Snow Day!!!

Here is how we celebrated me being done with school for the semester (and getting 27 days off)! Mark humored me and played outside with me and Anna. It was wonderful! I also babysat the girls for two whole days while their mom went back to work and Mark came and was so helpful. He actaully likes holding babies now! Yay, we are making progress :)

Anna loves when "her Marts" pulls her around on her sled

Anna will strum while Mark does the fingers and she loves it. I love how she rests her hand on his knee:)

Loooove this :)

Things I never thought would happen in 2010

- That I would get cancer


- That I would live alone for the first time in my life (after being married)


- That Mark would live in the bedroom I grew up in a house with my mom and baby sister


- That I would drive across the state twice each weekend


- That Mark would be working 3 part time jobs


- That I would eat cereal for almost every meal


- That I would actually appreciate UofM for something :)


- That I would enjoy PA school so much


- That Mark would be working at gracespring (the church that my family goes to)


- That I would drive from Texas to Plainwell all by my self


- That I would love BSF so much, and then Mark would also start going and love it just as much!


- That I would have to spend almost a week in isolation and not be able to touch anyone (post radiation)


- That I would go to a rattle snake round up (when we were in Texas)


- That I would miss Texas and our life there SO much

- That I would get into Harry Potter (I only read 3 books, but I did see several of the movies and go to the Harry Potter land in FL)


- That we would spend most of our savings on medical bills

- That I would still get to babysit a Pierce child (Anna and Amy) every Saturday night (I started babysitting their boy Shaun when I was about 14)

- That I would get an iphone

- That Mark would be delivering pizzas at Pizza Hut and actaully enjoy it as much as he does

-- That I would love being married sooo much, I literally love it

Anyway, thats all I can think of now, but hope everyone is doing well!! The next post will have lots of pictures to make up for this ones lack of pictures!!

Love,
Brittany :)

Ten things we are thankful for 2010

You can treat this post as our Christmas update letter :)  Brittany and I both compiled "Top Ten Lists" of the things that we are thankful for this past year.  We thought it would be fun to do them separately and see how the match up.  So the lists are completely unedited by the other person and are our own thoughts :)


Mark-
10.Little Joys- Like the all state insurance mayhem commercials, silly little remote control helicopters, burning leaves, that first cup of coffee in the morning, and chocolate chip waffles!

9. World Cup- I love the world cup, and get really into it.  I think it stinks it only comes every four years.  At least it makes up for the winter Olympics...

8.BSF- For some reason I'm reallllllllly picky about the bible studies that I want to join, but BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) has been everything I look for in a bible study (they actually study the bible in depth and have good theology, but I think you can't get one without the other....).  Such a blessing!  And listening to great lectures by a old guy with an English accent is a bonus!
 
7.Traveling opportunities- Brittany and I have been so blessed to be able to a lot of the world in first year of marriage, and are so incredibly blessed to be able to do travel a little bit.  We went to Mexico, lived in Texas (so got to see a lot of Texas, including beautiful Abilene, Sweetwater, and Dallas.  I got to see more of Texas than Brittany because I was down there longer, so I got to go to San Antonio to see a high school state football championship game, Austin and San Marcos.  Also, I was able to stop in Tulsa and experience the best of Oklahoma with my awesome sister-in-law Wendy.), Chicago, Jacksonville, Hogwarts (in Orlando, Anna Maria Island (at the end of this year), beautiful Detroit (I'm running out of places to list), and the worst place on earth, Ann Arbor (mostly because of all the filthy rodents that live there).

6.A great football season- Go Spartans!  11-1, and they still get a terrible bowl game, at least they are playing on New Years day though!  Hopefully they win this year...  Mark Dantonio is so great and such a great compliment to Tom Izzo (PS- I'm ready for a great basketball season now, Tom :).  A special shout out to my friend, Eric Swanson, who is a manager on the team and a complete stud!  I love my Alma mater!

5.Harry Potter- I know, I should be pretending to be a grown man, but I love Harry Potter!  I have read all seven books this year, watched all seven movies (anxiously waiting for the finale in the spring), and had the incredible opportunity to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Orlando.  So amazing!  The only way I can describe it is, "A world of whimsy and fantasy!"

4.Youth Ministries/Jobs- Some times it is easy for me to become frustrated and upset about jobs, but when I take a step back and reflect on what God has given me in the area of employment, I am truly blessed and can't wait to see where God places me in the future.  This year I bounced around A LOT!  Had a great Director of Youth Ministries position in Texas that I learned lessons there that will shape the way I do ministry forever.  I was hired at Big Beaver UMC in Detroit for two weeks, after which I resigned from because it wasn't going to be a good fit for me and Brittany (both theologically and for our stage of life).  I then took an internship at gracespring Bible Church (and yes gracespring is supposed to be lowercase.  The church also underwent a name change, so it's the same church as RBC) and have learned sooo much there and I'm getting great experience!  Also, because it's part time at gracespring, God has blessed me with another job, delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut!  Which I love!  It's not a career choice, but it's a really great way to earn some more income and share my faith outside of church :)  Anddddd, I just picked up another job working a couple of hours at the Doster Store (a small country convenience store).  I am just so blessed to have three jobs in an economy that is so depressed!

