"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." Emily Dickinson


It's been a busy week, filled with great things...

First of all, we met with my neurosurgeon, on Tuesday, and we went over my latest MRI. We were testing to see if the edema could be MS, an infection, and to see if there were any changes/growth etc.. The test showed that the probability of MS is very low, and the "tumor" has not grown--praise God. It still looks to be a low-grade glioma in my frontal lobe. For having an in-brain tumor, it's a good thing. My doctor--said again--that it is only by God's grace that I am walking, talking, and laughing due to the sheer size of the tumor. The fact that it is large and I am functioning fine, also points to the idea that it is very slow growing, and has most likely been there for years. He feels that since I am now symptomatic, I really should get it out before it breaks through my system's threshold, and I start developing more negative effects from it than I currently am. He also gave me much hope in having a long, normal life span, as he believes that there is a 99.9 percent chance that it will not grow back. God is in control, and He holds all of our days in His hands.

We have two surgery dates booked. One is for December 3rd, and the other is for December 10th. I will know tomorrow which one will be the one. (We are waiting on the radiology department). I will be arriving 3 days prior to surgery for tests and prep work, and then after the surgery we will be at the hospital for about 5 - 6 days, and then a day or so in a local hotel to monitor things, and then, we will be headed home with the tumor removed, and 6 weeks of recovery, before our return trip to Cleveland for a check-up. There is a possibility that I could temporarily lose speech and movement in my right leg, but I am super optimistic, that I will have little to no complications!!!

The other great news we have, is that we actually found the land/house we have been looking for. We've been watching all of the real estate sites for the past 8 months or so as we really wanted to get out of the work of building on our land, and we really didn't want to remodel anything either (our current house has been a big enough project for us). So, we've been looking for that "perfect" ready to move into property. On Monday night, a new listing appeared with 11 acres, and a 3 acre pond, etc...so, we e-mailed the owner that night, he responded that same night,we looked at it Tuesday, made an offer Wednesday, and signed the preliminary papers Thursday. The closing date is December 15th. We have looked at so many properties, and this is the only one that we both fell in love with simultaneously. The Minnesotan in me is so in love with the pond, and the country boy in Andrew, loves the space, the large detached garage, and the John Deere tractor that we will have to buy for mowing and snow removal. :) I have so missed swimming, jet skiing, and ice skating--all of those great things that were available on practically every corner of my growing up years in Minnesota, and now my girls can have that too!!! The back side of the house is all windows overlooking the water, and there is a one mile walking trail around the property--great for P.E. classes!!! To say the least, we are so grateful, and I look forward to recovering from surgery in my little Minnesotan oasis in Illinois.

Love and hugs to all from us!!!