It's been a long time!

So I know it has been a long time since I have posted any pictures. We have had a lot going on in our family the past few months and this is why.

My mother was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Paranasal Sinuses in August. This is a very rare type of Cancer; here are some links that can thoroughly explain what type of cancer it is. http://www.webmd.com/cancer/adenoid-cystic-carcinoma http://www.accrf.org/ My mother went to UAB (University of Alabama, Birmingham) where she went though a 13 hour surgery to remove the tumor, along with the reconstructive surgery to her scull base. Before I knew how serious it was, I was at home getting ready for work that day and I saw a story on the morning news about a Proton Therapy clinic here in Jacksonville. This Proton therapy treats different types of cancer less evasively than preceding treatments such as regular radiation. There are only 5 centers in the country. I later found out that there are only two that specifically treat my mothers type of Cancer. One at Massachusetts General and the one here the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute. http://www.floridaproton.org/ After hearing about Proton Therapy and driving the 7 and a half hour drive to Birmingham, I mentioned the Proton therapy clinic to her doctor after her surgery. After this surgery they were not able to achieve negative margins of Cancer. So when she had a few complications leaking spinal fluid and then taking in air, the doctors had to do a craniotomy to sufficiently patch the surgical site. During this surgery they were able to achieve negative margins which is certainly a praise! Not that she had complications, but because of her complications, they were able to get all the cancer therefore giving her a better chance of having a longer remission. So when her case was presented to the tumor board they were pleasantly surprised that my mother had a Proton Therapy clinic available to her (by living with me) and they unanimously suggested that she be treated verses Radiation Therapy.


(FYI: Regular Radiation uses Photons while this Radiation used Protons. With Protons they can stop the radiation right at the site of the tumor where with photon radiation hits the intended target area and then burn through the rest of the body. It is also highly recommened for children. This way it protects the surrounding develpoing tissues)


So after her craniotomy she and dad went home. The following day she lost her sight, Dad called UAB, thinking maybe this was a side affect of all the surgeries she underwent. So he was directed to take her straight back to UAB to the emergency room where I later met them. The following day, an MRI showed that she had had a stroke, a major one and three smaller ones. We were told that if you wanted to have a stroke this would be the stroke to have. Apparently the type of stroke she had attributed to 48 ours of blindness. Praise God she is not paralyzed and she can see! After a week in the hospital she was released into rehab. And when she came home I was there to take care of her while Dad went to work during the day.

My most wonderful mother-in-law, Mary, came down and picked up Connor so he could spend some quality time with his grandparents while affording me the time to spend all my attention on my mother. You may be asking what about Eric.... well. Good news for him, he made Chief in September... it was only his second time up. So while going through initiation he was not able to take the 2 weeks off that usually everyone is afforded before a deployment... yep... it is that time again... another deployment. But with this one Eric will be leaving early since he will be changing duty stations. In January he will be reporting to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as Chief Peters overseeing 5 galleys of which are ran by civilians. He will be there for 18 months. This duty station is a shore duty, but uniquely he is able to go for another shore duty billet when he is done with his 18 months since it is a UA or Unaccompanied Tour. This way we can stay in our house, build up more equity before the possibility of us really moving to his next shore duty station. So currently Eric is out to sea, and I am taking care of my mother while she is going through proton therapy and my Dad visits us on the weekends. She is also going through small doeses of Chemotherapy so Dad likes to be here for that on Fridays. Please keep us in your prayers this is her last week and by far the worst in regaurds to side effects. Thoughout this time the Lord has certainly been with us and has really worked everything out to our benefit. I will post some pictures here shortly of Connor while he has been away and of Eric during his pinning and deployment.


Also one thing.... I am so excited, I get to spend Thanksgiving with Eric's parents and in doing so I get to pick up my little boy... I miss him sooo much! and Wally and Gromit miss him too. :)