Just a quick update on my doctor's visit this past Friday. After receiving my blood results and ultrasound, Doctor Dabat has confimed that I am not pregnant and there is nothing wrong with my ovaries. All of my symtomps are a result of IVF and the after effects. He has prescribed me medicine to get my system back in working order. It's a relief that I don't have any physical problems resulting from IVF but a little sad as I had hoped that by some miraculous act that I was pregnant. :) I can now move forward and leave all of these questions in God's hands!
Going out now for a walk in the mountains with my family to get some clean, fresh air!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
" Maxi Magazine" Women's Health Magazine Interview Saturday
Eversince our return to France we've been receiving calls from journalists interested in publishing our story. We haven't returned calls as we've been trying to process our past 7 months and get back into a rhythm as well. We did give an interview to " La depeche" newspaper as soon as we returned to France but have held off other interviews until now.
Saturday, a journalist, from a woman's health magazine " Maxi", is flying down from Paris to interview us. He knows of our journey and our results but said it was just too beautiful of a story not to publish.
Upon our return, I have not received my normal menstrual cycle (13 days late) and this has caused more questions and blood tests and gynecological visits. At one point last week we questioned if somehow I was pregnant!?!? However, a blood test this morning confirms that all of my hormones are incredibly low and shows no signs of pregnancy. Tomorrow I will visit my gynecologist and have an ultrasound to hopefully explain my enlarged stomach, fatigue, nausea and sore back. I have almost every sign of pregnancy without a pregnancy.
Julia is receiving her transfusions every 5 weeks and medically she is doing well. However, She is going through a hard phase of not wanting anything to do with hospitals, blood tests, doctor's visits, or transfusions. She is growing up and is becoming more aware of her sickness and exerting her will in things that concern her.
Steve and I are continuing in Association Julia. We want to help other families find help and healing for their children while they are still able.
And in the upcoming months I plan on visiting many different organizations and individuals to thank them for their help and see how I can be of assistance to them.
Saturday, a journalist, from a woman's health magazine " Maxi", is flying down from Paris to interview us. He knows of our journey and our results but said it was just too beautiful of a story not to publish.
Upon our return, I have not received my normal menstrual cycle (13 days late) and this has caused more questions and blood tests and gynecological visits. At one point last week we questioned if somehow I was pregnant!?!? However, a blood test this morning confirms that all of my hormones are incredibly low and shows no signs of pregnancy. Tomorrow I will visit my gynecologist and have an ultrasound to hopefully explain my enlarged stomach, fatigue, nausea and sore back. I have almost every sign of pregnancy without a pregnancy.
Julia is receiving her transfusions every 5 weeks and medically she is doing well. However, She is going through a hard phase of not wanting anything to do with hospitals, blood tests, doctor's visits, or transfusions. She is growing up and is becoming more aware of her sickness and exerting her will in things that concern her.
Steve and I are continuing in Association Julia. We want to help other families find help and healing for their children while they are still able.
And in the upcoming months I plan on visiting many different organizations and individuals to thank them for their help and see how I can be of assistance to them.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Julia's 68th Transfusion Tomorrow
Tomorrow Julia's energy level will get a real boost! Her golden color will temporarily turn rosy and she will also get her appetite back. It's transfusion day! What a trooper, what a courageous little girl she is. Sixty-eight transfusions and she's still strong. This doesn't mean it doesn't affect her, quite the contrary. She knows she looks different than other kids.
She dislikes her "golden" eye and skin color, she tires of itching (effects of bilirubin), and her bones do really ache. However, God has given her the grace to endure and she's just starting to comprehend what it means to have her genetic disease. Its not easy for her and it's a struggle for us to watch her suffer.
We met with her doctor here in Tarbes yesterday. He examined her spleen and advised to have it removed in the near future. It's not only enlarged, making it uncomfortable but it's also making her transfusions too frequent (every 5 weeks instead of every 8). There is a slight possibility of lengthening the time in between transfusions with the spleen gone. However the downside is that she will have to take penicillin daily for the rest of her life as the spleen helps the immune system fight bacteria. This is her reality.
I share all of this, not to pity ourselves or Julia, but to share our reality with you. I know some of your reality is much more painful than ours. I've read your blogs and admired your courage. It's only by the grace of God that any of us are standing.
Julia's future: tomorrow a transfusion, a splenectomy in the near future, one day a bone marrow transplant? We hope and pray it's so. I am still believing for a miracle. God has set the stage to do something wonderful and I'm anticipating something huge. Really.
Well, I'm off to get Julia's nightly meds ready...
Thank you for reading Julia's blog. It's a way you and I can keep in touch. Thank you for all of your encouraging comments!
