Not out of the woods yet...

Blood pressure: too low
heart rate: normal (high end)
oxygen level: 100%
right lung: collapsed twice
heart: fluid drained, catheter in place

going to get food, more later...

More specific and very up-to-date updates on sis-in-law

If you want them...go to the church's website at http://www.mvacc.org . I was just showed how to update it with specifics. So, you'll probably find what you're looking for there. There is also a link to e-mail her.

Cool things I found out today...

Ok, so mom-in-law tells me today that she asked sis-in-law during the 5-6 visiting hours if she remembers Bro. Sciscoe coming in and praying for her today. She nodded her head. M-I-L asked, "Do you know that there are angels in this room?" She nodded her head. M-I-L asked, "Do you see them?" SHE NODDED HER HEAD! M-I-L feels so much more comfortable leaving her at night now because she's not alone! We knew God was there, but it was just a confirmation to hear it straight from her.
The nurses and doctors keep saying that sis-in-law's mid section is filled with "tumors"...we haven't had ANY confirmation that these "tumors" are lymphoma. They can't do a biopsy because of her weakened state. But IF they are "tumors"...God is our HEALER. So, anyways...the nurses insist that she should be in excruciating pain and she keeps telling them that she's not in pain at all. God is good!
Her heart rate and blood pressure went up quite a bit while we were visiting during the 5-6:00 hour, but I'm sure it was because of all of the family members that came in that she hasn't seen in quite some time. We all only had an hour to see her and we could only be back there 2 at a time. She is also worried about how this is affecting us all. Her aunt left her room sobbing and I think because she so worried is why she was so "bad" this afternoon. We stopped going to see her early during that hour because they had lightened up on the sedative and she was very aware of what was going on, so naturally she would be affected by that. She's worried about her family. We left around 7ish because we figured the 9-10:00 hour she really needed the rest. They are going to try and see if they can take off the ventilator again in the morning. She's still at 45% (at least she was at 5:30 today) oxygen. They said that she had an absolutely wonderful afternoon between the 1-2 and 5-6 visiting hours. So we're holding on to God's promise that she is going to have an awesome testimony and ministry through this.
Another cool thing that I heard today was: the first night that she was in KCH, the doctor didn't expect her to live through the night. He came into her room that next morning and checked her ventilator and was absolutely amazed at the progress she had made! The fact that she made it through the first night was a MIRACLE in itself! That would explain why all the hubbub about death and the "end" on Thursday night. He thought she was going to die...but God has a master plan and I believe that she has a GINORMOUS part in it! :) We're clinging to God's promises and God's word that her "health will spring forth speedily". Keep praying and we'd love to see you at the prayer service tomorrow night (see http://www.mvacc.org/) You can also e-mail her at PrayforTiffany@hotmail.com . We will print off all e-mails and read them to her, if you want to send a prayer through e-mail, we will gladly read that to her too...Thanks for all your prayers!
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. - Isaiah 58:8-9

Sis-in-law---PRAY HARD---GOD IS GOOD!

