Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all you Mom's out there. Being a mom myself makes me soooo thankful for all the hard work and time they put in. My mom and Troy's mom are angels. They have helped us so much with our kids, home and overall sanity. We spent the weekend relaxing, went to the lake to see my brother and are now having dinner with Mid and Dick. My brother came in from Wales for business in Detroit and was able to drive to the lake to meet us for breakfast. He comes home with the whole family in a month...yeah!

Troy is now halfway through chemo. His WBC count is still doing great. Chemo is getting tougher and tougher and he is trying to stay mentally tough. He still has a really bad upper respiratory infection but it is slowly getting better. We met with a new local surgeon who will do Troy's surgery at the end of August to convert his messed up internal ileostomy to a traditional ileostomy. What is wonderful is that this doctor did some training at Cleveland Clinic so he knows in detail what surgery Troy has had done and the surgeon that did it. Troy has decided that the traditional route will be best since he will then be able to eat whatever he wants and participate in life more normally than what he is currently living. It will be nice to have a local doctor care for him and have surgery at Parkview where I can keep tabs on him and the care he is getting. Surgery will happen 4-6 weeks after chemo and then take 6-8 weeks to heal. We are hoping that by Halloween he will be feeling better and by Thanksgiving really good.

Work is getting tougher for Troy. Pray for endurance and encouragement. We are blessed with wonderful family and beautiful children. Those are the most important gifts of all.