Luke

Today, while catching up on Angie's blog, I learned that Todd's sister, Nicol Sponberg and her husband, Greg, lost their child Luke. I have met Nicol at one of the Selah concerts, along with Todd and Alan. I just can't even imagine. I can't even put into words how much this loss must be hurting the family. They have lost 2 children in such a close amount of time.

Please pray. I don't know what else to say. This is all I can say right now.

Results

I think most of you already know this, but my lovely lady lumps are fine. The tumor (I have a flippin' tumor!) is just some dead tissue caused by "significant trauma to the breast". Um... How in the heck did I have significant trauma to one of my boobies and not know it? Well, probably because they're huge and I run into stuff all the time with them! Oh, and sometimes my son uses them as punching bags.

Anywho, thank you to all of you who prayed for my "woobies". I was so fortunate that nothing was wrong.

Greg comes home tonight after being gone on a short business trip. We've missed him, but this is probably the best behaved Gabers has been when Greg's been gone. So, that has definitely made things easier.

I would like to request prayers from you prayer warriors out there - Ok, eh hem, I kind of have a short list:

• A friend "N" lost one of her parents in a tragic motorcycle accident. This same accident left the other parent critically injured. Please pray that "N" will be able to handle this very long road ahead. I would specifically ask that you pray that she will feel God with her now.


• Steven Curtis Chapman, a Christian singer I grew up listening to, tragically lost his youngest daughter, Maria, when one of his sons accidently hit her with the car. I cannot begin to imagine the pain that family is feeling now. That poor boy who hit her. I just cannot let my mind go there.


• Todd & Angie Smith - they have been mentioned in previous posts. Things are starting to settle for them - their daily lives and routines have begun again. I pray they feel God's presence in those moments when they miss Audrey the most.


• Our nation and the future leader we choose this November.


• My family - I pray for their health and safety. That I can turn my worries over to God - when they travel, when we're apart, and when I just feel worry creeping in. That I can trust that God cares for them MORE than I do. Unimaginable. I just can't comprehend that.

Thank you in advance for your prayers. Please know, if you ever need prayer that I'd be honored to lift you up to our Father.

I don't know about you all, but it just seems like lately, there are so many tragedies. There are so many things happening all around us - people suffering, children dying, etc... Am I just noticing all of this now that I'm getting older? It's almost like you have to shut it off. I don't know if that makes sense or not... Let me rephrase... It's almost like you have to keep your mind from going to all of these places and hurting. For example, I talked to "N" last night. Her story was so sad, I about couldn't take it. I was literally holding the tears in. I really don't know how people with no faith can do it. I mean to think this is it? Personally, knowing that Heaven is waiting, brings me so much comfort in a world that is so fallen and full of pain. Pain is everywhere. I'm certainly not trying to be a "Debbie Downer". It's just this has really been on my mind lately. It's depressing to watch the news. It's heart-wrenching to read the blog of a mom dying of cancer.

I'm so thankful there's a way out of this. That God sent Jesus to take all that pain and all the sin and put it on His shoulders. Because, let me tell you, if I had to carry it, I wouldn't even be able to get up off the ground.

Thanks for hanging in there with me tonight. This is just what's on my mind.

-b (or b-bop, as "N" would call me)

It Started with a Chair.

My obsession with photo session props, that is. I LOVE this chair. Our town had clean up days this weekend. Now, I've never been one to shop clean up days, but as we were headed up to my parents' house, Greg stopped the truck and said, "Woah, look at that chair! Should we get it?" My initial response was, "No way... we can't do that!" But, then I was like, "That would be a SA-WEET photo prop". So, we grabbed it. I can't wait to try it out!

Speaking of photography, I had the honor of taking some 25th anniversary pictures this weekend. This guy is my dad's cousin. My husband was actually the ring bearer in their wedding... So, Greg and I met 25 years ago and we didn't even know it! Here are some of my favorites:

I sure am loving this photography stuff. I had the best time and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I don't think they're too bad for a beginner!