She dislikes her "golden" eye and skin color, she tires of itching (effects of bilirubin), and her bones do really ache. However, God has given her the grace to endure and she's just starting to comprehend what it means to have her genetic disease. Its not easy for her and it's a struggle for us to watch her suffer.
We met with her doctor here in Tarbes yesterday. He examined her spleen and advised to have it removed in the near future. It's not only enlarged, making it uncomfortable but it's also making her transfusions too frequent (every 5 weeks instead of every 8). There is a slight possibility of lengthening the time in between transfusions with the spleen gone. However the downside is that she will have to take penicillin daily for the rest of her life as the spleen helps the immune system fight bacteria. This is her reality.
I share all of this, not to pity ourselves or Julia, but to share our reality with you. I know some of your reality is much more painful than ours. I've read your blogs and admired your courage. It's only by the grace of God that any of us are standing.
Julia's future: tomorrow a transfusion, a splenectomy in the near future, one day a bone marrow transplant? We hope and pray it's so. I am still believing for a miracle. God has set the stage to do something wonderful and I'm anticipating something huge. Really.
Well, I'm off to get Julia's nightly meds ready...
Thank you for reading Julia's blog. It's a way you and I can keep in touch. Thank you for all of your encouraging comments!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Interviews Start Tomorrow
Tomorrow starts the beginning of various interviews with newspapers, magazines and television reporters. Am I ready? Not really. I am, however, ready to move forward and look for new possibilities and treatments for Julia but I'm not super excited to talk about these past 6 months and all the painful emotions that drudges up.
Tomorrow, Patricia LaGuillard, from La Depeche newspaper will be over to interview Steve and me. Patricia is an amazing journalist and mother, who also has had a sick child of her own. She has been very accurate in the many articles she's written about us and sympathetic to our situation. It will be sad to recount to her our many disappointments with this IVF process but at the same time, it will be an opportunity to share with her the hope we have in Christ.
Steve is already pursuing different medical leads and possible treatments for Julia back here in France. "It's not the end for Association Julia, rather it's just the beginning", He says.
We haven't yet sat down together and decided exactly what our involvement will be for DEPJ (Double Espoir Pour Julia) this year. But we both agree that it needs to continue if not for us, for other families with children of rare, genetic blood diseases. This would continue to bring hope to many others.
Tomorrow, Patricia LaGuillard, from La Depeche newspaper will be over to interview Steve and me. Patricia is an amazing journalist and mother, who also has had a sick child of her own. She has been very accurate in the many articles she's written about us and sympathetic to our situation. It will be sad to recount to her our many disappointments with this IVF process but at the same time, it will be an opportunity to share with her the hope we have in Christ.
Steve is already pursuing different medical leads and possible treatments for Julia back here in France. "It's not the end for Association Julia, rather it's just the beginning", He says.
We haven't yet sat down together and decided exactly what our involvement will be for DEPJ (Double Espoir Pour Julia) this year. But we both agree that it needs to continue if not for us, for other families with children of rare, genetic blood diseases. This would continue to bring hope to many others.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
La Rentree! First Day of School!
So, the girls did it! They went back to school and I even saw some smiles at lunch. There was apprehension and some nervousness at the thought of walking back into the courtyard full of kids. Julia was nervous of stares and questions regarding a baby and her bone marrow transplant. The night before she shared her fears of not knowing how to answer the many questions. Annie was unsure if her previous friends would want to play with her or if they had found new friends. What an answer to prayer that Julia made it throught the gates into her class and Annie was grabbed by her close friend, Maiena, to join the other girls and exchange stretchy bands!
Most of all, I felt finally at home dropping our girls off at school and chatting with other moms.
It's been amazing being back. I do have the blues several times a day, but I also have highs and sense the love of this community. I'm not the only one who sacrificed and gave my all. I am so happy to be back in Azereix, in France, among friends, among generous people!
Vivre la Rentree!
Most of all, I felt finally at home dropping our girls off at school and chatting with other moms.
It's been amazing being back. I do have the blues several times a day, but I also have highs and sense the love of this community. I'm not the only one who sacrificed and gave my all. I am so happy to be back in Azereix, in France, among friends, among generous people!
Vivre la Rentree!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Back Home in France
It feels amazing to be back in our home again. I had my coffee and my Bible in my favorite chair this morning...
We arrived in Toulouse on Wednesday on time and with all of our luggage! Truly miraculous. The flights went fast and the girls did wonderfully well. Our good friend, Jon, picked us up and drove us home. When we arrived, there was a decorated Christmas tree with presents under it, the fridge was full and a crackling fire in our fireplace! What a warm reception. Thank you Mag, Pri, Valerie, Joce, Raymonde and everyone else who cleaned, bought food and had our home ready for us. What a blessing!
