Gratitude

So it's been kind of a crappy month, right?
(yes, seriously a month. January 6th was the day our daughter started puking, and one or more of us has been in poor health each day since then...)
But David went to the doctor and got some antibiotics, and he's feeling better!! The kids still have 2pack-a-day smokers coughs, but mainly only at night time...huge improvement!
I'm moving around at a much better pace each day, and my incisions hardly bother me at all. It's just mainly energy now that I struggle with. Yesterday I did four loads of laundry, a sink full of dishes, and vacuumed, and then needed a nap.

I may or may not have told my kids I'd give them a cookie if they let me sleep for an hour.

Ok, FINE. I totally did.

And then I still crawled into bed at 8:00pm last night. And I don't mean "crawled into bed to curl up with a good book for a bit and then fall asleep at a regular grown-up hour" I mean, I dozed on the couch from 7:15pm on, and only moved from the couch to our bed when the kids woke me by giving me kisses goodnight. 

I'm tired, ya'll. SO VERY TIRED.

But, there is always ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

I went to my final visit with my surgeon the other night, just to go over my pathology report (they wanted to biopsy my cyst).

I wasn't *really* nervous that it was cancerous, as everyone seemed pretty certain it would be benign. But still. I wanted to know for sure. And I was not exactly loving the waiting. I mean, this beast had taken over my body and turned gangrenous, for goodness sake, that can't be good for one's body, can it??

At my visit prior, the surgeon had said the report wasn't back yet, and that I should go ahead and call the lab each day to see when the results were in, and then when they were in, swing by the lab and pick them up myself, and bring them to him to go over with me.
So, it's on me to make sure I don't have cancer.
Okay then.
I called the lab the very next day, and lo and behold, my reports were in. They wouldn't give me the results over the phone, but said sure enough I could come in and pick up a copy.
So I did.
I waited as the receptionist printed out the report, and eagerly grabbed it from her when she offered it.
I scanned...medical lingo, latin words I don't understand, more medical lingo...and then I got to the bottom...

Can you read the bottom line of the report?
"No evidence of malignacy"
Thanks be to God.

I promptly took a pic of the report with my phone and Facebook messaged a friend back in Portland who also happens to be a brilliant ob/gyn and surgeon the pic. Her response:

"They didn't really give a diagnosis - just basically benign cyst, and torsion. You should be good!"

 Hooray!!

I made my way upstairs to the surgeon's waiting room with a big ol' grin on my face. 
Like I said, I didn't really expect it to be anything otherwise, but still. Any day you learn you do not have cancer is a good day.

I waited for about a half hour before the nurse came out to get the report from me, so he could review it before going over it with me...medical stuff here never ceases to amaze me...within a few minutes, I was summoned into his office.
He confirmed, no cancer. 
Hooray again.
He gave me strict instructions not to lift anything for a few more weeks, and to try and take it very easy. 
Will do.
I shook his hand, and thanked him for saving me, and then said "no offense, but I hope to never, ever see you again!"
Luckily, the joke translated well, and he laughed ;).
He even added "unless you are in the hospital again, then you want ME there!" 
Which is too true.

(I actually have his cell phone number now, as he sent me those pictures of the cyst via "What's App" while I was in his office, so seriously, if myself or any of my people ever end up in the hospital again, you better believe I'm calling him directly. He may not love it, hell, he  may hang up on me, but I will surely try!)

And with that, I think I'm done with follow ups from the BEAST AKA the cyst that tried to kill me. 
Thanks be to God, over and over again.

We will slowly find our groove here again, and in the meantime, I'm grateful for children who are old enough to go to the bathroom themselves, grab a snack themselves, and change the show on Netflix themselves.
And I'm grateful for articles like this one, that make me feel okay about all the fun activities we've been missing lately. "They" say it's good for kids to be bored now and again???
Done and Done.
=)

Lots of opportunities to kick your sister...

And play makeshift basketball with the laundry basket...

And make forts...

Lots and lots of forts...

Plenty of time to explore all the hand-me-down toys we'd recently been given...

 (sometimes the boy likes to wear my glasses ;) )


We've had time to put on a puppet show...

And wrestle with the couch cushions...

And wrestle with Daddy...

And set up empty water bottles as bowling pins...

And time to just be cute...

Oh, so very cute....

Lots to be grateful for!