About my dad.....

I wrote some time ago about the brain infection my dad had late last winter, triggered by his powerful Remicade arthritis drug, which suppressed the immune system. My dad, still never fully recovered from his lengthy illness, and compounded by worries that as a GM retiree that he would lose his pension/medical benefits with the recent GM bankruptcy and would go broke with medical bills, decided to take his own life.

It is very difficult to think of someone you love completely losing hope and feeling that this is the only option left. It is alarming to feel that perhaps he was not even thinking clearly, as his illness caused erratic behavior.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been made, as his body has not yet been released by the Medical examiner due to the nature of his death. Just home yesterday from Milwaukee for G's appts at Children's hospital, we are headed downstate this afternoon.

My father has died...

I received the news late last night that my father has died. Will post more later.

unsettling news...

Got a call from the dr's office this morning, with my u/s results. I wasn't worried at all - after all, Wood and I saw little woodlet moving and squirming all over the place. Baby is perfectly fine :) However, it seems I have a complete placenta previa. This is when the placenta decides to make it's home smack dab over the cervix. I'm now on some restrictions (no lifting, exercise, etc) and I have a referral for July 2nd for the perinatologist who visits our remote and rather rural location 1x per month.

There is still time for it to "migrate" into a higher position. While the placenta doesn't move, per se, as the uterus stretches, the possibility exisits for it to migrate to a higher position as time goes on. If not, it means a definite C-section several weeks before term. It also carries a higher risk of preterm labor (I already have a history of this), hemmorrage, growth restriction for the baby.

What causes placenta previa? Oh, let's see: Age over 35 - yup. 3 or more previous pregnancies - yup.

So I have a regular OB appt on June 25th, I see the perinatologist on July 2, and we got to Milwaukee on July 13th, for both G's checkup at Children's hospital in the am, and I'm having a Nuchal translucency scan in the pm (they don't do those up here at all - Wood and I just want to be prepared for all contingencies. Some trisomies are associated with heart and other defects, and if we were to find out something like that, we probably wouldn't deliver at the hospital here in the UP.)

Praying that the previa moves up and out of the way, or this could be a complicated pregnancy.

G and A are going to be big sisters.....

A work in progress…….a bit of geography for these hard to look at u/s photos –

Round circle on the right hand side is the yolk sack. Directly under that is the baby’s head, which is about ½ of the body at this point.

If you look closely, you can see the little arms and legs – baby is laying on his/her left side facing forward. Right arm is just below the head,

about halfway down the body to the left. Bumps at the bottom are the legs.

We could see the baby squirming around today, reaching it’s arms towards it’s head. Kinda cool! Heartbeat was 167 beats per minute.

The dynamic due want a boy only.....we'll see!

Morning sickness (actually all day sickness) is starting to subside. However, I'm asleep by 8 or 9pm every night now!

David is home

I received this email last night from the Gockenbachs

"At 8:44pm tonight, David entered eternal life.. He's home, safe and secure in the Father's arms. We miss him already, but are so glad that his suffereing is over. He's been thru more in his 11 yrs than most of us will ever go thru. Yet how full of joy he was and such a blessing to so many. His mission is accomplished, his crown awaits.

Thank you for staying with us on this journey."

Sad news....

I've posted several times about the only other family near us (about 100 miles away) who adopted siblings from Ethiopia shortly after we brought A home. Their son David, was dx'd with leukemia not long after arriving home with his new family. He relapsed while still receiving chemo, and underwent a stem cell transplant late last year. He spent 100 days in the hospital at U of M and it was grueling, to say the least. David, now age 11, has relapsed again. There is very little that can be done medically at this point - he might have a few months. His family is preparing for the unthinkable. David is a wonderful faith filled little boy who has endured more than any child should.

Please keep David and his entire family in your thoughts and prayers.

Here is a link to the family's caringbridge pages http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidgockenbach

tests today

Today I go in for a screening ultrasound (screen for ovarian cancer) and breast MRI, both due to BRCA2 and family history issues (dad died of breast cancer, dx'd at age 45.) I'm actually overdue for the MRI - should have had it in late December, but the dr's office messed that up. I had a mammogram and ultrasound last week, which turned up many what are hopefully cysts - which is unusual for me.

The problem with the MRI is that they usually always find something (or several somethings) that needs to be biopsied. It's a high stress time for a few weeks until I get the biopsy scheduled and all test results back.

The ultrasound to screen for ovarian cancer is just an attempt. There is no good way to screen for this type of cancer. They do this because there it's felt this is better than nothing.

Risk of getting premenopausal (agressive) breast cancer before age 60 = 80%. Risk of OV cancer = 60%. I'll take a better set of genes, thank you.

As for spring --- it's currently 7 degrees outside. Bah, humbug!