Post-op days 2 and 3

Saturday
I missed most of Sarah's first day as I slept while her mom sat with her. When I saw her Friday afternoon she looked really great. Saturday, day 2 post op, she was still in a lot of pain. Most of the pain is a headache and a great deal of neck pain.

Her chin is stitched to her chest to keep her neck flexed. The stitch length is about 3". It is one thread that runs through her chin and around through the skin on her chest. It's purpose to let her know when she is trying to move her head too much. The Dr will remove the chin stitch when she is discharged.

Sarah's chin stitch

Saturday morning started off difficult. The nurse suggested that Sarah should try to get up and walk (crutch) a bit. She made her first attempt at 10:00 am Saturday morning. It was very difficult for her to get up because her neck and head were hurting so badly. She made it up to the side of the bed but was too dizzy to go any farther. She laid back down in bed, very frustrated and upset with herself. I tried to reassure her that it was ok and that she just needed a little more time to recover.

God's timing is always perfect. Just a few minutes after she laid down, both of our phones started chiming with text message alerts. Not just a few alerts. It kept going. And going. For nearly 5 solid minutes. Our Park Plaza church family was at a marriage retreat and they were flooding us with text messages containing prayers and words of encouragement! We received over eighty messages in just a few minutes. Nothing I said to her could have made the impact on her attitude that those messages did! She was able to get up and make it to the restroom just an hour after we received the messages. Later, she was able to make it down the hall and sit in the solarium for half an hour. I know many of those that sent messages will never read this, but those that do, please know that you were God's instrument of encouragement. Thank you!

Sarah reading the texts.

Up and walking! Kinda! :)

Relaxing in the solarium.

Sarah was worn out after the trip to the solarium and back. She laid down and took a short nap, which was good to see her comfortable enough to do so. Later that afternoon, we recieved eighty more text messages from our Park family. We are so blessed to be a part of such a great church and have such fantastic friends who have gone out of their way to let us know we are being prayed for.

Sarah had the opportunity to meet Teresa, a woman with whom she is Facebook friends. Teresa had her resection on Wednesday, the day before Sarah. She is doing really well. Teresa has been dealing with her stenosis for eight years. She has had a much tougher road than Sarah. It was good for them to talk and encourage each other. I left Sarah at 7:00 pm that night and went with Victor to try and find a few groceries and a dry erase board.

Sunday
Today, Sunday has been a good day. A nurse practitioner removed her JP Drain and the dressing around the incision site. This was a big relief as the tape and gauze was becoming itchy and was pulling on her skin when she moved. She was able to get up and make it to the solarium again today. Teresa came by and talked with her again. She was also able to meet another woman here this week whose resection was on Tuesday. Dr. Mathisen is a very busy guy!

She is running a bit of a fever tonight. The doctor on the floor wanted to be safe so he ordered blood, urine and sputum cultures as well as a chest x-ray. He listened to her lungs and said they sounded clear. We are hoping everything comes back negative and the fever subsides soon. Tonight will be her first night without one of us staying with her. I am nervous but her nurses have been really great and they are much better at caring for her than I am!

We have still been receiving texts from friends throughout the day. I cannot imagine going through this without all the support we have had from friends and family. Thank you again.

-Jason

Post op

I am ghost writing this one for Sarah. I've never enjoyed nor been very good a writing so just slog your way through this one.

- Jason


We checked in Thursday morning at 07:30. Sarah was taken back to the pre-op area to be readied for surgery. Her nurse had worked with the doctor who was about to do her surgery for 28 years. She said he is the absolute best in the world. That gave us a huge comfort coming from a nurse who, if she felt differently, would have not said anything at all. :) After about 30 minutes of prep work, we hugged Sarah as she was wheeled off to the operating room.