On Thursday early afternoon mom-in-law called me and told me that they were going to take sis-in-law to the ER at KCH because she said that her throat felt like it was closing in on her. So, I followed them to the hospital and they took her in very quickly. I think they felt like they were getting more than they had bargained for. In the ER, they told us that her chest x-ray showed that her lungs were full of infection which they were referring to as pneumonia. They said that her swollen lymph glands were swollen because of this infection. We all rejoiced as they took her up to ICU because we knew that God had made "a way of escape" so to speak. On her way up to ICU, they did a cat scan and a while later the doctor came into the waiting room and shut the door and basically told us that it was the "end" in his words. He said that her lungs were surrounded by swollen lymph glands that were lymphoma. That without treatment, she would have 2 weeks max! With treatment, we may be able to keep her around a little while longer. TALK ABOUT A LET DOWN!!! So, we go from pneumonia to lymphoma! HUGE difference! That night, many people came to see her. We had half the church there and many family members were there too. She has a lot of prayer cover right now. Dawn called all the people that she could think of and asked for prayer, Bro. Specht did the same. LJ put it on the church website (http://www.mvacc.org/) and many, MANY people are praying for her. The entire church campground, our entire church, both of our families, churches all over the country that have a connection with our church and families, people who listen to WNZR, people that my mom used to work with at the Naz, and who knows who else! So, we were faced with making something of a decision Thursday night: 1) give "comfort measures" and just let her have antibiotics to try to get rid of the infection or 2) begin "aggressive treatment" which at the time just consisted of giving her prednesone (sp?) which is a steroid to help shrink the swollen lymph nodes so that she could breathe better. So, we began option #2. When we came back on Friday, she had improved drastically. Thursday night her oxygen on the ventilator was at 60%, when we got there Fri. morning, it was at 50% and as I was reading her scriptures on Friday morning, it was put down to 45%. They had done a chest x-ray again and said that her lungs had greatly improved also. Her white blood count had come down too. So we got a lot of good news Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, they decided that KCH couldn't do much more for her than pump her full of antibiotics and keep her on the ventilator. So, they decided to move her to OSU medical center and we got there at 8:30pm on Friday. They began her oxygen at 55% because of the move, but it's back down to 45% now. We left OSU at 10:30 last night after we got to see her and went home and crashed at 1am until 7 this morning. We headed back down to OSU at 7:30 this morning to make it for the 9:00 visiting hours. When we got here, they said that they were going to go down the ventilator tube and take some samples of the fluid in her lungs but they decided not to do that because she was doing so well. They also did another cat scan and they found that there were "infected lymph nodes" in her stomach area as well. So, essentially they are saying that her whole torso is filled with lymphoma. Now, I know that my God is good and He's a healer and a deliverer! Bro. Sciscoe, came to pray with her earlier today and he said that his church had a prayer meeting this morning. They had focused prayer for her and after that, he felt like God had dispatched angels to her room and that God had the spirit world under control. I know that God is in control of all that is going on and the Enemy doesn't want her to live because he knows that she has a huge ministry and testimony that are going to affect so many people's lives and souls! So, here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow night, at our church, we're going to have a Faith-filled Intercessory Prayer Service for her. Anyone and everyone is invited. My mom is inviting people, mom-in-law is inviting family and friends, it'll be on the church's website, on WNZR and everyone is calling everyone. Please feel free to come! It'll be at our church (see above website) at 6 pm tomorrow night. God's going to do a great work with this!
Currently she is on the 11th floor, 1140, room 1140G (G as in God!). She's allowed to have 2 people in her room at a time over 12 yrs old. The visiting hours are:
5-6 am & pm
9-10 am & pm
1-2 pm
She is not allowed to have flowers in her ICU room, but she can have cards and pictures and things like that. Thank you for your prayers!

Thursday Thirteen #4 Long Time Comin'!

13 Things About Fair Week

1) Trash pick-up at 6AM every morning.

2) The sweaty hands INSIDE the latex gloves at trash pick-up leading to a pool of sweat that falls out when you take them off...yes...absolutely grody, discusting and absurd for me to put that on here, but oh so true.

3) The totally awesome breakfast that gets served after we've worked so hard picking up trash. THANK YOU LADIES!!! (Yes, ALWAYS make sure you wash your hands and arms thoroughly before touching anything at this wonderful breakfast!)

4) Thank God for Wednesday and Friday mornings because it was only harness racing the previous night and that really doesn't pull that big of a crowd and that crowd isn't near as rude in ignoring the trashcans. So, we get done picking up trash early those mornings! Woo-Hoo!

5) The "Dear Heavenly Father" look on everyone's faces on Thursday morning when we see what a crowd of PIGS are drawn to Tuff Truck on Wednesday night. To quote Jaquie this morning "It looked like someone just vomited all over the track, you couldn't even see it!"

6) It ALWAYS rains during fair week at some point in time. At the beginning of this week, the weatherguy was calling for NO rain ALL week long...and somehow, miraculously...it's raining!!!

