Tuesday on Wednesday

This is my friend, JK's daughter Tuesday.

She was recently diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma.

As I type this, this wonderfully silly, lively, beautiful little girl is undergoing surgery so that she can begin a difficult battle.

Tuesday has a twin sister, Piper, and they are only a few days younger than Emma & Will.

I had the pleasure of vacationing with both girls and their mommy last year and fell in love with them (and, if I must admit, their overwhelmingly generous mom as well).

Miss TuTu, as she is affectionately called, is surrounded by so many people who love her and are praying for her, but we need even more people to remember her in their prayers.

This beautiful girl needs prayers of hope & strength.

Her family needs the support to help them through this incredibly difficult journey. The doctors need blessings and our Lord's guidance as they make decisions for Tuesday's care.

Please join in prayers for Tuesday and ask everyone you know to pray for her.

I believe in MIRACLES and I believe in God's Grace.

Please put your faith in Him and pray with us.

If you would like to help support Tuesday, even a simple $5 donation goes a long way...

Way Back Whens-Day... Happy 7th Birthday Keith!

This is Keith as I remember him as a baby,

ALWAYS smiling.

He was possibly the happiest baby I have ever known.

Just a goofy, silly baby with a big smile for everyone who looked his way.

And,

it's his birthday today!

My baby is turning SEVEN today!

Happy Birthday Keith!

ok, I know it's breaking the rules, but I had to put a picture from today....

Now, head over to Twinfatuation and check out more links for

Way Back Whens-day and join in the fun.

Nothing Is Impossible With God

More than you ever know....
God is an AMAZING God!
Today,
Will is walking!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

With Him ALL things are possible!

Please continue to pray for miracles every day!

Please Pray

My friend's baby has cancer.

Please understand I won't be around for a few days while I let things sink in and see what I can do to help the family.

If you pray, please pray for all those on my prayer list. (her baby is listed there)

She needs a miracle.

Magic Marker Mondays

5 Minutes for Special Needs is hosting Magic Marker Mondays.... where we all get a chance to share our children's artwork.

How cute is this idea?

My son David , 14, drew this picture of Emma & Will.

Although David is limited in a lot of what he can do, his artistic abilities amaze me.

This is the picture he used to draw the image from.

Am I Being Insincere?

sincere
Pronunciation: \sin-ˈsir, sən-\
Function: adjective
1 a: free of dissimulation : honest b: free from adulteration : pure 2: marked by genuineness : true
synonyms wholehearted, heartfelt, hearty, unfeigned mean genuine in feeling.
sincere stresses absence of hypocrisy, feigning, or any falsifying embellishment or exaggeration

Yesterday my character came under attack by people I had considered to be my friends. It was done in a manor so that I had no oppurtunity to defend myself and basically had to sit back and just know it was being done.
Without going into many details out of respect for a few people I do still consider to be my friends, I will just say I was trying to mend some old broken fences with people from my old multiples group for the sake of a mutual friend with a sick little girl. However, rather than put our differences aside and realize there are more important things on earth than who is most popular, some of these ladies decided to disect me piece by piece.
Honestly, I am more hurt by the fact that this one friend who should be focusing on her baby will instead be subject to catty conversations that have NOTHING at all to do with where our real focus should be... praying for her little girl's health.
I am just beyond disgusted and my heart is broken for my friend.
And, as much as I would like to say that none of what the ladies said about me matters, one thing stuck out for me in an email I received from the "leader" (I'll call her "T"). T told me that I am "insincere".
I have been called many things in my life, some of them not so nice, but nothing has struck me as hard as being called insincere. If there is one thing I strive for in my life, it is to always be true to who I am, to be a genuine person. What you see is what you get.
It is such an important value to me that I constantly am drilling it into my kids that they should be honest and true and do all things with their whole hearts.
I have often even considered it a fault of mine that I am so sincere. It means I wear my heart on my sleeve. I allow myself to be raw and unprotected and often it makes me an easy target for ridicule because I hide nothing about who I am from anyone I meet.
But, at the same time, it is a great asset, to be so open and honest. People know they can trust me, they know where I stand and they know that my heart is their heart.
I just have never been so struck by an insult as I was yesterday. My heart broke when I read those words. T was a good friend of mine and can't see me for who I am. It makes me wonder how many other people think I am insincere.... and why?

