Really July 5th

Laura had little Hazel Arlene on the evening of the 28th, seeing her little 7 lbs body it's hard to believe Lilyanah was ever that small & yet she was 3 lbs smaller as well as shorter! Anyway, I pulled these pictures out cause' they highlight just how much our little angel is growing! Can you believe the difference 4 months makes! Now, in just 12 short days she'll be 6 months, that's 1/2 way to a year for all of you that aren't math buffs.
I apologize for taking so long to write, life just takes off sometimes & it's all you can do to try to keep up! I have to say I love being busy, if I'm not I find things to keep me busy. We moved back to our apartment on the 21st of June, exactly 4 months after we had moved in to Mom & Dad's house. So really the reason I haven't written, sadly, is because we don't have any pictures downloaded on our computer here at home. And, hello, I have to have at least one picture with these entries!

I have a couple of prayer requests. My sweet husband hurt his right foot pretty bad in the softball game last Thursday. The doctor said he tore a ligament & it's so swollen & bruised, I think we're gonna have to take him back to the doctor again b/c it's not getting any better. So if you could please pray for him.
What I really need to ask you all to get down on your knees about though is my dear, beautiful friend, Maria DeSylva. Her fiancee Paul Lund best explained the situation in an email I received. I'm so thankful for him because Maria doesn't have to face this road alone. Please say special prayers for him too. He moved to Seattle (where Maria's from) because his dad was fighting cancer & passed away not all that long ago. So now to have his fiancee go through it has to be so hard. Here are some of his words;

"I am very sad to write that our Maria has been diagnosed with a malignant cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). SCC is nearly unheard of when located deep in the pelvis. As many of you know, SCC is epithelial (outter layer, often skin) related. This brings more bad news; it is highly improbable that her tumor is of primary origin, meaning it most likely came from elsewhere in the body. Other scans have not depicted other SCC locations. Maria is scheduled for a PET scan which can aid in identifying metastasis, but it's not sensitive enough to pick up microscopic disease."

The medical team is gathering more diagnostic information to develop the best treatment plan. There are a hundred questions to which we have no answers. I'll attempt to pass on what I know: radiation and chemotherapy are likely; the medical team to date is speaking in terms of treating this aggressively; Maria is seriously considering receiving all treatment here at the Mayo Clinic; if decided upon, presurgical therapy may last 1-2 months followed by surgery a month or two later. Questions we cannot address specifically revolve around sequence and timing of therapy, disease statitics, summer plans, wedding & shower issues, fertility effects, visitation, among other future details.Most importantly, how is my and your Maria? Maria and I are shocked, as I'm sure you are. In the last 48 hours we've gone from the majority belief of a benign tumor to the doctors saying this is "serious" to them now saying it is "very serious." As many of you know, this is like a bad dream from which we can't awaken. It doesn't help that Maria's been examed and tested across the country, always fasting each day in preparation for tests.Know this. Maria has already decided she is going to beat this. And Maria's love continues to overflow to you and everyone else -- it probably doesn't surprise you to know that as we are surrounded by many sick people here at the hospital, Maria occasionally reminds me that she could have it worse. Still it is clear that all of us must dig in for a long, hard battle. We sincerely appreciate the love and prayers coming her way. My deepest thank you. Sincerely, Paul

My heart hurts for my dear friend. She is in her late 30's, has just found the man she wants to marry, and have babies with & now has this. I beg of you, prayer warriors to pray for my friend, this cancer is not like mine where the doctors knew the exact treatment plan & what to do. They don't know what they're facing so it's a scary, time. The day before we met with our oncologist to find out all the results from the scans & tests they'd done was the scariest night for Will & me. . . And Maria & Paul have had weeks of those nights. So again, I ask, please pray for my dear friend. Love you all! ~Wendy.

much ado about nothing

Laura, Lilyanah & Violet sporting a 'too cute' homemade tail from her daddy!
Laura is a little over 2 weeks away from having her second little girl, doesn't she look great!

When I was a little girl instead of saying my tummy was empty when I was hungry I said, 'Mommy, my tummy is clear.'

The most unique pet we ever had was not the ducks, or the turtle, or the gerbils, it was a chameleon who was the size of my pinky when we got her. (including her tail). To prove how awful I am at naming things, I named her Trinket. She was the most low-maintenence pet I've ever had!

