Hello all!
Thank you for all of the prayers and phone calls today. It was a long day but we did get some answers. I think we were both shocked when Dr. Olson walked into the room and stated that he did not recommend surgery. We were prepared for surgery this week followed by radiation based on the news we had received last week. He told us that Reyn's tumor is somewhat spread out inside of his brain and he said the risks outweigh the benefits as far as surgery goes at this point. He feels we can control the tumor with a mix of medications/ radiation depending on the type of tumor he has. So, we are scheduled for pre-op and another MRI on November 29th followed by a biopsy on December 6th. They will keep him overnight following the biopsy in order to monitor him but we anticipate he will be released on December 7th. We ask that you pray specifically that the MRI on Thursday shows nothing... A tumor free brain! If that is not the case we pray the biopsy shows the least aggressive, most easily treated tumor in his head. We also pray for no more seizures, no tumor growth and no side effects.
It's amazing to me that someone can lead a normal life with an "orange-sized" brain tumor as long as we get it under control. The doctor said the body is very adaptable. I say it's just another testament to God's amazing creation!
So the great news is that Reyn can go about his daily activities and resume work! He even had me ask the doctor if he could fly to Miami to see the Dawgs in the National Title game....the eternal optimist! So I guess we are praying for 2 miracles this week. We need a tumor removed from Reyn's brain and we need the Dawgs to take care of business against the Tide.
Thank you again for walking through this time with us. We feel the love and prayers more than you know. I am so humbled that Reyn literally has people in South Africa, France, China, Bermuda and places all over the United States praying for him. I joked with him that God is probably going to get so tired of hearing his name that He is just going to cure him outright!
Love you all!
Psalm 27: 13-14
Party of four
Monday, November 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Is this really happening?
Hello all! My attempt at a blog has been long forgotten until now. I feel this may be a good way to let friends know our story and stay posted on the events of our lives. So, here we go.
Brain tumor. Two words I never expected to have a direct impact on my life. Who does really? When I went to bed on Sunday night my biggest concerns were the fact that I needed to order thank you cards and the new curtains I had purchased for Grier's nursery were awful! So I would be on the hunt for new curtains. That quickly changed at 1:30AM when I found my husband seizing in the middle of the bathroom floor. He was non-responsive but breathing (thank you God). All that I could think was 1. Hold his head and 2. Please God, let me remember my basic CPR training if it comes to that. I praise the Lord for His provision because my husband's head did not hit anything hard and he continued to breathe on his own until paramedics arrived. Thankfully Reyn's dad was visiting that evening and my mom currently lives with us. God saw to it that we had help here when we needed it most. My mom dealt with 911 while I held Reyn's head and Steve (Reyn's father) stayed here with Jackson while mom and I went to the hospital. I am so thankful that Jackson did not wake up throughout any of this.
We arrived at Kennestone hospital around 2AM and the testing began. I'll be the first to admit I was not too thrilled to be checking into Kennestone Hospital but we needed to get him to the closest hospital due to risk of another seizure. And let me tell you, the people at Kennestone were AMAZING! I cannot thank them enough for the care they provided to us. They were thorough and extremely professional and even offered hugs to me when I was having moments of meltdown in the hallway.
The doctors were stumped because Reyn had checked in with a fever, seizure, and severe vomiting. So CT scans were ordered and this showed the first "abnormality". At that point Reyn began to break his fever and an MRI was ordered. It was all very surreal but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I did my best to "read" the MRI as it was performed. Of course I had no idea what I was looking at but I did see a dark spot that appeared, to my very untrained eye, to be out of place. I did not allow myself to jump to conclusions but just hoped that what I had seen was something that all of us have....unfortunately I would later find that not to be the case. After the MRI a chest x-ray was ordered and then we waited. Reyn rested for a while and eventually we were moved to 7 North to a real room. The nurses of 7 North immediately fell in love with Reyn. (Abbey and Jenny) They took great care of him! Around 9AM the neurologist stopped by and told us there was probably nothing to worry about but that he would check the MRI and get back to us if anything showed up on the scan. When he walked back into the room 20 minutes later we knew something was up. He sat down and told us that Reyn had a lesion on his brain which appeared to be a tumor. Reyn immediately looked at me and said, "We will be ok. This is just another opportunity for God to be glorified." And I knew he meant it! I sat there stunned and the doctor told us to wait for the neurosurgeon to arrive to discuss further details. And at 5PM that evening the neurosurgeon finally walked into the room.
