Just a spoonful of sugar.

There is one thing I want to clear up, I am not a lemon hater.  I actually really like all things lemon-- pie, bars, limoncello......but, we can all agree that it is the sugar involved in those items that makes everything taste so good.  Well my friends, we finally got a little bit of sugar at the end of last week.

On Friday we went to the oral surgeon's office (#2 was gone on a mission trip) to get the initial biopsy results, only to be met by our dear friend HIPAA.  Oh, the joys when your children turn 18 and in the eyes of the healthcare community are adults (that live under your roof, eat all your food and expect you to pay for their college).  But I digress-- after a few frantic phone calls we got a hold of him and he was able to give us permission to talk the surgeon.

I want to stop here and thank EVERYONE who has been praying for us the last few weeks (that seemed like months) for we know that God worked in this situation. Three weeks ago we were facing the somewhat grim prospect of #2 having to have his jaw resectioned--actually having to remove part of his mandible, accompanied by an immediate reconstruction most likely using bone from somewhere else in his body.  All signs pointed to this very scary diagnosis-Ondontgenic Myxoma.  Right?  I have never heard of it either.  The occurrence rate is .07% per million people.  Every oral surgeon who looked at the films, the oral pathologist that read the films--everything coming back was confirming this diagnosis, they were preparing us for the worst.  Everything was up in the air, where we would we have to go for the surgery? How long would the recovery take? How on earth will he be able to start college in the Fall?

And then, God. We are so happy to say that pathology came back instead as a Giant Cell Granuloma--still uncommon, less than 7% of all benign jaw lesions-- but at least there are surgeons in the area who have dealt with them before.   So what does this mean? Because it was caught before it became symptomatic and there was only minor intrusion into his mandible, it can be surgically excised without with having to remove the bone completely. He will have to have surgery to cut it out, he will lose some bone, he will lose a tooth or two (which will be fixed by implants down the road). BUT, his mandible will stay intact.

We are so thankful for this turn of events and thankful for all of you lifting us up in prayer. The timing is still being sorted out, it has to happen within the next few months, so we are deciding whether now or December would be the ideal time. We will keep you posted.

That little bit of sweetness has definitely made the medicine go down a bit easier.

So. Many. Lemons.

So, my last post revolved around child #3 and her new T1D diagnosis. Shortly after that we attended the funeral of a dear friend who died way too young, mourned with his grieving wife and children and were grateful for life even with all of its unexpected twists and turns.

Let me re-emphasize that statement: We are grateful. Rest assured, we are all ok and dealing.  If you know me fairly well, you know I am a fixer, whatever the problem is, we are going to deal with it.  (Not that I don't have occasional moments of "are you kidding me", but they are brief and then it is game on.) Everything we are dealing with has something that can be done for it.  Modern medicine rocks.

Enter Child #2: 18 years old, getting ready to head off to college and all the new challenges that await him. So many things to cross off the list before we send him off:  Attend orientation: check. Register for classes: check. Send in final transcripts: check. Buy things for dorm room: check.  Get wisdom teeth out: no check.

So, we sent #2 to get his teeth cleaned, and have an x-ray taken in prep for his wisdom teeth removal-a bonus, he only has 3, we can save a few bucks!

Cue melodramatic music:
But wait, what is that on his films??  There is something in his left mandible, why don't we get a better picture?  Let's schedule another scan.

OH, things don't look any better on that film, maybe a little worse.  We need to send this out to a specialized radiologist.

Results back in from radiologist, it is one of 4 things-- but we need a biopsy to confirm. (right now everything is pointing to benign, so there's that)

Biopsy done.

And now we wait.

SO. MANY. LEMONS.  Someone, please send me some sugar.

When Life Gives you....

Lemons....make lemonade.  Right.  But what if you can't use sugar?  You just have bitter lemon-flavored water. Sometimes life gives you bitter lemon flavored water and you have to drink it because you have no choice; you're dehydrated, in the desert and you are not going to make it otherwise.

Okay, that may seem a bit dramatic, but honestly, that is what my life has felt like this last month:  A steady stream of bitter, lemon-flavored water.

A few weeks ago we found out that our 14-year-old daughter  (#3) had Type 1 Diabetes. Lemons. Oh, yeah, this is our second kiddo diagnosed with Type 1. The first was our oldest son 4 years ago.  Lemons.

I remember that day with our son ( #1) 4 years ago in vivid detail.  I remembered how I sobbed while trying to tell him everything is going to be okay. I remember mourning for his childhood cut short, he was 16, and gone was the oblivious care-free life of a teenage boy, replaced by a carb-counting, finger-pricking, multiple daily shot giving life.

Four years later, that son is in college, doing well with his T1D, still feeling frustration with inconvenient highs and life interrupting lows.  Type 1 is expensive, aggravating and potentially life-threatening,  but we have got it down (pretty much).

Enter June 11:  The week prior, child #3 had been complaining about thirst.  By Sunday she said, "Mom, can you check my blood sugar, I think I have Diabetes."  Oh, my goodness child, you do not, 14 is such a dramatic age"  (is what I said in my head).  "We will get your brother to bring his glucometer to check sometime today"  (is what came out of my mouth).  But, here's the deal. It was child #2's graduation open house.   We had things to do, we were busy.  Oldest child is working at an overnight camp for the summer nearby so when he showed up for the party, I asked to him to check his sister, but he hadn't brought it with him.  No worries, I told him, no big deal.

The next day off to Child #2's college orientation for two days.  On that Tuesday when we returned, I looked at #3, really looked at her, and said let's go check your number.  We texted #1, headed down the street to the camp where he met us in the parking lot.  She handed over her finger to her brother
and I thought "Ok, now we can be done with this silly notion"  At which point I looked down at his meter which had just read HIGH.  Her brother demanded her other hand, poked her again, second reading: HIGH.

Skip ahead, skip ahead....Thanks pedi ER docs for confirming what we already knew:  Type 1, off to the endocrinologist for all the stuff that makes up her new lifestyle: Insulin pens, needles, lancets, test strips, blood sugar logs...

Oh, one brag on myself, I skipped the sobbing in front of my daughter part this time, I just did my crying in private.  I told #1 about how at least I was a more supportive mom who held it together this time and he told me "Good job Mom"  (you have to celebrate the little wins sometimes)

Update:  We are now 4 weeks out from diagnosis, and she is doing great.  A lot of adjustments and more struggles to face I am sure, but at the moment we are hanging in.