the Saturday evening post

Okay, I know I'm probably a little bit biased, but, seriously, who else thinks this is the cutest my blog has ever looked?? Is it cute enough that everyone would just be happy looking at my festive header and background and I wouldn't have to actually post anything new? No? You really just came here for a Tricia update and you don't care what my blog looks like? Okay, fine then, have it your way.

Well, my mom's had a very up and down week. And, since I didn't really post an update last week, I'll go ahead and tell you that it was pretty rough. Her stomach issues seemed to get worse - she was to the point where she couldn't even leave the house. And she also developed a new pain on the lower right side of her abdomen that would come and go. Needless to say, Dr. T's poor nurse practitioner was bombarded with questions from us on Monday morning (or afternoon, I should say, since our 10:30 appointment didn't actually happen until around 1pm - longest day at West Clinic ever!). And of all days for us not to see Dr. Tauer! But his nurse practitioner was good and helpful. He felt all over Mom's abdomen and felt nothing but scar tissue and also reviewed her last CT scan (from mid-October), which looked fine. He was most worried about an abscess (i.e., infection), but Mom hasn't any symptoms of infection. He said, if it were a pain caused by cancer, it wouldn't go away (this is something Dr. T has told her before, too, because, if you have cancer, you're afraid every headache is a brain tumor and every backache is a spinal tumor). So we'll just keep an eye on it and were instructed to call if it gets worse or she has any new symptoms. By the way, that pain is totally gone this week. It may have been gas pain or some weird chemo side effect; chemo does some strange stuff, like make her shins hurt. Weird. Anyway, the nurse practitioner also suggested we talk to our friend Randy (who's Mom's GI doctor) about her GI issues, which we'd already done at church on Sunday.

Okay, back to this up and down week. Monday Mom felt pretty good but we were stuck at West Clinic all day so she didn't really get to enjoy her good day. Usually we'll go to lunch and maybe run a couple errands after chemo (since she gets a steroid with her chemo, the side effects don't usually hit 'til Wednesday), but she didn't get done until about 4pm. My older brother Jared came to town to surprise Mom and spend the afternoon with her, so he got to hang out at West Clinic with us, too. Fun. But chemo #5 of 8 is done - only three more to go!

Tuesday was a GREAT day! I worked all day, so Mom was by herself. Until now, she's only made quick outings by herself, but she was feeling so good on Tuesday that she went to Target and did a little Christmas shopping. :-) And on Wednesday the steroid wore off and the chemo kicked in. :-( She hasn't felt great since then and has spent most of her time in the recliner. Yesterday was so bad that we were afraid she had a stomach virus, but she seems to be a little better today. I think it was a mix of chemo/Tarceva side effects and some not-so-bland things that she ate. We're really hoping that she feels better by tomorrow because we have a million things going on. Of course we have church in the morning, and Tekia's in the children's Christmas musical at church tomorrow night, and, unfortunately, we have a funeral to attend in between the two. Some of our dear friends' parents, aunt, and uncle were tragically killed in a car accident on Monday afternoon. Please keep their family in your prayers.

And, as always, please keep our family in your prayers. Unfortunately, cancer was not the only thing that made our week hard last week. The enemy hasn't given up on us, that's for sure (really sick of him, by the way). The good news is Jesus hasn't given up on us either - we are so undeserving of that but so thankful for it.

FYI, Mom should have another scan (unsure if it'll be CT or PET) in January when she finishes chemo. We can go ahead and be praying about that!

Also, It might be Christmas on my blog 'til March. That's how much I love my blog makeover. Just warning you.

Christma-fied

This blog has officially been Christma-fied (I keep accidentally typing Christma-fried . . . should let you know a little something about my ever so healthy eating habits). If you know me well, you know I have issues with change. Therefore, changing the template on my blog always makes me have a few heart palpitations. Not because I don't want to change my template, but because I'm afraid I'm going to do something wrong and end up with a totally blank blog with nothing but a title on it. Of course, I saved my old template just in case something went wrong (okay, fine, I saved two copies), but, fortunately, the switch was successful. And I cleverly picked a template that says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", so it can technically be left up until New Year's (because, as those of you who know me also know, I also have issues with doing things on time). Anyway, hope you enjoy the new look!

new look!

After being filled with blog jealousy upon seeing my friend Leisha's adorable new template, I decided that my blog needed a makeover. My blog has pretty much had the same look since I started it in 2006. It was time for a change.

So what do you think?

Whose blog is this, anyway?

