Life is like a box of chocolates...and only some of them are delicious! lol

After a nice day off from school on Monday for Veteran's Day, the kids sure were hoping for a snow day, or at least a delay...no such luck. While we had our first snow of the year, thankfully none of it stuck. Tuesday was a trip to NYC for another MRI and follow up appointment. Of course, it fell on a MOPS morning! Grrrrr! It was my group's turn to bring food...luckily the appointment wasn't until the afternoon, so I could go to MOPS for an hour at least. I made a chile tortilla egg bake (yum!) and headed off to relax for a little bit. It's always wonderful to hang out with other moms and visit and learn and eat (delicious food! one of the best parts of MOPS ;) and have fun. Anyways, I tore myself away and picked up David for the drive. Dad and Rachel took charge of Buddy and Freckles...and we were off.

We had to take a picture of the zombie green jeep for Red Two ;)

We were hoping to get some answers from David's oncologist. He's been having weird body pain...it started right towards the end of his chemo treatment (about 4 months ago)...but it's been getting worse. First his abdomen was hurting...almost seemed like the pain was in the fat of the stomach...if it was touched or pushed at all it was super sensitive. Then it started spreading...his arms, inner thighs, chest...if there is pressure or he's hit there, it hurts, or burns, or stabbing pain. It's really odd. I mean, if he's playing with Buddy, wrestling or roughhousing with him, he can get a lot of pain from the contact. Not to mention he still gets lots of headaches. He already mentioned the body pain to his general practitioner, who didn't really know what it was, figured it was chemo related and told him to talk to his oncologist. 

First stop was the MRI. They didn't do the Profusion technique, since he's been having trouble with nausea and vomiting in the MRIs the last two times. That's weird too...he never had a problem with the MRIs in the past, and he's had tons of them! But that PCV chemo put him on a hair trigger with his nausea, and the contrast they use in MRIs sets him off. Anyways, this time they just administered the contrast solution manually...and at first he thought he was fine...but after a minute he almost threw up again. Ugh! At least they were able to finish the MRI...and he didn't actually throw up. I think the nausea is slightly better, but still stinks!

We walked the few blocks over to the building his doctor is in for his appointment. After bloodwork we got called back to an exam room. The nurse went over all his symptoms and info first...as usual. They always kinda make you do it twice. Anyways, she was thinking Dr Omuro might refer him to a neurologist for the pain, as it sounded nerve related...but of course, she wasn't sure. Once Dr Omuro came in...did all the usual neurological tests, he examined David for the pain. I thought at one point, when the doctor was pressing on his stomach, that David was gonna take a swing at him. Luckily he refrained...lol. After all that, the doctor said he wasn't worried about it (cuz he's not the one in pain!), wanted to see us back in three months, but if it got worse to call him. Funny thing, first he said to talk to David's general practitioner...David said he said to talk to you! Then he said David might need to see a rheumatologist if it got worse. I didn't even know what that was until we got home and I googled it. According to Wikipedia: 

Rheumatology (Greek ρεύμα, rheuma, river) is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Clinicians who specialize in rheumatology are called rheumatologists. Rheumatologists deal mainly with clinical problems involving joints, soft tissues, autoimmune diseases, vasculitis, and heritable connective tissue disorders.

Many of these diseases are now known to be disorders of the immune system, and rheumatology is increasingly the study of immunology.

This made me wonder if it might be a side effect from chemo, which can affect the immune system. But, he's been off of chemo for almost four months now, so any side effects should be getting better, not worse. The one great thing from the visit is that the scans are still coming back clean, no changes, nothing they can see, praise God! 

Yes, I wore gray! Bonus points if you remember what the owl sweater is from! :)

It was supper time by now, so we stopped for a couple of slices before heading home. Trying to keep it cheap and all...I worked it out...every time we have to make a trip to Sloan it costs about a hundred bucks! Yuck!  What with gas, tolls, parking, and (cheap) food, we're lucky to make it out under 100.00. Obviously worth it, but has certainly taken its toll...and as y'all are aware, we gotta watch every penny while he's not working.

Nope, still not working...trusting and praying on that still!

Thursday is BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). I actually did all my homework, and they finally have room for Buddy in the children's program. We're covering the book of Matthew this year...this week one of the parts we read was Jesus calming the storm. One of the homework/discussion questions was asking about what storms in your life is God working on, or something like that. Other than the discussion group leader, who I know just a little bit, I don't know anyone in my group. When that question came around, I had a bit of a pity party moment...like, these people have no idea what's going on in my life. They are all really nice, but I don't know them and they don't know me. But really, I don't know what's going on in their lives either...so, shouldn't think like that. Anyways, I felt a bit sorry for myself. Then we headed to the sanctuary for the lecture, and I didn't see anyone I knew to sit next to (Rachel didn't make it, and none of my friends were in the church yet). For some reason, I just started crying. Most times, I'm fine. I'm not the one who freaks out or whatever...but for some reason right then, I just got all emotional. I texted David and he called me right away. I went running outside...just had such a hard time stopping crying. He wanted me to come home...but I didn't want to pick Buddy up until I calmed down. I'm usually just trucking along, but sometimes all the crap just hits me. I grabbed Buddy, then when I was fixing to leave, one of my friends came out to check on me. Thanks Nicole! You made my day, just by showing that you care!!! When I got home, I told David, "I'm really tired of being Job!"  Sometimes I just need to let it out...most times I'm too busy with daily life to even think about everything. I mean, of course I stress about stuff, money, kids, whatever...but I don't think about the really hard stuff often. But every now and then I just need to let it out and I usually wind up feeling a bit better. 