Sunday Sound-Out & Kisses

First off, I want to thank everyone for their support and kind words over the past few days. I am sorry for causing anyone to worry and I honestly wish I had just voiced my concerns earlier. I just wasn't sure quite how to do it. But, lesson learned and I know I can come to all of you when I am feeling low & sad or sick. It's so nice to know I have such a great support system, esp. since I really only personally know 1/16 of those of you reading along. (ok, so I really am horrible at fractions, but I am pretty sure 1/16 is small. LOL)
Anyhoo...
Thank you!
So, before I get into my Sound Out, I just wanted to point out that I have made an "official button" for my linky posts I have been doing on Sundays. Anyone who enjoys posting pics of their kiddies from their baby days is welcome to join in on the fun. (and, if you don't have any kids, post your pets. I don't care! I just like looking at cute pictures. LOL)
Anyway, I struggled with what to call my linky posts as I didn't want to sound like all of the other cool ones out there, or like I was stealing ideas... so, it's just:
Baby Picture Sundays
I will pick a certain topic each Sunday for the pictures, this week is Kissing Cuties, then all you have to do is post a picture on your blog, link back to me and be sure to let me know you are playing along so that I can add your link to my list :)
You can then go visit all the other people playing along and meet new friends along the way...and then they meet new friends, and so on, and so on, and so on....
Linky love! It's great!
So, here's the button:

Grab the code here:

<a href="http://www.bouffard11.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k224/debi90/BabyPictureSundays2.jpg"/></a>

Now then...
Sunday Sound-Out


1. I wish I was savvy enough to figure out how you did that with the blue in a b/w... Sonya Well, I have a SUPER easy program called Photo Impact Pro that basically walks you through it. It requires a lot of copy & pasting and then colorizing, but it really is SIMPLE once you get the hang or it.


2. Did you make the outfits they were wearing? Gibson Twins My MIL is very crafty and has made lots and lots of cute sweaters for the kids. I, on the other hand, not so much. I am very handy with a glue gun though ;)


3. If your kids are like mine, they would make pizza everyday! Michelle Oh yes. They would all eat it every day. Well, except for Teddy who hates pizza. Strange kid!


4. I have a dream that one day I'll wake up and be less lazy and be able to choose making dinner when ordering in is an option... Jennifer I think if money wasn't an issue and I could find a healthy place to order take-out, my butt would be ordering in. LOL As it is, I have yet to find anything very healthy for take-outs...so, I spend half my life in the kitchen now....good thing the kids like helping or I would never see them. heehee


5. Did you make that homemade, too? Or just buy a wheat crust? Jane I did make the pizza crust in my bread machine from a recipe I found online. However, you can easily find pre-made pizza dough at most supermarkets in the bakery section.


6. Your kids are just gorgous Debi! I love their comments - isn't it great how kids just love to do things with their mums!?! Renata Honestly, my favorite thing in the world is to spend real quality time with the kids, esp. in the kitchen since cooking& baking are my passion (and eating too. LOL)


7. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery and a little thought for others out there who are still contending with this horrible disease. Kj You have such a beautiful heart. Let's all remember those who are suffering from cancer. Amen to that.


8. How sweet of your husband to write a post! He must be a very special man. Mum-me I don't say it often enough, but he is the love of my life.


9. BTW...tell Russ he did a very good job on his entry, and we want to here more from him. bestfamily He saw this comment Brandi and nearly had a stroke.


10. Moms just aren't allowed to be sick, are they? Bethany It doesn't seem so as every time I get sick, my kids seem to find more things for me to do than on normal days. UGH


11. First let me say I am so glad that you are ok, second, thank you so much for sharing such a personal ordeal with us, your readers...The Flying Circus Mom
I honestly am so glad to have so many supportive people out "there" who understood what I was feeling without passing judgement on my reactions. (or over reacting, as it may be)


12. ...july is such a busy month for us...the schirano triplets HOLY COW Rachael! You aren't kidding!!!