I hoped against all odds that the neurologist was wrong and that the surgeon would deliver favorable news but he informed us that Reyn indeed had a brain tumor. It is located at the right frontal lobe and temporal lobe of his brain. This is good news because Reyn is right handed so the tumor is in a favorable location...if you can say that. It gets a little tricky because of the crossover between the 2 lobes. The tumor appears to be deep within the "folds" of the brain where these 2 lobes meet. He felt that surgery would be successful for most of the removal but Reyn may need radiation/ chemo for the part located between his 2 lobes. I must say that I am extremely grateful to Dr. Javed at Kennestone because although he could have performed the surgery he recommended we go to Emory due to their technology and capabilities. (I insure doctors for a living so the fact that this man, obviously brilliant, was able to lay aside any ego and recommend another doctor for the best course of treatment was such a blessing.) My prayer all day had been that God would lead us to the right physicians for Reyn's required treatment and now we had been referred to Emory. We continue to receive the same two physicians names and we now have an appointment with Dr. Olson at Emory on Monday at 1:45PM.
Monday night I came home to sleep since I had been up for 36 hours straight. When I walked into the door I broke down (again) and Jackson just looked up at me and started singing "How Great is Our God." Thank you God for these sweet moments in the midst of strife.
I am so happy to say that Reyn was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and we are all at home together for Thanksgiving. We intend to enjoy our time together and stuff our faces! If you would like to pray for us, here are some specific ways to pray.
1. Pray that we show up at Emory on Monday and his tumor is completely gone. My God created the heavens and the earth so He is completely capable of removing a tumor.
2. If God chooses for us to walk through this trial, we pray for the right physicians to provide the care.
3. Pray for complete healing and no side effects from surgery
4. Pray for peace to surround us
5. Pray for the sweet baby growing inside of me. We just want her to be healthy and unaffected by the stress of the situation.
6. Pray that God will be glorified!
I am claiming Ephesians 3:20-21 and hope this verse will serve as encouragement to you as well. We serve a great God and we know He holds our hand in the good times and the bad. Praise be to the Father in Heaven forever and ever. Thank you for your sovereignty!
Brain tumor. Two words I never expected to have a direct impact on my life. Who does really? When I went to bed on Sunday night my biggest concerns were the fact that I needed to order thank you cards and the new curtains I had purchased for Grier's nursery were awful! So I would be on the hunt for new curtains. That quickly changed at 1:30AM when I found my husband seizing in the middle of the bathroom floor. He was non-responsive but breathing (thank you God). All that I could think was 1. Hold his head and 2. Please God, let me remember my basic CPR training if it comes to that. I praise the Lord for His provision because my husband's head did not hit anything hard and he continued to breathe on his own until paramedics arrived. Thankfully Reyn's dad was visiting that evening and my mom currently lives with us. God saw to it that we had help here when we needed it most. My mom dealt with 911 while I held Reyn's head and Steve (Reyn's father) stayed here with Jackson while mom and I went to the hospital. I am so thankful that Jackson did not wake up throughout any of this.
We arrived at Kennestone hospital around 2AM and the testing began. I'll be the first to admit I was not too thrilled to be checking into Kennestone Hospital but we needed to get him to the closest hospital due to risk of another seizure. And let me tell you, the people at Kennestone were AMAZING! I cannot thank them enough for the care they provided to us. They were thorough and extremely professional and even offered hugs to me when I was having moments of meltdown in the hallway.
The doctors were stumped because Reyn had checked in with a fever, seizure, and severe vomiting. So CT scans were ordered and this showed the first "abnormality". At that point Reyn began to break his fever and an MRI was ordered. It was all very surreal but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I did my best to "read" the MRI as it was performed. Of course I had no idea what I was looking at but I did see a dark spot that appeared, to my very untrained eye, to be out of place. I did not allow myself to jump to conclusions but just hoped that what I had seen was something that all of us have....unfortunately I would later find that not to be the case. After the MRI a chest x-ray was ordered and then we waited. Reyn rested for a while and eventually we were moved to 7 North to a real room. The nurses of 7 North immediately fell in love with Reyn. (Abbey and Jenny) They took great care of him! Around 9AM the neurologist stopped by and told us there was probably nothing to worry about but that he would check the MRI and get back to us if anything showed up on the scan. When he walked back into the room 20 minutes later we knew something was up. He sat down and told us that Reyn had a lesion on his brain which appeared to be a tumor. Reyn immediately looked at me and said, "We will be ok. This is just another opportunity for God to be glorified." And I knew he meant it! I sat there stunned and the doctor told us to wait for the neurosurgeon to arrive to discuss further details. And at 5PM that evening the neurosurgeon finally walked into the room.
