Just A Little Update

Life has been very full and busy around here, but before I head into another day of crazyness, I just thought a quick update would be in order. My sister and her three girls came last weekend for a visit, so we thoroughly enjoyed some fun girl times together while my guys worked in the yard to get a little landscaping project completed from last year. Harris had passed his test on Friday, Haley was done with finals, Kelsey was finishing middle school, Keaton was happy to have 4th grade nearing the end, Heath's girlfriend graduated, and Monday was Memorial Day, so it was a great celebratory weekend full of family memories. After our guests left on Tuesday morning, there were about 45 minutes that I had to myself before the kids arrived home from school for summer break, so I used that time to just bathe them and our summer in prayer. It was the perfect little niche of time, and oh, how good it was to quiet my spirit before the Lord.

Wednesday brought on the first of several final appointments that we're making sure happen before Haley leaves. First stop was another round of shots for both girls, and then Haley got her hair cut after lunch. We squeezed in a little bit of shopping in between and finally found a sleeping bag that we hope and pray will be adequate for her trip. Our youth group welcomed the new freshmen in by hosting a picnic that night, so off went my new freshman and my new senior with their plate of brownies and smiles on their faces. Haley was spontaneously invited to a friend's house afterwards for a sleepover with some friends, and she was thankful for the opportunity to connect with a few of the ones who are all wanting a little piece of her time before she leaves.

While she was there, they were up late playing cards, and about five minutes after they decided to quit for the night, she felt the same intense pain that she felt that memorable day in April when she experienced a large ruptured ovarian cyst. Her friends gathered around and prayed for her, and she texted me at 3:42 a.m. what had happened and that she was going to try and sleep it off. By the time I got the text the next morning, I knew that she must have been sleeping, so I waited patiently for her call, which finally came around 10:30. She came home feeling very nauseous, so we made work of calling our OB/GYN's office to figure out what to do next. She was supposed to go in on Friday anyway for a follow-up ultrasound to the episode in April, but they worked us in for a couple ultrasounds and a pretty thorough exam on Thursday afternoon. The last two days she's experienced some pain, slept a lot, had no energy or appetite, and had a mild fever. We've had several conversations with the doctor and nurses, and a white blood cell count was done yesterday just to rule out appendicitis. We've basically come to the conclusion that she probably had another ruptured cyst, although this time it must have been small enough that all the testing could show was a little bit of fluid on the ovary. Evidently the fluid just gets absorbed into her system on its own, but it's a painful process nonetheless.

Of course, we've been very concerned about the possibility of this happening in Africa. She's been on medication to help prevent these, but it was explained to me that sometimes the medication takes a couple months to reset the hormones, so hopefully she'll get along better from now on. At least now she knows and recognizes the distinct pain that occurs. We finally resorted to the use of a painkiller last night, and then she finally started to perk up again. The doctor has signed a medical release and didn't feel it was necessary for her to cancel her trip because of it, so we'll just be intensely praying for her health while she's gone and sending a few painkillers along just in case she needs them.

Kelsey and I have been talking for months about sprucing up our family room in the basement, and it's something we really want to have done before our French guest arrives. It's one of the few rooms that we never painted since we moved here seven years ago, and because it's the teenage hangout spot, it's taken some abuse over the years. While Haley was sleeping yesterday, Kelsey and I snuck away to pick up some paint, and then the entire night was devoted to the project. The kids immediately pitched in and started moving things out and prepping the walls for me, and I poured myself a little bowl of paint, grabbed my favorite brush, and started trimming. My "control freak" nature usually doesn't allow me to share the painting responsibility, but a pretty strong desire within me to just get this project tackled won over. After a little instruction Kelsey became a pro at rolling on the paint, and she even started out with the ceiling! I was really dreading that part myself, but she did a fabulous job! Keaton was available all night as our gopher, cleaner-upper guy, and then he even offered to make supper for us. He laid a blanket out on the floor for us and served up a delicious and highly nutritious meal of corn dogs, potato chips, and Kool-Aid . . . and we were thankful!

Haley's up and thinking she's ready to tackle the first of her two work shifts today. My helpers are still sleeping, but as soon as I get back from the paint store, day two of the project begins. Our goal is to get the room all put back together tonight so that next week we can really focus on getting the rest of what Haley needs and get her packed. We have only one week left to finalize a whole lot of details!

So thankful that tomorrow is a day of rest!!