3.Great friends and family- I'm not going to list many people here (for fear of accidentally leaving someone out), but know if you are reading this, you have probably impacted my life in the psst year in a way that I would only do justice by thanking you in person.  It's been a weird year, no doubt.  But the truth is, Brittany and I wouldn't have been able to make it through if it weren't for two things: our relationship with God and our family and friends.  So Thank You!!!

2.Great doctors- I like to joke with Brittany that she is really great at spending our money on fun things for herself, like PA school and cancer treatment!  I know it's kinda a morbid joke, but I wouldn't want to spend our money any other way.  I wanted to make this one my number one (spoiler alert), because it's such an incomprehensible blessing to have Brittany healthy.  Thank you God for the incredible doctors that He used to help make this happen.  I'm tearing up right now as I'm typing this because we have seen God's sovereign hand move in our lives.  I know this will affect us for the rest of our lives, but I'm not concerned about that, because we have the rest of our lives to enjoy God and his blessings.  In a way, I'm glad that God blessed us with cancer, because of the glimpse of his mercy we were able to see due to this trial, the way that it has brought us closer to Him through it, and the platform it gave us to share our struggles candidly and how our relationship with Jesus has meant everything to us.

1.A wonderful wife!- It's soooo awesome being married!  I'm not going to apologize for being corny or whatever, but it's so great being married to my best friend.  Being able to spend our time together(this includes not having to go home at night ;), and sharing my entire life and heart with Brittany is the best thing I could imagine :)

Brittany -

10. My iphone - It came to me through a series of unfortunate events with my sister, and I am obsessed with it. I looooooooove it and am so thankful for it. I don't NEED it and it is just a little extra blessing (with lots of fun games). Oh yes and my Nintendo DS, which I have mentioned before how amazing that little guy is :) I love texting and it really makes my days great!

9. Books on CD - I drive a lot. Like 45 min a day, and 3 hours Friday home, and 3 hours Sunday back to Detroit. I love books on CD. I had this wonderful intention of listening to lectures while I drive, but I can hardly pay attention in class so its just not happening when I am driving. I really enjoy car time now.

8. Babysitting - Anna and Amy. LOVE THEM. I literally can hardly wait for the my time with them on the weekend. I love snuggling with precious Amy and hearing Anna talk (and talk and talk). I will stop myself there....

7. Blogs - I love reading blogs. I have to limit myself, because I'm pretty sure I could do it all day. Some of my favs are the ones about: large families, adoptions, homeschooling, solid Christians, crafty people, and photography. I follow some families and totally am obsessed with them and know lots about them but they live across the US and would prob be totally weirded out if they know I read so much. But I am learning a lot. Actually it didn't hit me until I was reading a blog at lunch the other day and a girl who sits by me in school asked who the pictures of the kids were and I was like ....ummm.... haha and I explained to her about the blog and hopefully she understands. Anyway, I am thankful for blogs.

6. My school friends that I have made this year, have been so great, and helpful, and wonderful. And of course my other friends who have consistently been awesome.

5. Free heat in my apartment. Love cranking that up to 85 :)

4. Texas - Living in Texas for the first half of the year. Awesome. Here are some of my fav things from it - hanging out with Mark each night, making dinners all the time, doing everything with Mark, Rosa's, mountain biking, the Borcherts, violin lessons with Lex, Jason's Deli, being involved with Mark's youth ministry, being cancer free and school free :)

3. Having a family that loves me well. And is by no means perfect, but forgives me and gives me lots of grace and opportunity to grow. I love hanging out with my sisters on the weekends (which mostly consists of sitting at the dining room table studying), but they are both so wonderful and I enjoy them so much. And my mom is so great too, she is so loving and patient with me, and gives the best back rubs in the entire world!

2. Being cancer freeeee - and having a God that heals. Just thinking back to July and getting diagnosed and the shock and whirl wind of events that followed, and how faithful God is.

1. Being married to the most amazing man in the world. I know blah blah blah. But I swear he is, and I am am pretty sure I could not have made it this year with out him. Point and case. Him driving to Detroit to be with my school fundraiser and encourage me for a few hours last night (its 6 hours round trip)!!

Here are some pictures of things we are thankful for!!

Mark and Lex with their Butterbeer from Harry Potter world...its something Harry and his friends drink in Hogsmeed, and they were just in heaven.

Anna and Amy, loooove themmmmm

This weekend consisted of....

amazingness in the form of....