I know that the Lord is in control, and that no matter what, all things will work together for my good. It's just that sometimes the refining process is painful...and no fun...and hard! lol...but, I still praise God no matter what...I really mean that, I'm not just mouthing words. In all things, somehow, by God's grace, I still manage to pray and praise. It certainly helps to be surrounded by like-minded, faith filled family and friends. 

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but my father-in-law retired a couple months ago. He's been having itchy feet for a while. Anyways, he's been clearing out that big house for a while...he's been wanting to buy an RV...but hasn't found one yet. He did get an awesome Ford 250 Super Duty truck...it's perfect for him. Buddy, of course, loves it! He's been wanting to travel a bit...definitely go see Chris (David's brother) in Texas, and go to Florida to visit Mom's grave site, and Alabama to visit the Poarch Creek Indian reservation again...among other things. We've all been dreading him leaving...but he's gotta do what he needs to. I would never want to hold him back from what he wants or needs to do...especially to help get over my mother-in-law's passing...but man, I sure don't want him to go! We haven't been too much help with the packing (sorry Dad!). David is of course so tired still...and it doesn't help that the house is 45 minutes away. I still feel bad I didn't do more though...I know Dad understands though. Saturday we went over to hang out...eat dinner...he was planning on leaving on Sunday. Anyways, driving home we ran into a speed trap. Now, I haven't sped in over a year, because our registration is expired, because in order to get your car registration you have to pay city car taxes. What?!??!?!? I seriously had never heard of such a thing until we moved to Connecticut. Even in CO they didn't have such a thing. I remember the first time I got one of those in the mail after we moved here...I was just dumbfounded...what do you mean I have to pay taxes on a car I bought over a year ago...and have to pay them every year...what kind of craziness is this??? Anyways, we hadn't been able to pay them last year, David was out of work for three months after his second surgery...and it was just way low on our priority list. Like I said, we'd been catching up on a lot of things...the taxes and registration were getting high on the list...until the whole laid off thing. Ugh!

Anyways, David got caught speeding...and then no registration...the cop was as nice as he could be. It helped that we had the kids and David was polite and all...he didn't even give him a speeding ticket...just an ignoring a road sign ticket. But he sure confiscated those plates...can't drive the van at all until we take care of it! And David doesn't have a company vehicle anymore...thankfully Kim was able to come pick us all up, Saturday night and all. Thank you SO much Kim!!! The weird thing is, you can't tow an unlicensed vehicle unless it's completely off the ground, like on a flatbed trailer, or you have temporary plates. Rachel was trying to get her AAA to tow it, but they wouldn't do it. Thanks for trying though! We wound up renting a car transport from U-Haul and Dad used his truck to get it to the house. It was probably cheaper than towing anyways. So now we are temporarily car-less...our own fault...what can ya do?

Sarah had already offered to let us borrow their second car since David didn't have his work truck anymore...so I was definitely gonna take her up on that! We made a plan to pick it up on Monday night. Sunday I worked the nursery at CLG...Dad drove me. He was planning on trying to leave then...but had some errands to run. He decided to extend the rent to give us some more time to finish clearing out his place. The landlord lives in Rhode Island, so I drove with him so I could spend some time with him before he left. Who knows how long he'll be gone. I know I've mentioned it before, but I am so blessed with my in-laws...we are really close. We had a great time listening to the Texans game on the radio (they lost...big shocker!) and just hanging out. I know he probably thought I was bored or tired of driving around, but it was a really nice time to just be together. Thankfully, by the time we were done with everything, it was a bit late for him to get on the road, so he decided to leave in the morning. We ordered pizza and watched some more football. I was having a hard time keeping it together though. I was missing him already.

The plan for today (was it really just this morning? feels longer!) was that Rachel and Dad would come over early to drive the girls to school, and then he'd hit the road. We had a little bit more time...then he was off with the kids...and on the road. Guess what? yes, I totally cried. I know he probably won't be gone that long...but you never know. He's such a big part of our lives...love ya Dad! I'm terrible at the phone...better at texting...but I know we'll keep in touch...he got a new tablet, so we can do video calls...the kids would love that!

The bad news didn't end there though...my poor sister-in-law had her purse stolen today! I couldn't believe it when she called me. And of course, I can't even drive there to pick her up or help! It was in the shopping cart and someone snatched it. Makes you mad and oh my...I do that all the time...not anymore though! That's for sure! Thankfully she was able to cancel her bank card, nothing was spent...she had her phone on her...and AAA was able to send a locksmith out and he made her a new key for her truck. It totally stinks!!! but it's not the end of the world...just more bad news! Poor honey! 

I keep telling myself, it could be worse...and then it seems to get worse. Maybe I should tell myself it'll get better :P hahahaha

Sarah dropped off her car for us tonight...it really means the world! It sure worked out for us that Dave (hers, not mine) works for a car dealer ;) He gets to drive a nice new car and we get to use their extra!!! Great deal for us! lol! I have been blessed with the most wonderful friends! We are able to support each other through thick and thin...and we love each other and laugh and talk and grow together. I really am blessed! See, even though sometimes it all seems so dark...there is always light!