13. BTW. I am glad the trip down south was planned before you made the comment about not making anymore vacation plans in the near future!Terri
Terri, NOTHING could keep me from visiting you! :) Anyone else in NC want to meet up?


14. I would love to hear more about how they came up with the diagnosis, and what,as parents stood out to you. Also I would love to hear about how he (Henry)did so well. Mashel If I hadn't been a foster parent to medically fragile children prior to Henry being born, I am not sure I would've noticed Henry's "issues" as early as I did. I also am lucky enough to have a mom who is very proactive and deeply involved within the handicapped community, so had I missed it, she would have never missed the signs. Anyway, I am also very blessed to have a fantastic pediatrician, Albert Dearden, who has been named one of the top pediatricians in the country by his peers. So, he is a very aggressive doctor and does nothing less than 1000%. He got us an appt with a top pediatric neurologist when Henry was 8 months old and this doctor scheduled ONLY Henry for the day. Our first appt with this man was HOURS long and it was with the actual doctor and not just a nurse taking notes (as I have heard happens with many neurologists). he had run a whole number of tests and was very confident when he diagnosed Henry 1 week later. Henry received extremely intensive physical therapy for the first year of his life. Although our insurance didn't cover it, he had OT, PT & Speech 5 days a week for FREE! We were blessed!


15. How many weeks were your twins born at?? Gavin's Mommy Emma & Will were born 35 weeks to the day when I started bleeding. We later discovered the bleeding was due to their placentas deteriorating.


16. THAT, my Sister is a kick-booty, thanks be to God-inspiring, Way Back When-esday! Cheryl Lage Coming from you Cheryl, that means the world to me :)


17. I saw you on Melody's 5MFSN. (DOn't you just LOVE her?) Funny what a small little bloggy world this is. will play for food It's INSANE! I don't know how many times I have wandered on to a blog and discovered another blogger I read already there.


18. Can we not give Him at least one hour on Sunday morning? Manic Mom Amen!


19. We have a little guy (almost 7) with Sensory Integration Disorder....The way his little brain processes things is amazing and he makes me laugh all the time! My boys are Army Brats I agree. As often as I get irritated that Will isn't doing all the "normal" things that Emma does, he certainly is a funny, quirky little guy with a great sense of humor.


20. I'm going to tag your kids for a fun meme. Come check it out on my blog Monday morning. Threeundertwo Had to put this here to remind myself to send the kids to your blog. Sometimes I really suck as a blogger friend... :(


21. With the all natural lifestyle you are choosing, does that include clothes or is it just limited to cleaning supplies and food? Gibson Twins I am trying to get back into just using cloth diapers. I stopped when it became too difficult to wrestle with Will. LOL I have discovered a fabulous brand of chemical free diapers by Seventh Generation at Babies R Us and just LOVE them! I would LOVE to just buy organic clothing for the kids, but with 9, it really isn't going to happen. UGH! I do buy as many Hanna Andersson outfits that my butt can scarf up on eBay though....


22. How do you add the graphics, etc to make it look like a scrapbook? Shari , Heather & Teri See HERE for all the details about Smilebox


23. Thank you for your sweet words and your encouragement. I hope to be a part of this wonderful new site for a long time. Trish (wheresthebox) I just want to thank you again for sending me to the 5MFSN site. I know you will be successful there :)


24. Good answers, but you had to add pictures didn't you?!?!?! LOL imgladyouasked Hi, my name is Debi and I am addicted to photography.


25. cute - is this a hay ride? Tiaras & Tantrums Yep! In September I took the kids apple picking


26. Ahh...so cute! I am such a sucker for B& W. American in Norway Me too! And, you post the MOST GORGEOUS pictures on your blog!!!


27. And your love birds are too cute :) Has it hit them yet that they're so far apart? Nancy I think it's just starting to hit Henry as he just asked how long it will be until we go to Utah next year... LOL


28. Is Henry in love? Oh how cute! Sharlene His first real crush since Rachael Ray! (I almost got him tickets to her show as a birthday present. LOL) He's been in love with Rachael Ray since he was 4! Said he was going to marry her some day....