• Mark coming late Thursday night after working at Pizza Hut and waking me up
• Friday taking my LAST test (in clinical med orthopedics) from the summer semester and officially being all caught up in school
• Getting the exact grade I needed in that class for an A (cut it sooo close)
• Friday afternoon naps with my wonderful husband
• Driving to a wedding rehearsal drinking great (speedway) hot chocolate and having great conversations about jobs and church and kids and homeschooling and life with Mark
• A wedding rehearsal and wonderful dinner with amazing spinich and artichoke dip with college friends that we have not seen in a while
• Sleeping in Saturday morning
• Going to the wedding of Jill and Nathan (friends from Brody), and Mark doing the message wonderfully (even though I was so nervous for him)
• Mark pulling two $20 bill from his pocket when he was pulling out his notes from his suit right in the middle of the wedding (he didn't know they were left in his suit...oops)
• Going to Walmart between the wedding and reception to buy a plunger...(classy huh??)
• Sitting with Kaveh and Jenny at the wedding reception and catching up with them
• Apple Crisp
• Having mature conversations about whose family we are spending the holidays with (literally the hardest part of our marriage)
• Scrabble
• CJ Mahaney at University Reformed church in East Lansing
• Spending time with Kristen and Chris Umphlett, who we have not seen in a very long time!
• Cancun for lunch (my absolute favorite restaurant - a Mexican one in EL)
• Lunch with Ashley and Bill, Kristen and Chris
• Discussing the steam tunnels and Mark's prior life with Ashley and Bill :)
• Hummus and pita from Woodys
• Spending 99% of the time in our apartment in our huge bed...we even bring all our meals in here :)
• Mark here to help me with apartment things like cleaning drains and other manly stuff.

Anyway, it was a wonnnnnnderful weekend and I am so refreshed and loved spending so much quality time with my amazing hubs :) Annnnnnnnd we are going to Florida in 2 days! Yayyy.

Love,
Brittany

November update!

Wow, haven't updated in a while!! Here it goes... (sorry about the sideways picutres they are straight until I post them...no clue how to fix that)
Well school is going well. I just got done with a long stretch of tests and writeups and stress. Walking out of my test today I felt almost giddy (besides the fact that the test was surprisingly difficult). I literally cannot believe I have almost made it through this semester. God is so good, just the fact that I could come back and catch up and still do well with being sick and everything else, I am so grateful, and blessed.

 Anyway, last week was my birthday, which is always kind of a weird time because I hate it. Not just the "oh I am getting older blah blah", its all the emotions that come with it. My dad died the night before my birthday (when we were suppose to be celebrating) and it just seems so sad for me (and the rest of my family). My birthday just feels so associated with my dads death. I remember walking into my parents house coming home from MSU for my birthday dinner past the happy birthday sign and balloons and our pastors standing there and then my mom telling me about my dad. Ugh. What a crappy time. Anyway, I hate my birthday. And I am so not a gifts person. They really just don't do it for me, and I hate giving them. Not my love language.



Sweet sleeping Amy (prob 5-6 weeks)



Mark and I on my birthday. See that nice sweatshirt I am wearing? Mark got it for me for my birthday! I love it :)

These are literally my favorite people in the world.

My friend Ashley came for dinner at Logans that day, which I am soooooooo thankful for. I seriously love her to pieces and she has always been such a wonderful friend. Then Friday we went to Red Lobster for my birthday, I have only been there once before and it was kind of a random birthday pick. But I figured Mark and I could not afford endless shrimp and I was kinda craving them. So my mom and sisters and Mark and I went, and really enjoyed it!

I am babysitting Anna and Amy every Saturday now and I absolutely love it. I will get up super early to get my studying done so that I can do this. It really makes me happy (and gets me a little extra money), Mark has been working Saturday nights so it is perfect. Amy is 6 weeks and literally so precious, and we all know how much I love Anna...My mom and I took them to Alexa's choir concert dedication for the new auditorium this Saturday (not realllllllllll sure what we were thinking), it was a little ambitious, but they were pretty good! It was fun hanging out with my mom and having her help me with them. And the choir concert was amazing.

Mark is still living at my moms house and working at the church and delivering pizzas at Pizza Hut. He's such a good sport. He is really enjoying working with the church and just gave the message a couple weeks ago and did a great job. I love seeing how much he loves working with kids and at the church. It is totally what God designed him for. He helps out around my moms house with the lawn and all the manly jobs like the leaves and gutters and is really just a stud. He is enjoying delivering pizzas. He has always loved maps and finding places so it really is just a treasure hunt for him. And he gets cash tips, which help! I drive home every Friday after school and drive back to Detroit Sunday nights. Which is getting pretty old. The drive back to Detroit is the worst. A few more times and then several weeks of break! Yayyyy.

This Thursday after Mark gets done delivering pizzas he is coming to Detroit and then after school on Friday we are hanging out and then going to a wedding rehearsal (that Mark is speaking at), Saturday a wedding, and Sunday going to East Lansing to University reformed church to hear CJ Mahaney speak and out to lunch at Cancun with Ashley and Bill. I literally cannot wait. Then Tuesday night we are going to Florida. So many fun things to look forward toooo!! Yay!

Love love this picture of Anna and Mark. Wont he be such a great dad?

We pulled over on the side of the road to get this picture with a self timer. What a nice MI fall day.

Annie and Mark. She always says "he funny" and gets all buddy buddy with him and posessive of him.


