

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you all have a love filled day!

Waiting For Daddy cont.

I thought the pictures below spoke for themselves, but I should add that it was all Rylie's idea! All on her own she pulled a chair from the Dining Room into the Kitchen and put it in front of the window and then climbed up. When I asked her what she was doing she said "waiting for Daddy"! (of course she also needed a "little pony 'nack" and her "nemo 'up") When she spotted Ryan's car she got very excited! And then, when she saw that he brought her home a slide, she was even more excited! And she's been sliding ever since!
On a different note, does anyone know how to get a rust stain out of a porcelain sink? Or how to get the tile grout in my shower white again? (I tried the bleach pen, it didn't seem to make that much of a difference) On the other hand, does anyone know the phone number for a fairy godmother? Or Mr. Clean for that matter?
My poor Rylie girl has a bad cough! :( Nothing seems to be helping it go away. She's having trouble sleeping because of it.
Well, I'm off to a hot double date with my husband and our best friends! Happy all most Valentine's day!

Waiting For Daddy!

Update on Luke

Please keep praying for my nephew Luke. He went back to the doctor yesterday. Good news is that his ears and throat seem to be looking a little better! Not so good news, he's lost a pound! When you're a baby, a pound is allot. I think we're sensitive about his weight because he was only 4 pounds when he was born. He's going to have a swallow eval on Wednesday, so hopefully we'll know more then! Please keep praying for his Mommy and Daddy and Sister too, this has been hard on them. Thank you all for praying and caring!

Luke

Please keep praying for my nephew Luke. For those of you who don't know, he had 3 febrile seizures last night and had to be taken by ambulance to the ER. He's ok and home now, thankfully! He does have an ear infection and a throat infection and a bad cold. He also has a some aspiration issues though that the doctors can't seem to figure out, so please keep praying for him! He's such a good boy, a happy boy! When we got to the hospital last night to see him, he had only been there about 10 min. We rushed in, hearts pounding, not knowing what to expect. We had flashbacks of his tiny, fragile body hooked up to machines in the NICU. But, when we walked into the trauma room, there was this chubby little baby boy kicking and smiling! He giggled when he saw us and played with his big sister's teddy bear! He's such a good boy! We love him!

And the pottying continues!

Rylie is doing such a good job! She's starting to tell me when she has to go! Tonight we sat there for a half hour with no results, but we had a great chat! Who knew going potty could be such a bonding experience?! We sang, we counted, we growled, we played peek-a-boo! Here's to more potty moments!

Survivor, Lost, and other musings. . .

I am addicted to Lost! For those of you who don't watch the show, last night was the "premiere" again! They took a long break, but now they are back with 17 nonstop episodes! I jumped when Julietta's ex-husband was hit by that bus! Poll: Does Kate belong with Jack or with Sawyer?
Rylie counted to ten all by herself! She just ran into the kitchen, chasing a balloon and yelled out one through ten!
She has now decided that she is a bear and goes around growling at us. For our part, we have to pretend to be very scared and she giggles uncontrollably.
Mom and I asked Rylie "Who is Pastor Ryan?" She said, "Daddy"! We didn't know she knew that was Daddy's "other" name!
I have great admiration for my best friend/sister-in-law, Pam! She has been taking care of two (sometimes three) sick kids for awhile now, getting very little sleep, yet she doesn't whine or complain about it like I would! My gift to you: zzzzzzzzzzzz! I wish I could give you sleep!
It's Survivor night! It's on right now, but Ryan is at Flock Group (our small group Bible study), so I have to wait for him to watch it! Thank goodness for DVR!
I think that's all the musings I have for the moment!

Tooth Truth

Well, I survived! I had one of my teeth extracted yesterday. I was very nervous! It ended up only lasting a half hour total and only two minutes of that was the actual extraction. Thank you for all of you who prayed for me! I still feel like I was punched in the jaw, but that should lesson soon. I did discover that vicodin was not my best friend, but that's probably a good thing. My family took good care of me as well as Becky who made me my favorite pistachio salad! (Thanks Becky!) I'll have to get the recipe from her and post it so you all can share in the joy that is pistachio!

Friends!

"The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are." C.S. Lewis

Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star

It's potty time! My big girl went potty on the potty today! Yay! I'm so proud of her! Now we have to keep it up! Anyone out there have any good potty training tips you want to pass along?
I do have to give allot of credit to Abby, (her cousin that is 7 months older than her) Rylie loves to copy everything she does! Good job sweet pea!

Rylie Daddy Day!

What is it about Daddies and their Daughters? There is a special bond there that is undeniable. I know that is true with me and my Daddy! Tomorrow is a Rylie Daddy day! Every other Friday, they get to spend the day together, while I go to work. They love it! When I come home, she is excited to see me, but still wants to snuggle with Daddy! It's understandable, he is a wonderful Daddy! He is so good with her. Their love for each other is obvious. The way she says "Dadd-eee" when he's tickling her, melts my heart every time! I love watching them together! I am very blessed to have them both! I am in love with them!

Playing in the Snow!