mid-week rest + earthlings unite for patty

i have really come to love wednesdays. mid-week rest period with a day off from work. by the time wednesday rolls around, i am ready for it. i am sure just due to general anxiety, amped up now around scan time, i am wiped by tuesday night and so is a perfect recharge point.

today was a good day.

+++ sleeping in, malena and i both slept in late to catch up on sleep. i have always loved sleeping in, i have never loved it more than i do now on wednesdays. i took this one after she finally woke up and she came in to tell me she was up and ready for breakfast and cartoons.

+++ time at the park just having fun and laughing

+++ wednesdays have become a day that i seem to always need to get caught up with food that we need around the house, since we now go through fruits and vegetables like crazy around here. today when i walked in to whole foods i saw their entry had a new display, "earthlings unite" to support a charity. as i was walking out, i thought about that woman at the grocery store on monday who let me go ahead of her in line. i thought about how she would have loved that display since she believes good things come from earthlings uniting to be kind to each other. so as i walked out of the store, a gentleman was selling "real change" which is a local paper focused on homeless and low-income issues, and those whose sell it get to keep the profits to help them survive. they ask for $1 for the paper, i handed the man a $5. when i told him that i didn't need any change, his eyes lit up and he gave me one of the most sincere and heartfelt smiles and thank you i have ever received. a well deserved pay it forward moment. love those.

+++ awesome dinner. warm kale salad. sweet potato fries with chipotle sauce. salad with quinoa, cucumber, mango and avocado. all gluten free and vegan. so, so good.

+++ gluten free, dairy free, sugar free chocolate frozen yogurt to end the day. it doesn't get much better than that.

wednesdays, i heart you. big time.

also remember that you have until 5pm on friday to leave a comment on the blog (go over to the blog if you are reading this over email) to be entered into the kicking ass and taking names card giveaway.

today when malena and i walked into gymnastics class i saw a balloon with captain america on it at the front desk.

of course, my thoughts are never far from chase, and so i took it as a little sign from our fighter that he was keeping up the good fight today. keep sending him tons of good thoughts and prayers. here are the updates on his fight from today:

+++ "Chaser had a good night with Gramma Judy. He had a a mild Neuro-Storm in middle of the night, and woke up at 6am to another one, much stronger this time. The nurses did everything they could medically to try and halt it quickly, and eventually he calmed down. Chase seems to be reseting his baseline in the last couple days. His period of apparent calmness, seems to co-inside with a more elevated heartrate then from the previous 3 weeks, and his tone at rest, is much more tense. His heartrate has also been fluctuating from quite high to very low periodically, with no obvious reason as to why. We have come back to the room for a break between sessions, so I have been giving him a little of dads therapy- - Sun-in with a touch of bacon. We are parked near the window, with the sun hitting his face, and I have a packet of bacon bits we both like to smell. He was doing some lip choppin when i opened the bag and brushed it by his nose, not sure if thats the bacon, or the same reason he does it the other times without the bacon present. I am telling myself its the bacon :) He finally seems to be at a state of peace right now, and in 10 mins we are off to Psych Therapy. That was my minor in college- lets hope Chase does better than i did in class. It is going to be a good day. God is good!"

+++ Well, it turns out Chase is not as big of a fan of Psych as I am. Prior to the therapy session his J-Tube (this is the small tube, inside of the G-Tube used for feeds and meds) came almost completely out. So Chaser and I spent most of the morning going for walks with Gramma and Grampa Lykken to pass the time until we could go down to Radiology to have it re-inserted. Unfortunately, they were unsucessful, so we had to schedule a time that we could get next door to Regions Hospital for another effort, possibly surgery. With Regions unable give us a time they could fit us in, we went for more walks on the sky way- which has become our little Getta-away. It is a long walkway the extends from one side of the road to the other. As we walk across it, we can feel the breeze from the fresh air being pumped through the vents, completely lit by sunshine, we can peer out and watch the busy world that we seem so distant from right now. Love that skyway! .... Mom joined us for PT/ST where we made some adjustments to his wrist braces, and worked with Chase on some relaxing positions. At 3 O'clock, we had our first meeting with the Dr's and the various members of the Therapy team. It was a quick breifing and Q&A meeting- and we really did not discuss anything we haven't previously. When we got back to Chasers room, we found him asleep with Gramma and Grampa Lykken reading to him. At 5 o'clock we went down into one of the X-Ray rooms at Regions to fix the J-Tube situation. Fortunately they were able to insert a new J-Tube in the middle of his G-tube without surgery or many complications. Without any muscle relaxers, anti-storm meds, or feed in him since 6am, Chase got quite anxious on the cold X-Ray table and broke into a very strong and aggitated Neuro-storm. His heart raced higher than we had ever seen it, and his body was equally as stiff. With the J-Tube securly back where it should be, we were able to get Chaser the meds he needed to bring his heart rate down. We have spent the last 2hrs glued to the heart rate monitor, as his heart rate has continued to race, and at times, plummit to a very low level. This is all part of the balancing act we have been dealing with regarding his med cocktail every day. But once again, our little Warrior displayed his fight. Without any meds or feed for almost 12hrs, he maintained a calm state of alertness, with almost perfect vitals most of the day! That itself is pretty amazing! It was only when they started probing in his belly that he got really excited, and i don't blame him! He has just returned from a warm tubby, and finished his vest treatment. With vitals right were we want him, his clean little face pearing from the blanket- I am going to leave him with mom and go home and see the kids. To all a good night"

have a good thursday everyone, hope you get and take the chance to do something kind.

earthlings unite. we need prayers and good thought sent to patty today. she has scans and doc appointment to see if the chemotherapy has stabilized her tumors. please send good thoughts to her this morning as they have their appoinment at 10:30, so direct your good mojo to seattle this morning please. thank you;)

sidenotes:
+++ i am so going to make these almond butter pancakes this week, kind of drooling just thinking about them. i am pretty much in love with almond butter these days. ok, i will admit it - i am totally in love with almond butter these days.
+++ jaime and laura's story is one to be shared.
+++ there were so many things i could identify with in kelle hampton's blog today called "in the world of women", i loved every single word.