Oh yeah...health update...I am CANCER FREEEEEEEEEEEEE. There is one lymph node that is still suspicious and big, but they (UofM) aren't concerned about it. I have to get my levels checked in a couple more weeks. And my iron was low which might have been causing the leg pain, so I am taking iron now for that and my legs are feeling much better!

Update, Finnnaaaaallllllyyyyy

Ugh, I hate the fact that I have gone soooooooo long without updating the blog.  Just knowing the fact that you are reading this and more faithful to the blog than I have is a little wake up call for me.  So consider this my official apology for my unfaithfulness to the blog.

So here is probably the only real update you are waiting for.  Brittany is looking really good so far!  We had her in quarantine for about a week due do her radiation treatment.  This was absolute murder for everyone!  I'm sure it was the worst for Brittany, but she managed really well!  After we got through that, we had another check-up appointment, nothing really ground breaking.  Since then Brittany has been slowly regaining her strength and is now feeling pretty good!  She is experiencing some leg pain right now, and I'm not sure that I can explain what that is due to, but we are told it's normal for someone who had their thyroid removed.  Right now our biggest challenge is getting Brittany caught up in school.  She is almost completely caught up and has seriously been such a trooper through this whole trial!  I cannot not believe the amount of fortitude that she has shown, not to mention her faith, strength, courage, perseverance, and a huge litany of other attributes!  She is truly amazing!

We go in for another check-up in couple of weeks to see if the radiation did it's job.  We are cautiously optimistic about this and can't wait to here more from the doctors!

Terminating cancer

Right now I'm sitting in the depths of wolverine territory at the U of M Hospital. Typing this post via the iPhone that my friend have me to use as an iPod touch, due to the fact it no longer works as a phone (he got a new one). This is day two of being at this hospital, so I think that I ought to begin by filling you in about monday.

Monday at the hospital

Brittany getting shot by a laser cannon.
Actually, she is getting her radiation level measured.

Pretty easy day today, did some blood work on Brittany to check out some stuff. Mainly to see if she is preggers, which she isn't, thank goodness, and to check her TSH level. That stands for thyroid stimulating hormone. Basically what this is, is the stuff that regulates the thyroid. The thing is, Brittany doesn't have a thyroid, so her TSH is really high, which is what causes the side effects of being tired, some short term memory loss, irritability, some soreness, ect. A normal persons TSH count is right about 0.3-3, Brittany's is at 67! This is good for treatment though, because thyroid cells are the only cells in the body that uptake iodine. The higher the TSH, the hungrier her thyroid cells are for iodine. The treatment for thyroid cancer is to attach a radioactive isotope to iodine, so that the thyroid cells eat up the iodine and are killed by the radiation. If you are anything like me, you probably were thinking, "but she doesn't have a throid.". Well, when cancer spreads, it always stays the same cells as where it started. So if cancer starts on the thyroid and spreads anywhere, it will always be thyroid cells where ever the cancer is. And we are trying to get rid of every last thyroid cell!

Brittany also had a chest x-ray and a test to measure the raiation levels already present in her body(radiation is everywhere, it's just normally so minut, that it isn't harmful) to establish her baseline for future tests. That is what is going on in this picture. After this, she was given a small dose of radiation (sorry no pic), so that her thyroid cells will light up on all the scans they do on Tuesday. She just drinks it through a needle, and they keep it in this big lead case.

Tuesday

Back at the hospital today. Got here at 9:30 and got right to the scans. I will post a pic below.  She had a full body scan, a chest scan, and a throat scan.  As well as a CT scan. We met with the thryroid cancer specailist doctor and she was really happy with the scans and decided that instead of tomorrow, we could do the radiation today!  What a huge blessing and will save us a trip back to Ann Arbor.  Perhaps more important than saving a car ride is that their isn't much cancer left in Brittany's body after the surgery. The only cancer left is in the neck, Praise God.  So they gave her the radiation, (I wasn't allowed to watch), and now we let that kill all the cancer cells :)

We now have Brittany in isolation in her room.  She isn't allowed to have any direct contact with any living creature for the next 3-5 days.  There are a buch of crazy rules too.  They aren't hospital rules, they are given by the federal government.  Here are some:

We have to keep all her eating utensils seperate, recommended using disposable utensils.

We have to keep her laundry seperate.

She has to flush like three times after she goes to the bathroom.

No one can use the toilet that she uses.

We have to keep her trash seperate.

Just a sign outside a room at the hospital

Brittany getting a full body scan.  Look carefully, she is in there

Brittany getting ready to get her radiation treatment with our awesome radiation technition!

We have another appointment on Friday, more of a check up type thing.  And she will get another full body scan. Shouldn't be a big deal, we will keep you posted :)

Update!!!

This past week, I had the distinct pleasure of teaching Alexa how to change a tire.  For some reason, that I cannot figure out, she decided to drive over a screw, which punctured her tire.  Alexa was a great student and dominated the spare tire.  I have full confidence in my student that if she were to decide to run over another screw, that she could handle herself and change her tire :)

Anna was prrrobably the biggest help...