7) After it starts raining during fair week, parking cars is always so much more fun *SARCASM!*

8) After it starts raining, the mud runnin' that goes on during parking. Especially by those testosterone-filled overgrown BOYS that swear up and down that they have a real truck when it's just a 2-wheel drive TOY!

9) The laughter (by us) when the TOYS can't get up the hill and they are sliding everywhere!

10) The crashes and dents and dings that happen when a TOY slides down the hill into another unsuspecting customer.

11) The screaming and hollering that goes on when the unsuspecting customer comes back to the crash, dent or ding and it hasn't been reported because there are so many that we don't see happen.

12) The dreams that you have every night and you wake up quite often feeling like your arms are still waving the cars on down the aisle. Sometimes you find one arm straight out poking your husband/wife in the face and the other rotating at the elbow in a circular fashion, waving the darn car on...

13) The way your body feels at the end of each day and you don't know if you can go on. But somehow, God gives you energy and strength the next day to keep you going so you can do the work of the Kingdom...again.

It's Fair time again.....Boo Hoo!

Ok, first of all..I realize it's summer and a super-duper busy time of the year...but comment people! Comment!!! Maybe my life isn't all that interesting or something, but some of you have found it to be because I have 400-some on my counter thingy. Ok, I'll stop crying about that.
So, it's fair week. I knew I was going to have to get up Monday morning at 5:15 to pick up trash, and as much as I'm not a morning person, I committed to it, so I went. Problem was...Sunday night I went to bed at 10:30ish and laid there for I know at least 1:30 before I fell into a good sleep. And even after that, anything and everything the dogs did woke me up. I got somewhere between 4 and 5 hours of sleep that night, and if you know me...I don't function on that little sleep. Lady started scratching her side at 5:12 and woke me up, so I stayed up and got ready to go. When I got home at 8:30, I took a shower (thank God!) and went back to bed at 9:00. I "slept" until 11:00. But I really only got one hour to MAYBE and hour and a half of sleep (NOT the full 2 hours that I was in bed). >:-( I got up at 11 out of pure discust because I knew I had to get things done (which I didn't...) At 3:15 until 3:45 I went back to bed because fatigue had really hit me hard at that time and I was supposed to leave at 4 to go park cars at the fair. I just laid there...no sleep for me. So, when we got back home last night, we ate and hit the sack at 10:45. I zonked out! When my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning, my body wouldn't get up. I hit the alarm and slept for another 9 minutes (why don't alarms do 10?!?!) and dragged myself into the livingroom to call the pastor and ask him if it was okay if I didn't come this morning. I knew that if I would've gotten into a vehicle, I wouldn't have made it there...they'd have found me in a ditch somewhere between here and there probably. I felt bad, but the only thing that was taking the guilt away was last night Sica and Ren were talking about how they were both going to be there this morning. I'll definitely be there in the morning, but I'll have the kiddos. So, I'll have to get up earlier...closer to 5ish. That'll be fun! I get to pick them up after parking cars tonight. Fostermom works Wed and Saturday this week. Saturday will be crazy because of their visitation being the first half of the day, then someone's got to go back over there to pick them up again afterwards.
Update on Superhubbie's sis...she's slowly getting more energy back. But the air quality is absolutely horrendous. She's still having trouble breathing, but most "healthy" people are right now also. Her detox ends next Wed! She told mom-in-law that she thinks she has gained back some weight, but she really doesn't know where she started. On Wed, we're cooking a speacial dinner for her. I really think that once she gets through the detox and can eat what she wants we're going to see a very speedy recovery. I went over today and hooked up the ol' Super Nintendo and we played Super Mario, she seemed to loosen up a bit. It was fun. Well, I really need to get some things done before 4, so I gotta get goin'. Until next time...

I have no clue...

