A Lil Good News

I had a visit this morning with Dr. G. Picture this conversation with Kiersten whining in the background.

Dr. G: Hi Kids! Well, how are you doing today (to me)?

Me: Good.

Dr. G: How have you been feeling? Let's see, since our last visit last month, you've gained 5lbs.

Me: Well, I've told you I've been gaining about a 1lb a week. Besides feeling fat, I am achy and I am getting muscle cramps all over the place, neck, shoulders, stomach, thighs and they really hurt. I can't even scratch my back without pulling a muscle in my shoulder.

Dr. G: That's a good sign, that means you are probably ready for the thyroid supplement. Muscle cramps are something we look for. Let me look at your thyroid....(feeling my neck)....it's almost completely gone. I am going to give some samples to start today, but I'm not giving you a prescription until I get your blood work back.

Me: You have no idea how happy I am.

Dr. G: What is your maiden name by the way?

Me: Bouttavong

Dr. G: Where are you from?

Me: Laos

Dr. G: You're Laotian, but you were born here, you have no accent.

Me: I was born in Thailand, but came here as a baby, but I still speak Laos.

Dr. G: Alright Lammone, let's get you downstairs to the vampires. Bye kids!

I can't stand punks....

Last week or so, I found the front of our home shot with a few paintball shots. Luckily it missed the window or else that could have been broken. This morning Pete found someone wrote a vulgar comment on my car in shaving cream on my trunk.

We have pictures of both and I am tired of this. I don't know if I am being targeted or if this is random. Either way, I don't have time for this and if my property gets really damaged, then I'm going to be on a mission to catch the bastards. I called and spoke with the Waterford Police when I saw the paintball shots & they couldn't really do anything obviously.

Peter's School Pic

Here's Peter 4yr old preschool class picture. It was taken 9/28/06 and just came in last week.

We got to see Cammie yesterday since they let her come home for the weekend to recover from her procedures last week. She starts chemo this week. It broke our hearts to see her the way she is now when she was just a bouncing happy little girl 2 weeks ago. After being able to talk to Jami face to face and with ever changing info anyway, I finally was able to get more details.

The good new is that the tumor is not actually in her kidney. The good news is that the tumor is not in her spine, but runs along it. The good news is that she does not have brain damage even though her nervous system has been affected. The tumor secretes a hormone which damaged her nervous system so the tumor isn't in her brain. The bad news is that they changed her status from Stage 2 to Stage 3 cancer. The bad new is that chemo is her only hope because the tumor is inoperable due to the fact that it is wrapped around both of her aortas (spelling) and they won't mess with her heart, too dangerous. The bad news is that they don't know exactly what to do with her nervous system after chemo has done its work(pray that it kills the cancer) b/c there are so few cases of this cancer (600-650 in the USA). There are drug therapies, but some are more dangerous than others and some could cause brain damage.

As you can imagine, the hopsital (along with St. Judes, Mayo Clinic etc....) are all involved in this case and are trying to convince the family to let them videotape everything and make this case a a study for future research and use. It's hard to imagine being asked that, Jami also said for days they had all these interns making rounds to see Cammie b/c she was such a 'rare' case that they had to ask the hospital to stop since Cammie is a person, not a specimen. It reminded me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy and all those overzealous interns wanting to see all the best & weird new cases.

This tumor has caused Cammie to regress. She can no longer walk and has little function of her muscles so standing up is also hard. She has a hard time holding her neck up (think of her as an infant) and little control of her eyes and other movements. She has a constant tick/quick little movements. Just keep praying for her and her family.

Offline for 3 WHOLE days!

Whew, hopefully our PC issues are fixed now, 3 days without internet/email access is hard!!!

The biggest update I have is on our friend Cammie who is 15mths old. I found out Monday that Cammie does have cancer. It is a rare form of cancer (2% get this cancer), but not uncommon in this age group of 9mth olds to 18mths old. I forget what it is called and if I can get it spelled out for me I will write about it. The doctors do not know exactly why Cammie has this, but this is obviously a very scary and difficult time for the family and for any parent who has kids in this age group.

