Hello Chums

Some of you may be wondering why I haven't been on blogger much lately. Well, I don't really have a good excuse. Other than I have been tied up by other things and didn't have the gumption to post. *guilty wince*

My poor blog got pushed further and further down on my mental list of things to tend to. :/

Do not fret. Everything is a'okay! Dad is doing very well right now. His Tysabri infusions have been going well and he's got some energy. He and my Papa have been outside, working on a lean-to for James the unit. ^_^ It's nice to see dad outside, working again. :)

I have kept myself busy doing school, taking care of household chores, and spending time with friends and family. Oh, and yes, I still have my babysitting job. :) 

Narthea's courtship is going wonderfully! She and her beau are always smiling at each other and giggling. It's cute. ^_^ She probably wouldn't enjoy me saying that on the Internet, so *shhh*. ;)

I took a walk outside today and snapped some photos that I wanted to share with you. They're pretty random, but hey, it's something to post. :) 

{This is the "key to my heart" necklace I bought on Valentine's Day and am keeping for my future husband. Not that he has to wear it... lol}   

{The grass is vibrant and green again. As you can see, I'm loving it!}

 {I don't know why, but I just love this picture.}

{So photogenic!}

{The lean-to for James.}

{And of course my incredibly handsome, precious dog Ty. ;) Just look at that face...}

I hope you have been doing good and enjoying life while I've been away. I have a lot of blogs to catch up on. ;)

Surprised?

Yes, it's me, Eldarwen. You know, the girl you've probably forgotten about, because she hasn't posted in nearly a month? lol

That's right, I've decided to come back. That doesn't mean I'm gonna post so much that I resemble a mad woman when she sees a "50% off" sign in the window of her favorite store...

{not my photo}

...but I figured it was time to let you all in on the happenings of the past few weeks. :)

Where to begin? Well, I guess I should start off with the subject that has basically taken over my life lately: babysitting. (Wow, bet you didn't see that one comin'.) Yes, I am still working three days a week, four hours a day. The last few times have been rough, because Munchkin has [apparently] hit the terrible twos... early. I wonder what he'll be like when he's actually two? *cringe* I have a few battle scars, as I call them. He has started biting and slapping me which, of course, I do not allow, but he isn't my kid so it's not like I can pull him aside and swat him. I usually firmly say, "NO!", but that doesn't really work. So, if you ever think about it, please keep Munchkin and me in your prayers. :)

Let's see, what other news do I have for you? Well, our Church did the yearly Christmas Drama we do in December. I played the [proud] roll of an apostle. Yes, to put it bluntly, I played a man, but my face was hardly ever seen, so I'm still able to walk into our Church with some dignity. :P

My friend Taylor @ Excelsior came to visit me last weekend! We had tons of fun and made some great memories! We went to see Tangled (review coming soon), which was the cutest Disney princess movie ever! Seriously, folks, this movie is the-little-puppy-you-saw-on-the-street-and-wanted-to-take-home cute! Probably cuter. (I have a crush on Flynn Rider. ^_^ ...But you didn't hear that from me.)

{not my photo}

Update on my dad: he's doing really well right now! He had his first treatment of Tysabri at the end of last month (November). He'll get an infusion every four weeks, so he's due for another one sometime soon. :) He's done good on it so far, though he's only had one treatment so it's not like we can really say this treatment is working for him, but we could definitely tell a difference in his speech and other functions as soon as he got the infusion. It makes him really tired for the first day or two, but after that he does pretty good. :) Praise God!

Christmas time is here! I can hardly believe it. Where did the time go? It didn't seem like I took a month long break. Hmm. I guess time flies when you're having fun. And I have had fun! I've enjoyed just sitting down and putting together a puzzle, or reading, or watching a movie. I've loved having more free time, even though I've been busier than I anticipated. :) This afternoon we had some friends from our former Church (which is about 2 hours away) come and visit. We had a great time! It's such a blessing to fellowship with some of our close friends, and Church family. I thank God for them all!