My Papa's nickname for me was Wendy-the-Pooh, Corey called me Wend-o-sill, numerous people occasionally call me 'Wendy-Bird' & some 'Wendy-lady' (from Peter Pan). Some call me 'Wend', Mom occasionally calls me Wendy-Penelope. Will usually just calls me 'baby' but lately he's taken to 'Fuzz' because of the blond fuzzy head I currently have. Never have I been so blond & hopefully never will I be again!

When I was little I was so afraid of monsters under my bed that at night I would gather all of my stuffed animals & extra pillows & line them up in piles on the outside of my bed to protect me. Thinking back I had WAY too many stuffed animals.

This pic was taken at the guys first game on the 8th. Will is first baseman in the picture, Carrie's husband David is the catcher #4. Our guys beat the other team 25 to 23. A little closer than we like to see, but it was still a win!

We had an outdoor pool that was later made into an indoor pool, and then filled in & made into the 'pool room', but when it was a pool we would have all sorts of pool parties. Jeremy played football & I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it when all of his football friends came over for just such an occasion! Of course I was such a shy young thing I would stay in my room the entire time they were over! Great strategy on my part! Anyway, one summer I discovered doing flips underwater & did them so much I ended up out at camp with my grandparents with swimmer's ear, ICK, very painful & not something I want to get ever again!

Every single time that my brothers got spankens I would go to my room & cry. Telling me you were disappointed in me did more than any spanken ever could, still does.

Spring break of my junior year in college I was bucked off of a horse & broke my left arm. The hospital my dear friends drove me to was a half hour away in Paris. . . . . Texas unfortunately, (have any of you seen the SpongeBob where he & his friend talk about 'stupid Texas', I was rolling!) Anyway, other than that I've had stitches in my pointer finger from cutting it with a pie server (yeah, that's talent) & one stitch in my tongue. That's a story for another time!

This picture is from the volleyball game at Kelsey's 21st birthday party last Friday (the 9th). She's the girl in white on the far left. Her dad, Matt, is right behind her.

In July my parents will have lived in their house for 25 years which means I was only 4 years old when we moved there. Back before my grandparents built their house next door there were two plum trees in the field that is now my grandparents house. Every time the trees would ripen Jeremy, Corey & I would climb up in their branches & pick the purple ones, the other tree had yellow plums that we didn't dare to try. After wiping off the dirt we would separate them down the middle with our fingernails & eat them one after the other till our tummies were content. I never remember experiencing the consequences, if you know what I mean. . . I miss those plum trees!

This last picture is from our guys first softball game of the season on the 8th. Some of you may recognize Laura on the far left, & Randie use-to-be Seeber on the front row. Carrie is in the green. I apologize for the ugly face I'm making. Sometimes I get tired of smiling for pictures & regress back to childhood!

So those are just some of my random memories. . . . Lilyanah just got home from her doctor appointment, she's almost 24 inches long weighs 10lbs 12 oz & is sleeping because she had some icky shots!

My question for you all today is more of a request for you to share some of your random memories.
Love you all & thanks to those who take time to share! I LOVE your comments! ~wendy.

Countdowns

Isn't it crazy how much time we spend counting down to something?

For me, I think it all started with Christmas. Then again, what kid doesn't count down to Christmas!? I guess the one's who don't celebrate it. . . oops. Anyway, there were always countdowns to birthdays, the first day of school, the last day of school, graduation, college, first dates, weddings, reunions. . . . vacations, deadlines, parties, pregnancy is an entire countdown in itself.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with countdowns, personally I love having something to look forward to. I just wonder if sometimes we miss the ride because we're too busy looking to what's next. I remember when I was pregnant with Lilyanah wanting so badly to meet her, to be through the pregnancy so she was in our arms. But I had to keep on telling myself, "this is your last one-on-one time with Will. As much as you want to meet this little one kicking like crazy inside of you, this time is PRECIOUS & you won't have it again until the kids go off to college." Of course then I got really sick. . . but we did cherish that time & made the most of it.
I guess it's just ironic to me that the hardest time for us to live in is the present. We have an easy time of looking back, contemplating roads we never should have taken & others we wish we had. And it's way easy to live in the future. To make plans for breaths we aren't guaranteed we'll ever get to take. I just hope we can all find the balance of learning from our past, being wise about our future & enjoying the processes of our countdowns in the present.

I am very happy to say that I reached the end of my chemo countdown. Now it's just a matter of how long it will take for the hairs to repopulate the top of my head! Just so you know my current countdowns are: in 3 days Lilyanah will be 5 months old. . . in 1 month I'm heading out to Oklahoma with Miss Lilyanah for a visit with friends, family & Kelly Killian's wedding & lastly, in I think 60 days Corey & Kelsey are getting married. (I'm spending a lot of my time helping Kelsey with wedding details).