Last Wednesday when Cammie's eyes started to roll all over the place & became listless, Jami knew something was wrong and took her to the pediatrician. The pediatrician knew something was seriously wrong with her nervous system and sent her to the hospital. They went to St. John's and there the emergency room did a spinal tap on her b/c they thought she might have meningitis. After a few hours there, St. John's felt she had to be transferred down to Children's Hopsital in Detroit. After almost 2 days at Children's and after an MRI & CT Scan, they found a tumor in her kidney and at that time they thought it had connected to her spine to her brain (b/c something was creating pressure on her nervous system). Yesterday, Cammie had a biopsy on her kidney and her Chemo port created. Right now Cammie's cancer is at Stage 2 (not the 4 they thought it was luckily), the doctors feel that after a month of Chemo, they hope to shrink the tumor enough to be able to remove it. Luckily, it was not attached to her spine (which could have caused paralysis) & not wrapped around her adrenal gland. It's all a waiting period and she is not out of the woods by any means. She will probably need therapy to correct her eyes since I understand they still do not function normally and can look a little scary.

I have spoken to Jami several times and she is being really strong, but we all know its hard. Her son, Chris, is in Peter's class and with Jami moving into the hospital for a month+ and Matt(dad) having to go back to his Army base recently, everyone is working hard to keep Chris in a 'normal' schedule as possible.

I hope to see Cammie this weekend, but I have a cold so I don't want to compromise her recovery. She is expected to take a week to recover from this surgery before they start Chemo on her sometime next week. At that time, she has to be in a 'germ-free' environment so she won't be able to take visitors. It's amazing how quickly things can happen. Last time I saw Cammie 2 weeks ago, she was climbing all over my furniture playing and now I'm going to see her in a hospital bed. Enjoy every moment you have with your loved ones ( :

And that brings me to.......Happy Anniversary Pete!!!! Love You! It's our 10 year dating anniversary tonight. Pete & I met at a fraternity party Halloween party 10yrs ago when I was a freshmen and he was a sophomore. He kept calling me Lanore that night (he swore the music was too loud), but its fun to 'remember' all those little things. We're celebrating this weekend with dinner and a movie.

The Weekend

I have been sleeping a lot this weekend trying to get rid of this cold, so I will post pictures later. The kids got over their 3rd cold of the season and Pete is still strying to get over his a week later. I started feeling sick mid-week and still have a lot of congestion in my chest, unfortunately, I am limited to what I can take due to thyroid issues (can cause my heart to race).

Thursday we went to the pediatrician's office for Kiersten's 18mth old visit. She decided that she would have a bowel movement in the lobby. Our appt wasn't until 4:40 pm so you think she'd have plenty of time at home, but nope. OSHA requires soiled diapers to be taken with you, luckily I had a ziploc back I could use to help eliminate the smell. As far as her stats, she's just above 50% with her height(31.5inches) and her head measurements (18inches) and in the 10-12% in her weight(22lbs). She's long and skinny I suppose....she's eats a lot, but she's in a very active stage of life trying to keep up with the big kids. The doc says she's doing great and she got her 3 shots and we were outta there. Peter & Kiersten never got sick from any of the shots they have had and I have always just given them tylenol before the shots anyway as a precaution.

Friday afternoon, our 2 large ash trees (65-70ft) finally came down. Our yard looks totally barren, but they had to go. The Emerald Ash Beetle has done a doozy on them and they were dead (literally) weight and dangerous especially with high winds and with upcoming heavy snow could cause a lot of damage to the house and wires (we need our electricity during the winter!). We spent some time Sat afternoon cleaning up the yard.

We went and picked out the kids costumes, trick or treat buckets and pumpkins on Saturday. I have to make some adjustments, but I will post pictures after Halloween so its a surprise! We didn't celebrate Sweetest Day, its not one of the Hallmark holidays we celebrate anyway. I enjoy Pete taking diaper duty when he's home, that's a huge joy in my life ( :

We have been watching another weekend of sports and its been a pretty good weekend. Even though the Tigers lost game 1, they're doing well tonight. The Tigers were due for a loss and it wouldn't be a World Series if the Tigers swept though it would have been nice.