29. You say we are in the same "blog ring" - I have no idea what that even means...Melissa Lee When you get signed up to BlogHer, they enter you into a "ring" where there are 40 or so other bloggers who write about similar topics. Their blogs are put into a rotation and a few times a week their posts are featured on each others' ads.


30. De-lurking to say I'm reading in New zealand. Wierd! I'm no stalker, found your blog somehow from a google search (I'm a nanny, some sort of family in america, nanny search) and here you go!If you ever want a nanny, let us know through the blog!! Kate Actually, we hope to get another nanny/mother's helper eventually and if you aren't the sweetest for leaving me this comment! Do you have a blog?


31. One way we keep romance involved is through e-mails and notes. He will leave notes for me in the diaper bag or on the seat of the van. It really makes my day!Michelle That is the cutest thing I have read in a while! Yeah, Russ will warn me before he farts aka makes monsters...sometimes....


32. Now I have a question, how in the world can you function with 9 kids with going to bed at 3 am? The Flying Circus Mom I honestly don't know! Caffeine, perhaps...lots and lots of caffeine... No, seriously, I don't know, but I have been "sleeping" like this since before I gave birth to the twins.


33. I want to surprise him (for anniversary), but if he might be too tired I'd better ask, no? Julia in Sweden I think if I surprised Russ with a night out without kids, he would be thrilled (as long as we can afford it)


34. Ah, is Dennis a Labrador? cat Yep, a HUGE black lab that thinks he's a tiny lap dog


35. I assume the party planning has commenced? The Collins Family Funny you should ask... just made my first purchase for the babies' 2nd birthday today! Got inspired by Rachael & Tamara!

36. 21 already!?! Hope they celebrated with a drink (of juice, of course)! Barbara Manatee LOL!

37. How's the potty training going? Barbara Manatee Going, going, gone! Or, atleast that's Emma as she runs away from me with the potty. LOL

38. Bats are much cuter outside than inside my house :) mommeeof9 Oh heck yes! I would so much prefer them stay outside, although apparently they really enjoy hangin' with the Boufs.

Phew! That was LONG! You have been busy asking away and I slacked and skipped a week! YIKES!

Ok, well then...

On to my KISSES .......

My twin sisters, Beth & Erin, showing Emma some love when she was still itty bitty

Gabi caught Will under the mistletoe this past Christmas

One of my favorite pictures...kissing cousins (LOL) Emma giving cousin Katie a smooch last summer

Ok, so, now show me your Kissing Cuties!
Don't forget to tell me you are plaing along so I can add your link :)

Playing Along:
Tale of Two Twinkies
The Nut House
The Daily Booger

And, finally, a request...
If you are faithful and pray, for the sake of my friend's privacy, I am not going to name her daughter, but if you could please look at my prayer list to the right and please take a moment to pray for strength, healing and God's all encompasing love for everyone listed....

The Big Read

The Big Read
I saw this today at Another Piece of the Puzzle, and since I am still feeling pretty awful & have loved reading since my mom taught me to when I was just 4 years old, I just had to check it out.

According to The Big Read, the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books on this list.

How many have you read?

Look at the list.

Bold those you have read.

Italicize those you intend to read.

Underline the books you LOVE.

(ok, so I only bolded those I have read and honestly, had I not loved the books, I wouldn't have finished them. So, why bother underlining as well? LOL)

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6. The Bible

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8. 1984 - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchel

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy3

2. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34. Emma - Jane Austen

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel52. Dune - Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding

69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92.The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

WOOHOO! I am proud to say I have read 6 times more books from this list than the average person!

If you have a favorite that you think I should read, tell me what you love about it and I will add it to my list!

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering...my FAVORITE book from the list that I can read over & over (ok, who am I kidding. I have read it over & over & over) are the Harry Potter series. (fav being Goblet of Fire)

A Bunch of Sickies and Shots, Shots & More Shots

It's official... I am sick!
I am sure this infection I have is what is kicking my butt and I think that for the past few days I just was so preoccupied with stressing over it that I felt nothing but crazy nerves.
Well, now I am getting my butt kicked. My head feels like it's going to explode and I could barely pull myself out of bed this morning to take Emma & Will to their much needed, over-due 18 month well-check (they are 21 months old!)
This is definitely one of those days that I am VERY THANKFUL that I have teenage daughters who I can have come along to do all the "heavy lifting", esp. since neither baby was thrilled to be seeing Dr. D

For the first 15 minutes, both babies were happy to be wandering around, but the minute the nurse Lauren walked in the door... well, it all went downhill from there...