I hoped against all odds that the neurologist was wrong and that the surgeon would deliver favorable news but he informed us that Reyn indeed had a brain tumor. It is located at the right frontal lobe and temporal lobe of his brain. This is good news because Reyn is right handed so the tumor is in a favorable location...if you can say that. It gets a little tricky because of the crossover between the 2 lobes. The tumor appears to be deep within the "folds" of the brain where these 2 lobes meet. He felt that surgery would be successful for most of the removal but Reyn may need radiation/ chemo for the part located between his 2 lobes. I must say that I am extremely grateful to Dr. Javed at Kennestone because although he could have performed the surgery he recommended we go to Emory due to their technology and capabilities. (I insure doctors for a living so the fact that this man, obviously brilliant, was able to lay aside any ego and recommend another doctor for the best course of treatment was such a blessing.) My prayer all day had been that God would lead us to the right physicians for Reyn's required treatment and now we had been referred to Emory. We continue to receive the same two physicians names and we now have an appointment with Dr. Olson at Emory on Monday at 1:45PM.
Monday night I came home to sleep since I had been up for 36 hours straight. When I walked into the door I broke down (again) and Jackson just looked up at me and started singing "How Great is Our God." Thank you God for these sweet moments in the midst of strife.
I am so happy to say that Reyn was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and we are all at home together for Thanksgiving. We intend to enjoy our time together and stuff our faces! If you would like to pray for us, here are some specific ways to pray.
1. Pray that we show up at Emory on Monday and his tumor is completely gone. My God created the heavens and the earth so He is completely capable of removing a tumor.
2. If God chooses for us to walk through this trial, we pray for the right physicians to provide the care.
3. Pray for complete healing and no side effects from surgery
4. Pray for peace to surround us
5. Pray for the sweet baby growing inside of me. We just want her to be healthy and unaffected by the stress of the situation.
6. Pray that God will be glorified!
I am claiming Ephesians 3:20-21 and hope this verse will serve as encouragement to you as well. We serve a great God and we know He holds our hand in the good times and the bad. Praise be to the Father in Heaven forever and ever. Thank you for your sovereignty!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Mom at work
So... Last week was my first week back to the office. I thought by Tuesday night that it would be the end of me I missed Jackson so much! But as many working moms promised, it does get a little easier. I don't think that it will ever be "easy" to leave my little guy & head off to work but it is the best feeling in the world when I get to pick him up in the afternoon. Thanks for all of the prayers from my wonderful friends!
We celebrated Easter over the weekend with friends and family. It was a gorgeous weekend & we even attended Jackson's first Easter egg hunt. He didn't find too may eggs this year but next year should prove to be a big year for eggs! ;)
Jackson is now laughing at us all the time so it is so much fun! He is such a joy to be around. He is growing by the minute and weighs almost 13.5 lbs. I'll post new pics of him soon!
We celebrated Easter over the weekend with friends and family. It was a gorgeous weekend & we even attended Jackson's first Easter egg hunt. He didn't find too may eggs this year but next year should prove to be a big year for eggs! ;)
Jackson is now laughing at us all the time so it is so much fun! He is such a joy to be around. He is growing by the minute and weighs almost 13.5 lbs. I'll post new pics of him soon!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Time flies
Our little Jackson turned 2 months old yesterday. I cannot believe how quickly things have gone by! I am starting to get sad about going back to work. I know that it will all be fine once we get into a routine but it is going to be very difficult to leave my little man! If you think about it, he has been with me every day for the past year almost! Thank the Lord I have a very flexible job that allows me to work from home part of the time...so this will be a lifesaver!
Jackson has been such a joy to us! He started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks exactly. He goes anywhere from 6 1/2 hours to 9 hours at night!! I think God gave us our easy child first so that we will have others ;) I am interested to see how much he weighs now. He goes to the doctor this Tuesday for his 2 month check up. At one month he weighed 9lbs 1 oz. He went from 8 lbs. at 3 weeks to 9 lbs 1 oz. at 5 weeks so he is coming along. He smiles at us all the time now & it just melts our hearts. He likes to talk a lot too so we spend most of our day doing stupid things in order to make him smile!