Update

The doc decided basically to let me choose what I wanted to have done: 1) Leave the lovely lady lump alone, B) Have a core biopsy done in his office, at least to determine if it was cancerous, or 3) Just remove it - the lump, not the boob.

After asking for his opinion, and discussing the three options, Greg and I thought the biopsy would be the best way to go at this point. At least we could hopefully rule out our biggest concern without being too invasive. Also, it was better than just leaving it and wondering if there was even a possiblity of cancer.

The procedure wasn't too bad. The worst part was numbing the boobie and because mine are so ginormous, it took a few injections of lidocane to do the trick. At one point, I think I yelped because when he stuck the instrument in, he hadn't numbed me down far enough. So, I received more numbing medicine. It was a really weird feeling not to have feeling in my "woobie" as my friend, Tami calls them. I kept my eyes tightly shut the entire time for fear of catching a glimpse of the huge needle thing they entered the room holding. They took 3 samples with a vacuum-type instrument and I was done. Now, I just wait until Monday or Tuesday for the results. I'm not too worried, since the Doc didn't seem to think it was cancerous. He said these types of lumps, excuse me, tumors, are pretty common in women my age.

As you can imagine, I milked this (no pun intended) for all it was worth - "Greg, I need the new People magazine... my lump wants it". Or, "You know, my lump is really hungry for Logan's for lunch...". Tee Hee... I'm bad.

It's all thanks to the prayers from my peeps out there that I am able to joke about this procedure today. I'm very fortunate that the doctor doesn't seem worried and that I didn't have to get nasty and demand a biopsy. He said he really just wanted to put my mind at ease. It sure is nice to have a doctor who cares about how their patients feel. In fact, through the entire procedure, he was excellent. "Does this hurt?" "You doing ok?" etc... Considering what it was, it couldn't have gone better.

Where I've been

So, I've really been debating on blogging about this. But, I'm going to. I think I'll feel better.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a lump in my breast while showering. Wasn't even doing an exam, I was just washing. I didn't really think much of it because I've had lumps before, but they've been nothing - just temporary lumps that the doctor said would go away. This one felt a little different. So, I decided to get it checked out.

On Tuesday at 1:30, I had an ultrasound. The ultrasound tech told me that my doctor wouldn't have results until Thursday or Friday. When I got home from work Tuesday night, there was a message at 3:30 from my doctor's office. Wednesday morning I called and the nurse advised they wanted me to have a biopsy. They scheduled my appointment for today at 12:30.

When I called the surgeon's office to verify some admin stuff, they advised me that this was just a consultation. So, no biopsy today, just an exam from him and his suggestion on how to move forward. I think no matter what he says today, I'm going to request the biopsy. I don't really want to wonder about this foreign thing growing in my body.

So, how am I dealing with all of this? Honestly, I'm worried. I am a mother now. I don't want to borrow trouble, but I can't lie... I have had those fearful thoughts about this being cancer. I have thought, "oh my gosh, what would I do?" But, I'm really trying to remember, especially at my age, cancer is pretty uncommon. Something like 80% of biopsies come back cancer-free. I've got peeps praying right now... that's really all we can do.

So, today, I'll meet with the surgeon and find out what he wants to do. No matter what, I'm having that biopsy. (um, well, if he'll do it for me)

Been Scrappin'

I've been doing a lot of scrappin' for the baby shower I'm hosting next weekend. And, I am having a blast! I made these adorable little lions for the invites... I will have to post of picture of those too. There are also decorations, signs, etc... Can't wait to post those, but I don't want to ruin it for the parents - just in case they read this blog. I get to meet Little McCarthy this week. He is the grandson of one of my best friends, Tami, and he is the guest of honor (along with his Mommy) at the shower. He's a cute little guy... Here's a pic of him with Tami:

I will post pictures soon of the other shower goodies!