Finally got to talk more with mom

So I finaly got to talk a little more with my mom about her appointment. She said the surgeon told her they would most likely remove her uterus, part of her bladder, and the lining of her stomach. It really all depends on just what they find when they get in there, but for the most part that all will be coming out. The surgeon also told her they are now thinking the cancer originated from the uterus/bladder, but once again they won't know for sure until they do the surgery.

I still feel pretty down that I can't be there when she has the surgery, but for the most part I sort of will be there, since i'll be praying like crazy!! I also know she will be in good hands with the doctors and nurses, and that is comforting as well. Thank you all for the prayers offered.........I am so very thankful to have such a great support group!! **hugs**

Tyler singing

You are my Sunshine:

Mom update

So I finally got a call from my mom today. She met with the surgeon, and they are going to do the surgery next thursday, May 8th. She was told it will most likely be a 10-12 hour surgery. She sounded to scared and sad on the phone. She did say all 3 of my sisters will be there, plus my brother will be flying in from NC to be with her as well. I just hate that I can not be there. I'm over 500 miles away, and can't be there. All I keep thinking about right now is all of the "what if's" and i'm so incredibly scared. I know I shouldn't think that way, and I am doing my best to try and push all of the negative thoughts out of my mind. I of course will update this blog with any more information I get to let everyone know what is going on.........

Starting over

Ok, I am starting over with this weightloss stuff. I stopped taking the Phentermine because it just wasn't working for me anymore. I couldn't justify spending $27 a month on something that just didn't work as well as it first did. I must have been taking it wrong, since I know so many people have had success with it. Anyhoo, my weight is back up in the 200's, so I have got to do something about it. I am SO scared, though!! Can I do this on my own, without any kind of weight loss help? I mean, sure the Phentermine stopped working for me, but when it did work, boy did it help with curbing my appetite! I was no longer hungry all the time, and that felt SO good! Now I need to do this on my own, and I am terrified I won't be able to do it. I want this weight off of me, though. I found my way back to SparkPeople and am hoping that will help me with motivation and support, plus bloggin here always makes me feel better! I want to get down to a healthier weight so I can get off of some of the meds I am on, and I am hoping we can start trying for another baby within the next few months. So that is my total motivation right there......to:

A: Get off some of the meds I am taking

and

B: Be at a healthier weight for when we try for baby #2 in a few months

Now the big question is...........Can I do this?!?!?

Another mom update

Well, my mom finally heard back from her doctor's office yesterday. The nurse said they have decided they will be doing surgery to remove the tumor. Now she just has to wait for the surgeons office to call her back to let her no when they will be doing the surgery. The initial surgeon she had won't be doing the surgery, since he will be leaving the state soon, but he has personally picked another surgeon for her, which helps put her mind at ease. Now the wait is on to find out when they will do the surgery!! I'll update as soon as I hear from her. :)

Azalea pictures

I just love how well these pics turned out!!! This is the best pic I have ever gotten of a butterfly....it was so cute!!

WOOHOO!!!

I was so worried about our azalea bushes out front since they hadn't bloomed yet these year, mainly because they got hit with frost pretty badly last year. I figured with the warm weather we had been having they would have surely bloomed by now, especially since lots of other things were blooming. Well, I looked at them over pretty well last week and I couldn't believe what I saw.....flowers!!!!! Well, buds at least! I was SO happy!!! Not every bush had buds on them, but i'm just thankful they survived the bad frost last year. Lots of the blooms have actually opened up into some very beautiful flowers! I'll be sure to get some pics today and post them. The bushes that do not have blooms on them still have some healthy looking leaves, so i'm hoping they will come back next year. There is only one "bush" I want to take up that is dead, so that's not bad at all. I told Zane I want to get a few more azalea bushes to plant out front to help fill in the garden more. I *think* we may look around this weekend for some things. The past few nights it has gotten below 34 degrees at night, so I have made sure to cover up the bushes to keep them safe! I'm hoping last night was the last time for that. I'm ready for spring to STAY around now!!!

I'll be sure to get some pics of the azalea bushes sometime today.....

Mom update :)

Just wanted to update everyone.....my mom has an appointment today with her doctor to decide what the next step will be, either more chemo or surgery to remove the tumor. She had a test done a few days ago to determine just how much the tumor has shrunk, and to see if they can get a better idea of the location of it. They are still going with it being stomach cancer, but it could change now that it has shrunk down and they can hopefully tell just where it started from. She is really hoping surgery will be the next step so they can take the tumor out and hopefully be cancer free!! I'll update once I hear back from her later today. :)


**UPDATE** So mom just called. The doctor said the tumor hasn't shrunk as much as he would like for them to do surgery, but he would talk with the surgeon to see what he recommends. If they decide to do the surgery she will still need some chemo to make sure they got it all. If they don't do the surgery, they will continue to do the chemo to get the tumor to shrink more so they can eventually do the surgery. She should hear something back soon, and when she does i'll update again.