Sarah's Mom, Dad, Don and Donna Millican, and I made our way down to the Surgical Family Waiting Area. At about 11:15, we got a call from Mara, a nurse in the OR, who said that Dr. Mathisen was going to go forward with the resection. She said Sarah was doing great and that she said a "sweet prayer for herself as she fell asleep." We all cheered to hear the news that the resection would be happening! I hope that's the last time I ever get excited that someone I love is about to have a major surgery! Mara called about every hour and half to update us on the progress of the surgery. Each time she said things were going perfectly and that Sarah was doing great.





The five or so hours we waited seemed to crawl by. After Mara updated us at 11:30, we decided to go grab some lunch since we wouldn't hear anything for another hour and half. As we were waiting for the final update, the fire alarms began to go off! Absolutely no one moved. I sat calmly but inside my brain was imagining a panicked operating room frantically trying to sew up Sarah as the smoke was pouring in through the door frames. I have a good imagination, what can I say. After a few minutes, Boston Ladder 1 showed up. I have no idea what actually happened, but it appeared to be a false alarm.





Just after the fire incident, around 3:00pm, we received a call from Dr. Mathisen. He told me that the surgery went really well. The stenosis was a bit higher than he expected which made it a little more difficult but as far as he was concerned, it was a success. What a relief! He said wait thirty minutes and go up to the Surgical ICU waiting area.





We only waited about 15 minutes in the SICU waiting area before I was allowed to back and see her. It was such a huge relief to see she was ok with my own eyes. It took all I had not to run in and squeeze her! She looked really great considering she had just had her trachea cut in half only a few hours earlier. She is on strict voice rest so she is writing everything she wants to say on a legal pad.

One of Sarah's first notes after waking up.
 





First night in the ICU.

The first night in the ICU was rough. I stayed all night while her Mom and Dad got some much needed sleep. Her overnight nurse was fantastic. Shawn (sp?) kept her as comfortable as possible all night. Before shift change, her heart rate got a bit high. It was running around 110 - 125. As soon as Shawn started, she positioned Sarah so she would be more comfortable. She also massaged Sarah's back. An hour into Shawn's shift, Sarah's heartrate had dropped into the 80's and she fell asleep. I know that is how Sarah cares for her patients. I'm glad she had a nurse who treated her so well. Sharla came in and relieved me at about 06:00.

Her first night when really well. I'll post more as she progresses. Thank you to all that have prayed, sent texts, Facebooked, cooked meals, watched kids and anymore of the countless things that have been done for us. We are overwhelmed by how God has watched over us using so many wonderful people.

Pre-op Day!

Boston was a chilly 20 something degrees this morning. We walked about a block to the hospital and were able to get a wheelchair to go to all of my appointments. This hospital is amazing and overwhelming all in one! Sweet Saint Francis needs some inspiration. Makes me want to make SFH better! Dr. M (actually his amazing secretary) had all of my appointments scheduled for me. I basically walked in, gave them my name, and they took me back. I had a series of tracheal x-rays, a chest x-ray, and met with my doctors PA to go over my history and physical and sign my consent. We grabbed some lunch at the hospital then came back to the hotel for a little rest. The PA said that there are several factors that will stop him for doing the surgery since it is a one-chance deal and that Dr. Mathisen is very careful to do it when the tissue is best ready for the resection. I hope that I meet all the criteria to go forward.

They will take me into the OR in the morning. I have to be there at 7:30 and my surgery is scheduled for 10. They will sedate me and do a broncoscopy. At that time he will check everything. If everything looks good, they will go ahead with the surgery. They will cut horizontally across my neck and remove the diseased part of the trachea and reattach top to bottom. I will be intubated with a special type of tube that I have never seen before. They will pull it back slowly as they suture everything closed until it is out. They will then place a chin stitch that is about 3 inches from my chin to my chest. That will remain for my stay in the hospital (about 7-8 days). The surgery will last for about 5 hours and then another hour in recovery before anyone can see me. The stitch will keep me from extending my neck upwards and dehissing the wound and surgical site. At the end of 7 or 8 days they will take me back to the OR for another bronch to check swelling and the site. If everything looks good at that time then they will cut the chin stitch and I will be able to discharge to our hotel room :)

I will have to stay in town for a few days to make sure I am ok. Post op includes a total of 6 weeks no talking.. Yes, I know...that is CRAZY! Jason lucked out on that one! So what this means for all of my friends is that they better talk while they can because I may not shut up once they let me talk again. I will also have to limit my neck movement during that time. Dr. M said no driving, lifting, or talking. I will diligently follow ALL of those rules. He also said that this is a 99% success rate if no Wegners shows up and I follow all the rules.