I hope you have some very fun countdowns going on right now.
This time I'm going to ask 3 questions so that if you can't think of an answer to one, you can choose another. . . What has been your most unique countdown? . . . . What countdowns do you have going on currently? . . . . . What has been your favorite countdown?
I love you all & thank you for your continuing prayers. Wendy.

What a beautiful, sweet baby God has blessed us with! In 10 short days she'll be 5 months old! Time really flies doesn't it!? It doesn't seem possible that 5 months ago today we were admitted into the hospital. . . shortly followed by having a 7 week premie, & finding out we had cancer, in my body of course. And now, it's over for the most part. Yesterday marked my last (Lord willing) chemo treatment, I can't tell you what a sweet thought it is to know I don't have to go to the hospital for that anymore!

Lilyanah is just growing longer & "talking" more & getting so strong. I cannot thank you all enough for all of the prayers you have said to our Almighty Healer on our behalf. He sure did answer your prayers & without delay. Our daughter & I are healthy & strong because of those prayers & truth be told I will never be able to thank any of you enough!

Don't you just love the the soft approach of summer!? I love the smell in the air & the feeling of the sun dancing on my skin. I have to admit it's even nice to feel the rays on my bald head! I love driving with my windows down singing loudly to the radio. Soon I'll enjoy the wind blowing through my hair again. . . I miss the thunderstorms in Oklahoma. I lived there for a culmination of 5 years. I am absolutely not a fan of the humidity, except for at night time I remember it felt like a blanket wrapped around me. That was nice.

July 4th we're having a come & go celebration at my parents house. Celebrating the indepence of our country & our independence from cancer. I'm looking forward to joining the human race again & seeing friends & family. Most July 4th's I spent at my parents house letting off fireworks in the middle of the cul-de-sac. After I graduated in '95 I spent the fourth standing in the ocean at Waikiki watching fireworks going off over the ocean. Sophomore year at Oklahoma Christian a friend (who must remain anonymous) & I climbed on top of the gym roof & watched numerous different fireworks going off around the city. Four years ago Will watched them in Washington D.C. with his family, I bet that was amazing! While I, with some friends crawled on the roof of the apartment building next to mine in downtown Oklahoma City & laid on some blankets while we watched at least 5 different firework shows going on. Two years ago Will & I spent it at Mount Rushmore, though they do the fireworks on the 3rd! Isn't that bizarre? The picture of Corey with a tiny little fish was from a fourth of July weekend the family spent at Lake Billy Chinook, and this one of us playing volleyball was last year. Everyone's standing around because the ball had once again been hit into the canyon behind our house & we were waiting for whoever was retrieving it. . . .


So my question for all of you is, where are some interesting places you celebrated our country's Indpendence Day? Or, where would you like to celebrate it?

Well, dinner time at Gigi's calls. . . I hope you all are having a GREAT week! ~Wendy.

Just a little Lilyanah fix

Sorry it's been so long since I posted a new entry! I check out my cousin Ryan & Katie's blog nearly every day & nearly everyday there's a new entry. . . oh how I wish I was that disciplined with this! However, today is not the day when you are going to get a lengthy new entry because it is beautiful & sunshiny outside & it's not suppose to be the rest of the week. Corey & Kelsey took these precious pictures of our little Lilyanah & I HAD to share them with you all because they were too adorable not to! So I hope you enjoy them as much as we are & that you all had fun-filled Memorial weekends. wendy

