Things Are Good

It's been a while since I've posted.  Things are good.  No updates on Rassie's CML.  If you don't remember from the last post.  Rassie is in remission.  He's doing great and I am very proud of him.

October 11, 2010, was the 1 year anniversary of Rassie's accident.  He has come a long way.  He has proven time and time again that it is possible to get better. You just have to put your trust in God and give it your all. 

Rassie went for a driving evalutation in Austing back in early Oct.  I think around the 3rd.  I would have to pull out my calendar to be sure.  But, the point is, he passed!!! He did a great job.  The guy doing the evalutations was very impressed.  Rassie has no restrictions and is within normal reaction range along with all us other drivers out there.  I know that driving evaluation made Rassie's day.  He was so nervous!! But there was absolutely nothing to be worried about. He did awesome.

He saw Dr. F not too long ago as well.  Rassie is still making improvement. And with every little bit of improvement there is greater hope for a full recovery.  Rassie finished up his last physical therapy appointment last week.  Worker's comp doesn't want to approve more until Rassie see's Dr. F again.  That's not set up until December so we're working on what we need to do there. Or just what Dr. F thinks in general.  Rassie's been working on his physical therapy here at home.  He's got the stationary bike, the treadmill, and those big rubbery band things they sent home with him.  Plus he's been mowing the lawn.  (which was approved by Dr. F and the Physical Therapist).  He pushes on something similar to a lawn mower in physical therapy so it's like he's getting the same type of workout.   I am so glad we are able to improvise at home!   Plus, we're going to start going for walks and he's going to push the big double stroller!  It will be good for him and make the kids happy :)

Rassie is supposed to see the 3rd party worker's comp doctor again in November.  I am guessing it has not been set up yet because we haven't received any form of notification on when it's going to be. Guess we'll just wait it out and see.

The family is doing great.  Lane's our little daredevil.  Daddy has his hands full during the day while Mommy sleeps.  Lane is up and walking/running around and he's a climber!  Not to mention a full time flirt.  Scarlett is our little prissy pants.  She likes to walk around strutting her stuff.  Daddy has his hand full with her too with her big personality *cough* attitude.  Scarlett is 2 and half going on 16.  I'm loving every minute of it though!!

Rassie has been a great help with me going back to work too.  He's been my rock. It's hard being away at night. I miss sleeping next to my husband and cuddling with my babies when they wake up crying for mommy.  I do manage to get my 8 hours of sleep during the day but boy do I wish I spent those 8 hrs of daylight awake! But, God has a plan and right now it seems to keep me working nights.

Alright, back to bed for me! It's my night off and instead of sleeping I'm wide awake.. Go figure :)
Night ..... or morning to those of you getting up soon

God Bless.

The Big ONE

One year ago today, Rassie and I received some of the worst news of our lives.  Rassie was diagnosed with Leukemia.  We were very scared. We had so many questions. We had no idea what lie on the road ahead and what obstables we would face. 

Well, Rassie's done great!  His body has responded well to the Gleevec they are treating him with.  His bcr-abl is now at 0.04%  Which come to find out, puts him in remission!!! How exciting is that?  And by the way, he has been at 0.04% since May!!! I didn't realize that put him in remission but I am extremely happy to hear that it does!!! He will remain on the Gleevec as a precaution but other than that  he's in about as "perfect health as you can get" according to his oncology doctor.  Rassie's doctors are so proud of him for dealing with so much and coming so far.  This includes having to deal with the accident as well as the CML.  He has really pushed through.  They called him a miracle patient. 

In one year, Rassie has gone from a bcr-abl of 96% (confirmed at his appt this past week) to a bcr-abl of 0.04%.  He has also gone through an accident that put him in a wheel chair, unable to do much,  to walking with an athletic knee brace and cane.  Rassie is living life again and enjoying it. And it really shows!

I am so very proud of Rassie and the obstacles he has overcome this past year.  It really does not seem like it's been a year already since he was diagnosed.  And I absolutely do not miss him being in the hospital, but I would do it all over again if that meant having him home and healthy.

Rassie and I just want to thank everyone for all their continued support and prayers. I know we say this alot but it realy does mean the world to us that everyont is sending thoughts our way.

God Bless

What a Beautiful Day

Hello,

Sorry it's been so long. Life has been busy.  But as they say, 'No news is good news'.  And that's the case here.

Rassie had his tonsils out about 2 weeks ago. Nothing that I would consider major. They were just bothersome so he opted to have them out.  His throat still seems to be a little sore from it. Mostly when he yawns and so on and so forth because it stretches.  He had his follow up 2 days ago and they said everything looked nice.