Mass General Hosp. is directly behind the brownish building and extends outward.

MGH- the beautiful tall building and all the little ones in front of it!

That is probably WAY more then anyone really wanted to know but it is a good rundown if I do get to have the surgery. If the tissue is not ready we will have to return in a few months and do this all again. It is encouraging that at all the appointments we have had today, every person has went on and on about how Dr. M is THE MAN or how he is very picky and does amazing work. It is comforting. Also, we have had so many messages and text that are making this so much easier. Thank you everyone. We are so overwhelmed with all the love we have been shown. Thank you will never be enough to express how we feel.

 We are planning on dinner at Legal Seafood with my parents tonight. My one outing :) We love seafood and several friends recommended this place in Boston. Don and Donna,  our friends, mentors, and also a elder/wife in our church, will be in this evening. We can't believe that they came to be with us. We are so blessed. Thank you all again. Hopefully Jason will be updating you tomorrow on a successful surgery...and a very sedated Sarah :)

The following pics are a few from the top of our hotel looking out! Enjoy :)

On our way..

We left the house about nine this morning. We tried to keep it as normal as possible for the kids with the exception that daddy got to take Ben to school and Aunt Natalie got to take Lizzie. The goodbyes were light for the kids, although Jason said Ben struggled on the way to school. After they left I had a little breakdown, seeing all their toys and stuff. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to having the thought run through my mind that this could be my final goodbye to my babies.  Oh, how I hope he is able to do the surgery. I don’t want to go through this again. That thought is followed with faith that whatever happens, God is good and He has provided more than we could have ever asked for leading up to this point.  He has put so many in our path that have made this load lighter… and He has given me a husband that I am sure I could not make this journey without. So, I will do my best to have faith that whatever is to come in the next two days, surgery or not, that God has a plan and He has provided Dr. Mathisen with the knowledge to know when my tissue is best ready for a resection.

As I write this we are DFW airport waiting for our flight into Boston. We had a bit of a layover here which has been nice. We had time to eat and I got to prop my foot up to help with some of the swelling. We were VERY thankful not to be boarding the flight just before ours. I guess someone got sick on the incoming flight…it took about 40 minutes for the cleanup while the outgoing group waited to board. Yuck! As if planes aren’t dirty enough. Lol. 

Mom and dad arrived safely in Boston about an hour ago. I have to laugh at mom who accidentally packed a steak knife in her carry-on. Oh mom!!!! I haven’t had the chance to talk to my dad about this incident yet but I can ONLY imagine the thoughts he had during that fiasco. Thankfully she was able to load and they traveled the rest of the way safely without handcuffs J  As for me, I was graced with the entire pat down…They were very nice about it but I did feel a few glances come my way from other travelers. On our flight from Tulsa, we got to load early and they moved our seats towards the front of the plane so I didn’t have to crutch all the way to our seats in the back. I must not have looked pitiful enough because they didn’t offer 1^st class J I am currently sporting a nice navy wheelchair with a righteous red push-bar!  Jason being the gracious husband he is, parked me with all the elderly people in wheelchairs who were waiting for someone to push them to their destination, while he took a bathroom break. I kept saying, “don’t park me over there” and he, of course, did just that and quietly laughed, moved me back a little, and walked away. Nice babe!

Well that is all I will write for now. I can’t actually post this right now so I will add to it when we get into Boston and then post from there.