My sisters and I received some early Christmas money from some friends of ours and we decided to spend some of it on going to the movies to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (review coming soon), then spending the rest on a gift for one of our sisters (we drew names out of a bowl:). I didn't like this movie anywhere near as much as the first one of the series, or the second. The first is my favorite, and if you thought the second one was cheesy, wait 'til you see the third. lol :D

{not my photo}

Over all I have enjoyed my blogging break! Though I did miss you tons!! I missed reading your blogs, even though before my break I wasn't doing so well at commenting *guilty blush*, and I can't say that's going to be any different. I do read your posts, though, and I will try my best to work on my commenting skills. ;) 

Tomorrow is Caldirwen's 12th birthday, so since I will have yet another SUPER busy day tomorrow (Church, a friend's graduation, then Caldirwen's birthday party) I will do my birthday post for her now. :)

Dear Caldirwen,

Twelve?! Who gave you permission to grow up? Certainly not me. I cannot believe you are going to be 12 years old! Was it not yesterday that you were this knee high, chubby faced, 4 year old who used to ride on my back across parkinglots?

Caldirwen, you are such a sweetie. Yeah, you have your unsweet moments, but you can also be such a selfless, giving, percious little girl. But you're not a little girl anymore. You're going to be 12!! A tween (are you sure?!)! I just wanna keep you little forever!  

My little Caldirwen is growing up....

...but it doesn't matter how old you get. You'll always be my baby sister! :) Thank you God for Caldirwen! I love you, sissy!

Update and Two More Prayer Requests

{If you're confused, click HERE}

Dad isn't any better, but we are so grateful because we finally got his IV steroids (a few hours ago, when we should've gotten them two days ago), and the nurse came out to give them to dad. She's here right now. Everytime dad gets up he pukes. Mom did some research online and found out that with some MS patients puking is a symptom. It's rare, but it happens. We're praying that after dad gets these steroids we'll see some progress. He's very, very weak, we have to help him go anywhere, and like I said, he throws up everytime he gets out of bed. Please continue to pray for him!

Also, my mom called my Me-ma (my dad's mom) this afternoon and we found out from her that my aunt Sherry is dying (she's my dad's, step brother's ex-wife). I don't know all the details, but she has been battling cancer for years and apparently the doctors have been trying to give her some pills (I think it was pain medicine) and she keeps throwing it up. [If I heard my mom correctly] They put her on an IV to try and get some medicine in her, and they might send her home on hospice. Please pray for her 3 children, my cousins, to be strong and trust in the Lord. I won't give you their names, but my aunt's name is Sherry. God can do anything. He can heal my aunt right now if He wants to. We're just praying, praying, praying that God's will be done. I'm quite close to aunt Sherry's youngest daughter, who is my age and I know this will be (and is) very, very hard on her. She does not deal with loss very well, so please pray for her.

Now, the third prayer request. My Me-ma also told us that my other aunt (my dad's, other brother's wife) is going to the emergency room. We are not sure why, Me-ma didn't have time to explain, but I do know she has had severe health problems, in the past. Please pray that everything will be okay and the doctors will be able to help my aunt.

Thank you so much for the prayer and support through all that my family and I are going through! It's tough, but with God we'll get through it.

Update

Hi there. I realized I haven't updated any of you on how my dad is doing. So, here's the latest email update my mom sent out (keep in mind, I'm changing the names and such, so that no personal info and is given out).

My husband had the MRI yesterday. Dr G. said there are no active lesions. I should have asked if he could tell how much the swelling had gone down and if there is still any shift but I didn't think about it. I am beginning a list of questions for him and those are on it. I also failed to ask about the blood test results so that's on there too. Also, I want to ask him if plasmapheresis could help my husband's current symptoms improve. I believe he'll probably say no since he did not see any active lesions. As far as the eye test is concerned, it was for optic neuritis and to see if there is any damage to the optic nerve and they saw no problems there.