Rassie has a leukemia appointment this month, next week to be more precise.  His blood work hasn't showed anything worrisome so things are moving right along in that department.  Rassie does labs Monday I believe and then his oncology appointment is Tuesday.  I will be able to update more on that topic after his appointment.

Rassie is also doing well in the way of recovering from his accident.  He has upgraded knee braces.. or maybe I should say down graded.  Rassie went from wearing the 'plastic' prosthetic knee brace to wearing a black one that to me looks like an athletes knee brace.   This is so he can bend his knee.  Rassie's right knee still tends to give out but he's doing great with the new brace.  The physical medicine doctor also had a driving evaluation set up to see where Rassie is at driving wise.  I think, and don't hold me to this, but I think it's set up for sometime in October.  We have to go to Austin.  The reason for this, is so if he needs anything special to drive they can look over the vehicle and see where we need to go from there. Fingers crossed Rassie  passes the driving evaluation and our car doesn't need any type of renovations.  Oh, Rassie is also starting another round of physical therapy. From what we keep hearing, he will be doing home therapy soon.  I guess that's still up in the air because it has yet to happen.  Rassie will also be seeing the third party doctor again coming up in November.   Guess that will help to decide what our next steps will be.

On another note.  Rassie's 1 year anniversary of being diagnosed with CML is coming up on September 25th.  And his 1 years anniversary from the accident is coming up on October 11.  I can't believe it has almost been a year for both of these things.  Life gets so busy and flies right on by.  Rassie has been such a trooper, pushing on through.

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated.  I have an update on myself as well. I did get the job as a 911 operator. I have been working the night shift. So, I come home and sleep during the day and spend late afternoon and evening with Rassie and our beautiful babies.  It's been an adjustment going back to work but I enjoy it.  And Rassie is doing an awesome job and taking caring of the little ones during the day while I sleep.  He now knows how much a job stay at home parenting is but I know he's enjoying every minute of it.

Thanks for listening to my rant.  Thanks for continuing to keep Rassie and our family in your prayers. 

God Bless & Good Night

Drum Roll Please

Things seem to be moving in the right direction around here.  Rassie's CML is in great condition and continues to be under control.  He's also moving more.  Rassie has been practice walking using his walker and the parallel bars.  This doesn't seem new does it? Well....it is!!!!  Rassie has been walking without his leg brace.  Granted he doesn't make it very far because it is very hard work for him, but nonetheless, he's doing it!

Rassie had an appointment with Dr. F in physical medicine last week.  Dr. F is very much in awe with the progress Rassie is making.  He continues to gain more and more strength in both  his legs regardless of feeling in the right.  His right light is still numb but he does get a tingling and even a burning sensation every once in a while.  He's able to bend his right ankle up and down and the strength in his knee just keeps growing.  I am very proud of Rassie. 

Here's one more bit of information to get things flowing in the upside direction! Rassie's physical therapist has been requesting for a few weeks now that Dr. F write a prescription for Rassie to have a driving evaluation to see if he's ready to get back on the road!!!!! How awesome is that?  The prescription is in the works right now and everything is supposed to be getting set up.  We are both very excited about this.

Overall, Rassie seems to be doing great! Oh, and if I didn't mention before (which I know I didn't), starting tomorrow morning, Rassie will take on the role of Mr. Mom  and I will officially becoming a working mom! I am soooo excited and nervous all at once.  I am going into the career field of communications as a 911 operator / dispatcher!  I am anxious to get back out there as a working woman but so nervous to leave my babies!!! I know that this is all God's plan though.

Thanks for all y'all do for us, we couldn't have asked for a better support system.

God Bless!!!!

Prayer Requests

Rassie's doing great!  I think his strained muscle is healing up nicely. He's up and moving and back to his old self. He has physical therapy tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes!  Rassie has next physical med and rehabilitaion appointment August 4th.

With this blog I have a few prayer requests.

First, a  long time friend from highschool lost her father this week in a car accident.  Any loss is a tradgedy.  Please keep her and her family in your prayers this week as they cope with the loss of a loved one.

Second prayer request is for an old highschool friend who also lost his father this past week to a heart attack.  Please lift him and his family up in your prayers also.  It seems everyone is dealing with alot of hardship right now. 

Third,  our sweet Lane had an infected bug bite that had to be lanced on Friday and he was put on antibiotics.  It seems to be healing up nicely, he's feeling SOOO much better and he has a follow up appointment tomorrow.   Oh, and he'll be ONE on Saturday.  Rassie and I are so proud of our precious baby boy!