Will did his best to climb off of the scale and Emma just cried and cried.
(Will: 24 lbs 6 oz & Emma: 24 lbs 2 oz)

Will was NOT happy to get FOUR shots!


Emma started crying before Dr D even touched her and just got louder & louder

Em was so happy to be done that she ran out of the room with her lollipop

We returned home and the babies had lunch and then all 3 of us went down for naps.

Yes, it's true...

I took a nap today!

The worst part of it is I still feel horrible & the babies are now both EXTREMELY cranky, so although it's Friday night... there will be no Friday movie night tonight.... or, atleast no blog post about it anyway....

This mama is going to bed!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta - Singin' The Blues

Will & Emma

were

Singin' the Blues

A while back I used to be a member of a photography club and this is the one picture that I entered in a contest and actually won.

The theme was "blue", so you could do anything you wanted

with or in your picture as long as it had something to do with the color blue.

As you can see, I decided to think a bit outside the box and it worked.

As silly as it was, there were no real awards,

but it meant a lot to me to have my peers vote for my picture,

and the recognition meant the world to me :)

Now, head over to Candid Carrie

to see who else is participating and maybe, just maybe, join in the fun too!

YUM! Pizza!!!!

After having a stressful morning and then coming home to decompress, I didn't really feel like cooking a big meal. But, because we have been eating from our natural diet, it has been nearly impossible to find a restaurant that has take-out with an appropriate menu.
So, tonite I made homemade wheat pizzas and the kids were just thrilled.
(you can see Necessities for a Quick Cook's Kitchen for all the how tos)



And, for anyone who has been curious, the diet is going really well! We have noticed a HUGE change in the attitudes of some of the kids, esp. Gabi & David.
I asked each of the kids to tell me what they like best about the natural diet and this is what they had to say:

David: I like that we are eating healthy foods now. I loved the pizza and think mom should open a restaurant.
Stephanie: I like to be able to make the foods and spend time with mom in the kitchen. It's fun to be able to be creative and make new things.
Gabi: I like the homemade desserts, esp. when mom lets me bake them myself.
Alex: I like that we are spending more time together cooking the foods and so far I have loved everything mom has made.
Teddy: I like helping mom make the desserts, esp. when she lets me sample some when it's done.
Henry: I like that we get to try different foods.
Keith: I like that dad makes me breakfast in the morning.

An Amazingly Powerful Thing

I am ok.

Let me back up a bit. I hadn't posted anything about what was going on with me/my health because I just wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. I had confided in some of my closest friends and had told my mom, but no one else. I think I was kind of hoping that if I didn't say things outloud that it wouldn't be real. Stupid, right?

The short story is this....

Two months ago I started having some strange symptoms with my left breast. I just kept pushing it off as one thing or another, but always in the back of my head there as a little voice whispering. Anyway, the symptoms persisted for two months while new ones were added to the mix and finally I got to a point where I could no longer pretend that they were connected.

I had a rash. I had dry flaky skin. I had pain. I had swelling. I had a lump I didn't even know I had....

So, rather than go to the doctor, I looked up breast cancer online, thinking there was no way a rash was related to breast cancer.

Well, guess what? There is a form of breast cancer where you can get a rash!

So, panic struck and I called my GYN.

Dr. C is FABULOUS and wanted to see me right away. She was really concerned about my symptoms and wanted to get "things taken care of quickly".

I was supposed to be seen on Monday, but Monday morning Dr C had an emergency csection and my appt was pushed back until today.

Needless to say, it has been a stressful few days.

So, I had my appt at 9am today and although I was actually on time, I had to sit, and sit, and sit.... typical for an OB/GYN with only one doc in the practice.

I was taken back and examined and that is when I was told there was in fact a lump. How Russ or I hadn't felt it in our "oh my God, do you feel a lump? breast exams" I don't know!