Mother's Day

What a fun Mother's Day we had! Lilyanah was an absolute angel during church, not even fussing a bit when she fell asleep! I figured that was her Mother's Day gift to me! They had a special 'ceremony' where they introduced the new babies of the year & challenged us as their parents as well as the congregation to raise our babies in the Lord. I was very thankful that they recognized that we all have a responsibility to show our Lord to our children.
After church Gigi blessed our entire family with another home cooked meal. Of course every meal with our Gigi is homecooked & delicious!
This outfit on our little one was picked out by her daddy, I think it's one of my favorites, though the hat is WAY too big & kept on falling over her big blue eyes! She just turned 4 MONTHS yesterday & her eyes aren't changing color one bit. I know they can change up until 2 years, but we'll enjoy the blue while she has it!
For Mother's Day Will gave me the greatest gift! Well, first of all our precious Lilyanah (who has most unfortunately discovered her thumb fits in her mouth better than her fist), would not be here were it not for him! But this year for Mother's Day we are starting to sponser a child through Christian Relief from Haiti. I don't really believe in doing things like this & making it common knowledge, but I wanted to share it with all of you because it's a FANTASTIC program if you are wanting to help out children in the world. I know my Papa & Gigi have been sponsering children from India for over 15 years now & have made such a difference in their lives with only $25 a month. Can you believe that's all it takes!? We spend more than that in formula in 2 weeks! Anyway, if you get the chance I hope you'll check it out, I don't like sounding like an advertisement but what a wonderful way to make a difference for Jesus. The web address is: www.Christianrelieffund.org
My uncle Rick loves working with old cars & just happened to drive the one in the picture to Papa & Gigi's for our celebration, which of course I do not know what make, model, or year it is from being 'not-car-savvy' at all! But we had to take advantage of it being there & get a couple of pictures.
I hope that all of you mothers had such a special Mothers' Day & that all of you men & kiddos showered your women with all of the love & appreciation that they deserve every day of the year. Of course ditto for the women with their men & kids. Never forget that each day is a gift that we can never go back & do over. I love you all! Wendy.

PET scan results. . . .

Yesterday as Mom, Lilyanah & I were on our way to my CAT scan appointment, I called my oncologist to see if they had the results from my PET scan, & we found out I am CANCER FREE! (thank You so much God!) & thank you to all of you for your prayers! I wish cancer free meant chemo free but such is not the case. I still have 2 Anyway, Dad, Mom, Lilyanah & I are heading over to Bend for a little 2 day vacation & this girl still has to pack! Will is staying home because he has a pretty bad cold so if you would please pray for healing for my sweet husband I would really appreciate it. It's hard to leave him at home to fend for himself but he insisted that we go out of fear that he would get us sick. So off we go! You get another daisy picture because of a special request by a friend & another of Grandma with Lilyanah last week. Love to you all. . . wendy.

May 7th, 2006

How is this for a smile?! She was actually making a sound along with the smile in this picture, I wish you could hear her! She has the sweetest soft little voice. Can you believe I get to look at this adorable little face every single day, all day!? What a blessed woman I am! Lilyanah smiles all of the time now unless she's really tired at which time she makes the funniest noises. It's kinda like she's trying to talk in a foreign language while whining. Now that's talent! It makes it really hard to take her seriously cause' you're just smiling at the silly-ness of it all! This chemo round I've been so blessed & felt so good that I've been busy doing things & haven't spent much time sitting in front of the computer, which is a blessing & also no good because now I've fallen behind AGAIN & will have to catch you up on the last 2 weekends! Saturday, the 29th I took pictures of what everyone was doing. Lilyanah was helping her grandma work at the computer. Mom spends a lot of time working on the computer to keep up with the businesses her & dad own. We need to hire her a secretary so she can spend all of her free time loving on our daughter. Of course she does anyway, such a blessing to both her & Lilyanah!
Dad asked Will if he knew how to change the oil in our car. Will, very matter of factly said, "Yeah, I put my shoes on, grab the keys & drive to Jiffy Lube." Such a funny guy. Dad decided 27 years without knowing how to change oil was too long & the two spent the majority of the day just like they are in the picture. They changed the oil in every car in the driveway which was not a small task. Will came in covered with oil but said he really enjoyed the day.
Now the next picture is going to make anyone who has ever gone to Camp Yamhill & tasted my grandmother's cooking JEALOUS! Gigi makes the most amazing cinnamon rolls & yes, that is what she was doing when I took the picture. It brought back a lot of good memories. She ALWAYS made homemade dough & we would spend the afternoon wrapping a couple hundred hot dogs in her homemade bread. I will admit that I RARELY helped with the cinnamon rolls, she would get up at around 4am to do it & my alarm didn't go off for another couple of hours! Gigi is one amazingly talented woman in so many ways. Her cooking was & is her way of showing people how much she cares. And I have to say that I just love seeing her with Lilyanah! I started this entry a couple of days ago & today is actually the 8th. Earlier today I went in to Portland to have the PET scan done & afterwards I'm radioactive for awhile so I don't get to hold Lilyanah. It's no fun, but she had a great day with her Gigi. We should know the results fairly soon, but I also have a CAT scan scheduled for Wednesday, the two should tell us pretty conclusively whether or not I'm in full remission. I'll keep you updated. . . . I hope your week is off to a good start! And thanks again for your prayers! Wendy.

A BIG FRIDAY!