Here is Alexa with her new friend Jack

One of the most traumatic events recently was Alexa cleaning her room.  This was a multiple day extravaganza that included rakes, shovels, a small crew of day laborers, and a dump truck.  One of the things that was unearthed was her collection of nail polishes.  I'm  not sure if we actually counted them, but there was well over a hundred bottles of polish.  She mentioned that her life's passion was nail art and wanted to open a nail salon.  We'll see what happens.

Here she is, in all her glory

This is Jenna just being a snuggie

Room for two more??  Brittany and Lex decided to pop by!!!  And D.O.G. wanted to participate

I literally have no idea what is going on here and don't know why it's on our blog. 

This is actually a long story, but I will try and summarize it for you.  A couple of weeks ago, Jenna and Alexa lost Pearl's keys (Pearl is our Honda Fit's name).  The keys literally disappeared.  So, after scouring every square inch of the planet, Jenna and Alexa settled on this rough payment plan.  A couple of clarifiers:  The hotel was because I needed to be back in Detroit for work on Sunday and needed a place to stay.  I ended up leaving earlier so that I could get let into to apartment by the management.  The Vera Bradley is a little pouch connected to the keys.  The Keys still haven't found their way home yet, so Jenna and Alexa have started to replace things.  This is actually a pretty accurate estimate, minus the hotel, if you lose your keys.  The cost for the car key and apartment keys is flipped. 

Moral of the Story: Don't lose your keys, it's an expensive hassle.  Just ask Jenna and Alexa

Us at Sandy Pines!!
Our crew: Mark, Brittany, Ben, Anna, and Alexa

Just playing on the swings.  Note to our readers, swings are less fun now, then when we were kids.  More nauseating too...

Hot day + small child + ice cream = this

We went to Brittany's high school friend's wedding this past weekend.  Here is Brittany, Michelle(the bride), and our friend Alyson.  Alyson is home for a couple weeks from California, so that is pretty cool.  Michelle's wedding was beautiful, like something out of a magazine.  My only complaint: it was about 95 degrees with 95% humidity and no breezzzzzeeee.  For those of you who know me, I start to sweat when I peel an orange, so needless to say, I was a sweaty messsssssss.  It was rough. 

This is senor Hansen.  He came over and made us this delicious authentic Spanish meal.  We had goat cheese, churizzo, payaya(sp?), and some other stuff.  It was so good.  Senor Hansen teaches spanish at Plainwell high school. He is also the most interesting man alive.  World traveler, plays frisbee, home brews, and is just plain cool!!

Alexa and Ben just acting casual

This is me describing how much I love Bell's Oberon(in moderation, of course).  Brittany decided to perch on me :)

So that is our life in a picture summary!

- Mark

Lies and Truth

Hiiiii its Brittany, I thought I would share some things that God is teaching me lately with this whole cancer situation. My thoughts are first, then the truth that God reminds me of. I was trying to think how to best update our life right now, and where we are at, and this is what I came up with (I have been studying all morning so hopefully it makes sense).

• This is not fair, we should not have to deal with this -  Nope this is not very fair, but life is not very fair.  I sometimes believe the lie that because we are seeking God and trying to live lives that glorify God, that we will have an "easy" life, well that is certainly not the case. In 1 Peter 4:12-13  it says "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed". When I read that I am humbly reminded that Jesus promised suffering, and that this is an opportunity for us to grow closer to God. And I read this quote this week and it totally fits..."Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian."

• We have been trying to be such good stewards with our money, and have been saving for PA school and a house someday, and it sucks that now we are using it all on medical bills - This truthfully is one of the hardest parts of this whole thing for me. Anyone who knows Mark and I well, know that we are obsessively frugal. We have saved well and been faithfully tithing, and God has blessed us. Thanks to Dave Ramsey, and awesome parents, we have been taught how to budget and save, and make a dollar stretch. I actually take a lot of pride in this I am discovering. And God is taking (okay hemorrhaging) it all back, and revealing and getting that sin out of my heart. It was never our money anyway, every dollar that we have saved is, and has always been His. We will just live every day faithfully serving Him, and he will provide what we need, when we need it.

• Its so frustrating that all my classmates at PA school are finishing up the semester, and get a break, and I have to keep studying until fall semester- Then I am reminded that my school has been so great working with me, and extending me extra time to make things up I have missed. I am also so thankful for my classmates and how amazing they have been. They have been so helpful and encouraging. I cant even really believe I didn't know these people three months ago. They have recorded lectures, sent me flowers, sent encouraging emails and texts, and collected lecture notes for me. I am truly blessed.

• I am gaining weight like crazy and feel so gross - This is only for a season (hopefully!), and Mark is so encouraging and tells me I am hot.

