Journal

Wait and See...

[Your Name Here] — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:59:13 +0000

First I apologize for not filling in the details for a few days. Honestly it has been quite alot to process. As I said before, the biopsies from the areas around the tumor came back cancer-free. The surgeon staged it as a high-grade aggressie tumor with no "spreading". However, there is apparently a 29% chance the staging is incorrect. In addition, since it IS an aggressive tumor, it is reccommended that my father have another scope so they can check and see if there is any re-growth. He is having this done at MD Anderson in Houston early next month.

So what this means is....wait and see. If the scope looks good....begin treatment. If the scope does not look good....consider the best options.

My dad and stepmom will not be coming to our house for Thanksgiving this year. My sister, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews will be....so I am hopeful that the beautiful chaos will keep thoughts of the empty chairs at bay.

I know that my dad is in great hands....he has made sure he has the very very best care available. They are being thorough and meticulous in every possible detail.
And....the best of all....he has the Great Physician on his side.

Thank you for your prayers....please keep them coming. I will let you know when thins change....but until then, we wait and see.

THANK YOU & WOOOHOO!

[Your Name Here] — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:07:31 +0000

Thank you GOD!!!! My dad's pathology results say that THE CANCER DIDN'T SPREAD! It was all in the tumor that was removed!! Still treatments to be done...but I am THRILLED with the news and even more thrilled that I am seeinga a"crack" in the wall of my dad's resistance to Him! Thank you for your prayers....thank you SO much!

I will post more details tomorrow....but right now I am going to go pass out.

Thank you Father, for your mercy.

Thank you friends, for your prayers.

Ok.

[Your Name Here] — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:49:10 +0000

My dad is doing ok.
The tumor was next to his ureter so, since they had a lot of cutting to do, they ended up having to put a stent in they will take out in three weeks. The surgeon said the margins looked relatively clean, but they won't know if there was any muscle involvement (meaning that the cancer had spread past the superficial level) until the pathology reports come back Friday. He is still bleeding some so he will stay overnight at the hospital and probably come home tomorrow.
I spoke with him and he sounded....ok.
I told him that he had LITERALLY hundreds of people praying for him.....and he said......"ok."
I said I hoped he could feel some of that prayer power.....and he said....."ok".
He said several times that they wouldn't know (what was happening, what to hope for, what to fear) until Friday.
Then he confirmed that if me or my brothers/sister wanted to come it would simply "annoy him".
That's when I knew the pain medicine was doing its' job!

Thank you.
Thank you for praying.
Please.....please don't stop.
I feel the power and the peace of those prayers....and I just really want him to feel it too.
I can't thank you enough for taking time in your busy lives to pray.....
Thank you.
Thank you.

Shannon

Please Pray....

[Your Name Here] — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:12:43 +0000

My dad just called me. He is having outpatient surgery tomorrow to remove a tumor the dr found on his bladder yesterday. They believe it is a transitional bladder carcinoma. He will receive a type of chemo (directly on his bladder) tomorrow and that will continue once a week for a while.

He goes in at 7 for an 8:30 surgery and will probably be home later in the day.

He told me not to worry, that he will be fine. But I’m worrying.

You know my dad is not a believer. He is finally to the point where he admits that there must be “a god”….but that’s it. He’s come to church with me several times just to make me happy, but that is as far as it goes.

I know I’m going to lose my dad someday on this earth….but I don’t want to lose him forever.

Will you please pray for him? For his health, his surgery, and his faith? That he is surrounded by people who love Christ and know how to communicate that to him?

Thank you….

Simple Math....

[Your Name Here] — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:03:19 +0000

What do you get when you take five "6-ish" year olds....

Subtract a two year old girl and add a 3 year old nephew...

Throw in a couple of nutty 9/10 year olds...

Multiply them by 4 large pizzas and a giant leaf pile...

Oh....AND add a ladder near the leaf pile for jumping off of....

Then do some sort of exponential function with costumes....

AND ice cream sundaes with extra toppings....

Then subtract many hours of sleep for everyone....

Well....did you figure it out? Did you?

The answer is.....just a typical night at the Satterlees.

Thank God for the ordinary moments.....those are the ones that make memories.

What's new?

[Your Name Here] — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:19:41 +0000

There's something different about him.....

Something that's not quite the same as yesterday....

I think there might be something missing....something that fits perfectly in that tooth-shaped glow-in-the-dark container......

Wait!! Not that!!! My little baby can't start kindergarten, turn six AND loose his first tooth all in one fell swoop!!!!

Good thing he's awfully cute with a gaping hole in his mouth.

(But I'm STILL considering putting a brick on his head!!)

Things Happen...

[Your Name Here] — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:41:50 +0000

On Sunday at church my kids were super. Seriously. They were happy to get ready after their extra hour of sleep....they were totally excited to see their buddies in their classes, and they all came willingly with us when it was time to go.

Then....we hit the parking lot.

Ethan wanted to go with his cousins. Badly. Very badly. Ethan couldn't go with his cousins. Ethan started sputtering and drooling and totally decompensating in the middle of everyone else's post-sermon bliss. As I steered him to the car he began SCREAMING that I was hurting his arm. Badly. Very badly.