We're still praying for little Cammie, I should have some updates tomorrow.

A little prayer for our friend Cammie

Our little friend Cammie, whom you may have seen in a few pics on this blog, I just found out has been in the hospital for 2 days. She is at Detroit's Childrens' Hospital and they currently can't find a problem yet only that I know they are looking for anything and everything (cancer, tumors on the spine etc...) She has had an MRI, Cat Scan, but still is in bad shape and her symptoms came on suddenly. Her dad just got back from Iraq after serving a year, but is based in TN and will have to go back to base this weekend or by Monday unless he can somehow stay longer! Keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers this weekend!

edited to say: The doctors think something is wrong with her nervous system. I ran into Cammie's aunt at school and they are all very scared. What an ordeal for a 15mth old to go through ) :

Kiersten's 18mth today!!!

Here she is at 4mths old.

Here she is last week! Her 18mth checkup is tomorrow so I will post her stats tomorrow. How time flies!

WOW, A GREAT MICHIGAN SPORTS WEEKEND!!

Huge congrats to the Detroit Tigers for kicking the Oakland A's right outta here and going to the World Series! What an accomplishment and you can't beat that last play!

Huge congrats to U of M for staying undefeated. Ohio State, we'll beat you too!

Congrats have to go to the Detroit Lions for winning their 1st game of the season. We were out shopping during most of the game today.

In celebration of our Tiger's Win Saturday night, Kiersten drew a picture on the wall with a red/orange colored crayon.

Since we couldn't be upset, we grabbed the camera and had her pose for some pictures instead.

I was in the basement taking care of the laundry. Peter was just around the corner studying on his laptop. I was coming up the stairs about to open the door when I heard Pete go, "Oh my god!" I quickly opened the door right into a shocked Pete and smiling Kiersten. She had found a crayon that Peter didn't put away, but to her credit, she did try to get daddy's attention, but he kinda waved her off so she continued with her art work. All of this took place in less than 3 minutes.

After using baking soda, soap & water, bleach etc.... I was finally able to get most of the art work off the wall. We decided that everything that Peter didn't do, Kiersten will do. They are so similar, yet so different. The wall is still a little wet here. To Kiersten's credit, she did grab a nearby towel and 'helped' me wipe off the excess water. She is my little shadow, my little helper. She loves to rearrange my pantry and the fridge every second she gets.

Could you be be mad at this face?!

Beginning of Winter....

Yesterday was just wet, wet and more wet. The ground is just so wet around here and we worry about the water table since the lake is just across the street. Sump pump....don't do anything crazy. As we left the house to go to the mall this morning, the snowflakes just came down and the wind was getting crazy. I decided to turn around and go home in case the roads froze over, I didn't want to drive with the crazies on the road. In addition to the fact that I wasn't dressed that warmly and though Kiersten had a hat and a turtleneck on, she had just a light fleece on. I really should have bought a blanket to shield her from the wind, snow and rain too.

It is a really lazy day and I am tired, maybe I can get Pete to bring dinner home today? My energy level is low even with drinking my beloved pepsi.

However, I have been researching what to do this year for Christmas cards and decided that I would get them from Costco. They are cheaper than Walmart (just a penny or 2, but it adds up when you send out 100 bcards) and are a lot nicer. Now, I just have to figure out what the kids will wear & how I will get them to smile together. Believe it or not, Kiersten loves the digital camera, its Peter who goofs off every second!