Steve and I met with Jocelyne and Raymonde, president & treasurer of Julia's foundation, yesterday to talk about the next steps. We want to continue the association to help Julia and other children with rare anemic diseases. We will brainstorming this month about what association Julia will look like and how it will function. We will not give up the search for Julia's cure.
Tonight is New Year's Eve. We will be spending it with a few friends, very low-key, reflecting on this past year and looking forward to a new one.
What a year 2010 has been; Full of struggles, trials, joys, disappointments but all are up against a backdrop of God's loving faithfulness. Everything that has happened He has permitted for our ultimate good. We are in His hands, Julia is in His care, there is nothing to fear!
May you have God's peace in your heart for this New Year that no matter the joy or sorrows that come, there is nothing to fear, Emmanuel is there.
See you back here in 2011!
Bonne Annee!
We arrived in Toulouse on Wednesday on time and with all of our luggage! Truly miraculous. The flights went fast and the girls did wonderfully well. Our good friend, Jon, picked us up and drove us home. When we arrived, there was a decorated Christmas tree with presents under it, the fridge was full and a crackling fire in our fireplace! What a warm reception. Thank you Mag, Pri, Valerie, Joce, Raymonde and everyone else who cleaned, bought food and had our home ready for us. What a blessing!
Steve and I met with Jocelyne and Raymonde, president & treasurer of Julia's foundation, yesterday to talk about the next steps. We want to continue the association to help Julia and other children with rare anemic diseases. We will brainstorming this month about what association Julia will look like and how it will function. We will not give up the search for Julia's cure.
Tonight is New Year's Eve. We will be spending it with a few friends, very low-key, reflecting on this past year and looking forward to a new one.
What a year 2010 has been; Full of struggles, trials, joys, disappointments but all are up against a backdrop of God's loving faithfulness. Everything that has happened He has permitted for our ultimate good. We are in His hands, Julia is in His care, there is nothing to fear!
May you have God's peace in your heart for this New Year that no matter the joy or sorrows that come, there is nothing to fear, Emmanuel is there.
See you back here in 2011!
Bonne Annee!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Packing Up To Go Home!
This weekend has been such a special Holiday time with family. Last night we partied with the cousins, they acted out the Christmas story while Grandpa read from the Bible.
Today we enjoyed a wonderful, low-key Christmas with my mom and dad at home. Everyone enjoyed playing with their new toys(me with my ipad :). Good food and great memories were made.
Tomorrow I take the girls to a Christmas play(Junie B Jones). Should be fun meeting up with my sister and her girls for the afternoon. We are enjoying every minute together before we head back to France. The girls have enjoyed sleep-overs and fun play dates with their cousins.
However, Monday all the fun stops and we get serious about packing. I've been dreading this day for 6 months. How will I fit all our stuff into a few bags? The girls don't want to leave anything behind and neither do I.
Today was a wonderful, fun-filled day and yet there was real sadness for me at the same time. I am so grateful to be with family and have the opportunity to be together, however, I felt
somewhat empty inside. It's difficult to accept the reality that I do not have a little life
inside of me. Returning to France without our 1st hope, a third child, nor our 2nd hope, a
cure for Julia in the near future is hard.
With all of that said, we are impatient to get back to our home, our dear friends and our familiar routine. We are all homesick and it's time to return home.
Merry Christmas and have a very blessed New Year!
Today we enjoyed a wonderful, low-key Christmas with my mom and dad at home. Everyone enjoyed playing with their new toys(me with my ipad :). Good food and great memories were made.
Tomorrow I take the girls to a Christmas play(Junie B Jones). Should be fun meeting up with my sister and her girls for the afternoon. We are enjoying every minute together before we head back to France. The girls have enjoyed sleep-overs and fun play dates with their cousins.
However, Monday all the fun stops and we get serious about packing. I've been dreading this day for 6 months. How will I fit all our stuff into a few bags? The girls don't want to leave anything behind and neither do I.
Today was a wonderful, fun-filled day and yet there was real sadness for me at the same time. I am so grateful to be with family and have the opportunity to be together, however, I felt
somewhat empty inside. It's difficult to accept the reality that I do not have a little life
inside of me. Returning to France without our 1st hope, a third child, nor our 2nd hope, a
cure for Julia in the near future is hard.
With all of that said, we are impatient to get back to our home, our dear friends and our familiar routine. We are all homesick and it's time to return home.
Merry Christmas and have a very blessed New Year!
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