No, not this one. This blog is here to stay...at least for now. I decided to let go of my second blog "Just Me From Here." It wasn't worth having, as most of my updates come on this site.
Exciting news, ain't it?
Even more exciting is that I just used "ain't" in that last sentence!
Am I the only one who finds this funny? Click the link below to read the article!
Much has changed since my last post. What the doctors initially thought to be an infection was actually a tumor. The mass they removed from her brain is an anaplastic meningioma. Anaplastic means it's malignant...and it's on the World Health Organization's Grade III stage of Cancer, with IV being the worst.
Apparently, this type of aggressive meningioma is very rare in children. Not all meningiomas are malignant...in fact, most are benign. Unfortunately, however, in Logan's case, it is malignant. Her oncologist only found 19 reported cases of this in children worldwide since 1971.
Logan and her family have a tough road ahead. In mid-to-late August, she will begin 6 weeks of radiation, going 5 days a week (Mon.-Fri.). Needless to say, she will need all the strength and bravery her little 6-year-old heart can muster.
As I say goodbye for the summer to her two sisters at camp next week, I will probably find myself thinking of them often. Please keep Logan and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
One more thing...just wanted to share this song. Logan's mom said it has helped her in getting through this...so, this is for Logan...
John Mayer's "The Heart of Life"
[Update on 7/12. Original post follows.] Much has happened over the last week. She--Logan--had surgery to remove a small mass on her brain that the doctors believed to be the source of the seizures. Going into the surgery, they thought it was a cavernoma, however, during the removal, they realized it was not. Further tests of the mass indicated it was a dormant encapsulated infection causing the seizures. Currently, Logan is on anti-seizure medication, but will be weaned to smaller doses over the next 3 months. Thankfully, a post-op MRI showed that there is no trace of the mass left on her brain.
Logan's aunt set up a web page that friends and family could visit for updates on her progress and to leave messages of support. It looks like all the prayers and well-wishes that this little girl has received have been working. I've been visiting the site daily and am happy to say that, as of yesterday, Logan was released from the hospital! Hopefully she will come and visit us at camp before the summer is over. One of her sisters went on our trip today and I knew that she wanted to bring some little prizes home for Logan, so I gave her the few prize tickets that I had, to contribute to her collection.
...was a crazy day at work. The Upper Camp kids (grades 5-8) were going on a field trip this morning, and the staff let the buses leave without our Director, Chris. He was not happy. They finally got the buses turned around to come and get him. Fun.
...is my birthday (and my twin's...duh!). Contrary to what you see in this picture, I did not turn 45:
...my sister, Kelli, bought me ice cream from the Jack and Jill truck that comes to our camp at the end of the day. It was Snickers ice cream, and it was delightful.
...I was contacted for an interview for a Middle School English teaching position. That made me very happy, but anxious!
...was a beautiful day. Weather was perfect and the sky was clear.
...I got up at 6:30 a.m. to be at work for a 8:00 a.m. staff meeting.....I'm still yawning.
...a kid told me that he had dried throw-up on his leg. Yeah, that was interesting.
...my cousins came in to my Office at the end of the camp day to give me a birthday present. That made me smile :o)
...I received numerous phone calls and messages wishing me a happy birthday....I've got great friends and family.
...I ate too much at dinner, but found some room for cake :-P
...I'm skipping my exercise class because I feel like it (AND...did you forget? It's my birthday!).
...I laughed hysterically at Preston and Steve on the radio.
...is not over yet, but I look forward to getting some sleep tonight!
Yesterday was my sister Kelli's 19th birthday and we had our family over after dinner. Since the weather was so nice, we wanted to sit outside. My twin sis and I had decorated our outside deck with a Tiki theme for Kelli's birthday (gotta love Party City!!) . Anyway, we were having a very nice time.
Our dog, Murphy, was playing with my cousins but, every once in awhile, would go over to the neighbor's gate to see his dog. However, the neighbor's dog (a male rottweiler) does not like Murphy. At all. It's not a new dog, but is new to the neighbor's house...he's only had him for a few weeks. Since both the neighbor's dog and our dog are males, we think that's why the other dog doesn't like ours. (Murphy tried to like him, but would get barked at every time he tried to make nice.) Murphy assumes this dog is friendly because he grew up with the neighbor's former dog (a female rottweiler) who treated Murphy more like her puppy. They got along very well, but unfortunately she was sick and died earlier this year.
Murphy, who is only a little rat terrier, can fit his head through the bars of the neighbor's gate. He's done this before, but previously just got barked at. For whatever reason, though, last night the neighbor's dog lashed out at Murphy and bit him. He's got 3 or 4 puncture wounds on his snout. We think that the other dog was really worked up from all the activity in our yard and just didn't want Murphy invading his territory. My sisters, cousins, and I were especially upset. None of us realized right away that he had been bitten, until he cowered away and my cousin Gina said she thought she saw the other dog actually bite Murphy. It took a few minutes of looking over him until the blood came to the surface of his snout. I felt so bad because Murphy looked so upset. We put peroxide on the wounds to keep out infection and iced it to reduce swelling, but it's still a little swollen today. Murphy was following my sisters and I around everywhere today (which he usually does when he's frightened or upset about something). Thank God, though, he's had all his shots, and will be going to the vet soon anyway for a nail-clipping and check-up.
Hopefully Murphy will learn to not be so trusting of other animals he doesn't know. I wouldn't want to see anything like this happen again!
Yesterday morning, my sister and I had CPR/First Aid certification for our summer camp job, so we were up early. As we were getting ready, our mom had let our dog out. He, of course, was taking his good old time coming in, but my mom noticed that he seemed to be looking at something in the driveway. So, she went out on the porch to see what he was doing and saw him tiptoeing around and sniffing something. I heard her say, "Murphy, get back!...what is that?" (Murphy has a tendency to eat random things, so we have to watch him.)
I went outside into the driveway to see what it was and it was a bullfrog! I got Murphy in the house and called my sister out to see it. He was pretty big! We could hear Murphy jumping and whining at the screen door (surely he was jealous, because when we came in, he sniffed us like crazy...as if we were out there petting the thing or something!). I grab my camera phone to take a picture and then we tried to figure out if it is still alive.
Kelli skipped a small pebble in its direction (not to hit it...just to see if it would move). The pebble doesn't hit it but kinda skips right by it. Nothing. I also noticed that it wasn't making any sounds or blinking its eyes, and the pouch at its throat wasn't moving at all. So, we figured it was dead and went back in the house. A half-hour later, when Kelli and I went back outside to leave, the frog was gone. We don't know where Mr. Frog came from or where it went, although we do have some creeks in town (but not near my house). Hopefully he made it to the water safely though!