Getting spoiled

Ok, we are seriously getting spoiled by this gorgeous weather!!! It has been in the mid to upper 70's since Sunday, and I just LOVE it! Sunday we spent the day putting up a new swing set for Tyler that we got for him from K-mart. We had been wanting to get him a swing set for awhile now, and with Zane doing so great at his new job we were able to put some money aside each week and get him one! This thing is huge, too!! It has 8 legs and has two regular swings, a teeter totter thingie, a lawn swing, two handle things that kids can pull themselves up on, a "swing" that kids can stand on to swing (although Ty is way too small to do that yet, but he loves to sit on it and swing), and a 6ft wave slide. He really loves this set! Here are a few pics of him playing on it:




He wakes up every morning asking if he can go out and play! This weekend is supposed to be crappy.....cold and rainy!! :( I'm hoping it will be the last cold snap we have until fall......I am SO ready for the weather to stay nice!!! I really love having the windows and doors open to let the fresh air in. The only downside to the warm weather is the bee's and mosquitoes are out in FULL force! And the mosquitoes are huge....ugh, nasty! We're really going to have to find something that will help control them as much as we possibly can. I do know we'll be getting some Off! spray to spray on us to keep them from biting. I'd love to find something that will work in the yard as well that I can use around the swing set. I guess i'll look when we are out this weekend.

Also, with the weather finally nice, i'm going to start planting some flowers soon! I have some seeds I got for free (you didn't think i'd actually buy them did you?!? LOL) that i'd like to plant, plus I want to look into getting a few butterfly bushes for out front, and a few rose bushes. I'm also thinking we'll be getting our tomato plants soon....I can't wait!!!!! I'm a little worried about our azalea bushes out front, though. Last spring they bloomed super early, then we got a bad freeze that killed the flowers. I noticed a few of the bushes were dead, so we took them up, but the others at least still had nice leaves on them. Now, this year with the weather being warm they haven't even gotten any buds on them, let alone bloomed. But the leaves still look nice. Do you think there is still hope for them?!? Gosh, I would really hate to have to replace all of them. That would be the whole front garden!!! I'm hoping they will be ok, maybe not bloom this year but will bloom next year?!? I guess i'll ask them at Home Depot or wherever we end up getting the butterfly bushes from.

Well, I think that will do it for now. I have some housework to get done before I let Ty out to play. Tonight for dinner I think we're going to do the breakfast thing....I took some bacon and sausage out and will either make some waffles or french toast to go with it. Hope everyone is doing good!!!!

Mail goodies for March

Gosh, I can't believe it is April already!!! I actually did pretty good with the freebies and samples last month: :)

- First Aid Kit ~ Rec'd 3/1
- Hand held fan ~ Rec'd 3/3
- Eight Ball lip gloss ~ Rec'd 3/3 (rec'd 2 of them from a survey I did!)
- Turtle Chex Mix sample ~ Rec'd 3/3
- Covergirl Advanced Radiance sample ~ Rec'd 3/4
- Money plant & Marigold seeds ~ Rec'd 3/6 (from AARP)
- Neutrogena Wave Power Cleaner ~ Rec'd 3/10 (DHL) Love this thing!!
- $2.00 off Clean & Clear coupon ~ Rec'd 3/10
- Fagor Measuring Set ~ Rec'd 3/11 (from anniversary registry....came with a timer, measuring cup and book)
- Breathe Right Strips ~ Rec'd 3/13
- Auquafresh toothpaste ~ Rec'd 3/15 (walmart)
- Curel Lotion ~ Rec'd 3/17 (walmart)
- $5 Febreze Noticeable coupon ~ Rec'd 3/17
- Oust Spray ~ Rec'd 3/18 (UPS; 2 huge cans!! from bzzagent)
- TVA Energy kit ~ Rec'd 3/18 (came with 2 light bulbs & outlet insulation covers)
- Pledge Multi Surface wipe ~ Rec'd 3/21
- Dog Biscuit ~ Rec'd 3/24
- Colgate kit w/toothbrushes ~ Rec'd 3/27 (UPS)
- Franklin Mint Presidential Dollar holders/2007 ~ Rec'd 3/27
- Franklin Mint Presidential Dollar holders/2008 ~ Rec'd 3/29
- Ring Sizer ~ Rec'd 3/29
- Flashlight Keychain ~ Rec'd 3/29

Survey money/Gift cards earned:

Pinecone Research: $5 (paypal)
Amazon GC's: $111 woohoo!!!
Starbucks GC's: $10
Sears GC: $5
Pure Romance GC: $25
General surveys: $9.70 (paypal)
General surveys 2: $27 (cash/checks)

Also this month, we found out we could keep a product we had been testing, that retails for over $400!!!! I sure hope the goodies keep rolling in like this!!!!