Two Days of Crazy Fun!

This week we were SUPPOSED to go to Utah and go camping for our Beecroft family reunion. At the last minute all plans were cancelled due to the uncertainty of when my surgery would be as well as my brother and his family needing to move out of their house and into their new house this week. Since we couldn't go camping we decided to just have a fun couple of days here in the valley. My dad was home from Mexico and the Richards were in town...only the Utah Beecrofts missed out on the fun.



It all started yesterday at the Science Center. I haven't been to the Science Center since my 7th grade field trip and I forgot how cool it is! As we were waiting to get our tickets to get in, Delly stepped on this air vent and it blew her dress out. I think her face says it all......

She thought the Science Center was the BEST PLACE EVER and we hadn't even left the lobby yet!

The kids learned all sorts of interesting things. This particular display was teaching all about POOP. The kids were fascinated and enthralled. The lady teaching about the poo said that maybe one day they could grow up to be a "scatologist" or "studier of poo". Aim high, children. Aim high.

Obviously, my favorite part of the Science Center was the area dedicated to the human body. I love that stuff. There was a mannequin named "Tan" that would have different body parts light up as she talked about the different functions of the body. I was standing there listening with Drey when the "mammary glands" lit up. Drey said "Oh, I am SOOOO out of here!" I said "What's wrong, Drey?" and he said " Mom! She's showing her MELONS!" (*heavy sigh*) Where did we go wrong? Where did he even hear that?! In the spirit of having a nice day, I decided to just let it go and have the conversation where we discuss not calling certain body parts "melons" on another day.

Wheelchair races.....

I loved watching the faces of the kids when they saw something "cool". Delly especially has a face that just lights up in wonder and excitement. I caught it a few times on camera.....

The bed of nails was a big hit. We all had to try it, multiple times. It really does seem like it should hurt way worse!The Lego section was also a big hit with the kiddos. I think they could have stayed in that section all day! The grown-ups liked it, too.

Halfway into our Science Center experience, Drey broke his flip flop. He had to carry his shoe and walk around with one bare foot. When we got home, the bottom of his foot was completely black. He thought that was cool.When we got back to my parents house after the science center, we had a BBQ. We had steak and chicken taquitos, watermelon, hotdogs...the works. It was dee-lish. My parents thought it would be fun for the kids to have a campout in the backyard so we set up tents and we dug out sleeping bags and bug spray. When I say "we" I mean Gage. I don't know what happened but my picture taking kind of fizzled out as the day wore on. I didn't take any pictures of the BBQ or the campout or the marshmellow toasting over the campfire...(that was a disaster by the way- a bunch of kids with wire hangers, fire and burning hot marshmellow goo.) It seemed like a fun idea but I'm just grateful nobody got an eye poked out or a serious burn. My nerves were shot by the time we got all the kids settled in their tents. I went home and found out this morning that all the kids were back in the house to sleep by midnight thanks to Drey and his stories about Sasquatch. So the campout was a bust.

Today we all went to the pool and hung out. Again, I took my camera and didn't take ONE picture. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm usually good at documenting all the fun. It was a scorcher today and you can see the spots on my kids where I didn't get the sunscreen on well. Bright red spots! We came home from the pool and by the time I got out of the shower both girls had passed out. This is how I found them.....
Delly didn't even make it onto the couch...she was smooshed between the couch and the ottoman. That's what happens when you play hard, stay up late and then play hard again the next day. A big shout out goes to Mombee and Grandpa for hosting this years (makeshift) family reunion. It wasn't camping in Utah but it was still FUN! Next year we're hoping to get the Utah Beecrofts to join in the fun. See what you missed, BK? Your kids could have been passed out like this, too! Looking forward to a quiet evening.

Health Update

Well, I just got back from my hundredth doctors appointment this summer...(actually only my 9th but it feels like more) and I figured I better do an update. I've promised so many people that I will keep them updated on the status of my health and I figure the easiest and fastest way is to just update the ol' blog. For those of you who are not aware of my latest drama...here's a recap:

Back in April, I was dropping off Adelle at my mom's house so I could go to class. As I was just about to leave my mom said "What in the world is that on your neck?" I didn't know what she could mean because as far as I knew my neck had nothing "on" it. She said "Go look in the mirror...you have a lump on your neck." Sure enough, I walked over to the mirror and saw a huge lump on the front of my neck, just to the right side of my trachea. Here's a picture that I took back in April-

