Friday, June 29, 2012

Baby Annie is coming soon...

Thanks so much for all your prayers.  Susie and I and our family truly appreciate them. 

Yesterday we met with your radiation oncologist and our ob.  Here is what we found out:

  • Susie's tumor is stable and is still not growing!  
    • My response - We are so thankful for this
  • The baby is doing great.  Susie is now 36 weeks along.  
    • My response: I never thought this would be possible.  From the beginning of all of this I thought we would be lucky to get to 32.  God just wowed me!
  • They are planning on delivering Susie is 3 weeks - somewhere around July 18-20th. 
    • My response: I'm hoping for the 19th since it's a prime number!  Oh, I'm also hoping Susie can make it 3 more weeks.  She is pretty pregnant and feeling it.  
  • About 2 weeks after the delivery, we will begin her radiation therapy.  
    • My response:  Jesus, please heal her before then.  If not, help us to enjoy bringing Annie home and give us the grace and strength to walk with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.       
There you have it.  So the next 3 weeks we are going to try and enjoy some downtime and just soak up our time before bringing a newborn home.  We are a little nervous about that, since it's been over 4 years since our last new born.  Susie has done an incredible job with Annie's room.  It's amazing.

Thanks for praying for us.  We truly appreciate it.  Many of you continue to ask how you can help.  In the next few days, we'll post some ways that should you want to help, you could.

Blessings,

Ben & Susie

Thursday, June 7, 2012

June 7th update

Thanks so much for your prayers.  Today was non-stop, but we were thankful for many things:


  • Thankful that Susie's MRI yesterday, did not show any growth in her tumor!!!  Praising the Lord for this.  
  • Thankful that baby Annie is growing at a good rate.  Susie is 33 weeks today!  
  • Thankful for a great medical team - oncologists, radiation oncologists, ob's, neurosurgeons, neurologists - and all of their support teams.  Very thankful for the service and wisdom of each one.
  • Thankful for the continued generosity of others.  We were referred to a local attorney to help us with some paperwork.  I met with him on Tuesday and he told me he was going to do all of our work free of charge!    
  • Thankful for some next steps.  
    • When Susie hits 37 weeks, we'll have another MRI.  If that is clear, we will look to deliver Annie around 39 weeks.  If the MRI is not clear, then we'll deliver soon after the MRI.  
    • After delivery, Susie will begin her radiation treatment.  
  • Thankful for each of you who care about us, encourage us and pray for us!  
Going to bed after a long day, very thankful.  

Saturday, June 2, 2012

How to measure 11 years.

So, it’s our anniversary today. 11 years! Last night I was thinking about it as I was painting a Goodwill dresser purple for Annie’s room - thinking how it might be more accurate to measure our marriage in coats of paint than in years. Then, obviously, I got the Rent song in my head (“Seasons of Love”), which is adorable but kind of depressing - you know just like us :) Well, we’re not depressing, but our prognosis kind of is, and the reality is that for as much as we love each other, we might not get 50-60 years together (or we might). But, we’ve had 11 years so far and I started making a list. No matter how long we have together, you can measure our marriage in:

  • choices, decisions, and lots of re-dos. 
  • arguments, “I’m sorries,” and forgiveness granted. 
  • pregnancy tests, disappointments, and shouts of joy. 
  • Diapers, and bottles, and midnight feedings. 
  • Appointments, and forms filled out, and $20 co-pays 
  • Happy Meals and babysitters and frozen pizzas for stolen date nights. 
  • Road trips, and miles, and on-time oil changes. 
  • Passport stamps and visas and airport greetings. 
  • Good news and bad news and friends to share it with. 
  • Text messages and emails and love letters before there were cell phones. 
  • House guests and parties and visits round the country. 
  • Dollars raised and saved and spent and given away. 
  • The number of times we’ve promised ourselves we’d buy each other bikes (and use them).
  • Rolled eyes, sarcastic comments, slammed doors and tip-toes back. 
  • Flowers, and presents, and celebrations. 
  • Crayons bought and lost and caps left off of markers. And artwork for the refrigerator. 
  •  Attempts at crossing a cultural divide, and failures to pronounce the easiest Malayalam correctly.
  • Wedding rings (given, lost, and upgraded). 
  • Rickshaws and faux pas, and help wrapping a sari. 
  • School programs, and pictures, and rounds of applause. 
  • Coaching, and shin guards, and post-game snack times. 
  • Prayers, praises, and finding that when our rope has ended, there’s still a hand to hold. 

 It sure doesn’t seem like eleven years is long enough to fit all of that into our lives. Life may not always be long enough, but dang if it isn’t beautiful. Oh, and in case I sound too morbid, I’m fully intending on another 50 years together.  Here’s to Year 12 and then 2051 when you’re all invited for cake and dancing for our golden anniversary.