Merry Christmas!

Good morning and love you Uncle John (and the family too!)
Good morning and Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! I told Chad it was his job to write the blog entry today, but I will do a quick one and we'll have pictures later. We are at my sister, Jean's house with her family and our parents this year. When the boys are up they will open presents and then we will start cooking our Christmas dinner.

For me it's been about the same. I'm working a little and tolerating that ok, except for the lights. I had some testing to look at the nerve function on my right side because of the dizziness and hearing loss. It showed some damage to the Right vestibular nerve. I haven't had a follow-up with the doc that ordered the test yet, but I'm assuming that's from the radiation and I am praising and believing God that it will be temporary! For those of you that haven't seen me in person, I've lost half the hair on my head (fortunately I had very thick hair to start with and a great girl to cut my hair) and you can hardly tell. Also, one day, my eyebrows fell out...that was strange because it was after radiation was over. I have to draw them in. Yes, sad and funny, but true. Looks better than going without.

I was the first one up this morning! I even beat my dad...that's a big deal for those of you who know my family. He's up now and has the coffee started. Jakey's awake, but the action won't start until Benny wakes. My husband just came up from the basement. I told him he was on for a blog entry later today.

May you all have a blessed day and a very Merry Christmas! And may we not forget that today we celebrate Jesus' birthday!

Love,
Laura

Crashed Computer...

...that is the reason there hasn't been a post in so long. I have had many emails about updates, so here we go. My computer crashed shortly after the last post. It occupied much of my time and am anxiously awaiting it to be fixed. I get brief moments on Chad's computer when he comes home and isn't finishing up work. Tonight he has a basketball game, so I get to use his computer for a little bit. We were able to take a weekend trip to Florida with my sister Jean and her family. That was very nice. I got to walk on the beach and get some fresh air. No walks outside for me in Michigan right now! I'll try to attach a couple of pics from us on the beach.







My head has been feeling pretty good, rarely headaches. Still dealing with dizziness, fatigue, ringing and hearing loss on that side. I've started physical therapy to help my brain habituate to the dizziness. I have some more testing for the ringing and hearing loss. Our hope is that it's just from inflammation from the radiation and will resolve with time and more healing. I worked a little this week to test it out. Did ok, just had to take a long nap! The residents didn't make too much fun of me when I had to wear sunglasses under the fluorescent lights! I would prefer to work in candlelight...does anyone know of a hospital like that?



Chad's parents are coming this weekend for a visit since we won't be able to go back to Kansas this year. Today I was able to go with my friend Nicole and son Gibson to the Meijer Gardens to see the trees. It was nice to get out of the walls of the house and of course to visit with a friend. May you all have a blessed holiday season and a very merry CHRISTmas. May we not forget the reason we celebrate--the birth of our savior Jesus.


Please continue to pray for the above symptoms to go away and for complete and total healing. My follow-up MRI is January 3. Pray that there is absolutely no tumor, no scar tissue, and no inflammation. Blessings and a very merrry Christmas,

Laura