My husband is so thoughtful

As of today, we've got about 50 bracelets sold (well, ordered!). That's a quarter of the amount I ordered! That's awesome!! I think once they are in and I get paid for those, I will order another batch!
I've got a design for the shirts! Thanks to my (future) sister in law!!! I'm so excited about them and am now trying to find a place that can make them, for CHEAP!
We are still searching for a location  for the game night...

It's the middle of January which means it's tax time.... and it ALSO means we just got the bill in the mail from our sperm bank... I hate that bill. And I hate that we have to HAVE that bill. But I sure hope they're taking good care of our future babies up there in St  Paul!

That's all the updates I have for today, so... Now it's time to get back to the fun part of our story :)
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Sunday morning we woke up and started getting ready for the day. I checked and double checked everything to be sure we weren't forgetting anything in the hotel.
"What time is the taxi supposed to pick us up to go to the cruise terminal?"
"Ummmm, this card says 1. That's pretty late though, it seems like." Uhhh YEAH...
"Didn't the cruise paperwork say they shut down the gate at 3?! It takes a bit to get there, right?"
"I would assume... I mentioned that to the guy that marked the time down and he said it would be fine."
"Well, ok then.... Do you think it storms a lot in all the places we are going to?"
"I'm not sure, I think that's just a Florida thing maybe..." I hope so... A thunderstorm every day is getting kind of annoying, even though the weather is always back to normal right after...
We decided to take one more picture of us two, and then we would just head downstairs to wait for our ride, even though it wasn't for almost two hours.

We were piling all of our bags up, when Danny looked out the window and SEEN our cruise ship!! I, of course, made him take a picture!

It's kind of hard to see here, but if we zoomed in anymore it got blurry. But if you look closely, you can see the white top of the ship!
We headed downstairs to wait, and turned in our room keys. We munched on some candy and went through the pictures on our camera.
"Danny, I'm kind of nervous about the time. Do you think they can pick us up any earlier? I don't want to cut it so close."
"I will go see, I don't like cutting it so close either."
Another couple who had been waiting downstairs at the same time for their ride had already gotten picked up. They asked if we wanted to ride with them, but the car that came to get them was a small taxi and there wasn't enough room.
Danny was at the desk for a while, which just made me even more nervous. The person working at the desk got on the phone, talked for a few minutes and then hung up. Danny came back over.
"Well, I guess the guy that wrote down 1:00 on this card was wrong and we were supposed to be picked up at 11:00." What?! We got downstairs at 11:15 but were ready long before that...
"Well, why didn't they call us to tell us our ride was here then?"
"That guy said the ride never showed up, or they would have called. But his book showed our pick up time was 11." HOW RIDICULOUS.
"So... Now what??"
"He called and got us a different service to pick us up, they're on their way right now."
"Well I'm really glad we decided to come down here almost two hours early! If we didn't come down until 1:00 we probably would've missed the ship!"
"That's what I was thinking..." Note to self, arrange all the transportation MYSELF next time, since the hotel royally screwed this one up!
About 20 minutes later, our ride showed up. The man was very nice and loaded all of our luggage. We chatted on the drive to the cruise terminal and he told us what we could expect for check in and luggage drop off. We got to the terminal and unloaded.
"Okay, that will be $35." HUH?!
"Ummm, we paid for the transportation with a package through the hotel."
"Oh. Well, they didn't tell me that." Obviously!
"Well, do you want me to call them? Or?"
"Yeah, call them, let me talk to them after you let them know who you are and everything." Easy enough.
I called and told the person who answered what was going on. He asked to talk to the driver so I put him on, and they worked it out themselves.
"Okay, you guys are all set. I am putting your luggage here, and it will get picked up by those workers there." It's nice that the cruise company sends luggage tags so early so we could be all set before we got here... This is convenient!
We stood around for a few minutes to be sure our luggage got picked up, then got in a VERY long line.
"If we had waited until 1..." Ha!!!!
"Danny if we had waited until 1 we would've been in trouble!"
"Yeah... thank goodness we went downstairs so early..."
Checking in took quite a while, even though we had actually checked in online a week before. We had to answer a bunch of questions about any coughs/cold we were experiencing. We had to put our carry on luggage through the scanners. Then we were sent to yet another line, where our passports were checked. The line seemed to take forever, but when it was our turn, it seemed like it only took US about 20 seconds to sign the papers, show our passports, and get shuffled to another area. Time for pictures! We had to take a picture that would show up every time we scanned our room key (you used that to get on the ship from ports, when you paid for things on the ship and many other things). Then they took our picture in front of a sign and a background.
FINALLY we could enter the ship. We were directed to our room, and seen that the stuff I had booked online was already set up.

There were also decorations inside... But my favorite thing that was in our room that day was.......

Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries!! To the right you will also see all the gift certificates we got, from the wedding and my bridal shower. Our room was AMAZING. When we booked it a year before, the balcony rooms were actually a dollar CHEAPER than the rooms with just a window. Danny was excited for that balcony.

"I will probably be spending a ton of time out here...."
"I'll be right here with you. I bet the view is going to be amazing!"
There was a knock at the door. What the heck?! Danny walked over to answer, and there was our luggage! We had read that our luggage would take a few hours to get to our room, we didn't expect to see it all so early!
After a bit, it was time for the muster drill. We had to get our life vests and head downstairs to the desk where the life boats were. A lady wrote down our room numbers (which were printed on our vests) and we had to get in another line. It all would've been fine if the people in front of me hadn't insisted on standing there. Half of them were from the line next to us, but thought they should squeeze in with their friends. Not a problem if there's room, THERE WASN'T. I kept getting hit in the head by the back of those stupid life vests, and it was ticking Danny off as much as it was annoying me.
"Excuse me," he said one time when I got hit. No response. The next time the guys vest was flying at my face, Danny shoved it out of the way before it made contact.
"EXCUSE ME, you keep HITTING my wife." No response. They didn't speak English, or maybe they did and were pretending they didn't (have you seen the movie Waiting? That's all I could think about, people from other countries who pretend they can't understand you so they don't have to have manners).
Finally Danny decided to trade me places. And he stood even closer to the guy who had been hitting me. So close that the guy couldn't move at ALL without  bumping Danny, and Danny is tall enough that he could SEE him when he was turning and talking to his friends. This was enough incentive for the line jumpers to go back to their side. :) I love my husband!!
After a while we were released from our lines and could go back to our rooms. Our dinner time wasn't for a few more hours, so I finished off the candy that I forgot was in my carry on bag. I figured they would've taken it out and thrown it away during the check in, since food and drink weren't allowed, but  I guess they thought peanut M&M's were okay.
We heard a loud voice outside the door... Something about a party? Huh?
"Danny, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, its the speaker out in the hallway... Let me open the door." He walked over and heard the announcement. The Sail Away Party was starting! We went to the main deck and stood along the edge and watched as we pulled away from the port. It was amazing how smooth it was, you could barely tell we were moving!!
After a while Danny and I decided to go explore all the decks. We looked at all the decorations in each staircase at every level. We found all the restaurants and shops and we found an ice cream machine!! WOOHOOOO!!!
About an hour before our dinner time, I noticed that I could feel the ship moving when we were in our room. It wasn't a good feeling. I felt drunk, and I'm not exactly one that enjoys that feeling.
"Danny do you feel that?!"
"What? I don't feel anything..." Seriously??
"I can FEEL the ship moving!!!"
"Okay... well... Is it bothering you?" Can't he hear the panic in my voice?!
"YES, this is AWFUL!"
Danny got in one of the bags and pulled out the motion sickness pills we had bought in case this happened. I took one, drank some water and laid down on the bed.
"This sucks... I hate this...."
"Maybe food will help settle your stomach?"
"You're probably right... Let's go down and see if we can eat early."
No such luck, at least not in our assigned dining room. We could eat at the buffet or pizza restaurant any time, but the main dining room was assigned to specific times. GREAT. So we waited, and I tried not to think about the constant moving feeling and the nausea.
Looking around, I didn't see ANYONE else that looked like they were feeling how I was feeling. How am I the ONLY ONE ON THIS ENTIRE SHIP feeling this?!?! I have been a water baby my entire life. I love boats. We are at the lake every weekend in the summer, on the boat!! What the HECK!!!
By the time we could be seated in the dining room, I was really not feeling well. Our waiter and his assistant introduced themselves. I didn't catch their names. I was focusing on the menu and trying not to run out of the dining hall. We ordered, and I was kind of excited about the steak that was coming. I ate a roll, thinking surely that would calm my stomach... It didn't.
"Babe? You're looking really green... I mean, seriously, GREEN."
"I know... I can't do this. I'm sorry, I've got to go back to the room!!" And I was OFF. I couldn't walk fast enough! I contemplated taking the elevator, but they make me a little nauseous themselves, I didn't need that! I took the stairs as fast as I could and finally made it back to our room. It was being turned down by our attendant person.
"Oh I'm sorry, I can come back and turn down your room later?"
"Oh don't mind me, I am going to go sit on the balcony, do whatever you need to do in here."
"Feeling sea sick?"
"YES!!!"
"I can order you some room service? Some bread or rolls?" We have some awesome service on this ship!!
"Oh thank you, that would be great!"
I went out on the balcony and felt SO much better. The open air, the cool temperature, it all worked. I felt NORMAL out there.
I decided to go try to lay down in bed... Not a good idea. Danny came in with my steak that I had ordered, some water, tea, and the bread and rolls that our attendant had ordered for me. I tried to eat another roll. Danny ate my steak.
"We missed the newlywed party thing that I was wanting to go to..."
"I know, but it probably would've been weird anyway." He's probably right.
"I'm sorry I just left you there..."
"Babe. Don't. I'm sorry you're feeling like this. I hope the whole trip isn't like this for  you."
"It won't be. I'm sure I'll be used to it by tomorrow...." And I fell asleep. The nausea medicine had evidently kicked in, and knocked me smooth the heck out!

