Surgery #6

Another surgery down!  A left wrist arthrodesis.  Fun to say, not so fun to do!

Ashley did great through surgery.  She awoke from anesthesia better than ever!  We are accustomed to her thrashing, yelling at us, tell us to go away. 

Not this time!  She was sitting up smiling at us.  For a little while at least.

Then the nerve block wore off.  And it wasn't pretty.

Her left arm was in a tourniquet for 91 minutes - 30 minutes shy of when damage begins, but it still hurt a nerve.  Never pain is worse than bone pain - and that ain't pretty!

It took hours and hours to find a drug cocktail to help.  The magic pill?  Lyrica!  Wow!  One dose.  She went from crying and weeping to eating pancakes and going home in 2 hours!  Just 2 hours!

The Pain Team at Children's is amazing!

Children's is amazing!
   Read more at :  http://www.livinginhishope.blogpost.com/

Today, we had to visit the orthopaedic here in Durango.  Her hand was so swollen!  And red and a rash developed on her upper arm.

Problem?  She's allergic to latex. 

Now we've added benadryl to her medication mix and it's getting better.  Good thing to know, too.

She's resting tonight with her hand elevated - Hand Above Shoulder, Shoulder Above Heart. 

Happy 15th Birthday Christopher!

Celebrating a Life!

David Christopher Beach

Happy 15th Birthday!

Musician

Athlete

Cousin

Big Brother

With his dad in Disney World

His Adopted Little Bro - Jadon

Love that smile!

Happy Birthday!

First born child

Son of Promise

Blessing to our Family

Laughter to Our Heart

Smiles to Our Soul

Witty

Charming

Mighty Man of Valor

Our Son.

Well Done

Ashley came through surgery quite well! In fact this is the best she has every awakened from surgery. They chose not to remove a row of bones from her wrist so they could achieve better fusion. They also inserted a catheter with pain meds in her shoulder and that can stay til Monday! She will spend tonight on hospital and be released to the hotel tomorrow. We will cone home Monday.

Thanks for all the prayers. God is so faithful. His mercy amazing.

Thursday Thoughts

As we prepare for tomorrow's surgery, I wanted to share these pictures. 

Surgery, April 2010 - removing hardware from r. knee

Friends make it better!  The Randols.

My Girl!

Ashley and Marilyn.  Her Grand Friend.

Allergic reaction to Benzoin.  Yuck.

Flowers from Dad - Theatre Performance.

Fall 2010

Daddy Daughter Dance 2011

With Mom. 

Her Biggest Fan - Daddy

Gait & Upper Extremities Lab Clinic

She Does It All ! 

Piano

Theatre

Skiing

Her Adopted Sis - Kayle

My Hero -

Not the Road we had Planned

Not the Path we had Dreamed

Not the Pain we had Expected

Nor the way we thought it should go

But God has always been so Faithful

He has never walked Away

Each day His Grace Amazes

More and More I am amazed and I want you to know - 

You are my Hero

~  Mom 5/26/11 

Go Big! Ashley's Surgery #5

Here we go!

This one is exciting!  Her surgeries have always improved function, but this one will also make take away pain in her shoulder and arm!

On Friday, May 27, Ashley will check into Denver's Children's Hospital at 10:30 in the morning to begin prepping for a 12:30 surgery.  Dr. Scott will remove one row of bones in her left wrist and then fuse the wrist bones into a neutral position.  Her hand will no longer curl in and rotate backwards!  Something that is painful and quite annoying as well.  In the fall, she will have surgery on her left leg again.

And because we do nothing in a small way, Chris will start playing in the Denver Real Tournament the same night!  His team plays one game each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and possibly on Monday as well.

And...what's Monday?  His 15th birthday!

Can we pack anymore into this weekend?

Oh, yes, seeing the Colorado Rapids play Saturday night.

Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Beach are meeting us in Denver!  They've met us for a Memorial Day Tournament the past 2 year - glad they can come this year!  I can go see Chris play at least one game if not more -depending on how Sis feels.

So, if you think your week is busy just start thanking God you are not in my family with me in charge of schedling - we do everything in a big way.

Hey, Go Big or Go Home!

The Ring, Part 3

Yes, I'm wearing my ring!  Every day.  Right hand ring finger. Back where it belongs.

Jesus always taught in parables.  His stories drew upon the simple every day things in people's lives that made an impact because they could relate to them.  

Lost money,
  "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’"  Luke 15:8-10

Lost children ~
    "We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was
      lost,  but now he is found!'"  Luke 15:32



God still teaches us that way today.  If we listen.  If we are paying attention!

When I grasped my ring and tears of relief poured down my face, I was praising God.  I turned and looked at my bed and there sat my purse.  The purse I had carried for two weeks.  In the past 6 months, I've probably carried it a total of 8 weeks. 