Here I sit with the purpose of blogging, but my mind is blank. So, I'm not responsible for the randomness of what is on here today. The first thing on my mind it GOD SENT THE RAIN! Hallelujah! It rained last night for the first time in what seems like 4 years and it's a gloomy rainy day outside and I'm not really minding it. Praise God for the rain!
I have so many things to do around the house today but feel no motivation. We dropped the kids off again last night because Fostermom had to work yesterday. She also has to work tomorrow, so we're going back up there to pick them up tonight. They may be going with the Dennison bunch to camp tomorrow night, but that's unsure yet.
Oh, my good Lord, it's Thursday! I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen yet! I'll have to get on that. Problem is...I don't feel creative today, so it may not be great....
So anywho...I really need to at least do dishes and laundry today before we go pick up the kids tonight. I'm hoping that I'll get motivated sometime soon.
Please pray for my grandpas, on both sides. The one on my mom's side has prostate cancer and they are going in today to place "markers" for future radiation "treatments". I'm a firm believer that all radiation and chemo do are kill people. Please pray for his healing BEFORE he takes the radiation. He's not a christian either. On my dad's side, my grandpa has leukemia. I don't think he's doing anything about it though. He's just dealing with grandma's dementia right now. I haven't heard anything else from that side. He is Apostolic, he's got the Holy Ghost and he's okay as far as that's concerned...it's just hard to take.
Sis-in-law (Superhubbie's sister) is on her step 2 now, which is boosting her immune system. Step 1 was getting the toxins out of her system. She's on a slow hill up, but she's working on it and she is doing better even though she still looks frail, she's not going to changer her appearance overnight. Well...I really oughtta get going....too many things to do...

Woo Hoo!!!

Ok, first of all...Jana has my black kitten now! His name is Lucky and the kids love him! I'm so happy I don't have 5 cats, only 4 now. Although, Patches was around on Saturday the 7th and when she came back last week I was going to take her to the vet to get her rabies shot, well...she never showed up last week! She didn't show up until midnight this last Sunday night! So, I took her yesterday. I can't believe she left for that long! I thought maybe she found a new home, but she came back skinny. Poor thing.
Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market and one other place to shop and then came home. On Sunday morning we found that Joe's wallet was missing. Dear Lord! I was really, REALLY worried. He thought he had left it at that store we went to, but they didn't open until 10 am on Monday. We searched high and low, looked at his mom and dad's and in all the vehicles. We couldn't find it. I called the store Monday morning and she said that she didn't see it, but she wasn't the one there on Saturday and that she would have someone in the afternoon call me back. So, I went online to check the checking account and it was okay. So I walked back into the bedroom and low and behold...the first place I look, THERE IT WAS! I worried so much about that stupid thing and here it was on MY dresser instead of his under my guitar books! But, OH what a relief!
The kids are coming out tonight, Fostermom's got to work tomorrow and Friday. I'll have all three this time. The wall for their bedrooms still isn't finished, the siding on the house is getting there, the electrical issues haven't even been touched yet. I hope that we can get these things resolved soon, I'm tired of stressing over them.
Welp, I've got to go get some things done that I won't be able to do tomorrow because the kids will be here.
BY THE WAY JANA...I have no clue where your new blog is!!! I didn't get the message.

¡hasta luego!

Really just MISC...

Saw sis-in-law today. She's doing a great deal better. She's on step 2 of her detox (a few days early by doc's orders!) and well on the way to recovery.
Check out these cool lookin' moths that we found over the last couple days. The green one's just plain purty and the other one's just sweet!

See the cross?!?! Cool huh?
Also, Superhubbie and I were driving the other day and saw this bumper sticker. It kinda has that "Whoa!" effect to it doesn't it?

The Dolan's are getting the black and white kitten tomorrow! Yay! I only have one extra cat and I kinda want to keep her (the white one). So, we're good.

We dropped the boys off last night at camp and can I just say...I really don't like taking them to a chaotic place. There were so many people and the kids just wanted to run! It was really stressful for me. Well, Superhubbie and his dad are working on the siding of the house. I got done mowing the grass and I probably ought to hit the laundry now.

the kiddos...