Immediately, my brain started in overdrive thinking of all that I had learned in class and what it could be. I figured it was probably either an enlarged lymph node (because I was just getting over a sinus infection) or an enlarged thyroid gland. My mom offered to watch Adelle longer that day so I could go and see my doctor after class. The doctor thought that it was most likely an enlarged lymph node and put me on a strong antibiotic that I had to take for three weeks. A month later the lump was still there so I went back to the doctor. He decided to draw blood to check for two things...my thyroid hormone levels and to see if I might have leukemia. The blood tests all came back normal. Since my thyroid hormones were all normal he was thinking I might have lymphoma (cancer in the lymph nodes). This was scary because my grampa has been fighting lymphoma for years so it may run in the family. Next step... he sent me in to get a CT scan. That revealed that it wasn't my lymph nodes that were the problem but it was in fact my thyroid that was enlarged. I was relieved not to have lymphoma but worried about what it could be. The doctor wanted to get a closer look so he then sent me in to have an ultrasound of the thyroid. That revealed that I had 4 nodules (tumors) on my thyroid. One really big one...the one visible on my neck... and three smaller ones. He said he was " concerned" because they looked "suspicious". Two words you never want to hear your doctor say..I assure you. My doctor then sent me to a specialist in Tempe who said that a biopsy was in order to check for thyroid cancer. I had the biopsy done a week and a half ago...basically I got stabbed in the neck multiple times and it HURT! I had to wait for 10 days to get my results. We finally had the doctors visit this morning. Here's a picture of Joey and I in the doctors office waiting to find out if I have cancer....

Joey was messing around with some of the doctor's paraphernalia and I was so scared the doctor would walk in and see Joey with his headgear on! It was quite humorous! Only Joey could have me laughing as I sit waiting to find out if I have cancer! So the doctor finally came in after making us wait an hour and told me that the biopsy results were "inconclusive". Basically what that means is that I may have cancer...and I may not. They just can't tell by the sample. Bummer! I REALLY was hoping for an answer one way or the other. Here we are at the end of June almost and I still don't know what's wrong with me! Two months of waiting and I still don't know. Frustrating!

So the doctor gave me four choices.....1. Redo the biopsy but with no guarantee that it won't come back inconclusive again. No thanks. 2. Wait 6 months and watch it closely and then redo the biopsy in 6 months. Risky if it is, in fact, cancer. 3. Take out half of the thyroid ( the side with the biggest tumor) and test it for cancer. If it shows cancer, I have to have the other half removed as well... but if it doesn't show cancer then they can leave the left side of my thyroid in and I might not have to take synthetic thyroid hormones the rest of my life. 4. Take the whole thyroid gland out and be done with it. This option will require me to take Synthroid the rest of my life.

After much thought, and prayer and fasting I have opted for option 3. I feel good about it and Joey feels good about it. The doctor seemed to think we were making the right choice as well. My doctor said he's a little biased though because his sister had thyroid cancer and she just sat on it and didn't get it taken care of for a long time and it got more complicated. So he's not a big fan of the "wait and see" approach.

There is a small risk that the small tumors on the left side will continue to grow and one day in the future I will have to have the left side out as well. It's also possible that they will never get bigger than they are right now and I will have a 1/2 of a thyroid that works just fine. That's what I'm hoping for.

So, I find out Monday the date of my surgery. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Now that I've made the decision I just want to get it over with. Before I can have surgery I have to go get a physical from my doctor, go do more bloodwork, go get a chest X-ray, and go have some procedure done where they stick a tube down my throat and take pictures of my vocal cords. There is a small risk that the nerves to my vocal cords could be damaged so they take pictures ahead of time. It's overwhelming to think about how much time and money I still have to spend at doctors offices. Not fun. I definately like being the nurse better than I like being the patient!!

So that's the latest news....when I find out my surgery date I will post it here. Thanks to everyone for the kind emails, texts, phone calls...ect. It is all much appreciated!

Photo a Day Journal

Hey peeps. I'm going to be taking my Photo a Day Journal blog private. Not this family blog...my journal blog. I don't mind in the least that people read it...thats why I put it on my sidebar. I just don't want perfect strangers to read it anymore. So if you enjoy reading it and want to be able to keep reading it...let me know so I can give you access. Leave a comment or email me with your email address. As for this family blog I'm not taking it private but I will be changing the blog address so it doesn't have our names in it anymore. When I do...I will let ya'll know.

Robby Returns!

Yesterday, our nephew Robby returned home from his mission in Africa. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. It's been two years already! He looked so grown up...and skinny! Family and friends all gathered at Kim and Neal's house for dinner and dessert. Delly didn't even know who Robby was as she was only 1 when he left. I said "Delly, can you say Hi to Robby?" and she said "Who's Wobby?" It must be strange to leave for two years and come back and have everything different. The same but different.

Of course, Gage scoped out the cute girls and made their acquaintance. Delly thouroughly enjoyed the dessert counter. Cheesecake, cookies, M&Ms ...she was in heaven and mostly unsupervised. I'm surprised she wasn't sick later. I must confess I was a little sick later because I, too, was unsupervised at the dessert counter. Not good.