Before I get started, let me just say that this blog has taken on a personality all its own. It's crazy! There seems to be this growing interest in "making the blog." For example, my second-mom, Patty, has "made the blog" twice. I'm not keeping count -- she is (apparently pictures don't count, because several pictures have been posted of her; I think I have to mention her actual name). Anyway, now it's three times. Congratulations, Patty. Also, when I don't post about a particular event within a certain amount of time (which, as you know, happens often), you better believe I will hear about it from my friends who are readers. And, this week, confusion has ensued due to the fact that I've included something in my Facebook status that I have not written about on the blog (Paw Paw, I will be doing a post about my Tuesday. Don't worry, you haven't missed anything.)

That brings me to today's post -- a post I never intended to do, but was pretty much forced to do. Suddenly people (aka my mom) think they can just decide what my blog posts will be about. A couple Sundays ago, Lifeblood came to our church. For those who don't know, Lifeblood is major blood center here in Memphis. We were already at church that afternoon for a bridal shower for my lovely friend Heather, so I decided to donate. As did my friend Becky. I had never donated blood before. I'd always wanted to; I just hadn't for some reason. But I give blood to my babies in the NICU all the time ("give" meaning I actually do the transfusion via IV, not give my own blood, obviously), and Memphis is having a blood shortage; so I decided now was the time.

I was answering a looong list of health/travel questions (I think I forgot to tell them that I've been to Austria. I hope there are no terrible blood cooties in Austria), and my mom and Patty showed up with my camera, which was there to be used at the shower, not the blood drive. "We're going to take pictures for the blog!" Mom announced. I was a bit confused, but kept answering questions. When I finally finished and made it to my little reclining chair, Mom was ready with the camera. I told her I didn't know if I would post about this experience, that I hadn't really thought about it.

"Oh, you have to post about this! It's your first time giving blood!"

So now I'm posting about it. Mom actually ended up leaving the camera with another lady from church, because she had to go get ready for Heather's shower. So the appointed photographer took lots of pictures of me and then Becky, who showed up a little after I did. We did not get to sit by each other, though, and it was sad.

Okay, in no way do I want to discourage anyone from giving blood. But this is my blog, and I have to be honest. It HURT! I have a really high tolerance for pain. I've had my blood drawn numerous times (even my fellow nursing students who were practicing on me!) and it's never bothered me. But this really, truly hurt. It hurt when I got stuck, and it hurt the entire 20 minutes or so that my blood was slowly draining into that huge bag. I didn't say anything, because everyone else was talking and laughing and I didn't want to look like a big baby. However, in talking to other donors since, I have realized that the donation process is not usually a painful one. Everyone else assured me that it's never hurt them and that it's not supposed to hurt. So apparently I just had a bad stick or something. The experience has not discouraged me from giving blood again, and I hope it hasn't you either. Even if it hurt every time, it would be worth it. The people who need it are most definitely hurting much worse.

pictures . . .

Becky smiling

me smiling (I wish you could see all the blood in the bottom of that bag!)

neither of us smiling because we were sitting so far away from each other . . . boring!

Just to show that I survived, here I am just a few minutes later with my dear bride-friend Heather and her mom Carol at Heather's shower. I love this picture because Carol totally didn't think she was going to be included in the photo, haha.

All I know is, they better not have spilled any.

Look over there ------->

And turn up your volume. I've finally discovered how to add music to my blog. Here is one of my current favorites; you may have noticed part of the lyrics as my quote. I've wanted to make the entire song one of my quotes, but I thought that might be going a little overboard. So here are the lyrics. Merry Christmas!



- Chris Rice Lyrics

my apologies

*sigh* I've been a bad blogger. I realized this tonight when my Paw Paw asked if there were any new posts! A little over a week after getting back from Hawaii, we left for our annual trip to Hot Springs with all of our favorite friends. :-) We got back yesterday...with Hunter and Avery in tow for a week of "Camp Granna." Oh yeah, and Dad's in St. Louis on business, so it's just Mom and me running camp for now. Ohhhh, and I went to Dallas the weekend after getting back from Hawaii. Okay...those are all the excuses I can think of for now. I promise to get back to blogging ASAP. Please accept my apology and enjoy these pictures of Princess Avery torturing our poor kitty, Sylvester.

So now I have a blog

I would like to dedicate this--my first blog post ever--to my dear friends Tara and Leisha.

Without their constant nagging I never would've been sucked into this blogging situation. They've told me that "funny things" happen to me and that I'd have "lots to blog about." I wasn't totally convinced of this until last weekend when my 19-month-old niece failed her first urine drug test. I started thinking then that maybe my friends were right...maybe funny things do happen to me and I do have much to blog about. So thank you, Leisha and Tara, for helping me see the light. I can't say I'm proud of what I've done, but it is nice to know that you're both smiling right now.