• I have craaaazy mood swings  - This one too is only for a season (hopefully!), and I have a family that gives me grace and is understanding and forgiving. This has actually been crazy, I literally feel like bursting out crying over everything, and get so mad over the dumbest things (like got furious with Mark for beating me in Mario, or with my mom for accidentally making a noise while I was on the phone), I feel like my capacity for stress is at 1%, which is not very helpful for this situation. Only a season.

• Making decisions about our future and treatments is too big of decisions for us right now - This is a bit overwhelming at times. We have given us great options for treatment, and we should be thankful. God has not deserted us in these decisions. We have great family who love us dearly, and friends to talk with about these things, and people praying for us, we just have to press on.

• My insurance sucks - Yup, it sure does. But, Praise God that we have the little bit that we do. (Side note to anyone our age who thinks they can go a little time without insurance (like we both thought we could)- this is a perfect example of why that idea is a bad one - things can change sooo quickly).

• It is such a bummer that Mark does not have a full time job - But then I actually think of him being gone all day during this, and not being so available after surgery, and I literally cannot imagine it. I am so thankful that he has not been working full time and has been able to help me, and be there for me all the time. Mark is still looking very hard, and we have seen over and over that God will provide.

• This is really scary - This is scary, yep. I am scared of what God is doing with our life, and feel so fearful sometimes. I am scared I wont do well when I go back to school, that they will find something more with testing, that we wont go back to our "normal" life. Then I am reminded what God says in Isaiah 41:10 - "Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand". Perfect.

Anyway, that turned into a much longer post than I thought originally. But if you are still reading, thanks and we are so appreciative of everyones prayers and encouragement. The tentative plan is that I am going to start intense testing and get treatment at University of Michigan starting Monday Aug 23rd, and that will last all week. We are still having a consultation with the people in Battle Creek, but with UofM being the best in the US in thyroid cancer, and it being closer to Detroit, its what we are doing now. Mark promised to update today or tomorrow, about the more fun aspects of life :).

This is an oldie but a goodie (this is us in Holland taken on a self timer sitting on a log)

Love,
Brittany

First Thyroid-less week...

Hi! Its Brittany here (aka this wont be funny like Mark's updates) :), and I thought I would fill you in on our lives this past week. What a week! Like Mark said, the surgery went really well. They ended up taking out 8 lymph nodes all from the right side of my neck, the whole thyroid, and one parathyroid. The incision is healing up well, and I just have to wait for the steri-strips to turn black and fall off (eww). Don't worry I will try and cover it up then to not gross people out. It has actually been a little bit more painful in the past couple of days than it was at first. They say this is a combo of the numbing meds wearing off, and doing more. I still don't have full range of motion, and it even hurts to just hold my head up straight (feels like its pulling the incision), but I am sure it will heal up nicely!

I am feeling the effects of not having any thyroid function (aka severe hypothyroidism). I cannot start taking any thyroid replacement until after radiation - so like another 5 weeks. Some of these fun effects are fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and muscle cramps.

We met with my regular doctor this week about my stomach and to follow up with my calcium (which is now back to normal - Praise God). She gave me some meds to try with my stomach and they seem to be helping, so that is exciting. The stomach thing was really just frustrating and seemed like just a kick while we were down. Hopefully this medication keeps helping, and we don't have to worry about that as much. We also had a follow up appointment with the surgeon (Dr. Stewart), and he was great. He just has so much good info, is really good at explaining things, and doesn't make you feel rushed or annoying at all. We are meeting with the radiation/oncologist next week, and having a consultation with them, so hopefully they will be as impressive as Dr. Stewart.

This week has not all been medical appointments, we have had some fun. We went and saw a movie, we walked out and didn't really like the movie, but we both said how we didn't think about anything else during the 2 hours, so it was a perfect distraction from "real life". We had lunch with Michael and Mandy Fernihough (the couple who did our premarital counseling, and Michael married us and is the youth pastor at RBC). They have been such an encouragement and blessing to us in our marriage. They are always there for us, and are such a great example of a solid family that loves Jesus. They are moving to Colorado this week to work at a church plant and while it is so sad, it is awesome to see them be so faithful.

Our friends Ashley and her boyfriend Bill came from Lansing last night and it was SO great to see friends!! We just chatted, had dinner, played a little pictionary, it was fun. Mark went back over to Detroit today because he is going to start his part time job tomorrow! Yayy! He had to go today, because my sisters lost my keys, and he needed to have them let him into the apartment (where there is another set of apartment keys). I cant wait to hear how things go at the church tomorrow. We are so thankful to have this job, and I know Mark is ready to be working again!!

Me and Annie!

The incision - its healing!

We love scrabble!

Mark has been doing lots of work for my mom (he power washed and re stained the whole deck too!!), but this is him replacing the garbage disposal. Please notice he is wearing the hospital socks :)

Anna cheesing it up

We know that God is good, and have never doubted that God allowed this cancer to be in my body at this exact time, and that it is all apart of his perfect plan, and will bring the most glory to him. Thanks so much for praying for us, for all the people who have brought meals to our family, and just been awesome to us.

Love,
Brittany

Out of the hospital and recoverying at home!!!