On my arm.  In the chair.  Besides me feet.  My purse contained a treasure I had lost.  I carried it with me for months! 

I just didn't know it.

The answer to my prayer was in my hands!  On my arm.  I brushed against it mutiple times a day!

Only when I quit relying on fate, "Oh, it will turn up someday,"  and became desperate enough to take it to Father God, did I found my treasure!   He revealed the answer to me!

What are you searching for but not finding?  Have you talked to God about it?

Or, what have you asked God for but not wanting to accept His answer, you keep ignoring His provision?

Take all your needs to Him - He wants to help. 
    Pray

God will answer you - He desires to communicate with you.
    Listen.

His way is not yours - but it is the best way.
    Obey.

The Ring, Part 2

Here it is!  My Class Ring!

It's scuffed and scratched.  It's been worn for 21 years!

It is capped with the Seal of the University of Tulsa

"Wisdom  ~   Faith  ~  Service"

"For Christ and the State"



Although you might be able to sympathize with me for loosing my ring, you must know what it symbolizes to me.  First:  It's hard work.  It's favor with God.  It's favor with Men.  It's Friends.  It's Fun.  It's music and laughter.

But mostly, the ring it's sacrifice.

My parents were not wealthy people.  When I entered college my mother was working for an international ministry but after 3 years, was injured and unable to work.  My dad had left his career and was a car salesman.  To purchase this ring, he umpired all summer before my birthday.  Evenings.  Weekends.  Holidays.  It was his sacrifice.  They could have used the money to pay bills or buy groceries.  It was her sacrifice.

I will never forget the sacrifices my parents made for my ring.  For my education.  For my music.  For me.

The Ring

In 1987 I graduated high school from Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  At the time it was built, it was known as "Will on the Hill."  Being so far out of town, it's location on a small hill made it very visible.  Now it sits in a residential area and cannot be seen from the major street that encircle it.  It remains a majestic salute to the artistsans of the WPA who built many works of art during the depression.

Not one to stray far from home, I traveled exactly 5 blocks west and attended the University of Tulsa on a music and academic scholarship thanks to  Joe Metzer and Ron Predl who made sure I had the funds to study. 



There I learned to love different styles of music and literature.  I worked one year in the library (pictured above), a haven for me.  I practiced for hours in Tyrell Hall and worked 3 years in the music department.  I made life-long friends and met my husband there.

At the beginning of my senior year, my parents took me out for my birthday dinner and presented me with my University of Tulsa Class Ring.  I have treasured that ring.  I've worn it every day for years.   Until last fall.  After a trip to Oklahoma, I couldn't find it.  I didn't worry.  Things always turn up. 

December.  January.  February.  No Ring.

March.  Hmmm.  Started to worry. 

April.  I told David I couldn't find it.  Was sure it would turn up when I got out the suitcases to pack for soccer tournaments.

May.  Mother's Day - still no ring.

Monday.  Suitcases.  No Ring.

Tuesday.  Panic.

Cosmetic bags.  No ring.

Deep sadness.

This morning - I prayed.  I began going through all my purses.  Got the big box down - emptied every pocket.  Nothing.

Okay.  Deep breath.  I began putting stuff in a different purse to take to the soccer tourament.  Travel requires bigger bags.  (this is lost on men).  I sorted, filed, cleaned, trashed. 

Before I put away the now empty bag I had been carrying for 2 weeks, I patted down all the pockets.  Something I normally do.  I felt a lump in a tiny obscure zipper section.  Earrings, I thought.  For some strange reason, I often remove my earrings and put them in my purse.



I dumped the bag and out fell two silver ball earings.  And one gold class ring!

My ring! 

I grasped it to my heart and start praising God, "Thank you Jesus!  You heard me!  You found my ring!"

....to be continued.



My Girl and Guy - Daddy Daughter Dance 2011

Mother's Day in Durango

Mother's Day 2011

Sunshine & Soccer

David and Kayle

Fort Lewis College Stadium

So, this is life

Honestly, not one of my days goes like I had dreamed.  Life in general has definitely been different.

Thought that at 41, I'd be living in mid-town Tulsa - I love the old homes!  My husband would be an executive in a gas company with offices in one of the beautiful buildings that dominates the downtown Tulsa skyline.  Our four kids would go to public school.  Our sons play football, our daughers dance and cheer.  And everyone play musical instruments.  I would be the PTA mom;  the Football Boosters and Band Boosters Mom.  We would be at every football game and band concert and attend all of our alumni football games too.  We would attend a large church.  Be involved.  Serve as a family.

Yeah.  No.

I married a man who moved me to the country. 