Lastly, I had 1 of 2 interviews today for the 911 dispatch job I applied for.  Tomorrow I have interview number 2 and find out if I get the job or not.  I am so excited and nervous at the same time. Please pray that God leads our family in the right direction.  I am really hoping for this job!

Thanks to everyone who continues to lift Rassie and our family up in their prayers. 

God Bless

MORE Updates!

Seems like I'm always updating!

Rassie had his oncology appointment on July 13th.  Everything checked out well.  His numbers are low!!! Close to remission in my personal opinion.  At this point, there is no need for a bone marrow biopsy.  Hooray!!! I did not want Rassie to have to go through that pain.  The only downside to everything, Rassie will most likely be on Gleevec for the rest of his life. That I can live with!   Although Gleevec can send you into remission, once you stop taking it, it become highly likely that the leukemia will come back.   So, what we were told thus far is that once Rassie is in remission he will continue on the same dosage of Gleevec for ??? months to follow and then they will eventually lower the dosage to what they feel is a comfortable level.  They will also continue to follow up on his treatment and watch for any changes.

On another note, Rassie had another 8 rounds of physical therapy approved.  Thank you God, you are awesome!  He starts those next Tuesday 27th.  Rassie had a little set back about a week ago, Thursday  night.  We spent that night in the ER wondering what the heck was going on!  Turns out it was nothing too major.  Rassie bent over to pick something up and apparently severely strained his muscle.  His physical therapists said she had a feeling there was only a matter of time before something like this happened.  If you don't know, you're supposed to squat to pick things up, not bend from the back!  But with Rassie's right leg being locked in a brace he can't exactly squat, therefore, putting more strain on the back.  Rassie was in alot of pain.  He was having difficulty breathing because of it and so we were really worried.  The pain caused him to have some passing out episodes.  So we thought an ER trip was in order.  They ran two EKG's, and did a CT scan from head to toe pretty much. They also ran labs.  Everything came back A-OK!  That's when the emergency room doctors gave him a higher dose of pain meds, prescribed him some muscle relaxers and sent him home with a diagnoses of sever muscle strain and told him to follow up in 2-3 days.  Rassie's doctor is out of town for the week but the physical therapist saw him Tuesday.  She felt all long his back and sides and confirmed his muscle was strained and all out of whack!  Rassie seems to be doing a lot better today, up and moving and walking! The first few days he couldn't hardly get out of bed to go to the bathroom.  He goes back to see Dr. F on August 4th and they put off therapy until next Tuesday so that he can rest up and give that muscle time to heal.  Lots of ice and heat!

That's about it for now.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  I have a job interview this coming Monday and Tuesday so add me to  your prayer list!

God Bless!!!

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer. We're making the best of ours and with Rassie's improvement its been pretty great.

I continue to watch Rassie get better in leaps and bounds and I am so excited!  Yesterday, Rassie saw the 3rd party doctor for worker's comp. (issued by the State of Texas).  Once again, this doctor agreed with what Rassie's PM&R doctor has been saying all along.  He was extremely impressed with the improvement Rassie has made since last seeing him.  After all, Rassie has come a long way!  He agrees that we should keep pushing for more and more therapy until the job is done!  Dr. G says he believes that the next time he sees Rassie (in about 4 months) that he will come waltzing in the front door without a brace on. Or any support at all for that matter.  How exciting is that?!

Rassie is about finished with another round of therapy.  Two appointments left.   So the staff is getting the ball rolling for the next round of approval.   Dr. F had said he didn't think we would get anymore out patient therapy out of the worker's comp. insurance (PT at the hospital).  If that's the case they will push for home therapy (PT at home).  Either way, we will be happy to accept any and all therapy!

Oh yeah,  Rassie was supposed to have an oncology appointment this week.  It was postponed.  The staff doctor could not be there for some reason and the resident could not see him on her own....soooo...postponement was in order.  The bad news? We did not find out until the day of the appointment that it had been changed.  There would have been a lot less rush if we had known in advance but it's done and although it was a bit annoying we're way past that.  New appointment date: July 13.  Bad news: I may not be there.  Good news: I will be taking a test for a job with hopes of passing and getting an interview!!!

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  I ask that you continue to pray! Pray for Rassie's full recovery from his back injury.  Pray for Rassie's leukemia to be sent into remission.  Pray that our family holds strong through all of this.  And last but not least, Pray for me and the job I am going for.  It's a little hard to be getting back into the job world after being home with the babies for the past 2.5 years but I know that God will be with me all the way.  Thanks again for your continued support.

God Bless!