The testing begins....update on Dave

Dave is still going through dialysis three times a week. He changed his days to T/TH/Sa, but while that gives him three full days at work, it decreases the time he gets to spend at home, so that may not work out. Although with the Market doing what it has for the past two weeks, he was happy to be there to put out all kinds of fires! Wow! What a time to be in investments! With the year in politics going full swing, and the uncertainty of the election looming, it's going to be a bumpy ride for the next few months.



As we are getting into the swing of this new year, it is now time for me to begin the testing process to see if I am compatible to be Dave's kidney donor. We know that by blood typing alone, I can donate, because I am O Positive (the universal donor). So now I will go through tissue sampling and a battery of tests that will check the function ability of my kidneys.



It would have been such a blessing if someone from Dave's family would have come forward to donate. Not only because it will be difficult to have both of us out of commission for at least a week, having two little kids to care for. But the rejection factor is so much lower if the donation were to come from a sibling or even a cousin. He'll have to take many more anti-rejection drugs receiving my kidney than he would have to take if the donation were a relative. The scary thing is that these drugs, while preventing the body from rejecting the new organ, also carry with them a higher incidence of causing certain forms of cancer. We continue to pray that God will touch one of his relatives' hearts, and a miracle will happen! If not....we rest assured knowing that He is in control.



One good thing is that we have been blessed with a number of people who are incredibly kind and want information about donating. My brother is one. Then we have three friends who want to offer, and by blood type are matches! God really has blessed us!! I try to remember that when I start to feel so overwhelemed with fear!



Dave has put off his hernia surgery until the end of February. We have been invited to an event at the Ronald Regan Library in early February, honoring the Medal of Honor winners, so he didn't want to be hindered in anyway from enjoying the festivities that evening! Me either....it's a black tie event, so it should be really fun. Something that we certainly haven't done in years! The only real dancing we've done is at weddings, and the Chicken Dance really shouldn't count as dancing!!



Ok.... will fill you all in as stuff happens.

Celebrating 16 years....Happy Anniversary!!

16 years ago, Dave and I began our life together! We were married on a beautiful January day in 1992, at the church we both grew up attending....St. John's in Hacienda Heights, California,

We had a military wedding, since Dave was a Leiutenant in the US Army Reserves. I remember the day so clearly, like it was yesterday. Many of our family members have since gone home to be with the Lord, but but on that day I was blessed to have my two grandmothers and Dave had his Great Uncle and Aunt from Cleveland. Uncle LaVerne sang like an angel, "Pontis Angelicus" , "Ave Maria" and "The Our Father". Wow...it was beautiful!

Life these past 16 years has been full of many happy times, a few unpleasant times, and even times where we both have been guilty of becoming complacent in our relationship...only to be reminded of what a blessing we are to each other.

God has blessed us with two beautiful sons, a loving home, and so much joy. I am so thankful.

Dave, we will make it through these current health trials, and then one day I will stand with you on the Spanish Steps, in Rome. That is my prayer!

I love you, sweetheart. Thank you for sharing your life with me for the last 16 years~ and many more to come. Happy Anniversary!!

Go see THE PIRATES WHO DON'T DO ANYTHING this weekend....

Since most of the people that view this blog are parents, like us, I wanted to spread the word to go see a really fun, family- friendly (Rated G) movie coming out this weekend. “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, A VeggieTales Movie” is being released nation wide and playing in many of the larger theaters!

I was fortunate enough to be invited to one of the preview screenings of the movie, back in October. I took Davey, and we both really enjoyed it! Being nine-a- half, I wasn’t sure if he had outgrown our vegetable friends. But he at one point turned to me, laughing so hard and saying, “Mom, I can’t breathe!” Alright!! That’s a great endorsement, isn’t it?

Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, wrote the script. I can’t say enough kind things about this man. He has been one of our prayer partners this past year and Dave’s friend. He has been a great source of strength to me personally through some of the emails I have received. Besides that….he and the director of the movie, Mike Nawrocki, are incredibly talented and gifted story tellers!