Off to do our taxes now. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!
Jackson has been such a joy to us! He started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks exactly. He goes anywhere from 6 1/2 hours to 9 hours at night!! I think God gave us our easy child first so that we will have others ;) I am interested to see how much he weighs now. He goes to the doctor this Tuesday for his 2 month check up. At one month he weighed 9lbs 1 oz. He went from 8 lbs. at 3 weeks to 9 lbs 1 oz. at 5 weeks so he is coming along. He smiles at us all the time now & it just melts our hearts. He likes to talk a lot too so we spend most of our day doing stupid things in order to make him smile!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I'm Baaack
So, I have been away for quite some time, but having a newborn will do that to you, I guess! Our little bundle of joy arrived on January 25th at 11:24am. We showed up to be induced but soon found out the little man was already making his journey into the world! He was very nice to his mother and came into the world 5 minutes after I began pushing! I'm sure I'll pay for that come Round 2! Jackson Reynolds Connelly weighed 7lbs. 13oz and was 20 inches long. And his feet are HUGE! They decided that he was so cute at Northside that he will be used for their photography brochures in the future. (You know, the company that comes around & takes pictures at the hospital-- that's the one) So I guess he had his first modeling gig when he was 2 days old ;)
He has been such a blessing to us! Although sleep deprivation was tough in the beginning, he surprised us at 6 weeks and slept 8 1/2 hours! I woke up 4 times that night to make sure he was breathing of course! But he has been sleeping well ever since.
Reyn is such a great daddy. It's so fun to watch him with Jackson! His favorite thing to do is give him his nighttime feeding & snuggle with him on his chest. It's so sweet! And now that Jackson is smiling we have found out he really loves his dad! He lights up when he walks into the room!
And now a shout out to my nursing momma friends. God bless you! You all deserve a medal. We tried for 5 weeks to get that one down & it never really worked. So, I now have a relationship with my breastpump. We get to second base every day...many times a day! At first I was so upset that breastfeeding was not working but then decided to get over myself & realize he was still getting the same product, just not in the traditional way! Thank the Lord for double electric breastpumps & hands-free bras!
Things are going well. We are getting into a routine and getting out and about more. We love our new role as parents! I'll post pics tomorrow of our little man. Until then, goodnight!
He has been such a blessing to us! Although sleep deprivation was tough in the beginning, he surprised us at 6 weeks and slept 8 1/2 hours! I woke up 4 times that night to make sure he was breathing of course! But he has been sleeping well ever since.
Reyn is such a great daddy. It's so fun to watch him with Jackson! His favorite thing to do is give him his nighttime feeding & snuggle with him on his chest. It's so sweet! And now that Jackson is smiling we have found out he really loves his dad! He lights up when he walks into the room!
And now a shout out to my nursing momma friends. God bless you! You all deserve a medal. We tried for 5 weeks to get that one down & it never really worked. So, I now have a relationship with my breastpump. We get to second base every day...many times a day! At first I was so upset that breastfeeding was not working but then decided to get over myself & realize he was still getting the same product, just not in the traditional way! Thank the Lord for double electric breastpumps & hands-free bras!
Things are going well. We are getting into a routine and getting out and about more. We love our new role as parents! I'll post pics tomorrow of our little man. Until then, goodnight!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
This has been a very interesting week with all of the snow & ice. Tomorrow is Friday & it will be my first day in the office this week. It will also be my last day until after I return from maternity leave....so that means Jackson is getting close. We had our 38 week appointment today & Jackson seems to be making progress! He is head down & the doctor seems to think he will be here before my due date (January 26th) so we are counting down now! More to report soon..hopefully!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
January 9th, 2011
I am creating this blog so that friends & family can follow us along our journey of parenthood. Baby Jackson is due January 26th so I figured that now is the perfect time for a blog!
All has gone well with the pregnancy. I actually love being pregnant but I am definitely ready to meet our little guy. Reyn is ready too. He keeps telling me how he can't wait to hold him for the 1st time. I'm really excited to see Reyn with our son because I know he will be such an amazing father!
All has gone well with the pregnancy. I actually love being pregnant but I am definitely ready to meet our little guy. Reyn is ready too. He keeps telling me how he can't wait to hold him for the 1st time. I'm really excited to see Reyn with our son because I know he will be such an amazing father!
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