Baths

How can one big, wet, smelly dog LOVE swimming and running through muddy swamp water but HATE clean, warm water baths soooo much?

March for Babies

As many of you know I work as a nurse in Labor and Delivery.  Healthy moms and babies are my passion and it's what I and my co-workers strive for every day.  The March of Dimes is having their March for Babies here in New Orleans on April 24th and I'll be walking with a team of girls that I work with.  We're trying to raise as much money as possible for this organization which goes towards research at preventing premature births, education to pregnant mothers not only in the US, but around the world, and assisting parents who have pre-mature or sick babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  If anyone would like to give towards our team you can donate by clicking here or on the link to the left of this post.

A catch up on how Scott is:

I figured it was time to update you all on Scott.  On Tuesday he went in for a follow up appointment.  They did a MRI of his bones - being especially concerned with his spine and pelvis - and it all came back negative for any abnormalities (i.e. Tumors) which we are very, very happy about.  They did a blood test to check his CEA levels (basically a tumor marker test) which came back at 2.8 - within normal range finally!  Another great thing considering those levels were up to 18 before we had surgery in January.  The real indicator with Medullary Carcinoma though are his Calcitonin blood levels which have been sent off to Mayo for evaluation and we should have results back sometime next week.
Scott has still been pretty tired and just kind of Blah feeling so it wasn't much of a surprise to us that he is still quite Hypothyroid with a TSH (thyroid hormone level) of 13.  The normal range for that test is 1-5.  SO, to combat that we have changed all of his meds up again this week.  They added a T3 medication (the active form of thyroid hormone that works immediately) and increased the dose of his T4 medication (the more continuous form of thyroid hormone that isn't as fast or short acting) that he has been taking since surgery.  We are hoping that this will help improve his mood, as well as energy and metabolism levels and help fight the Blahs.
Some of you know this, but I don't think I ever posted on here that they did a Genetic Screen on Scott due to the fact that often this type of cancer runs in families.  If the screen were positive Scott's brother's would have needed to be screened as well (as they could have been at risk for developing this kind of cancer), and our future children probably would have needed Thyroidectomies at a young age due to the fact that they would be at such a great risk for developing this kind of cancer as well.  We are very blessed that his gene typing came back negative for it, which is a huge relief in that now we know this was the Sporadic form of cancer that he got.
Everyday Scott's voice gets stronger and it seems to be getting close to back to normal and easier for him to project, which we are very thankful for.  It is becoming less and less frustrating for him to talk on the phone (people aren't saying, "What?" "Wait, say that again?" as much anymore), order food when we're out and about, and just communicate in general.  Scott has started working again.  He started out doing six hour shifts at the end of last month and has now gone up to eight hour shifts, with the hope of being able to handle 12 hour shifts again next month.  We're very happy with all his progress and it is very gratifying for him to be back in the ER doing what he loves.
So, in general everything is on the up and up it looks like.  We do another CT Scan of Scott's head, neck and chest in June or July to see if there are any more tumors and if the spots on his lung have grown.  For now it's a waiting game and we're gradually getting back to normal life.  Thank you all for your prayers and word of encouragement.  It's been so nice getting cards and sweet messages from so many of you and it's helped lighten our load knowing that so many people care.

VACATION!

Scott and I enjoy spontaneity.  I firmly believe it is one of the most important ingredients that is highly under-used in the recipe of having an awesome time.  SO, we decided around February 27th to get out of the country.  Last fall we'd planned on taking a two week trip with our good friends Ben and Abby Chapeau to either Ireland or Morocco or somewhere not too far like that.  And then Scott got cancer and we both used up all our vacation time.  Traveling was out.  Until my March schedule came in and I had six days off in a row.  Scott just started going back to work at the beginning of this month and wasn't scheduled for specific days - he just needs to go in as he can.  A trip was definitely in order and desperately needed.  Ben and Abby figured out family to take Easton and their dog, got off work, and away we decided to go on Scott's dad's stand-by passes (Thanks Dadoo!).
We were good with either Honduras or Belize.  Or Jamaica, or Mexico.  I didn't care at all, anywhere with a beach and a decent amount of heat seemed fantastic to me.  On Wednesday night of last week we decided Honduras would be the best.  Not too far, but off the beaten path enough for Scott's taste.  However, after working 13 hours that day and then cleaning the house and packing and staying up until midnight, I accidentally set my alarm for 3:15pm instead of AM.  Brilliant.  I woke up in a panic at 5am and we frantically ran around trying to re-plan our lives, since we were now too late to catch the only flight to Honduras that day.  Fortunately, we got things figured out and re-routed to Belize.  Turns out God had a nice little plan up his sleeve.  We met Ben and Abby in Dallas and once in Belize City caught another quick flight to Placencia - a small beach peninsula in southern Belize.