*We made it into Boston around 8. We went to a little place across the street from our hotel and had dinner with mom and dad. Mom had presents for me to open since its my birthday :) It was a nice end to a very long day. I have been blessed with so many messages and texts. Thank you all for making today special for me. We are safely tucked in our hotel room. We will have lots of preop stuff tomorrow starting at around 10 and ending around 4 and are hoping that the weather stays like it is for our little walk to the hospital!

Moving Forward...One Foot At A Time

Well I have had plenty of time to update but a lack of words to write. It seems like the days are taking years in some ways and in others it seems that so much is going on that its all I can do to hold on. This post will be an update on my foot.

Ok, so we left off waiting...waiting for a second opinion and waiting for more time to pass to decide what to do. We got set up with our second opinion that led to a CT of my foot. The CT of my foot led to surgery on my foot. It seems that even more areas of my foot were out of sorts than what were initially, or even secondarily identified by my first physician. So off to surgery we went...I had a fusion with plate and pin placement on the 12th of January. I am currently going into my fourth week of being non-weight bearing. Which, I must say, is requiring much more patience than I thought myself capable of.

These pictures are from just after my surgery; you can see the pins and plate.

My childhood preacher use to always quote the Proverb "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" Proverbs 17:22. Even though all that we have been going through has brought many serious moments we have had so many "merry hearts" around us that we have had great healing. We have also had some fantastic laughs at mostly my expense :) I want to share some of the fun!

I should have known going into surgery that I should request to be asleep the entire time and to have a muzzle. They would not be able to intubate me because of my tracheal stenosis issues so I had to have a spinal block. During my preop my nurse was telling me that I was lucky because I would have a certain anesthesiologist (won't name the poor soul) that was quite a looker..she referred to him as the Tom Cruise of the group. I wasn't sure which one she was talking about (I know a lot of them from the hospital) until I saw him. Cue..rolling into the OR...ok, so here it is...yes, he is Tom Cruise cute...but like back in his non-crazy Top Gun days.. She totally should NOT have said that to me though...did she not know that I was going to be drugged in surgery...anything might come out of my mouth! So I got my spinal and he kept me mostly asleep, waking every so often to check on me...they were good drugs but I remember a lot and I also remember not really caring. This of course led to me telling him...and probably the entire OR staff that the nurse had told me he was Tom Cruise cute...Seriously, wow...could have used that muzzle. Guess I will be dodging him if I ever see him in the unit. Totally embarrassing.

My next "merry moments" followed the usage of pain medication. I started trying to wean my meds down and started having quite a bit of pain. These "moments" came in the form of dreams. I know many have heard them but I just have to document them for laughter's sake..and I wish you all could have just sat and watched me because it would have really gave your abs a workout!

Dream #1: I was so happy to drift away from pain and off to sleep this night....It was an awesome dream. I was on a rollercoaster at about age 13ish with my cousins, parents, sister, and aunt. Now, if you know my cousin Brad then you should know the true story of my mom forcing him onto a rollercoaster at Six Flags when we were kids...it was an awful scene and it totally led into my dream. We were riding this terrifyingly terrific coaster that the buggies would detach and it was if you were going to go off the tracks. Brad was screaming like crazy, and then it would do someone elses cart. When it did mine, I of course screamed in my dream and woke up cracking up laughing like you would at the end of the ride. I was doubled over in bed laughing hysterically. It was a fantastic ride and I was ready to go again. Of course I wanted to share the awesomeness with Jason but couldn't get him awake....he missed out on that one! :)

Dream #2: This one was not so fantastic, in fact it was quite terrifying and led to me refusing anymore pain medication. I should let you know my foot was hurting so bad at this time. The stitches were pulling and I could not get comfortable for anything. I know I must have had some good drugs in my system because the munchies led to me dreaming of a Taco Bueno in the middle of the ocean that I ran into to call the coast guard and let them know that there were sharks EVERYWHERE and that they were eating people. I dreamed that there was red blood in the water everywhere and just as I had almost made it out a enormous shark with his razory teeth grabbed onto my leg. I was pulling my leg as hard a I could to get it from his jaws. Blood everywhere, me flailing...I wake, my heart racing, out of breath, trying to pull my leg from my splint. As soon as I got myself under control I woke Jason and had him turn the light on to check the splint, I had loosened it quite a bit. He obviously wasn't as concerned as he looked at me and went to turn the light back off...I said "What are you doing???!!!!!" "This needs checked!" His statement "It's too bright in here" and he lays back down and goes to sleep. So much for him helping that night :) I did end up at the doctor to check it out the next day.