Anyway, basically, Dr C was convinced it is an infected milk duct. She did do an u/s of my breast while I was in the office and was able to show me what she was talking about, not that I have a clue what I am seeing. (she could've been showing me a pig's foot and I would've said, " Yes. I see.")

Anyway, the other thing she did show me was a picture of a breast with the form of cancer we had been concerned I could've had, called IBC or Inflammatory Breast Cancer. It was shocking to see, but also very clear to me that my symptoms were no where near the levels of this horrible disease. Thank God!

So, the plan at this point is that I have been put on a very strong antibiotic. Dr C is concerned that the infection, since it's in the milk ducts, may have spread into my blood stream, which would be why I have so many other horrible side-effects. So, I am on the antibiotic for a few weeks, plus given a topical ointment for the rash.

I have to go back in a month and if the lump is still there, I will be sent for a mammogram.

fun fun fun

I thank everyone for your wonderfully supportive comments these past few days. It's crazy, but the whole time I was worried I could be sick I was thinking, "Thank God I have my blog."

I know there are women that I know through blogging who have dealt with cancer, are dealing with cancer or have children with cancer and I knew I would be able to turn to them for answers or support. I also knew that if I came on here and said, "Please pray for me" that I would have so many wonderful people who don't even know me willing to say a few words just because I asked.

It's a powerful thing, this blogging community of the faithful.

An amazingly powerful thing.

ps Sorry I made you all worry...

So you wanna know what I think?

Hi it's Russ, Debi's husband, checking in with you. I am not really into this whole blogging thing. I think it is great that Debi has made such good connections and friends out here. Plus it gives us excuses to go on vacations in areas we would not usually think to go. I leave those details to Debi because I am just not a typer, nor am I a talker.
This is too free form for me. I am better at just answering questions. I have a tendency to just go off on tangents. I guess I do have something specific to talk about since she is not here and at a doctor's appointment. Of course the appointment is in reference to symptoms that she has been having on one of her breasts. The symptoms have been going on for about 2 months. I am sure she will go into it in more detail with you guys later but through the wonderful Internet blessing/curse she has uncovered the possibility that there may be cancer.
Unfortunately we have had to wait for a week or so with all this on our heads an have not really spoken to each other much about it. Without going crazy into another tangent THANK GOD FOR THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM WE HAVE AND NOT THE ONE WE ARE PROBABLY GONNA GET, since we only did have to wait a week. Especially since most of the waiting was her procrastinating to make the call. I don't have much room to talk since I prefer not to see doctors if I can avoid it also. I just don't feel like being bothered sometimes. Plus i prefer not to take medications when something natural and your own body's immune system will usually deal with a majority of what comes our way. Alright another tangent to stop heading into.
So I have been a little preoccupied with the whole notion of how to tackle this issue if it truly is going to be our next issue. I am a problem solver by nature and I go crazy when there is nothing I can do to fix something. I work at a job and fix other peoples problems all night long. With all of the unfinished projects and broken appliances around my house I am losing my mind since I can't fix or finish them. This is jut a financial issue which I know I can resolve hopefully over the next couple months.(As long as we don't schedule anymore vacations for a while) So anyway, I don't have a lot of time to dwell on this, I shall let Debi do that. She is much better at explaining her feelings and all that stuff.
My mind is more attuned to how we are gonna deal with the procedures that she may be facing. Another reason that I am glad I took my job back since I work a schedule where I can be home to take care of the kids or be there to take her to appointments if necessary. I know she wasn't happy about my decision, but I think it was the right one.
Well I think I am gonna leave it like this I haven't heard from her yet and I am getting anxious so I need to go do something. My mind is wandering too much to type.

Guest Writer on Thursday

ok, so I have written & re-written this post a few times and am finally just going to do this off the cuff....

Today I won't be around and instead my husband, Russ, will be doing a blog post. He isn't a writer and honestly has not a clue how this whole "blog thing" works, so, please be gentle.

So, why is he doing a blog post?

Well.....

I will be at a scary doctor's appointment.

I am stressing and not myself and not finding the words to write what I want to say.

So, my hope is that Russ can find those words.