The next morning I woke up and felt a bit better. We spent some time on the balcony, and then went downstairs to have breakfast. It was a Day At Sea, so we weren't stopping at any ports until the next day. I wanted to go to this shopping trip meeting type thing. A lady would tell us all about the shopping at each port, and we could get a coupon book for the different stores at each port.
"Do you think  you'll be able to sit through this?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good right now actually."
"Okay, but lets sit here, close to the door just in case." Awww so concerned!
"Ok, that's fine with me."
The lady started talking and I wrote down a few things that I thought were interesting. And then it hit me. I can't sit here through this entire thing. I can feel the ship moving in here! Oh no!!
I started shifting around in my seat, trying to get it off my mind. Trying to pay attention.
"The coupon books are $20, and they will be available..." blah blah blah I CAN'T DO THIS!
"Danny..."
"Go ahead and go back to the room babe. I will stay here and get you your coupon book and pay attention to what this lady is saying."
"You are the BEST!! I love you!! I'm so sorry!!"
"I love you too, now hurry, you're turning green again!" Oh for the love...
The rest of the day was the same. I laid in bed, because the nausea med made me so sleepy. Danny came back to the room with the coupon book and some paperwork with different hints and tips about shopping. I apologized I don't even know how many times, and every time he told me to quit, that it wasn't my fault. We watched some tv, which consisted of different things going on on the ship. And a kid's movie, Bolt. We laughed at the people trying to surf on the Flowrider. We watched a comedian that had performed the night before. And we enjoyed the day, even though I felt so awful.
That night was Formal Night on the ship. I was excited to get all dressed up (in a dress I had worn to my senior prom!), and I was determined to NOT get sick. I got all dolled up and we got in line to get our picture taken. While standing in line, the sickness kicked in.

I wasn't green yet, but I was NOT feeling okay. We got seated, and our server came right over.
"Oh ma'am, you look WONDERFUL! Are you feeling better today?"
"Thank you! And ummm, no, actually I'm really not feeling so well. Can I get a tea please?"
"I will bring you a tea, but I will ALSO bring you a ginger ale, that should help! And really, you look amazing tonight!" And off he went.
"Man, you wouldn't think the servers here would hit on a newly married woman..." What?! Hahaha
"Danny, you are funny. He was trying to make me feel better."
"If you say so, but he is right. You look amazing." Too bad I don't feel amazing... Oh no....
"Oh my gosh..."
"Gotta go??" I didn't even answer out loud, I nodded, and ran off. Again.
Back to the room, back to the marvelous balcony, the only place I felt fine. I loved having that cool air on my face. I loved watching the waves hit the ship. I felt like I was ON A BOAT out here, so the movement felt NORMAL. It didn't feel like I was in a house or restaurant that was shifting back and forth. I was on a boat and out on the balcony it felt right.
We sailed through a rough storm that night, as we had the night before. And I remember thinking that maybe the storms were making the water rough. Doubtful, I was just a big baby!
I hated feeling like I was holding Danny back from having fun on the ship. He should be out having fun, and I said so.
"Oh yeah, right. Let me go have fun out there, while my wife is sick and stuck in our room. No way!"
"Just because I'm sick doesn't mean you should be stuck in this room with me."
"We are on our HONEYMOON. No way am I leaving you!" My husband is so thoughtful...
The nausea medicine knocked me out again that night, and I slept wonderfully.


So, again, this was a lot longer than I figured it would be, and I only covered two days! I'm not writing on here this weekend unless I have some fundraiser updates, so on Monday I will tell you about our port stops and share more pictures! Please remember to follow and SHARE!! Thanks for reading!!!

Welcome to Florida

I've got some news!! :)
I ordered our custom bracelets today!!! They are royal blue and say Love, Marriage, Cancer... Babies? (followed by a cancer ribbon). The words are all debossed. I ordered 200, and we've already gotten orders from some people. I may have to order more before the fundraiser events start! :) The price was decided by feedback on Facebook, and is set at $3 each. Let me know here or on Facebook if you want to place an order! Or if you want to wait until the fundraiser events, that's fine. I should have bracelets at each event for sale!

We are currently still looking for a location for the game night fundraiser. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to share them! :) I think we are trying to sort of go with a Carnival theme for all the kids activities, and we are so excited about it!

I mentioned the other day that we've gone global... and we've added even more views from around the world! Welcome Brazil and Russia! Thank you EVERYONE for reading, following and sharing! And thank you thank you thank you for those that are donating, placing Scentsy orders, and placing bracelet orders! I never expected for all of this to happen, and certainly not so fast! It's all so amazing!!

I think that's about all the updates I have for you today. Now it's time for some of my favorite memories! Our wonderful honeymoon trip!!!! :)


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Thursday evening we took Pixie and Zeus to my brother's house. They would stay there until we got home, and Kira would stay at the house. Our friends that kept Pix and Zeus for us during the hospital stay were going to come over every day and let her out and make sure she had fresh water and food (though, again, she doesn't eat when Danny isn't home). My dad was going to come mow our yard. Our bags were packed, except for what we would need in the morning. I had already checked in to our flight AND the cruise and had all the paperwork we needed. I was like a kid on Christmas Eve, excited, anxious, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep!
One of my best friends brought over a card for us and told us goodbye. She couldn't wait to hear all about the trip. After she left I opened the card and found money inside that she told us to use for fun stuff on the cruise! So I added it to our hidden cash supply that was in my Carry On bag. Then it was time to try to sleep!