We're going to camp tonight and we're dropping off the boys. I've really become attached and they act like they still don't want to leave. They love Fostermom, but it seems that they love being around here more. I do have to admit that 2 is easier than 3, but these last 2 weeks has been good for me because I have been able to ease into "motherhood" a little more easily than having all three dropping in my lap all at once. Really, the transition into "it" hasn't been as painful as I had expected. Yes, a lot of things are changing, but it's not really all that bad. They love me and I love them. It's weird really...how people can walk into your life and hold your heart in their hands in a short period of time. They need stability and I hope the court gives it to them on July 26-28, we find out if they go up for the big A word. Please be praying, many kids' lives are at stake here. Well, this weekend's going to be full of work. So, I'd better get the kids' stuff packed up and ready to go back to Fostermom's. Later!

Sister-in-law update...

I found out yesterday that they also did a test on Monday at the doc's for any kind of hodgkins or non-hodgkins lymphoma to see if anything like that is in her body. It came back NEGATIVE!!! Just thought y'all would find that tid bit interesting....Praise the Lord!

Happy 4th Anniversary Baby!

Ok, so I know I haven't done a lot of blogging as of late, but I've got 2 very young boys running around my house. Do you blame me?!?
So, last night on our way back from camp, we dropped by Meijer's to get some things for mom-in-law and I ran off and got Superhubbie a card, I can't go shopping without him apparently (well, I can, but haven't had the chance). He knew I got him one after I rejoined him because he saw it in my hand, but I went over to the self check-out and the boys were like "Missy, what are you doing over there?!?" I said, "being sneaky" and after I got done, I decided that for some reason, the lady at the desk for the self check-out was the person to talk to. She was around our age and looked friendly, so I talked to her. Told her why I was being sneaky so she didn't think me suspicious and then she said, "Cute boys" I told her about their story and how they weren't ours, yet. She seemed excited for us. As we left she told us Happy Anniversary. It was nice, because I've learned that nobody really tells you that after your first year anniversary. Until you have kids, but then they have to be old enough to be aware of all that stuff. So, it seems like it's just another year...
BUT, since I've resigned from my teaching job, I've got much more time to do things that I enjoy. I began doing our Wedding Scrapbook a couple weeks ago and fell upon my journals from then. I have 3 volumes: The Courtship, The Engagement (which is MIA at the moment) and The Marriage. I was reading the first volume and it reminded me of all the reasons I love Joe. The things that my job and life seemed to have taken away from me. I told him the other night that I had practically forgotten who we were. We, are Joe & Missy Potter, the two that everyone was pushing for to get together. The two that would put a smile on every one's faces when we came into a room together. The two that are absolutely and totally in love with each other and it shows. I hate the way life gets in the way of relationships. It has even tried to get in the way of our relationship with God at times too. I love being married to Joseph Potter, he IS the love of my life (besides Jesus) and I will love him forever. Happy Anniversary Baby! And MANY more to come! :)

Thursday Thirteen #3

13 Reasons Why I LOVE having the kids around...

1. The way Middlechild strokes my back or arm when he's sitting beside me. Even though he hasn't said "I love you" much, he says it every time he does this.

2. The way Oldest has attached to Superhubbie so much that while we're watching a movie on a Sunday afternoon, she climbs up on his lap and they both fall asleep sitting in the recliner before the movie is half way over.

3. The way Youngest is so smart! He usually learns his lesson the first time he goofs up.

4. The way Middlechild is just like Superhubbie so many ways.

5. The way the dogs (mostly Woody) plays with them - it's a sight to behold!

6. The way they lit up when I cleaned up and decorated the guest bathroom, put a dresser in there, put their clothes in it and told them that it was theirs. It gave them even more of a sense of belonging.

7. The way they keep me on my toes! I can't be a couch potato like I enjoyed in summers past. I like this!

8. The way I don't eat as much when they're around. I've lost 4 lbs. in the last 2 weeks!

9. The way Youngest goes to comb his hair and only combs over the front 2 inches because that's all he sees in the mirror.

10. The way Middlechild woke up from his nap and pulled a tooth all by himself.

11. The he woke up the next morning and I saw such a smile on his face when he found a dollar under his pillow from the Tooth Fairy.

12. The way they love coming out here and never complain, wanting to go home.

13. The way they know in their hearts that we belong together without anyone saying anything to them about what we want to do.

I HAD NO IDEA!!!!