Sorry for the delay in relaying the news, life has been mildly crazy!  Here are the basic details: the doctor dominated the surgery and completed it ahead of time.  He took out Brittany's entire thyroid and a couple of lymph nodes.  Originally we thought that there was only one cancerous mass on her thyroid, but after the doctor got in there, he found another.  So we are really excited that the thyroid is out.  Brittany is recovering now, so hopefully she will continue to heal and get better.  (right now she is watching gilmore girls, half asleep...)

We had to be at the hospital by 5:30am do get Brittany all prepped for surgery.  So here is a pic of us waiting for doctors.  We had a lot of time, so we passed most of it by playing our gameboys.

This is us after the surgery, just hanging out.  Brittany has been such a trooper.  We were in the hospital for a day and a half, so we had lots of down time for reading, videogames, and chit chat.  Everything went really smooth, except Jenna and Alexa always trying to steal my comfy chair :)  Our nurses were awesome too! 

Alexa read us some Harry Potter too. 

Done with the hospital!!

And here is the cancer cake that I made for Brittany.  It turned out alright.  I was trying to do some sunflowers, because those are her fav, but we settled for yellow blobs, hahaha!  At least it was tasty!!!

Thank you for all of your prayers and love that you sent our way.  We surely could feel them and appreciate them all!  Last night after we got home Brittany's tummy was really hurting, and she could not keep anything down. So we are only doing tylonal, and no more heavy duty pain meds. Also, throwing up really hurts Brittany's throat, so pray for that, and her tummy. We are still recovering, so your continued prayers would surely be appreciated!  Love you all :)

Answered Prayer

(This is Brittany) God IS good and knows just what we need. Today I met with the director of my PA program at Wayne, and it literally could not have gone better. I was really nervous (sometimes I forget that my professors are human - they do a really good job of being professional and no-nonsense, which is very intimidating), but she was awesome. She was so reassuring that they would work with me, and that my health was top priority. She was just so kind, and talked about if for some reason I was unable to come back this year, that I would have a spot in next years class (without having to reapply). It was SO reassuring, and I just felt a huge peace and weight lifted after our meeting. I am going to try my hardest to keep up in school, and it would be such a bummer to have to wait another year, but I am going to get healthy, and beat this darn cancer! That was one thing we needed prayer for, so it was awesome to see how that prayer was answered so quickly and perfectly.

Here are some pictures from today:

Amazing flowers that some girls in my class got me! They are awesome, and beautiful, and smell wonderful. Recognize the colors? They are our exact wedding colors!

Here are some flower stickers we got from Meijer that we have stuck on our wall. I understand that putting huge stickers on your wall is kind of tacky, but I think they are really pretty, and it was a super cheap way to brighten things up. There is one more on the other wall too.  Borcherts - thats your table and chair :) thanks again!

Here is Mark baking a cake. Yayyy. He keeps coming over and "making" me taste things, and its tasting pretty fabulous! We decided that cake baking was not a good hobby after we lived in Texas and started baking cakes all the time, and then being "forced" to eat them all by our selves, and it was making us fat. So we made an executive decision to only bake cakes for special occasions. Guess cancer counts!

So, just thought I would thank everyone for your prayers. We are heading back to the West side of the state tomorrow after class, and going to have dinner with Mark's parents in Holland. Then I have to be at the hospital at 5:30am on Friday! Eeeek!

Weekend update!

So here is an update on cancer watch 2010.  We went to Plainwell this weekend to meet with our surgeon and for a CT scan of Brittany's abdomen and pelvis.  The CT scan had a little bit of excitement when she had some contrast injected in her arm through an IV.  First off, the technician couldn't find her vein, so she dug around in in both arms for a while.  After she finally stumbled on a vein, the vein burst, spilling chemicals into her arm, causing it to swell up to the size of a football and almost burst!!(according to Brittany...)  But for real it was scary. After bopping around Kzoo for a while after the CT scan (Olga's for lunch, hangout at the library, drove and walked all over the place), we went to meet our surgeon.  Dr. Stewart is our surgeon and we are very impressed with him.  He was a great teacher, and taught us what was going on and how he was going to fix every thing. 

The cancer that she has is called papillary carcinoma on her thyroid.  I'm not going to try to explain the procedure, because I don't want mislead anyone out there that is looking for step by step instructions for performing their own thyroidectomy.  Here is the jist, they are going to cut out Brittany's entire thyroid.  The incision is going to be horizontal in one of her neck creases, so that after it heals, it should be pretty invisible.  After the surgery, Brittany won't take any thyroid pills, in order to allow any pieces of thyroid left in her body to grow.  That way, in six weeks, when she is given her radiation treatment, it can kill the rest of the thyroid better. 

Brittany's Surgery is on Friday, July 23rd at 7am.  They will keep her over night too. 

Our Prayer list:  Wise Doctors with steady hands.  Money to start raining from the sky.  But seriously, for insurance and things like that to go smoothly. Because just an ultrasound of the thyroid (not the biopsy or anything), which took 10 whole minutes cost $629 (we just got the bill). Yikes. When Brittany graduates school, it will be nice to be on the other side of that :). Ok back to prayers:  a speedy recovery, and for school to work with us so that Brittany can continue being a student.