The next morning we got up earlier than I ever wake up (with the exception of Black Friday!), and my dad drove over to pick us up and take us to the airport. I was a bit nervous about flying, but couldn't wait to get away from reality!
"Well, are you guys excited?"
"So excited!!" I basically talked my dad's ear off about what we had planned, the shore excursion, etc. My dad was as excited as we were, he had always wanted to go on a cruise. And the Mayan Ruins was something he really wanted to see! I promised him we would take a ton of pictures for him.
"Well, here we are. Your mom will pick you up when you get back, call us if you need anything! Love you!" I hugged my dad and thanked him for driving us so early in the morning.
Walking in to the airport, I suddenly got nervous. What if i got sick on the plane? What if our layover in Atlanta wasn't long enough and we miss our flight to Florida??? Since we had checked in online, we just had to check in our luggage. We did that, and then put our luggage in the correct area so it could get loaded on to the plane.
The flight was better than I was expecting. I had to have the window seat, because otherwise I get sick. But it was smooth sailing... or rather, flying. We got to Atlanta and I was in shock. I knew it was a huge airport, but knowing it and seeing it are two entirely different things! We had a three hour layover and planned on trying not to get lost, and also having lunch.
We got off the plane and realized the gate for our next flight was literally right next to where we got off the plane. No way would we get lost!!! We were expecting to have to go across the entire airport to get to our next flight. We walked around and looked at all the restaurants. We seen the ESPN restaurant but decided we didn't have enough time to eat there since we'd spent so much time walking around. We ended up eating Nathan's hot dogs and sitting at the windows watching planes take off and land.
The flight from Atlanta to Florida was also great, after we finally got in the air. Before we could take off they were moving people around (and all I could think was DO NOT move my husband away from me!!!). Then they came over the speakers and told everyone to turn off their cell phones. It took me a minute to dig mine out, it had fallen to the bottom of my bag. I finally got it out and was turning it off when a flight attendant walked by.
"YOU HAVE TO TURN THAT OFF!!" Why the EFF is this lady YELLING at me?!
"That is ACTUALLY what I'm doing."
"Turn it off NOW ma'am." WHAT THE HECK IS THIS LADY'S PROBLEM?!
"It is shutting off, as you can see! I hit the power button before you were even OVER here, it takes a minute." I showed her the screen to prove my point but she was obviously having QUITE the day and she just walked off.
"Danny what the heck was that about? I didn't do anything wrong. The plane isn't even moving towards the runway yet..."
"You don't even want to know what my opinion is of that lady..... but I think you should send an email about it..." Mental note, email the airline about THAT wonderful experience...
The actual flight was fine. I listened to the free XM radio, and jammed out to some country music. Flying over Florida was amazing. I was pointing out the window and talking to Danny and he just had the biggest grin on his face. He'd been to Florida, none of this was new to him. I'd never been East, aside from a road trip to Chicago in high school, and Chicago isn't really EAST. It's just further than Kansas. He was loving the fact that I was loving it!
We road a tram from our gate to the front of the airport. That thing was CRAZY FAST!! You had to hold on tight and hope that you didn't tick off the person next to you when you bumped into them which was bound to happen!
We stood at the baggage claim for quite a while waiting on our luggage... Which never came. Danny finally spotted both suitcases in a roped off area.
"There they are..."
"What? Those are ours?? Why are they over there?"
"I don't know, but I will go find out." And off he went!
He came back a few minutes later, with both suitcases trailing behind him.
"Well? Why were they over there?"
"Because they got here three hours ago and we didn't get here until just now." ha! Didn't even think about our luggage getting here faster than us!
We went out the front of the airport and found the van that was picking us up. We gave the driver our luggage and climbed in the very back, there was another family sharing the van with us. 
On the way to our hotel we chatted with the family, which was from North Carolina. They were so sweet! They were going on the same cruise we were, and they had quite a bit more family that would be arriving before Sunday to go as well.
It was storming like crazy and I was thinking of Kansas storms, how they can last hours, have lots of wind and hail, etc.
"Do you think it will storm all night babe?" Danny laughed at me...
"Ummm no, I bet it stops raining in about five minutes..." WHAT?!
"Five minutes?! It just started! And it seems bad!"
"Welcome to Florida..."
By the time we got into Cocoa Beach, it had stopped storming. Danny was right... Of course! We pulled into our hotel first, and we were right across the street from Ron Jon Surf Shop. I knew we were close to it but I didn't realize how close! I was ready to drop our stuff off, go shopping, and get to the beach! Everyone was in swimsuits, no matter what they were doing. It was an entirely different world here than in Kansas, and I LOVED IT!!!
We paid for the trip, and paid in advance for the same company to pick us up from the cruise terminal and take us to the airport. Then went to check in at the front desk of the hotel. Our room was ready and we could go right up!
"Wow babe!" I know, right?! Since I had booked the room, Danny didn't know what to expect.
"Isn't is amazing? It's even better than the pictures online!"

I had booked the whirlpool suite, we were on the top floor, and it was awesome!!
We hung out in the room for a while, and then decided to go explore. We went into Ron Jon, and decided there were a lot of things that we just HAD to have. We bought a couple things, then dropped that stuff off at the hotel and headed to dinner... Which means we walked down the street to Taco Bell. We'd seen the sign when we were dropped off at the hotel and it was within walking distance, so we were all set. We ate there and walked outside, and I spotted.... DAIRY QUEEN!!!!! If you know me, you know that DQ Blizzards are my addiction. Yummm!!!
"DANNY!!!! There's a DAIRY QUEEN!!!!"
"Oh lord...."
"Oh I am SO excited!!"
"We will come back down here later, lets go check out the beach now..." Good enough for me!
We walked to the beach, which was just a block away. And it was BEAUTIFUL!!! We followed the beach for a while, and then headed back up towards the houses and hotels. We had ended up on the block our hotel was on, so that worked out wonderfully. We decided to walk around a bit more and of course, I had to take some pictures!

Our room took up the top two diamonds, and another window on the left.  

We walked back down to Dairy Queen, which was PACKED. We ate our blizzards there, and then walked back to the hotel. We went inside and settled in for the night. Which of course meant we turned on the tv and watched our normal shows. It felt like home... except we were in Florida. We watched the news, which (no offense to any Floridians) was so much worse than the news reports at home. So much murder, so many drug busts, etc.  I decided that although I loved Florida already, it was kind of a scary place! I definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore!!

The next morning we decided to eat at Ihop, since it was right across the street from the hotel. Then we walked to Walgreens, which was in the same parking lot, and got some last minute things for the cruise. Advil, sunscreen, after-sun lotion, a couple of water bottles. Then it was TIME FOR THE BEACH!!!! :)

After trying to take our own picture, which wasn't working, we gave up. But then a local came over.

"I seen you guys struggling to take a picture, would you like me to take it?" Awwww!!

"Actually that would be great! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome! Ok, smile!" He handed me back the camera and the picture was perfect!

"This is perfect, thank you so much again!"

"No problem, enjoy your trip!" So, Florida is scary on the NEWS, but the people are great!

The heat on the beach in Florida was insane. The temperature was technically lower than it was in Kansas, but that sun was STRONG. We stayed for a while, but once our water was gone and the beach got crowded, we were ready to head back to the hotel.

That night we had dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was a pizza place! It was delicious and had a great view of their little circular aquarium which housed sharks and a few other sea creatures. I took pictures of the sharks, they were gorgeous, especially since they were on the other side of the glass and couldn't get me! Ha! And then I needed dessert... so you guessed it, off we went to DQ!!!

We decided to check with the front desk before heading upstairs for the night, to see what time we needed to be ready for the ride to the cruise terminal. Danny got it all figured out and we headed upstairs. I was going to miss the hotel and I was definitely going to miss Florida.

