30 days and counting!!

I just want to take this time to brag on my older Brother Tim. He has been sober for 30 days as of today. Keep up the good fight Tim. Alyson and I are praying for you and your family.

Alyson is about 35 days or less from delivering Brooks. That is freaking me out.

One Day at a Time

My brother has started a blog to share his journey about recovering from alcohol. I encourage you to go and check it out. He is going through a period of great change and I am amazed at his openness and willingness to share his life. This is something that he would normally not do. I had stated in a previous post that I would like to share the story of my brother, but now I will let him tell you about himself. Go to timjthrift.blogspot.com and check it out.

Sit back and enjoy!

"Sit back and enjoy." Those are the words that I heard as I prayed the other night. Its been a long road for Alyson and me. With her having been diagnosed with cancer, we really had not been able to enjoy the whole experience of pregnancy. Now that she appears to be in the clear, we have had a chance to really enjoy the preparation of having a baby. It has been fun setting up Brooks' room, going through his clothes, figuring out which outfit he will come home in, and just thinking about what it will be like to hold him in our arms. The other day as I prepared to iron my clothes for our basketball game, I sat down in the glider in the nursery to wait for the iron to heat up. As I sat there, I began to rock back and forth, the next thing I new I had drifted off to sleep. I can remember the calmness that I felt as I rocked in the chair, when I woke up I was so excited about Brooks coming home and what a great feeling it will be to look into his eyes. I can only imagine what it will be like to see him for the first time. I am not sure if I will cry, if I will be numb, or if I will be jumping around as if I had just won a national championship or what. All I know is that for the first time in a while I can sit back and enjoy the anticipation of becoming a father/parent. The only thing that I am nervous about now, is the fact that we don't start lamas(?) classes until March, which is pretty late since the baby is due in March. I hope that we at least get through a couple of classes before Alyson goes into labor. We will keep our fingers crossed. But for now I am going to sit back and enjoy what's left of this pregnancy.

Wonderful News!!!!!!

Alyson and I had an appointment with our oncologist (Dr. Hirsch). As you know we were waiting on the results of a test. We got the results in and Alyson got a score of 28, which is a low score, which is very good. She fell in the intermediate range for her chances of having cancer come back in the next 10 years. It works out to about a 15% chance of re-occurrence. This is great news. Dr. Hirsch also said that he does not recommend chemo-therapy for sure while she is pregnant. He just doesn't see any reason to do it now, he also doesn't see why we would have to induce labor before 40 weeks. He also said, and this is where it things get great, that he wants to wait until after Brooks is delivered and do a PET scan to see if there is anymore cancer in her body. If that comes back negative then she WILL NOT have to do anykind of chemo-therapy, however, she may have to do radiation instead. Dr. Hirsch said that we should plan on having a normal birth and normal recovery, which means Alyson will be able to Breast Feed Brooks.

One thought came to my mind, PRAISE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not just because we are getting the answers we are looking for, but simply because that is what he wants from us.

I heard a song that was called "We must Praise". It basically said this: If you're a doctor, you must praise Him. If you're a lawyer, you must praise Him. If you're a teacher,you must praise Him. If you're a student, you must praise Him. If you're a singer,you must praise Him. If you're an athlete, you must praise Him. If you're a cancer patient, you must praise Him. If you're a cancer survivor, you must praise Him. If you're disabled, you must praise Him. If you're an alcoholic, you must praise Him. If you're a parent, you must praise Him. Just Praise Him. No matter your lot in life you must praise Him.
There's a story of a man who went to visit his grandmother, which he did every week. His grandmother was the one who took care of him when his parents were killed in a drug deal gone bad. He really considered her his mother because she was the one that raised him. She was a spiritual women, and she made sure he was too. On this particular day he went to see her. Normally he would walk in and she would be in the kitchen finishing up the meal that they would eat together. This time she was not in the kitchen and when he called for her she did not answer. The house was clean and nothing looked suspicious to him. Maybe she had taken a nap. Just then he began to pray for his grandmother, for no other reason than to just pray for her. He walked into the bedroom and saw that she was still in bed. This was odd because it was the afternoon and she never sleeps this long. Upon inspection he discovered that she had passed in her sleep. After calling an ambulance and all emergency personnel were there, he went outside to be alone. Now most people at this time would begin to cry out of sorrow. Instead he began to praise God out loud, he began singing, praying almost in a frenzy. His friends began to worry about him after doing this for a good twenty minutes. He kept thanking God for her life, for keeping her safe, and for saving her. This man could have done anything when he found out that his beloved grandmother had passed, but he just praised Him. Forget about good or bad circumstances and just praise Him.
I hope that in all situations I will be able to praise Him. Good or bad. I today praise him for his mercy on Alyson and for his mercy on my brother Tim. Tim we are fighting your battle with you. Just praise Him. If my brother lets me I will tell you his story, but until then pray for him to have courage and endurance and wisdom.