My Shark wasn't as friendly as the "fish are friends not food" Finding Nemo sharks!

1 week down...the day after my shark attack!

The pain is much better now with the exception of when it swells..which means I haven't had it propped up. I am trying very hard to follow orders and let others do things that are normally my job. I have a whole new appreciation for being able to walk and get around...can't wait to be able to do things on my own again.. Especially holding Isaac and putting him, Elizabeth, and Benjamin to bed again. Hopefully only a few more weeks. We have been blessed with so many good people around us and wouldn't make it without any of you! Thank you!

My foot now- going into week 4

Poor Little Left-out Lizzie..

Looking back at past post I realize that Elizabeth has been left out on the birthday posts from this year. Of course this is an unintentional mishap but now that I realize it must be fixed. :) So, my very sweet Lizzie turned 4 this past November. I can't believe she is already 4. After many discussions on what type of birthday party she wanted (Princess, Pinkalicious, Strawberry Shortcake were among the top 3) she decided on Hello Kitty. I love doing their parties here at the house but she really wanted Bouncy Barn this year so that is what we did! We also enjoyed having family come in over a weekend to help us celebrate. Here are some pictures of the fun we had!

Jason always does a AMAZING job on their cakes!

Lizzie waiting to open presents from family.

At her Bouncy Barn Party!

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Cupcakes and Ice Cream :)

My Beautiful 4 year old Lizzie Mae!

Our Journey

I have had so many questions about my health and what in the world is going on. Man, what a loaded question that is. First, I must say that God is good and that we have complete faith in Him and what He will bring to and from this situation. I love my husbands sweet humor, right when I need it...as he wanted me to name this post.."when scar tissue attacks". God certainly blessed my life by giving me him and his ridiculous humor. To tell my story, I must start from the beginning..grab a seat, this may take a while. :)

Between Benjamin and Elizabeth we miscarried. I was 12 weeks along. We had no signs or symptoms that anything was wrong. As we went for our regular checkup I told Jason that I was glad we were going in because I felt uneasy about everything and was ready for some reassurance. That reassurance never came, the ultrasound rendered no heartbeat and the dark quiet let to our heartbrokeness. We went for another ultrasound after that weekend which revealed the same thing and then scheduled a D&C for later that week. Words always escape me when I think about the loss of our baby. I was so devastated and so many feelings and emotions went through me. Honestly, I still, from time to time, think back on some of those feelings. Gradually as we were able to talk about it we found many around us who had suffered the loss of a baby as well and found great comfort in the family God had placed around us. If you have ever experienced this, or ever do...I am always a listening ear. Just know your not alone. I tell you about this loss because to exclude it would not be our whole story...we look forward to meeting our little baby in Heaven one day.

The D&C: I had never had surgery before. Never been in the hospital. Never experienced this side. I asked all the right questions. Got answers I felt comfortable with and went into surgery. I was surprised when they rolled me into the operating room, that I had a CRNA and not the anesthesiologist that I had spoke with, handling my anesthesia. Dr. Babb held my hand as the CRNA put me to sleep. He was very comforting and I am grateful that he was my doctor through all of that. I woke to them pulling the ET tube (endotracheal tube) out of my throat. My first question was "what went wrong? Why did they intubate me?" They had told me they were going to use an LMA. The response was that this is standard procedure.  And there began my problems. Now, saying that, after some research, I do not feel that the tube was the only thing that caused my stenosis, I think hormones defiantly play a part, but I do think that there was an injury there that initiated a inflammatory response.