"I hope the cruise is even better than this... I want to come back here some day. I love it this place."

"I do too. And the cruise will definitely be better!" I hope he's right... maybe we should've just booked a hotel here for a week...

Ok, this ended up being a lot longer than I expected, and I'm not even to the first day of the cruise yet! I will continue one with this AMAZING part of our story tomorrow. Please read, follow and SHARE!! :) Thanks for reading!!















Thank you Dr Google

I know I say this all the time..... but my friends ROCK!!!! Seriously!!! I get new messages every day from different friends (and some strangers) and every single one of them touches my heart. One friend sent a message today that said our struggles in addition to HER new addition (<3 Baby E) have helped her realize that she wants to be a surrogate some day. She wants to help a family feel the joy they have felt as a family. THAT is amazing! Keep the messages coming everyone, I love to hear from you all!

Many people have asked me when the Scentsy fundraiser will be ending. Well, we've got some good news! It will be open and active as long as we want it to be!  I know multiple people have said they want to order but need to wait a couple of weeks, and I'm here to tell you all that that's PERFECTLY FINE :) We will keep the "party" open as long as there's still interest in it! Since it's an online party, the orders ship out from the factory asap, so the party doesn't have to close for people to get their orders. Tonya said that orders have been shipping out in 48 hours!

An update on the game night/poker night... My friend and I have discussed possibly separating the two events. I know how serious some poker games are, and I don't want the players to get annoyed with the other activities going on around them. Also, poker games take a long time! On top of that, we are back to square one on a location. We had been interested in a couple of REC centers, and there is a law that states that those REC centers can't be used for this sort of thing. You can't make money off of concessions, admission, etc, in a city REC center... So, if anyone has any ideas about a location for this event, PLEASE comment here or message us on Facebook :)

I mentioned on Facebook last night that I had found a website to order some bracelets from. They aren't going to be as cheap as I was originally thinking, but I think they have the potential to make a good profit for our fund. I sent an email to the company to see if there is any way to get them any cheaper, and once I hear back from them I plan on making an order. So far quite a few people have shown interest in helping sell the bracelets, so I'm pretty excited about this!!
I think that's all the updates I have for today...

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The following days went slowly. Danny was recovering well but couldn't work and he was going crazy sitting at home. Danny had multiple follow up appointments scheduled before the honeymoon.
At the first follow up appointment, Danny's staples were removed. I sat in the room with him and he laid back on this bed... Out came this little handheld THING that literally looked like a staple remover you use in your office! I watched one staple get pulled out, went pale, and had to look away.
Danny's drain had to stay in even longer. It was still pulling out too much infection to be removed. We started to worry about the cruise. Would he have the drain in when we went? How would it not get infected? The doctors told us not to worry, the drain would be removed before the cruise and he would be healed before we got on the plane for Florida... So, we continued planning the excursions and going over the budget.
I came home from work one day and Danny didn't look happy. We had to leave immediately to go somewhere (and now I can't even remember where we had to go), so we got in the car. And Danny quit being positive... He basically threw in the towel...
"Destiny... We need to talk..." Duh duh duhhhhhhh. That's never good... What now??
"Mmmm, okay. I knew something was wrong... So, what's up?"
"I know that you said before we ever got serious that you wanted kids. At the time I was content with just Faith and had never considered having anymore, but things obviously changed over the years and you know I want kids with YOU. I don't want just more kids, I want YOUR kids." I thought he was going to tell me something I didn't already know??
"Right. Yeah. I know babe. And we will."
"No, I don't think we will." WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!?!
"What is THAT supposed to mean?!?!?!"
"I don't want you to leave me Destiny." WHAT THE HE%# IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!?!
"What?! I'm not going to leave you. What are you saying Danny?"
"You want kids and I don't think we can have any and I don't want you to leave me!"
"I guess I am an idiot, because I am NOT following what the heck you are trying to say. Start over!"
"I've been doing nothing but sitting at home every day and I knew something was wrong. So, I got online. And there's this complication that can happen with the type of surgery I had.. and it can cause infertility... and I am 99% sure I have it..." Ohmygosh, NOT THIS TOO. You've GOT to be kidding me. We don't just have one mountain to climb, we have a WHOLE GOSH DANG MOUNTAIN RANGE!! And he thinks I will LEAVE him because of THIS?! What kind of monster does he think I am?!
"Babe..." I didn't even know where to start. Where DO you start?
"Destiny, please...."
"NO. No! You've done your talking. It's MY turn... How could you think I would LEAVE you because of this?! What the crap Danny!"
"You want kids, you deserve kids of your own. I can't hold you back from that... And you always said before we even started dating that you wouldn't be with someone unless they wanted kids..."
"Yeah, and you DO want kids... So why would I leave you?! I love you, and I don't want KIDS, I'm in your boat. I want YOUR kids. I want to look down at OUR child and see your face and my face. I want to look at that perfect mix of the two of us and know that that is our love, brought to life! I don't want anyone ELSE'S kid. I want yours!"
"I know, and I don't think that will be possible." Thank you Dr Google, for seriously filling my husband's head with crap!!!!!!!
"So you think because something isn't quite right, that all of a sudden everything you seen on Google is right?? Every time I google my symptoms I basically find out I have cancer... And it's NEVER RIGHT. So why would it be right now?"
"I don't know. I just wanted you to know. And I think it IS right..."
"Well, it's not. Everything will be fine. We will talk to Dr Hyder about it, and he will say it'll be fine..."
"And what if it's not? Then what?" OK MISTER NEGATIVE....
"Then we will FIGURE SOMETHING OUT, okay? We will have a child together, we will!!"
"Two...." Stubborn man...
"We will have TWO kids together. Fine. But we WILL, okay?"
"I don't know how..."
"Just STOP, okay? We can't do this now. We have no reason to worry until the doctor GIVES US A REASON to worry. You're the one that always says that, so take a lesson from your own book Danny!" Ok, I was kind of raising my voice. I was worried, scared, upset and MAD. I was still stuck on the fact that he thought I was going to leave him!!! I wouldn't leave him because he had cancer, but I would leave him becaues he THOUGHT we couldn't have kids?? What the heck was going through his mind?! Ugh!!
I can't remember where we went that evening because my mind wasn't on anything except our conversation. My emotions were everywhere. Could we really not have kids? Danny would never get to teach a son how to play hockey? I wouldn't have a little momma's boy? I would never have a child that would draw me a picture on Mother's Day and tell me I was the best mom in the whole wide world? Yes, I'm a step mom, and a dang good one if I do say so myself, but I will NEVER be Faith's mom. I would never DREAM of even TRYING to take over that spot. A child has one mom and one dad and no matter how much love you give that child, those parents come first, as they should. Faith has an absolutely amazing mother, and obviously an amazing father, and that's that. Nobody will replace those two in her eyes, because they are her parents and they are GREAT parents. I want to be that person to a child. I want to be the person that they love above everyone else.
We went to sleep that night, and I couldn't shut my mind off. We had another doctors appointment coming up in the next couple of days and we would get to the bottom of this...
That appointment couldn't come fast enough! We moved on from that conversation but things were a little tense in the house. Danny was obviously still worried I would LEAVE him and I was worried our dreams were going up in smoke... Or already HAD.
Danny's drain numbers were good enough now that it could be removed and I told myself not to watch. The doctor came in, and decided to do that first. It wasn't Dy Hyder, it was another doctor at the same practice, but we'd seen him before and liked him. He and the nurse removed the drain (or maybe the nurse did it and the doctor just stood there, I have no idea, I was looking the other way!). They taped him up, and the nurse left the room. Time to ask the all important question...
"So, doctor. I've been doing some research online after we realized some things weren't quite right..."
And so he told him about this theory that he had. This theory that a complication caused infertility for us. This theory that derailed our plans for our future....
"Well, that's actually quite common...." QUITE COMMON?!?! How did we not know about this until AFTERWARD, after the problem was already HERE?!?!
The doctor explained some more, and said to give it all some time, Danny's body was still healing, etc. He gave us the go ahead to go on the cruise in a week, and called out some antibiotics for Danny to take so he didn't catch anything while so far away from his doctors.
We left the room so we could go check out and a couple of nurses and the scheduler asked us where the cruise was going, what we had planned, etc. I was zoned out. Danny told them everything and they were so excited for us. Excited for us? We could quite possibly never be able to have kids, and when we get back Danny had to start chemo, and they're EXCITED for us?!?!
We left and Danny seemed more positive than before.
"Well, it sounds like it may not be that... But we will have to see..."
"He said that this is QUITE COMMON. Why weren't we informed of this possibility?"
"Well, I don't know. Maybe it was in some of the paperwork?"
"No, no it was not. I went over the side effects and possible complications and that was NOT listed..."
"You went over the paperwork for the laparoscopic surgery, not for the surgery they ended up doing..."
"Mother %#@#$%$^!!!!!" Ok yeah, I dropped the F bomb. Whoops!
"Babe, what would we have done differently?" Good point...
"Well, maybe we could've banked some sperm or something..."
"We didn't exactly have a lot of time to do that..." We didn't have ANY time to do that. He's right.
"Well still, we should've been told!"
"I agree, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We've got to just keep going forward and then see what Dr Hyder says, and what the oncologist says..."
"The oncologist is going to tell you to bank sperm, and then you're going to have to tell him that you can't because of this stupid complication!"
"And them I'm sure he will come up with a solution." Oh, now all of a sudden he has a solution? What solution could there be?
We decided that day to not worry about. No more fretting, no more "what if's" or anything else. We would concentrate on being newlyweds. We would go on our honeymoon and we would enjoy the time away from reality. When we got back, it was time for plans and finding solutions. Now? Now it was time to pretend nothing was out of the norm. Now it was time to make sure we packed everything we needed, and that someone would mow our lawn while we were gone. Now it was time to just BE.

