Day 90-Off Roading

We had a scare last night. As you may be able to tell from this picture that I took with my phone camera... We were driving home from a seminar at the clinic, and not being familiar with the roads, we got lost. My Dad decided to make a U turn. It was really late and dark, and we didn't know that there was a big ditch directly off the road. We could feel the car on the verge of tipping and so we all jumped out of the mini van because we didn't want to be in it if it rolled. The back tire was off the ground at least a foot! Some people who were driving behind us stopped and called the police. We finally got a tow truck to come pull the van out of the ditch. It really was quite terrifying. Thankfully we are all safe and the van has no damage! I know that we were being protected.

Day 89-Meeting Burzynski

Today was an amazing day! My Mom had her first appointment with Dr. Burzynski. I was so impressed with him and his office staff. Going into this, we really had no idea what to expect. The only thing we were absolutely certain of is that through prayer we had been guided to this clinic. After reviewing her pet scan and other information, Dr. Burzynski offered a tremendous amount of hope to us. Although Mother has a very rare form of cancer, the doctors assured us that they have seen this particular type of cancer before and that they have had much success in treating it.

Dr. Burzynski has a very different approach to fighting cancer than most other oncologists. He does tests to find which genes are over expressed, and then he uses FDA approved medications that target those specific genes. He uses low doses of medications which do not produce the side affects of high dose chemotherapy. Testing for my Mom begins tomorrow! Thanks for all of your prayers... They are definitely being felt!!!

Day 88-We Made it to Houston!

It's hard to believe it, but we are actually here in Houston, TX. We made it to the Burzynski Clinic! It was about a 2 1/2 hour flight-Phew, glad to have that over with! Although I'm very grateful for air travel, I'm not a huge fan of it. It wasn't easy saying goodbye to Bryan and Tate. Poor boys, hope they can survive without me for the next 3-4 weeks. I will definitely miss them, but I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be here with my Mother at this time. My Dad flew over with us so that he could go to the first appointment and orientation, but he will be leaving Tuesday morning.

Day 87-Ice Skating and Broken Camera Lens!

Bryan, Tate, and I went ice skating tonight! It was Tate's very first time ever. He was really wobbly and enjoyed having Bryan and I on either side of him. We had a great time skating... As we were leaving, my camera lens broke-out of the blue-BROKEN! It now takes blurry pictures and rattles when I shake it. BUMMER!!! The only other lens I have is a 55-200mm lens so I can only get macro shots while I'm in Texas and until I can get a new one. The most frustrating part is that I did nothing to break it. I am always so careful with my camera... Anyways, sorry for being such a grouch on my blog tonight:) Maybe I just need to go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day...

Day 86-Stacy's Engaged!

Bryan's little sister Stacy got engaged to Aaron C. tonight! I think they make such a cute couple! Aaron's a great guy and it will be fun having him in the family.

Update 4/09: They're not engaged anymore:(

Day 85-Tate and his $$$

Tate LOVES money! He prefers coins to dollar bills though. He very rarely goes anywhere without a few coins clutched in his little fist or in his pocket. Sometimes he will carry them around the entire day, then at dinner time he dumps his coins out on the kitchen table next to his plate and proceeds to eat. I almost always have to remind him to wash. Then when he's through washing his hands, he'll come right back up to the table, pick up his coins, and proceed to eat again. Then I remind him to wash again. He doesn't seem to understand that money is dirty! Tate also enjoys lining it up and counting it and he especially likes to pay his tithing. He never fails to remind us EVERY SUNDAY that he needs to pay. I'd say that he pays at least 50% of his earnings to tithing!

Day 84-"I Can Take Care Of Myself"

I realized again this afternoon after a MAJOR meltdown from Tate, that I haven't been giving him as much ATTENTION as normal. With everything that's been happening with my Mother... I think Tate has been just a tad neglected.

The other day Tate wrote me a note that said, "I can take care of myself"-all written out how he thought it should be spelled. If I didn't feel so guilty about not being there for him lately, it would have almost been funny! This afternoon (to make up with him), I took Tate to the park. We spent a very long time playing on the toys, digging BIG holes in the sand, climbing trees, finding rocks, and chasing birds. I'm a little nervous about what's to come (3 weeks away from him), but we'll make it through. He will survive and I'll be doing what I should be doing. And then when I come home... we'll just have to make up again!