After the D&C: I started having breathing issues pretty much within a month of being intubated. I had a sore throat for about 2 weeks after and then had pneumonia within a month. After that I started seeing my primary care doctor every 6 weeks for about 7 months trying to figure out my: sinus, asthma, anxiety...triage of  misdiagnosis. During this time I had no idea what was in store. I really didn't think it was that bad initially. I thought I just had normal winter illnesses. I waited my 3 months and then we got pregnant again. By the time I was 6 months pregnant I was in a bad place. My breathing was awful. I felt like the baby and I were both going to die. I was scared and had no idea what to do. That is a terrible feeling. One I hope to never have again. Still makes me sick to think back on it. I was working one weekend (I was still full-time in the ICU then),  we were sewing a patients head up and my other patient coded. It put my breathing into a spin. I remember thinking I just might pass out. It was crazy trying to manage all of that and feeling so bad. I could not breathe. We got all of that under control and one of the pulmonologist "happen" to come to make rounds. I say "happen" because this was certainly God's timing. I needed someone to see me when I was at my worst. He knew me and knew I never ask for anything. I must have looked pretty bad. He looked at me and asked "what the hell was wrong" with me. His words, not mine. I started bawling. I said "something is really wrong with me and if someone doesn't help me than this baby, (rubbing my belly) and I are going to die." He asked me what was going on. I told him that my husband thought I had tracheal stenosis (TS) but that I didn't think it could be possible. Jason had researched my symptoms because it had gotten so bad and we knew something had to be terribly wrong. Dr. Worley listened to my throat and told me to come see him the next day. I went in the following day, he ran some tests and scheduled me for a bronchoscopy. Now mind you, I was 6 months pregnant by this time.

The Diagnosis: Two days after our meeting in the unit, he was doing a bronchoscopy on me. I was given the official diagnosis of Tracheal Stenosis (TS) and my airway was 90% occluded. The diameter was about the size of a pen. If I had been in a car accident they never would have been able to get me intubated. Dr. Worley began the process of researching what to do for me, calling many doctors across the states, and getting the hospital trained in new ways to treat me. Slowly, he began to release the layers of scar tissue that had formed circumferentially around my trachea. This was done in the operating room where they could keep better watch of me and the sweet baby in my belly. Jason and I were so scared. We never would have purposely put  a child in this position, in this danger. After about 12 surgeries I was to far along in the pregnancy to continue so we had to hold off and wait for the baby to be born. On November 1st @ 4:44 pm a beautiful, strong, HEALTHY baby girl was born to us. Elizabeth Mae, as beautiful as ever she was our amazing gift from God. I was so scared for her..so afraid for what might be since I was so sick while pregnant. She was perfect that day and still is, and continues to grow more and more beautiful. I pray that we can raise her to know how blessed she is and that God has great plans for her. Two weeks after we had her we began back in with the surgeries. I had a total of 18. Through all of this, my amazing husband took complete care of me, Benjamin, and our new baby. My doctor, Dr. Worley, did everything he could, went to every extreme to make sure I got the best care, and called and spent many hours on the phone with other doctors and with Jason and I. He certainly was an angel in disguise, just when we needed one. We also, had many friends and family praying and helping with meals and babysitting. God most definitely strengthened us during this time.

That was back in 2007 and early 2008. In 2009, we started having those aches for another baby. We were scared to try again and had been discussing adoption. I had a checkup scheduled with Dr. Worley....the time approached and I missed my cycle... We figured I better test at home instead of having the hospital tell me after doing preop. So, I tested at home and ..you guessed it...I was pregnant. Oh man, talk about some mixed emotions. Of course we were thrilled but also very cautious. We cancelled the bronchoscopy. I wasn't having any symptoms and I felt fine so we tried to just enjoy our last pregnancy. I had a great pregnancy and then on April 29th a sweet little boy was born to us, Isaac Lucas. He is so full of life and brings so much joy to us.

Where we are now:  Up until now we have been blessed with about 3 years of no tracheal stenosis problems. That is a true blessing.