Once in Placenta (our affectionate name for it throughout the week) we wandered around trying to find a place to stay.  We were SO out of place in this Bob Marley-esque little beach town in our dress clothes (necessary for flying stand-by) and shoes that covered our toes.  At the verge of discouragement due to getting turned away from everywhere, we found an old man who told us he had an open Cabana that we could look at.  It was perfect!  Set back about 30 feet from the water with two double beds, a hot shower, electricity, a coffee pot AND a fridge for only $50 a night!  We snatched it right up and the four of us decided to stay there the whole week.

Our time there was as perfect as we could ask for even with the little mishaps along the way.  I had a sore throat for two days leading up to the trip and the first morning we woke up there I just could have cried my poor tonsils were so irritated.  Scott rolled his eyes, got the headlamp and told me to say "Ahh" expecting to find nothing.  He jumped back in horror (takes quite a bit to get that great of a response out of him :), felt my hot forehead, and started me on antibiotics.  It rained all day that day so we all laid around and read our books and caught up on sleep.  Every day after that was sunny but stayed in the 70's to 80's, which was just grand.  We stayed very busy doing pretty much nothing.  We read books, discussed all aspects of life, giggled late into the night, played frisbee, sipped Fanta and real Coke, and generally had no idea what time it ever was while Jack Johnson serenaded us in the background.  When our hunger got the best of us we would wander down the narrow sidewalk that went through the middle of the village and find a restaurant that pleased us.  Our greatest discovery was a little Gellateria run by a wonderful Italian man named Lorenzo.  We visited him 2-3 times every day and delightedly tried as many of his flavors as we could.  

On Monday we went out to an island called Laughing Bird Caye for snorkeling.  The water was the calmest it had been throughout our entire visit and we had great tour guides.  The visibility was perfect and we saw so many cool fish, lots of lobsters, and happily no sharks.  

Yesterday afternoon Scott and I flew back to Dallas and got stuck there overnight due to all of the flights to New Orleans being oversold.  This morning we flew to Baton Rouge where we realized we couldn't rent a car due to only having passports and no driver's licenses.  Ooops.  We managed to find a friendly cab driver who gave us a great deal and drove us back to the New Orleans airport where our car was.  Much less of a hassle than waiting around two hours for the greyhound bus and a little more comfortable.

We are now settling back in, preparing to work the rest of the weekend but feeling very refreshed.  It was exactly what we needed at this point.  A break from schedules, phone calls, bills, and our life in general right now.  It's amazing what a little sunshine and together time can do for the spirit.  

Here's a few more pictures:

Standing on our little porch with the ocean behind us ready to go sun ourselves

Out at the edge of Placencia

The goggles make life especially romantic

Laughing Bird Caye

Scott and Ben relaxing outside our Cabana

Milestones

I started this post yesterday and got distracted.  So, here it is a little out of context.

Yesterday was our one year Anniversary of being married!  We had a fantastic day and celebrated with a picnic in the park, laying out in the sun and then dinner at John Besh's Restaurant August.  

On the ferry going over to the French Quarter

Scott and I at August

We've had quite the crash course in marriage this year, but I'd say we're doing pretty well considering.  A lot of patience, loyalty, re-prioritizing, prayers, and dedication has gotten us through the Match, getting and training a puppy who has turned into a beast (she's over 90lbs now), graduating Medical School, moving hundreds of miles from all our families and friends, remodeling a house and settling into it while starting new jobs, and fighting cancer.  And yet I've come out of this year feeling so grateful to have such a wonderful marriage and couldn't ask for a better husband.  Even with our struggles, we are very blessed.  Love you Scott!  :)