Tomorrow's post will be about our honeymoon! It will be nice to dig up those memories, such happy times! As always, thanks for reading! Please continue through our journey with us, and please follow and SHARE our story and blog!

So determined

Updates updates updates!!! :)
Our Scentsy fundraiser has had EIGHT orders so far! This is GREAT! Thanks to everyone who has ordered!
I've been trying to find a Donation Tracker to add to the blog that isn't completely tied into our PayPal, so that way I can edit it when we get money from fundraisers. I had found a couple of options, but I'm still working on that.
We have a tentative date for the game night/poker night. And, it won't be at night :) It willl be in the afternoon. We are looking into a couple of local REC Centers and once a date is set and a place is booked, I will let you all know! If anyone would like to donate items for a raffle/silent auction, let me know! Comment here or message us on Facebook!
The Mary Kay fundraiser will most likely be some time in March. My friend that is in charge of it recently moved and I don't want her rushing around trying to put it together. Besides, March is Colon Cancer Awareness month, so it works out perfectly that most of our fundraisers will be in effect that month!
I've contemplated selling Colon Cancer/Infertility awareness shirts and profits would go to our fund, but I'm not sure if you all know this... I'm not creative! lol! So until I can figure out a design or a catchy phrase, that plan won't be put into action.
I also talked to Nell last night. She is talking to some hair dresser friends so she can get more people together to cut some hair! The Cut-A-Thon will be on a Sunday, but the date isn't decided quite yet. I will update once that's all figured out. She plans on telling someone at KFDI about the fundraiser so it will help spread the word! :)
I am in the process of looking for a place to hold a QuarterMania that will benefit our fund. I go to most QM's in Haysville and there's usually a good turn out at them, so that's where I'm thinking it should be. But the different places I've been able to find rental info on are too small... So, I'm still searching!
I'm also looking for a place to hold the Zumba fundraiser when my cousin comes to town.

I think that's all the updates I have as of right now. If I forgot anything, I will include it tomorrow!


.........On with our story..............
Danny's first night home was full of worry. What if i nudged him in my sleep and pulled on his JP drain? What if the incision that he busted open gets infected? What is causing this nausea all of a sudden? 
The dogs that were staying at our friends' house were still there. But Kira was home and she was BEYOND excited to see Danny. She was hopping around and howling (the way huskies do!) and made it KNOWN that she was a happy dog again. She also didn't get close to Danny without being gentle and careful. It's amazing how dogs know things.... She stayed by his side no matter what.
Danny decided to wrap the drain to his side, so he could sleep in our bed normally and we wouldn't have to worry about it. He also figured out a way to keep the bulb of the drain in his pajama pants pocket when he wasn't in bed. Such a problem solver!!
I had to go back to work the next morning. I was anxious about how he was doing at home alone but didn't want to call or text him in case he was sleeping. I went home on lunch (one of the joys or working so close to home was being able to get to and from work in just a few minutes) and brought him some mashed potatoes. He was still nauseous and had called the doctor about it. He called out a new medicine to the pharmacy so I also went and got that.
The week seemed to drag on. I hated going in to work and leaving him, even though he was fine (and said so, repeatedly!). My oldest brother came over and mowed our front lawn which was starting to resemble a jungle! Our friends also brought Pixie and Zeus home. I had missed them SO much, but they sent pics often, which helped a lot! They were just as excited to be home as I was to have them home. These are very hyper, happy dogs. I was a little worried about how they'd act when they ran inside and seen Danny. They aren't jumpers so I wasn't concerned that they would jump on him and hurt him, but their tails can be downright dangerous when they are excited! They ran in the house, and sniffed. Got closer to Danny and sniffed some more. They calmed down immediately (that had never happened before!) and went over to Danny to get some attention and give it. Have I mentioned how AMAZING it is that dogs just know things sometimes?!  Danny calls them MY dogs, but he was just as happy to see them as they were to see him.
Faith stayed mostly with Wendy, because the time she would spend with her Daddy during the week wouldn't have been fun for her. However, her T-Ball season was coming to an end. She had just started that summer and had already improved so much! Her last game was that week and Danny said he would be there, no matter what! He is such an amazing father and wasn't going to disappoint his little girl.
The day of her game he still wasn't feeling all that well. The weather was miserably hot but he wasn't going to stay home. I was worried. He still had all of those staples in, still had the drain in. He could walk but got tired easily, and I was fearing the worst!
We pulled into the ball diamonds and Danny looked so proud. He was going to watch his little girl play her last t-ball game of the season! Despite feeling like crap, he was there! He would cheer her on and be there for her, and that's what being a dad is all about!
"Are you sure you're ready for this? It's HOT and there's no shade over there..."
"I will be fine. We are here, I'm not leaving until her game is over." So determined. I love this man...
We walked up to the field Faith would be playing on. Slowly. Very slowly.
"Do you want to stop and rest?"
"No, I don't need to." He's sweating as much as I am out here only he's also in a ton of pain from his incisions and is PROBABLY still nauseous and he wasn't NEED to stop and rest??!?!! Men!
Finally, we made it to the field Faith was on, and sat on the bench. Faith ran over to say hi to her daddy. The look on their faces was worth it all in my book, and I knew it was worth it to Danny. He would go through anything for Faith. It's one of the many qualities I fell in love with...
"Ohhh I see, you can come to the t-ball game but you can't come in to work. I see how it is..." OH NO HE DIDN'T....
Danny's boss (at the time) was there. His daughter played on Faith's t-ball team. I don't like two-faced people, so I REALLY disliked this man. If you're reading this and know who I'm talking about, I'm sorry if that offends you. But I will be honest about the people mentioned in this blog and everything that happened...
"Yeah, well the doctor said I can't work, so I'm not going to..." Danny was keeping his cool despite basically melting in the sun, being in pain, and dealing with this guy.  Danny was keeping his cool but that didn't mean I had to and I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
"Sitting on a bench watching a t-ball game is nothing like working with sheet metal and building up ductwork and all that..." That was as nice as I could be but still make my point...
"Mmmhmm... Just giving you a hard time." I hate when people are serious but try to play it off like they're joking. It's quite easy to read people, especially people like this guy...
"Well, how's golf? I see you've got quite the tan line from your golf shoes..." My laugh was genuine, I really thought it was funny that he found enough time to go play golf but thought he should say ANYTHING to Danny about missing work. Especially considering it was the doctor's decision, and Danny had never missed a single day before all of this.
"Ahhh, it's okay. Haven't had much time for the course lately..." Riiiight. That tan line begs to differ.
"Mmmm, that stinks."
His wife came over... SHE is super sweet and is really a good person.
"Hey Daniel, I heard all about your surgery and everything. Are you alright? I can't believe you're here, you've got to be miserable in this heat!"
"Yeah, it's not comfortable, but I wouldn't miss this last game... I still have all of these staples so that doesn't help."
"Oh I really can't believe you're here like that!! How many staples did they have to use?"
They talked quite a bit about the surgery and treatments. She cared and you could see it.
"I've been trying to get this guy in for a colonoscopy. He doesn't want to though. How old are you?"
"I'm 36... I really think everyone should get checked out as early as their doctor will agree to it, and especially if they have any symptoms." If only that first doctor had agreed to a colonoscopy... ugh!!!
They talked for a while and then the game started. Faith did GREAT, and then after the game all the girls ran all the bases. Faith ran them twice. She was so proud of herself for improving so much and for playing the whole season. Danny was practically beaming!
It felt like things were getting back to normal. Danny was still slow moving and wasn't feeling great, but we were out and about. He was happy, I was happy and Faith was happy. It's easy to stay positive when you're surrounded with so much happiness!!! I was ready to conquer the world, or at least help Danny conquer the chemo...