Friday was HUGE for our little Lilyanah, she started out the morning showing off what a big girl she is by rolling from her tummy to her back for the first time! A couple of hours later we went to the doctor & she weighed in at 9'12 oz, & is 23" long! One pound lighter than her daddy was when he was born & 1" longer! Now, if you want to hear a serious, "feel sorry for me" birth story you should talk to his mama! The doctor told us we can go by Lilyanah's cues now to tell when to feed her, instead of every 4 hours, YIPPEE! Once we got home it was picture time! You see my mother, the thoughtful woman that she is, kept some of the dresses I wore when I was a baby. Some of them I wore in professional pictures & the first one was taken when I was 3 months & 11 days, which for Lilyanah was the 28th. As you can see the outfit didn't quite fit her right but the color looks beautiful on her! It took her Grandma laying on the ground holding her up with a blanket on top of her head, her Gigi trying to make her smile & me taking the pictures to accomplish our task. I thought you'd enjoy seeing the process as much as I did! Of course even at that Lilyanah decided that she is not an "on command" smiler & only gave us a grin when I got down close & prodded her. Afterwards she rolled over for us again, just to prove that it was not a fluke & our BIG FRIDAY came to a close. I hope your Friday was as great as ours! I wanted to show a picture I found of all of the Isenberg kids, my uncle Gano & Corey, all VERY young & coincidentally so cute! Can't you just tell Corey is SO ornery! Love you all! Wendy.

Chemo #4

I had to include a picture of Lilyanah & me in our matching hats (care of our dear friend, Lecia New), especially since she was waving at the camera! ~ Mom says we look like strawberry sundaes in them!
You all must have been going to God for me yesterday because I haven't experienced many side effects. Will & I got a sauna that I went in for 10 minutes afterwards. I drank nearly 32 oz of water while I was in there & lost it all as soon as I got out. Yucky! We're hoping by me using the sauna I can sweat out some of the toxins from chemo in addition to washing them out of my body with water. Good times, eh? Is that too much information?
Well, the doctor did not say "remission". He said, 'partial remission'. All the tumors are gone, there are just 'specks/abnormalities' left that have to be gone before I'm considered in full remission. We're so close though! I have CAT & PET scans scheduled in May which should show how much the 3rd & 4th chemo treatments did to get rid of the 'specks'. If all the abnormalities are gone I'll only have to finish out 2 more chemo treatments. Followed by a CAT scan every 3 or 4 months for 3 years followed by 2 a year for the next two years. After 5 years I'll only have to have 1 a year. That's as far out as the doctor would go with me. Now if there are still abnormalities I'll probably have 4 more chemo treatments & then go to the sporadic CAT scans. Let's hope that's not what God has planned for me!
A friend asked what my mindset was going into chemo treatments & I have to say at first I DREAD them. At least until I walk through the hospital doors & then I transform into a woman on a mission. My treatment is a 'necessary evil' that I have to conquer. And then as I walk in the room & see all of the other cancer patients laying in their beds I'm humbled & so grateful that God protected me from a "worst case scenario". I overheard one lady say she was on her 13th treatment & was laying in the bed next to an 80 year old gentlemen whose wife walked in and said, "Sorry, love, I didn't forget about you I just fell asleep, how are you doing." he replied,"Oh, just like usual".
So many people endure this season of sickness for so much longer than it looks like I will be called to. I admire them for their strength & resilience. On the days when I feel like an 80 year old woman with arthritis in my joints & aches all over my body I question how I can do it one more time. . . then I look down at the ring on my right hand & I'm reminded that One has endured more than I will ever be called to endure & that's my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Back in 2001 I was working as a sales rep in Oklahoma City & I went through a time of trial with some friends. I felt betrayed & didn't know what to do. And then I found the ring you see in the picture. It made me think of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore to the cross. At the time it reminded me that Jesus was betrayed way beyond what I will ever experience. And as I face cancer, no matter what trials it brings my way I will never be called to endure what He endured during His lifetime & going to the cross. How blessed are we to serve a risen Lord Who loved us enough to sacrifice everything so that we can live with Him in Heaven someday!?
The little hand is of course our Lilyanah, she was still in the NICU at the time so you can see some of the wires across the bottom. I know I said it before, but I'm so glad that time is over. All praise be to God for our healthy precious baby girl! I hope you all are having such a blessed day! Thank you for caring enough about me & my family to take the time to read about what God is doing in our lives. I truly enjoy reading your comments & in case you've tried before & couldn't leave a comment I found in our profile that I could change it so that you do not have to have a blog to be able to comment, so if you will please try again! Love you all! Wendy.