Dr G. is referring my husband to a neuro-urologist at [a hospital that shall remain nameless] for a urodynamic study for his bladder problems. He said it is possible they can determine the exact problem and correct it. He also told us two things to do to help with his bowel issues. He said it usually takes about 8 weeks for that to work.


We talked to Dr G. for two hours on Monday and we still like him a whole lot. After we got home my husband said, "Why is it I can understand everything he says but I can't understand you?" (He wasn't joking!) The speech therapist and I told him it's probably a combination of things like the fact that there are no distractions going on when we are meeting with the doctor; he speaks loudly and articulately; and he speaks in a way that anyone can understand what he means. It could also be that the Lord is just making it that way because he's the doctor we are supposed to be with at this time.


Dr G. laid out the treatment options a little differently than Dr O. He mentioned the five first-line injectables which are:
Avonex
Betaseron
Copaxone
Rebif
Extavia

He listed Tysabri next.
 
Then he listed Cladribine and Fengolimod. After he listed these two, he put an "X" under them and said he doesn't feel comfortable with either of these drugs because there is not enough information yet on using them. Fengolimod is set to come out in about 3 weeks and Cladribine after the first of next year. He said we will know more about these two as time goes by. He also said that out of all the drugs available, he would consider Cladribine last on the list because once he gives it, there is no turning back. It suppresses your immune system for a year and you cannot reverse it.


At the bottom of the page by itself he then listed Novantrone.
 
He said that any one of the drugs might work for my husband and we have no idea which one might work. He said even though there may be a 35% chance of a drug working, my husband might be in the 65% in whom it won't work or vice versa. He laid out some pros and cons of each but said it is really up to us because we have no idea which drug might work for my husband. He did say that the first five have less serious risk but they also have a lower efficacy (chance of working). He said that Tysabri has a higher efficacy but with it you run the risk of getting PML.

I will say that I am leaning towards the Tysabri now after reading the patient comments and testimonials. If you ask my husband, he will say he is just ready to do it now! He does not want to wait around for the next lesion. Please pray with us that the Lord's will will be done concerning the treatment. I completely trust that He will build walls where He does not want us to go and He will protect my husband from the PML if He allows him to take the Tysabri and He will provide in every way for whatever path He has chosen. He has a perfect plan and in that plan there are God-scheduled opportunities along the way. We just have to see them as God-scheduled opportunities and nothing else. Dr G. did say that he does think we should try aggressive treatment first but that we can always give one of the less risky drugs a try first too because it just may be the one that works. He said it is completely whatever we feel comfortable doing. I say it is whatever the Lord leads us to do. Please be praying about the treatment with us and everything that goes along with that.

There is one funny thing from a couple weeks ago that I forgot to share with you. After we left Dr G.'s office the first time we met him, on the way home I asked my husband what he thought. He sat there for a few seconds and then said basically this: "You know when we saw the neuro-opthalmologist at [a hospital that shall remain nameless] last year? Well, seeing Dr G. was like seeing him." (That was Dr H. He was very thorough and tested my husband in many ways with lots of equipment.) He then said, "Well, seeing Dr O. is like going to the optometrist at Wal-mart." I laughed and laughed, and yet I was blown away by the profoundness of that statement coming from my currently communication-challenged husband!
Thank you so much for listening to me and praying for us and sending encouragement and everything else you do. We are truly blessed in many ways. Until next time . . . . . .
 
 
Please keep my dad in your prayers! Right now he's having a tough time. He gets sad a lot, and he's really having trouble understanding us, which frustrates him. Everyone is very emotional right now, and sometimes we feel like giving up, but God has a purpose for all of this. I used to be scared of what might come, but I've learned to trust God. I'm not afraid. Even though I don't know what tomorrow might bring, one thing I do know is God will be with us all the way. And it's such a comfort to know that. :)