That's it for today. It's a shorter post than normal but that's because things slowed down during that week. Tomorrow I will write about Danny's follow up doctors appointments and the first time infertility was ever brought up...
Please read, follow, and SHARE!! Thanks everyone!!

Is she holding us hostage?!

It's Monday!! Back to blogging day :)
Some updates...
If you didn't sign on over the weekend, I put a post up even though it was the weekend. It wasn't part of our story, it was a fundraiser update! The Scentsy fundraiser is in full effect! Click on the Scentsy Fundraiser blog post on the right (under Blog Archive) to get the link if you're interested in ordering! We've gotten four orders as of this morning when I talked to Tonya. THANK YOU to the people who have ordered to far! :)

Also, our Donate button is certainly working!! We have reached $100 in donations (after
PayPal fees, we are at $95.89)!!! SO AMAZING!! I was not expecting to already have that in straight donations at ALL!! So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Laura, Kristy, and Trista!

I am trying to get a ticker on the right that will show our donations and who made them (unless you don't want your name listed, which is fine too!). Hopefully I will figure that out this week!

Our weekend was a busy one but a great one! I hope all of you had wonderful weekends too! I'm sure I missed thanking a few people for sharing our blog over the weekend, I will try to catch back up, but if I miss your post, THANK YOU for sharing!!
Now that I think I've updated everyone on everything I know... it's time to get on with our story :)


Saturday morning I woke up before Dr Hyder got there to check on Danny. I had a busy day planned! Hang out with Danny, go home and shower and get ready, and then go to my friend's wedding!! I was so excited for this friend, who I was very VERY close to when we wre younger and we'd lost touch over the years. We had found each other on Myspace just a couple of months before and realized we were planning our weddings just two weeks apart from each other! I remember making a mental note to text her and tell her Happy Wedding Day. But first, I needed to make sure Danny was healing up well and that Danny would be okay without me for a couple hours.We also knew that his labwork was done, but the nurse couldn't tell us what it said. As we waited we talked about the cruise, which Danny was looking forward to and Dr Hyder still approved of. Some of the excursions probably weren't a good idea anymore, like the zip line. Others were still on our list, like touring the Mayan ruins...
"GOOD morning newlyweds!!!" Bright and early, as usual. This doctor is very dedicated to all of his patients!!
Dr Hyder looked at Danny's incisions. Asked him how he'd been doing, if he'd been walking. If he thought he could try to eat some jello, then some regular food if that went okay. Danny was more than ready! Then... it was time for the chart....
"Okay, looks like your labwork is done. The tumor penetrated the outside wall of the colon, which we already knew. But didn't grow into any surrounding organs... Okay... the tumor was cancerous. Out of the twenty six lymph nodes we took, only ONE was involved. ZERO involved would have been perfect, but only one involved is GREAT news!!" GREAT NEWS?!??!! He's kidding, right?! How is that great news?! THIS IS NOT GREAT NEWS!!!
"So, after your cruise, we will set you all up to start chemo. I'm not sure if radiation will be necessary, that will be the oncologist's call. This all will just be preventative. We will put a port in as soon as you get back..." blah blah blah. I should be listening to this... but... CHEMO?!?! My husband, my YOUNG husband, is going to have to have CHEMO!?!?!?! Ahhhh!!!
After more talk, some questions, some explanation and some casual chit chat, Dr Hyder left. I looked at Danny and let one tear fall. Just one.
"What is that? You think that was bad news, don't you?" Uhhhh, duh!!!!
"Umm, yes. For one, it was cancer!!! And for two, you have to have CHEMO!!" Did he hear anything the doctor said?!
"Yes, I know. But he took TWENTY SIX nodes, and only ONE was involved. ONE. Des, you can NOT look at this like it's a bad thing. It could have been so much worse! And it's not. I will have to have chemo, but I will be fine." So positive... all the time. How is he so positive? That's my job, I should be the positive one. Really, he's right... It could be so much worse... So much worse....
I kissed my husband... my handsome husband who had already lost more weight than he should've. My amazing husband who was going to have to have chemo!! Ahhh!!!
"Okay, I'm going to go home and shower. And then I'm coming back here. I will stay positive over all of this, but I can't go to the wedding. I can't sit through a happy celebration and feel like I do. I don't want to ruin the fun time for them."
"Alright babe. Be careful on your way there and back."
And I was off... I got to the car, sat down, and sent that Happy Wedding Day text. Only I also included the fact that I wouldn't be there. That WE wouldn't be there. I told her why. I didn't want to ruin her day, but I had to tell her. I didn't want her thinking we were just too busy to come, or forgot. Her response was one that made me cry.
"Ohh Destiny. Thanks for thinking of me and texting me! It's okay that you can't come. Be with Danny. You both will be in our prayers." I have the best friends! Even friends that I lost touch with for years and years still know exactly what I need to hear. I needed her to understand, and she did. I needed her to not be annoyed or upset that we couldn't make it, and she was fine. And I know she really will pray for us, and her mom and dad will pray for us.
I stopped crying, I was okay! I could do this! If Danny could put that happy face on and be strong, so could I dang it! And he is still here. He is alive. He is okay! He will go through the treatments to prevent it from ever coming back. So we never have to deal with this again. And then we can get on with life...
The rest of that day and the next are a bit of a blur. More visitors. Some games on the laptop. An email to our wedding photographer explaining what was going on and that I would get that final payment to her asap. She replied almost immediately and told me not to rush it. She would be thinking about us and if we needed anything, to let her know. She had become so much more than just the lady that took our pictures!! I was so relieved she understood!!
Danny moved on from jello to regular food. He was walking like a champ... except slightly bent over. All those staples made it a bit uncomfortable! We didn't have any trouble with any other nurses. And Danny could go home on Monday!! He had to keep the drain in, because it was still draining too much for them to remove it. They wanted that infection completely out of him before we left the state for a week and a half. They taught Danny how to empty it and told him to make sure he measured how much they collected so they would know when it was okay to remove the drain.