We did have the chance to have some fun this weekend too, amidst our trial.  I got the chance to powerwash a deck, and Brittany studied lots...  Hahaha!  But seriously, the highlight of the weekend was picking up our sister Alexa from the airport.  She just got back from two weeks on a mission trip to Romania.  We picked her up from Grand Rapids at midnight, and of course her luggage got lost.  Finally got her home and we left for Detroit at two am.  It was a monsoon, and was probably dumb to leave like this, but we wanted to get Brittany back to school so that she could make as many classes as possible before we have to start missing them.  We finally got home at about 5am, just in time for Brittany to leaver for school at 7am. 

Other Highlights of the weekend:

Pictionary with Jenna and Martelle(we are still undefeated, and looking for more challengers)

Playing New Super Mario Bros. on DS all weekend with Jenna

I made a couple bucks conducting surveys for Richland Bible Church

I got stung by a bee

Brittany Baby sat Anna

Funniest Story of the Weekend:

We took Anna to go swimming while Brittany was babysitting her.  After swimming, we packed up the car, and left.  We pulled out onto the road, got the car up to about 50 mph, and heard this loud banging on the roof.  I look in my mirrors in time to see Brittany's phone bouncing down the road behind us.  (in a retelling of this story, Brittany exclaimed, "And the wind just blew my phone of the car."  Like it was the wind's fault and she was the victim....hahaha)  We pull over, and I hop out of the car and search, and find the phone!  All the pieces!  The main component, the back panel and the battery.  I reassembled them and POOF!  The phone worked!  Perfectly!  The screen didn't even scratch!  Brittany's plan to get an iphone = fail.

Love,

Mark and Brittany :)

 

Our news

Hello family and friends,

For those of you who have not heard our news, we just received news that Brittany was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  This came as quite a surprise to us and turned our world upside down again.  What we have learned so far is that thyroid cancer is actually pretty rare. Treatment success is good if caught early (90% survival past 5 years I think). We do not know yet if it has spread beyond the thyroid. First step will be to remove the thyroid (no date yet) and then I suppose depending on what they find will decided on a course of treatment. Right now Brittany is still planning on sticking with PA school at Wayne but will get treatments in Kzoo.  We have a consult appointment scheduled for 4pm on Monday the 19th.

In the midst of this whirl wind, we made a conscience decision to trust God through this trial in our lives.  It seems that the first question that always comes to mind when bad news is delivered is, "Why is this happening to us?"  Although we can't be positive about exactly why this is happening, we can be positive that God is sovereign over everything, including this cancer. We aren't sure what is going to happen, we aren't sure how deeply this will effect the rest of our lives, and we aren't sure about the timeline concerning the cancer and treatment, but we are sure about placing our lives completely in the hands of God.  When I think about it, it's a balance of Brittany and my favorite Bible verses.  Brittany's favorite verse is Psalm 55:22, "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you.  He will never let the righteous fall."  And my favorite is 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or what ever you do, do all to the glory of God."  We trust God and want to glorify Him through this situation. 

Here are some of our prayer requests:
          1.  That the Cancer is just in the thyroid
          2.  For doctors to be wise and skillful in all their decisions and procedures
          3.  For our insurance not to be a hassle
          4.  That we are able to glorify God through this trial



On some lighter notes, here is Brittany with some flowers her husband got her. 

Just in case you were wondering, this is what I look like when I run off to an interview.  Most recently, I interviewed with Big Beaver UMC for a part-time Youth Director position.  The church is about 7 miles from our place, which is pretty close.  And guess what???  I was just offered the position!  We are working out the details of a start date right now, so I will keep you posted on the the happenings!

Here is what Brittany looks like when she is running off to a site visit for school!  Part of her school programming has her going to area hospitals and taking complete histories and physicals of patients!  She always turns into a Nervous Nelly before each one, but comes back loving the experience and her interactions.  However, the honey moon is short, because she has to hand write a million page paper afterward.

This is me being patient.  That is no typo.  (I'm Brittany's practice patient)

I'm learning to cook more and more.  I'm getting the hang of some things, others not as much.  A couple of weeks ago I attempted to make chicken tacos.  Largely, I succeeded.  That however, was also the problem.  That I succeeded soooo largely!  I accidentally made enough for a small army!  We ended up freezing a lot of it ;)  (notice the coffee pot in the background as an indicator of the size of the batch)

Ok, this one is going to sound a little weird at first, but I promise it's awesome!  Recently, I have been obsessed with making my own yogurt!  It's pretty easy, and saves a lot of money.  Which is good, because Brittany and I consider ourselves to be quite the frugglistas!  Each batch makes about half a gallon of plain yogurt.  It's a little soupy, but once you get used to that, it's awesome!  It's perfect for making smoothies or mixing fruit in it. 

Thank you all for your prayers and concerns and for letting us share our lives with you!