This movie is a modern day parable, about how God calls us to adventure, and equips us with what we need to succeed. In its core message we also learn that when we do what’s right, even if it’s difficult, with God's help we can be everyday heroes! What a great message for kids, who are constantly being reminded (through assorted media) that they should put themselves first, and that doing the “right” thing is somewhat objective.

I encourage you to take your kids, grand kids, nieces, nephews, neighbors…or just go yourselves! The movie opens this Friday, Jan.11. In these days the opening weekend’s box office is very important to the film’s overall success. Please help support the mission and ministry of VeggieTales. As Christians we have a strong voice, and supporting movies with a message that mirrors our own beliefs is incredibly important. Plus….you’ll laugh until you can’t breathe! :)

If you are local to South OC, we will be tagging along with the MV Church of Christ's children's ministry when they go to see it on Saturday at the Aliso Viejo Regal Cinemas. The movie time is 1:15 PM and you're welcome to meet us before the show at the food court for lunch! (The little ones can come dressed as pirates if they want!) :)

**To get in on our discounted ticket price ($7 per person), email me before 5PM on Thursday.

http://www.veggiepirates.com/

Everything's OK

Just wanted to fill everyone in about the possible flare up in Dave's Wegener's I posted a few days ago. We heard from the main nephrologist (UCI) yesterday, and his newest blood tests show that his disease is NOT flaring. Whoo hoo!! Thank God, ...and thank you all for the prayers!!

A Possible Flare....Need Your Prayers!

Last week Dave got some test results that showed a possible flare in his Wegener's. It may be due to the tapering of the Prednisone, so he has been advised to stop where he is for a month. Right now he is at 9mg per day, and was hoping to get down to 5mg by January to be eligible for the transplant list. Evidently this sometimes happens to people who taper down on their meds. It may not be a true sign that the disease has returned, especially since he remains non-symptomatic.

He took another blood test yesterday to recheck the levels, and we should (hopefully) know sometime next week or the week after.

Today he will get his sinuses and chest scanned, to make sure there are no changes in those areas, in case the disease has returned.

Please pray that all goes well....and this is nothing more than a bit of reaction from tapering off the meds.

The specialist in Cleveland did write to me, and tell me that the blood test was only about 50% accurate in determining active disease. So we are very hopeful!!

Thanks and God bless.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!! I hope you are enjoying the weekend with your families, and having fun trying to get everything ready for the BIG day!!

Today I am doing some baking with the kids and my mom. We have already made the traditional cut out cookies and the kids decorated them with icing and sprinkles. Very nice.

This morning I am making two sugar-free pumpkin pies (so I can have something without the guilt) and some Krusczycki cookies. They are the fried Polish cookies that Dave grew up loving, and now the kids love them too. Very yummy....fried dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar. What's not to love! Then we do our traditional birthday cake for Jesus. That's a tradition that we all love.

Tomorrow night my family will be here, so we will have our tradition of Tamales, beans and rice. I'll have a ham for the "gringos" in the group! But I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't love tamales! :) On Christmas Day we will do the Prime Rib thing...with all the trimmings. A very low fat week is in store for us, evidently. :)

We are looking forward to going to church tomorrow afternoon. The music and message are always so awesome on Christmas!! One of our other traditions is to read the story of Christmas to the kids before bedtime. It's nice to remember what it is we are really celebrating.

May this Christmas bring you and your family joy, peace and love as we celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

So thankful...

On this Thanksgiving Eve (is there such a thing?) I am brining the bird, baking the yams and mixing the stuffing. I am also thinking about so many of our wonderful friends and family members who have helped us get through this tough year.

We are so thankful for YOU!! Before we lose sight of what tomorrow really is, I wanted to at least write that down.

Have a wonderful, calorie-laden, high-fat, yummy Thanksgiving!