My midtown home never materialized.  Our first two homes were in the quintessential suburbs of Tulsa.  House number 3 took me out of Tulsa County.  House number 4 - well, instructions included, "go over the one-lane bridge to the dirt road.  We are the third dirt driveway on the right.  Just past the gas well and overlooking the cow pasture."  My current home is in the mountains of Colorado!  A far cry from downtown anywhere!  And I'd love to be further up the mountain.  In the tall pines.  To sit on my porch and lisen to the wind whistle through their needles.  Drink my coffee (another thing I picked up in Colorado).  Read.  Sit.  Have friends over.  My love of cabins with peaked roofs and tall windows is a far cry from the mid-town craftsmen homes of which I once dreamed.

My four kids turned into two that we fought for!  We prayed for!  We fasted and begged God for!  Fertility drugs.  Surgeries.  False-positive tests.  And then - colic.  Health problems.  Sleepless....years.  And I wouldn't trade them!  They are energetic, smart, vibrant.  They love each other - secretly.  They love other kids - openly.  They are open to where God leads them.  Beautiful!

My son wouldn't play football to save his life.  But we are the ultimate soccer family!  You will find us at every game, tournmanet, spaghetti dinner and club meeting.  David has coached and I have had to learn a new sport.  Soccer is not as social as football - this game you have to watch!  So I  took up sports photography and then I stay more focused.

And public school!?!  We left that two years ago.  As I write this, my kids are working on lessons on the computer.  Yes, the computer is their teacher.  I am truly the facilitator.  Someone has to be in charge.  I'm it!  The teacher and superintendent of Vista Academy.  David is the principal and school board.  There's no PTA meetings.  Of which I am thankful!  I learned after 5 years in public school how much I hated them!

The music is there - and we did the public school band thing too.  It was fun.  Now, we listen to drums and guitars at home.  Chris plays.  Ashley loves to sing.  She is also the artist.  Always drawing or painting.  Creating.  I love their creativity.

Church is been different too.  We've attended different denominations and churches as small as 40 and as large as 1000+.  We've served.  We've sat on the pew.  We've hid in the crowd and been very visible.  Different seasons of life allow for different levels of participation.

But we've always served as a family.  Served God.  Loved God.  Prayed together. 

So, this is our life.  Not how I dreamed - but so much better!

Are you living a different life than what you dreamed?  Maybe you're mad at God because, well, His plan just didn't live up to what you wanted.  Stop.  Look around you.  Take inventory of your blessings.

Maybe your discontentment is because you are so wrapped up in your own life you are not giving others.  Self-centeredness leads to depression and discontenment.  Get over yourself.  Get out of yourself!

When I write about This Life, I leave out alot.  That's editting.  Bad things.  But in the grand scheme;  in light of eternity, the bad things are so insignificant.  They make us - hopefully - stronger.  Better people.  More compassionate.

This Life is covered by God's Grace and Mercy.  New every morning.  Never failing.

Rejoice!  This Life is blessed by God!

Getting to Know God

March 1, 2011.  An easy date to remember.  Up early.  Drove with a friend and her daughter and my Ashley to Denver.  Lunch in Monument.  Kohl's.  Doctor's appointment.  Cast.  Dinner with friends.  Back to the Hotel.

The hotel.  That's when I started feeling yucky.  Like a bad cold coming on.

Up early the next day for the Baby's appointments.  Yeah for GPS!  Not lost once!  Then back to Children's for the CP clinic - not planned but a good thing.  Listen.  Wait.  Talk.  Listen.  Wait.  Exhausted.  Drove to a bookstore.  Saw friends.  Dinner at Qdoba.  Ice cream at Cold Stone.  Back to the Hotel.  So tired!

Drive home.  Cough.  Sniff.

Next day.  Worse.

Flu, I thought.

Nope.  RSV.  Respiratory syncytial virus. Bad news for me. 

May 1st, started coughing again.  Yucky stuff.

God and I have been doing some serious talking.  I've got things to do!  I've spent too much time down!  My kids need me.  My friends and I have plans.  I have two classes at church to organize.  My husband would like to see me awake in the evenings and not passed out from exhaustion, medications - or both!

A friend just asked me, "What has God been saying?"

"Shhh.  Peace.  Be still.  Know me.  Knowing me is more important than anything!"

I am seeing that without illness, as frightening and inconvenient as it may be, I would never know God as my healer.  Without need, I would never know him as my provider.  Without trials I would never know his great mercy.  I would not lean on him.  I would be sufficient in myself.

And I am far from self-sufficient!

I need Him.  For each breath.  For each movement.  For each day.

I want Him.  Beside me.  Around me.  Surrounding me.  Holding me.

I will trust Him.  He has no plans to harm me.  Only to draw me closer to His side.

What is God saying to you?  Are you listening?