A mini-reunion

Since I couldn't make it to my 10yr class reunion over the 4th of July, I really wanted to see some old friends who lived in the area. We had a handful of people and overtime....it only ended up being 3 of us. Heather is pregnant with #3 to your left (due in March) and whom I haven't seen in 10yrs. Melissa is due Nov. 4th-ish on the right whom I haven't seen in 3 1/2 yrs. Chanthay (my old best friend since 6th grade) got lost in the bar section and we totally missed her even though she came (she never returned my emails or called me back to let me know she was coming, so I wasn't looking for her). I haven't spoken to her in about 10yrs . Derek had a last minute firm event (could it have been a great Tiger's game) and had to bail out at the last minute & I haven't seen him in about 10yrs.

It was fun to catch up. We are going to try and plan a 'family' oriented gathering/picnic next summer so our families can all come.

This is how I felt today!

Anxious for my bloodwork results to come in after seeing the doc last Wed 9/27. I had planned on calling them Monday if I didn't hear anything. If anything, I was looking forward to getting started on my thyroid supplement to get my metabolism kick started back into gear. Where oh where is that prescription?

What I get instead is a summary of my bloodwork and a note from the doctor stating that my T4 (whatever that is) is too suppressed and needs to be higher therefore he needs to see me in another 6 weeks and will not start me on thyroid meds yet. However, my TSH levels are good and normal now. I have been trying really hard to stay positive about all of this because I know this condition can be treated, but now I'm just.....feeling more anxious. When I see the doc in 4 weeks (then wait 1 1/2 weeks after for lab results), what if my T4 levels still aren't good enough? Chances are I may need more radiation which I DO NOT want. If I have to, I will live with it, but I just don't wanna (that's a whine from me) b/c it made me so tired, sick and we have to make arrangements for the kids again.

I will whine again about my weight. I worked really hard to lose all the baby weight after each baby. I have gained an average of 1lb per week since August and I can't stand the extra 8-9lbs (+plus what I will keep gaining) on me. I don't carry that much weight on me and I feel so unhealthy...blah...blah...I have been trying to lose weight, but I keep gaining. The doctor thinks I am CRAZY, but I'm not...I refuse to let this thyroid issue make me fat, plain & simple. I don't have any time to be tired and 'lazy' b/c I am super busy with the kids. I take the occasional afternoon nap with the kids, but I won't accept this weight gain.

I need my metabolism back in check!!!!! AGH!!!!!!!!

A few pics of cousin Dianne

I had to crop my brother's hairy legs out, sorry if you wanted to see his hairy legs.
She looks like a little football player with cleats on!
"I'm coming for you!"
"Cheese"

A few pics from this week

Thursday afternoon playing at the mall.

Kiersten's checking someone out...I think she's not sure about them....

A little fuzzy, but we love these shots...she looks like a little teenager.

A little outdoor soccer time in the backyard.

We had little Cammie come over today. Her mom took her big brother, Christian, and Peter to school today. Their mom was the snack & stay parent for the pres-school class today. Since we live so close to each other & school, we have been trading off. Cammie has a really roly poly belly, very adorable. She is 15mths old, but wears 2T b/c of her belly & legs. I feel like I've been lifting weights today! She is a great and easy going baby.

Who doesn't love Elmo?

It's been a little tough to blog every few days let alone everyday....we're getting busier and busier....

Last weekend, we went shopping for an additional pair of shoes for Peter. Saturday was a rainy and miserable day. Traffic was horrible and we realized that we are going to start & finish our Christmas shopping soon. We found a pair of shoes for Peter on Sunday (yeah) and we spent most of our afternoon at the park. We got Peter his first bike a month ago and we haven't been able to take it out so he had fun 'learning' to ride.

Kiersten is a handful. She is nosey and will get into everything. She is also more hot tempered than Peter was and that makes it a little difficult because she gets frusturated and then upset at the drop of a hat...mood swings already? Is she 17mths going on 13yrs old?

We've been having fun watching U of M's football team win every weekend. We've been 'tired' of the Detroit Lion's not winnning. Our Detroit Tigers....well, they made an excellent comeback, let's hope they do well against the Yankees. Yankees are a beatable team.

Today we went to the mall for lunch and playtime at the indoor play area. We may go outside later if the weather permits. It is sunny, but a little chilly..... I have a few pics to post, but now I have to go clean the house.