I knew I was getting into a lot with trying to get 3 kids. I've got 2 of them this whole week, it's only Tuesday and at some moments I think it's time to pull all hair out of my head! I had them quite a bit last week except for maybe 2 or 3 days max. Those 2-3 days were used to get caught back up. We got all three on Saturday and had them all until Sunday afternoon. Now I've got the boys all week until Friday night. Fostermom's nursing church camp this week and Oldest is there too. Youngest tried to drown the white kitten last night. He got to stand in the corner while we watched David and the Giant Pickle (Veggietales if you didn't know...) He hated it! We have found that making him sit in time out really doesn't hit him like it should. So, we're experimenting to find something else that works. He's also not to even touch the cats today, even over at mom-in-law's house.
Some of you don't really know what's been going on with sis-in-law. She's been kinda sick for a while now and I know many of you have been praying. She's lost a lot of weight and she's had trouble breathing. She went to a doc yesterday to basically get a computer eval on different things in her body. The lymph system test came back normal. PRAISE GOD! The lump on her neck (which I figured was just an inflamed lymph node because she's been sick) could have possibly been filled with the C word and that was the fear. But since that test came back normal...it's just inflamed and not the C word! I've been sure that God healed her all along, but the Enemy puts doubts and fears in our minds sometimes and it really makes us wonder. So, the doc put her on a detox for a month because her body is filled with toxins (obviously from the one chemo treatment that she took over a year ago...did you know that chemo will stay in your body for a year and a half?!?). So, her diet is limited, but other than that we're praising God for his answer to prayers. We've had so many people tell us that God already healed her and that God told them so. I HATE the Enemy for making mom-in-law worry so much. It's been really hard on her lately. But HALLELUJAH, I knew she was healed!
We're going over there today to can some beets. Yummy! The boys will have fun going over to Mamaw's.
Oh, one last personal note...Jana: The black kitten isn't all black, it's got a lot of white on it. You could call it socks or something. So, tell Pat not to worry. Also, are you going to the Ladies retreat thing in September? I have thoughts of going, but I thought it would be cool to room together. If you're thinking of going, let us know and we can add you into one of our rooms we have set aside. We'll have a blast! Well, that's all for now....Adios!

Wow! It's been busy!

Ok, you know the kittens I found last week? Well, I got to to know them better and look at them closer and look:

Do you see it??? Look at the eyes! One's greenish and the other one is icey blue! Isn't that sweet?!? Mom-in-law said that from the looks of its markings, it's got siamese in it, as it gets older it'll get more points and markings. That's pretty neat too.

Then, my hummies (aka: hummingbirds) have multiplied and are eating like CRAZY! I have officially counted 6 now, but I think more have come just in the last few days. I had Superhubbie buy another feeder a couple weeks ago and he bought a much bigger one. Well, I filled them both up yesterday after I had filled them BOTH up the day before! It's become a ritual to fill up the smaller one (pictured) every morning, but the bigger one is depleating much faster now too. I can't believe it! I told SH that it's more like a swarm of hummies than a flock (you know...flock = birds, swarm = bees). The way they sound, it's like this HUGE swarm of bees flying around. You wouldn't believe how much they are fighting over those two feeders. Plus mom-in-law got me a snapdragon hanging basket for "mother's day" and (I've actually kept it alive!) they love it too! They sit on my (sp?) bugamvia (another plant, native to Costa Rica) and use it as a perch. So, they've become like my little 'pets' too. So, I've got all kinds of animals running around here. Here's a pic so you can see my cute new friends.

And the boys were out yesterday. Oldest is at camp this week and next week. So, we took the boys home after church Sunday night and kept them until last evening. We've got church again tonight because of the holiday, so we're taking them home again tonight and we're going to see fireworks after church. I think we're going to have them through to Thursday morning. Then we'll have all three on Saturday and Sunday, then Oldest is going 'home' to pack for church camp for next week. We're going to keep the boys all next week because Fostermom is nursing at camp. I got some really cute pics of the boys yesterday blowing bubbles. Here's one for your enjoyment.