And then it was Monday! Finally!! We had everything packed up and ready, we were just waiting on Dr Hyder to sign that wonderful piece of paper saying Danny could leave! And we waited. And waited. Every other day Dr Hyder was there bright and early, but not that day.
He finally got there and apologized for being so late. It was late afternoon and we had been sitting around for hours, expecting to leave any minute. Everything he had planned that day got a late start and ran too long. We completely understood. Going home wasn't as important as people's surgeries and such. Really, we would've waited even longer if we'd needed to. We were just happy to be going home!! Dr Hyder checked over Danny, and then signed that piece of paper!! WOOHOOO!!!! Now we just had to wait on the nurse!
Click click click click... Here come's someone... I wonder if it's the nurse, to check us out!!! Nope.....
"Hi. Daniel Crabb?" No... that's someone else sitting in that bed, still in a hospital gown... ugh...
"I'm _____ _______. I'm here to go over payment. Your insurance should cover blah blah blah" blah blah blah blah. I was only slightly paying attention. I was hungry, I was ready to go!!!
"So, I just need the $250 good faith payment and you'll be good to go!" THE WHAT?!?!! The lady had my attention now! Danny spoke up...
"Nobody told us we had to pay anything. And they definitely didn't tell us that we had to pay it TODAY."
"Well, I'll need to get the payment before you can leave today." What is this? Is she holding us hostage?!
"What if we don't have that $250?! This wasn't a surgery or stay that I chose. This wasn't an option. I didn't get plastic surgery because I wanted to look different or something. I had a surgery that saved my life. You're telling me that if I don't give you a check for money I don't have, that we can't leave?!" He just took the words right out of my mouth...
"I have to get the good faith payment..." This lady's job seriously stinks. I couldn't do what she does... I could NOT tell people, when they were planning on checking out and finally going home, that they can't until they wrote me a check... Time to speak up... I still had the cash in my purse from our wedding, gifts and the dollar dance and such. We'd planned on using it for stuff on the cruise... Slight change in plans! Thank goodness we hadn't had a chance to get to the bank!
"Danny, I've got it. We will just use cash from the wedding..."
"The wedding?" Oh now the lady wants to get to know us?!
"Yeah, we got married on the 13th. Then on the 18th found out he had a tumor. Then less than a week later we checked in here for the surgery. I haven't had a chance to go deposit this, which we were saving for our honeymoon. So here you go..." I handed her the money, even though it kind of hurt to do so.
"Gosh, now I feel guilty, taking this..." GUILTY?!?! You feel guilty NOW?! You didn't feel guilty about throwing that on us as we were planning to leave even though we had NO CLUE about this. But NOW you do?!?! This lady needs to get out of here...
"Can we get a paper showing we paid that please?" Danny thinks of everything! And I'm sure he noticed the death stare I was giving that lady.
"Yeah, I will be right back." And off she went.... Click click click. Man those heels are annoying.
I dug out the rest of the cash we had in our envelope. Added it up, then added it to the amount we had in checks. We still had enough to do the shore excursions we were most looking forward to, we would be okay.
The lady with annoying shoes came back with some paperwork and quickly left. And then in walked our favorite nurse!
"I'm so sorry it took so long! I had to help another nurse with a patient and it took quite a bit longer than I thought it would. So, it looks like you're all checked out and are good to go! I will go grab a wheelchair and then we will go over the instructions for the next few weeks again, and then I will see you off!" And she did...
We were on our way home and Danny told me to take it easy on the curves. I guess every jolt and bump wasn't helping him. I tried to ease up but I couldn't really change much... We went and picked up the pain meds he needed from the pharmacy by our house and then went home. As soon as we got there the real food on top of being in a car and in pain hit Danny... He threw up, caused an incision to bleed, and I began to wonder if we came home too early.... Maybe we should've stayed for another day or two??


Tomorrow I will write about the rest of that week. Please continue to read, follow, and SHARE! :) Don't forget about the donate button and the Scentsy fundraiser which is active now! :) Thanks everyone!!

Scentsy Fundraiser!!!

I woke up this morning to over 3,000 page views!! How awesome is that?!?!
I also woke up to a message from our friend Tonya (you may have seen her on the news locally and nationally this week, she got married on the baseball diamond here in Wichita!). The Scentsy fundraiser has begun!
It's basically just an online Scentsy party. You can go to her website (below) and order anything you want. It will be shipped to you, and the money she would normally make off of the sales, will go to our fund!!

If you don't know what Scentsy is, you're missing out! Check out the website, order some stuff, fall in love... I'm not even kidding, the scents are amazing!!!

 https://tonyagodinez.scentsy.us/Buy?partyId=68524875

A good nurse can make your day so much easier...

It's Friday!! YEA!! And in other good news, in case you haven't noticed (or seen my post from earlier today!) THE DONATE BUTTON IS BACK!!! PLEASE see my post about it. It's on the right in the Blog Archive :)
I don't have any fundraiser updates. The search is still on for a venue for the Game Night/Poker Tournament. If you have any tips or ideas about any fundraiser currently in the works or something entirely new, don't hesitate to bring it up! If you don't want to comment here, you can message us on Facebook.
I found all of these crazy (and cool!) stats about our blog today. We've had viewers in the US, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Belgium and India!! How cool is that?!?!
The weekend is here and I'm about to write today's post... I've been thinking about weekend blog posts. I know weekends are busy for us. Faith should be starting her ice skating lessons next Saturday and there are lots of family birthdays coming up, so we will be running non-stop. So, I don't think I will be writing on the weekends. Fridays yes, Saturdays and Sundays no. Since WE are so busy every weekend, I'm sure you all are too. Also, I need a break. I don't know how authors write as much as they do. This isn't a story that I have to make up or enhance in any way and it's still hard for me! I even had a case of "writer's block" yesterday and I'm not even sure how that's possible since all I'm doing is remembering and typing it out. The memories were there, but the sentences weren't flowing. I found myself distracted easily and the post took me much longer than it really should've. Breaking on the weekends just seems like the best option all around. So that's what I'll do. I hope my page views don't go down because of that. I'm sure the weekend is the time some people get caught up on reading (I have a book waiting for my attention currently) so I hope I get lots of views and shares even though there won't be anything new posted.