Carolyn was already in the car and ddidn't care for the placement of the chest buckle of the car seat. Carolyn tried to move it. I told her "No....that isn't safe!". Carolyn wanted the chest buckle moved. Badly. Very badly. She moved it down again. I moved it back and she started sputtering and SCREAMING that I was hurting her. Badly. Very badly.

Bennett said in between his sputtering drooling sobbing brother and his screeching spitting sobbing sister with his hands over his ears.

Barrett stood looking in the window....eyes and mouth wide open....staring in amazement.

I looked over our beautiful children and asked

him, "What happened to our little angels?"

Slowly, he shook his head. "Halloween. Halloween happened."

Yeah.....it happened.

It happened to a sweet Snow White, a dashing Batman, and a weirdly freaky dead patriot soldier boy.

You see....the dynamics go like this.

Snow White loves her hero, Bataman.

And who is that handsome hero unmasked????

Why....it's Ethan! One of Nonni's awesome grandsons.

How lucky are we that we have an unbelievable artist to....well....figure out just how to accomplish the crazy inventive super labor-intensive ideas that Bennett comes up with for Halloween. She concocted a way to adhere a front and back of a plastic sword to make it look like it had (yikes) pierced my baby soldier. Then....well....what a great makeup job!

Freaky, huh?

Bye bye, Halloween. Let us brush our teeth and run off the sugar high we have acquired. Let us hide the candy from daddy in a place only mommy knows so she can sneak in and get almond joys and tootsie rolls when ever she wants protect her family from sugar overload. We shall return to the realm of fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats. Oh....and maybe I'll run again.

Maybe.

3 Reasons I Love the Week Before Halloween...

[Your Name Here] — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:07:28 +0000

There are certain things that only happen during very specific and limited parts of the year.

The maple by our mailbox turns an amazing firey pink...which lasts only a few days before the leaves fall to the ground.

The hyacinths in my front garden all bloom at once....but their amazing frangrance only lingers for 2 or three days.

The gingerbread latte at Starbucks. Need I say more?

These abbreviated times come and go quickly....but I sure enjoy them while they are here.

This week preceeding Halloween has some of those things....things that are ONLY going to occur for a limited time.....so I have to share them while I can.

1. Little girls in spider dresses....

2. Purple and orange cauliflower (aka....BRAINS) for dinner...

3. Smashed pumpkins all over the playroom rug.

("Whoops" says Ethan...."It just slipped out of my hands....just like this!" "Yeah...." says Carolyn, "It goed DOWN!")

Uhhhh.....yeah. It goed down. Way down.

Well....maybe we can roast the pumpkin seeds?

Fallin'

[Your Name Here] — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:52:18 +0000

Consider the Leaf.

An impressivel specimen of natue.

When a single one is spiraling off of a branch....what a gorgeous sight.

When many of them are raked into a big pile......what an AWESOME toy!

Gentlemen.....start your engines!

On your marks....

Get ready.....

Get set....

And....GO!!!!!!!!!!

CRASH LANDING SUCCESSFUL!!!!

And if you're not the type of boy who wants to launch himself into a pile of leaves then you need to get away from the video games and get ouside more how about using the leaves as projectiles to throw at your friends?

Or as projectiles to throw back at your friends who threw them at you first?

Of if that STILL doesn't float your boat then unplug your ipod and go outside!!!! how about using nature's bounty to play "hide the tennis ball"?

And if leaves still don't look like the perfect toy to you then for the love of all that is holy turn off your iphone and LEAVE THE HOUSE!!! why don't you try just burying your troubles in them.

Leaves can work wonders.

Man.....I love fall.

What happened to my five-year-old?!?!

[Your Name Here] — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:42:53 +0000

I love five. It's such an awesome age. Still innocent, yet so full of opinions and personality. Testing your patience their independence, yet clinging tightly with both hands and legs to their moms.

Then....comes six. And kindergarten. And a whole new kind of independence. They come home saying things you've never heard before, being influenced by people you've never met, and changing into people you are no longer intimately familiar with.

Yeah....I think it's hard to say good-bye to five.

BUT......

Six is kinda cool too.

My baby boy has crossed the line. (Of course he did this BEFORE I went to Chicago....but for some crazy reason (including tylenol with codiene!) I was not quite able to post about it before now.)

Ethan is six. SIX!!! He is an elementary school stud now!!! He asked for a Mario Brothers party and wanted to invite BOYS ONLY. This included some boys from his class that I didn't really know....that was a first for me. Ethan has friends and a life independent of HIS MOTHER?!?!?!? My oh my.

They had a GREAT time at a local bounce place...our first "out of the basement" party too!

And (although to the skeptical adult eye those pink red blobs look kinda like over-ripe pimples) he LOVED his Mario Cake with Mushrooms!

Ethan had a great time with all of his buddies....Ethan is a social butterfly. I mean, social Mario Brother.

My wishes for you this year, sweet Little E..... is that you continue to grow into the smart sensitive curious imaginative kind boy you are already becoming. That you keep asking questions about God and His love, and that your love and thirst for Christ grow everyday. That you grow in confidence as you experience the self-realization that you are WONDERFULLY made and that you are so so so very special--to God and to your family.

Happy Birthday, my six year old. And remember.....I love you more than the sun and the starts that He taught how to shine....you are mine and you shine for me too, I love you--yesterday and today and tomorrow, I'll say it again and again...I LOVE YOU MORE!!!!!!!