About 6 months ago I slowly started having "issues" again. It is really hard to pinpoint because my airway isn't like a normal airway. If I catch a cold it isn't like catching a cold before all of this. Sinus and asthma- things I didn't have prior to all of this are things I deal with now. It was difficult to say what was going on but I probably knew and just wanted to live a little longer in denial. About a month ago it was getting really bad though and I did know. Dr. Worley was no longer with his group so I had to find a new pulmonologist to go to. So I made an appointment, did her tests, and got scheduled for a bronchoscopy. Two weeks ago I had my bronchoscopy... and it was much more difficult than those in the past. I ended up in a step-down respiratory care unit overnight and was left with more questions and a need to be proactive in my care. My airway was 80% stenosed again. This would be about like breathing through a straw. She did open me up some but I will still need more...and that is where we need to start making decisions.  The following is a picture of what my airway looked like at 80% stenosis. She did a treatment it is supposedly at 30% stenosis now (last 2 pictures).

Whats Ahead: Some people that develop subglottic tracheal stenosis have a underlying autoimmune disease called Wegners (WG). In the next day or so I will be testing to make sure I do not have this condition. This diagnosis will come with its own set of treatments and challenges. It just has to be ruled out to move on to other treatments. Most TS (tracheal stenosis) is idiopathic, meaning of unknown cause or is a result of a traumatic intubation. This is a chronic illness with no cure. What you can do, is have dilation's, laser treatments, cryotherapy, or the big one...a tracheal resection. We are to the point that it is time to get a second opinion from someone who really deals with this. Someone who is a expert. So, once my WG panels come back and we get all that sorted out. IF those test are negative, we will be trying to get to Boston (most likely) where the experts in TS and tracheal resection are at. All of it can be overwhelming if we think to long on it but we know that God is good and He has a plan. We know that there are many others in much worse situations. We know that we have been given so much and that we are always blessed with more than we deserve. We know that we have many praying for us. When I am unable to pray about it, Jason prays. When he is overwhelmed I pray. We have our weak moments and then we move on. So for now, we take it a day at a time.

What else is going on: Ok, so some of you are thinking....what about her foot??? What is up with that? Honestly, I am thinking the same thing. I broke it on the 3rd of July. I decided to gracefully fall down about 4 stairs at our house while (Jason teases me) "saving 30cents of electricity" by turning off the lights in the kids rooms while we went to church.  This pretty much has cost us more than what leaving those lights on would have.. :) Originally they said I broke my 4th metatarsal and had a really bad sprain to my ankle and tore some ligaments. That has healed but I guess they missed a few things because they have now added a avulsion fracture further into my foot and a 3rd metatarsal fracture. So now I am back in the boot and doing a bone growth stimulator on it 3 hours a day. They are giving me 4-6 weeks for it to heal. If it doesn't heal then they are discussing surgery. This will all be after about 6 months of it not healing. We are discussing second opinions on this as well. I do wonder if the inflammation process that started when I broke my foot has triggered a worsened response on my TS. The doctor wouldn't verify this but I think it may have sped up the stenosis as it seems to have worsened in the last few months. So that is where we stand (for lack of better term..lol) on that.

So now we wait and pray. I feel so fortunate to have had 2 amazing, healthy babies since diagnosed, along with many more special moments as a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and nurse. I hope that this hasn't been to much medical lingo...or to much of a bore...if it has, you always had the choice to stop reading :)...I just thought this would be the easiest way to go from the beginning and let people know what is going on. I am fine to answer any questions and ask you to remember my many tracheal stenosis sisters (90 % of those who have TS are women) in your prayers as well. I have been blessed to connect with many of them on facebook and have had great comfort in their stories and in not traveling this road alone. Thank you ALL for the many prayers you have said on behalf of us. You are all very special to us and are a great support to us...something we count as a huge blessing. I will try to keep this updated for what is going on and what our next step is...and of course to add great stories about the kids or whatever else comes to mind. :)