Ok... so... back to that medical center.
The next morning Dr Hyder showed up bright an early. He had checked on Danny the evening before and was happy. And he was happy this time too. It was Thursday, ONE WEEK from the day this all started.  Everything looked great, Danny was already healing well!
"The labwork should be back in a couple days. You can't eat anything until we are sure your bowels are working properly, in the meantime, how are you feeling?" He can't eat ANYTHING?!!?! This is a joke, right? He's gonna be skin and bones by the time this is all over. Poor Danny...
Danny was feeling fine. Some pain that was normal and that he felt he could handle. Dr Hyder advised him to try to stay ahead of the pain. And then he was off to make his rounds with his other patients.
I spent most of that day in the chair that I could scoot really close to Danny's bed. I wanted to be as close as possible without jostling him around.
We had the tv on some news channel and there was breaking news. Farrah Fawcett passed away?! What?!?! Wow, that puts things in perspective... It sucks that we are here, having to go through this all when we haven't even been married for two weeks, but my husband is still here. He is alive. He is holding my hand and can still tell me he loves me.
The day nurse was another great one. I remember Danny mentioning that he hoped we could always have the same day nurse and night nurse since we'd lucked out with some great ones... I should've had him knock on some wood!!
That day there was another celebrity death... Michael Jackson... I still remember NOT believing it. I sent a text to Wendy, she's such a huge fan. Danny and I spent the rest of the day watching all of the TV specials on Fawcett and Jackson. Some friends and family came up to visit, and it felt like a very lazy day which was fine with me.
That night was the worst.... THE WORST... I got back from letting Kira out and the doors were shut and locked. I had to go in through the emergency room and then didn't know where I was. Ugh, I just wanted to get back to Danny!! When I eventually got back to an area I recognized I seen that our favorite night nurse had the night off. Well, that stinks... I'm sure this nurse will be great too though, since they've all seemed so wonderful here...
Ha!!! Sometimes being optimistic just sets you up for disappointment!!
That night Danny couldn't get comfortable. He was shifting around, trying to do SOMETHING different so he could relax. He was sore and in a bit of pain from the incisions but he was REALLY suffering from back pain.
"I've never felt like this before. I need something. I don't know what, but I need something." I hate seeing him like this... I wish I could take some of that pain away myself... Where is our nurse?! We paged her five minutes ago and she only has one other patient.
I opened our door and looked down the hall. Our nurse was assigned to us and the person across the hall from us. Her door was open and she was snoring. Okay, the nurse isn't in there. Maybe she's in the bathroom... The lady that answered when we pushed the button said our nurse would be right there... She's gotta be in the bathroom or something. If she was on her lunch break they would send a different nurse down. Our favorite night nurse explained that all to us... So why are we waiting?!?!
Eventually our nurse showed up. I was so mad, we'd been waiting 30 minutes! Thirty minutes of EXTREME pain for my husband.
"What seems to be the problem?" Uhhhh, did nobody TELL you what was going on? Hmm... maybe not.... maybe this long wait is the lady at the desk's fault...
"He's in some serious pain. His back is killing him, really. He can handle pain really well, and he's been hitting the pain medicine button on time, and he shouldn't be feeling like this..." She had Danny sit up. She touched his back in different areas, trying to pinpoint where the pain was radiating from. She decided it was his lower back, just like he'd said a moment before.
"Okay well... Umm... I'll be right back." Deep breaths... Do not blow up on this nurse that seems completely clueless.... She may come back with a solution.... If she ever comes back. WHERE IS SHE?!?!?! She has been gone for twenty minutes... Twenty more minutes of pain for my husband... Oh, I hear her shoes... here she comes...
"Okay I checked your chart and you're getting the right amount of pain medicine... So... I brought you this." She handed me a cup, the kind of cup you put ketchup in at fast food restaurants... a cup of flippin' LOTION. Lotion?!?!?! ARE  YOU KIDDING ME LADY?!?!?! The look I gave her must have spoken the words I didn't.
"It's to rub his back." RUB HIS BACK?!?!?! You think this can be solved with a FLIPPIN' BACK RUB!!! And off she went... To do who knows what...
I was beyond furious. I was so mad I was shaking and in tears. You know I've reached my boiling point when I've got tears. Because, just like everything else, anger makes me cry. And crying out of anger just makes me more mad. I dumped that cup of lotion into my hands and walked around the bed so I could reach Danny's back.
"Babe you don't have to do that, it's not going to help."
"The nurse said to do this, so I'm doing it. I know it's not going to help, you know it's not going to help, but that lady seems to think it will. Maybe there's something SPECIAL about this lotion..."
I rubbed his back, and guess what... It didn't help. Danny was tired of trying to get the nurse to understand that the pain was seriously intense. I was tired of talking to a brick wall, oh wait, that brick wall WAS the nurse. We both just decided to try to sleep.

The next morning I woke up to Dr Hyder's voice. He was trying to be quiet but that voice was what I had been wanting and needing to hear since Danny's pain started so it woke me up. Danny was already awake and Dr Hyder was checking his incisions and his chart. They both seen me sit up and they both told me good morning.
"Mornin'. Dr Hyder, Danny was in some serious pain last night... It's his lower back. It's not normal. He never ever has back pain, not like that." I decided to leave out the fact that the nurse had told me to RUB HIS BACK and that would make it better.
He had Danny sit up and he pushed around on his lower back, to pinpoint where the pain had been coming from.
"Hmmm. Nobody called me about that. The pain is likely from tension in the muscles from the surgery." He explained how he was laying on the table during the surgery. They had to tilt the table a certain way and they did this and they did that.
"It's quite normal after this type of surgery. I'm adding a muscle relaxer to the list of medications so its there if the pain comes back." IT'S QUITE NORMAL?!?!?! It's normal but this nurse didn't think to call and get an approval for a muscles relaxer??? Ahhhh, we better never have that nurse again!! Oh look who it is...
The nurse walked in, seemed a bit startled at the sight of Dr Hyder. I'm not sure where she was when he came in, since her desk is right outside of our door and he would've walked right past it, and I could see she didn't come out of the room across the hall.
"Good morning Dr Hyder. While you're here, Daniel was experiencing some back pain last night. I gave them some lotion so she could rub his back but that didn't seem to help." Ha!! The look on Danny's face is PRICELESS.
"Right, well, they already told me about the pain. I've added _____ to his chart for that. It's from ______" I don't remember those big words that meant nothing to me, sorry about that. But I remember I was impressed that Dr Hyder's face didn't match Danny's.
Dr Hyder left to get on with his rounds of other patients and I told Danny that I would do anything I could to make sure we do NOT get that nurse ever again.
If you're reading this and you're a nurse, please understand I'm not bagging on this lady just because. I know quite a few nurses and I love and adore them and I do NOT believe for a second that they would suggest a BACK RUB instead of just calling the doctor, at 8pm, for such intense back pain! I could understand the wait we had initially, assuming she was in the restroom or otherwise on some sort of break. But the rest is not okay with me. Just writing about this today is making my blood boil again. A good nurse can make your day so much easier. A bad nurse can make your day SO MUCH WORSE.

Danny had more visitors that day. His brother and sister in law offered to let us use their laptop since we would be there for a while and could really use a computer. It was basically an uneventful day, but at least we had a good day time nures.
That evening I was prepared to see the awful nurse again, and I was prepared to tell whoever her boss was that we didn't want her! But, we didn't have to. WE GOT OUR FAVE NIGHT NURSE!!! Whoop whoop!! It's probably sad to be that excited over who our nurse is, but hey, I was!
"How are you guys doing? Did you have an okay night last night?" Hahahaha FUNNY!!!
We told her all about the night before. And the lotion and back rub.
"She gave you lotion? To rub his back????" I told her I never want to have that nurse again. EVER. She wrote some stuff in his chart and said she would tell her supervisor. We then chatted about the day before, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson. I loved this nurse.
"Ok it's time for your nausea medicine Danny... Why did they switch this IV?" The nurse the night before had insisted on one IV on each arm instead of allowing them to be linked so he only had one pole to walk around with.
"What the heck was she thinking?!?! Oh my gosh. I'm so so sorry about all of this. Let's get you switched back to the way you're supposed to be set up." It's so nice to have a good nurse again...
Danny got up to do some walking and made it quite far before getting tired. The back pain started to kick in and the awesome nurse gave him the proper med. We both got some great sleep that night!

I planned on writing about that Saturday also, but I have decided that it's probably best to write about the rest of our days at the medical center in a separate post. I didn't expect today's post to be as long as it is, I'm definitely not suffering from writer's block today!
As usual, THANK YOU for reading. Please come back on Monday for more, and also please share, follow, etc. :)