Such a busy time of the year...

Well, we have been so busy that I admit I have slacked off with the blog. Not too much new news on me as of right now, with the exception of a diagnosis of lymphodema. I noticed my hand swelling last Thursday and called the doctor about it. The nurse said it was probably lymphodema, which turns out to be right. Since I had 9 lymph nodes removed during surgery, that affects my lymph system. (The lymph nodes do not grow back- once they're gone, they're gone.) The lymph system is responsible for taking fluid throughout your body. The lymph system takes the fluid and either dumps it back into your bloodstream or into your kidneys to later come out in your urine. So, since some of my lymph nodes are gone, the nodes under my arm can't handle that process of taking away the fluid in my arm. That has led to some swelling in my hand- which can be common. Sometimes people with lymphodema can have swelling in their arm as well. I don't have that yet, and we hope that we can get this under control before that happens. I have started physical therapy which the PT will massage the fluid upward and I also have a real tacky compression sleeve on my arm with my hand wrapped. I look like a Halloween experiment gone bad! The wrapping on my hand is temporary and I will get it off on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will get fitted for a compression sleeve (which I might add do come in designer fashions) and will wear this for 3 months for 24 hours a day. The PT said if I was really good about wearing it, then I might can back off and see how my hand/ arm react. I guess this is just another little thing I have to deal with. Once you have lymphodema, you always have it. I guess it could be worse! For some good news...on my last post I mentioned some heart issues. Well, Dr. Go had me get another echo done. One of the chemos I'm on, Adrimyican, can cause heart damage and he wanted to check me for that. But, I had a great report and my heart was fine! Praise God for that, because the Dr. said if I had any damage, they would have to stop that chemo- which I really need. Those results were an answer to prayer! My heart now feels back to normal- I guess it was feeling funky from the chemos! And, I'm still awaiting my genetic test results. They should be in any day now.


Now to the fun things that have kept us so busy! First off, we went last Friday to the mall to see Santa! I wasn't sure how Mallory Kate was going to react this year. She LOVED him! She kept asking him for "candy" and "more candy". What a smart girl...she saw the basket beside him and could care less about toys or a beautiful dollhouse, she just wanted chocolate! (A girl after my own heart!) And Graham had a great time, too! He asked Santa for a Wii and he made sure to tell Santa that his little sister wanted a dollhouse. How sweet was that? He really loves Mallory Kate and always looks out for her...okay, maybe not always, but most of the time!

Secondly, this past Sunday Graham was in the Greer Parade with his cub scouts troop. Greg and Graham rode in the float while we bared the frigid weather with some friends. That was the kids first parade and they both had a great time. Mallory Kate loved waving at everyone in the floats and especially liked getting the candy thrown at her! I must admit, I totally missed Graham in the parade! We saw their float coming, but Graham and his buddy were on the other side and we couldn't even see him! Oh, well...next year we'll have to coordinate our seating better!
And finally, Graham was recognized as the 2nd place Reflections Contest winner. The theme this year was "Wow" and he drew a picture of a bunny coming out of a magician's hat. I guess that is "wow" to a 6 year old. When we were brainstorming things he could draw for this, I kept trying to get him to think of things like the election year, and things of that sort, but he wanted to do it himself! And I'm glad he did...he got a certificate, a free waffle cone from TCBY, and a gift card to the Open Book. We're proud of him!
I have been very busy trying to tie up loose ends for Christmas! Round #4 is Monday...please pray that this round will be much easier than last! I am really dreading it! I hope everyone has a great week and thanks for checking in. XOXOXO