Home again

Mom, Melanie and I got back last night from our jaunt to Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. My elbow surgery was a little more uncomfortable than I had hoped but I'm doing great besides being a little sore, black and blue. I had to bring a therapy machine home with me that is the size of a small fork lift. We really had to do some tricky packing to get it in the car with all of our other luggage. It's now in the middle of our Living room because it doesn't fit anywhere else.
All in all we had a great trip. God answered those prayers to keep us safe, healthy and out of trouble.......although........for a really interesting story.....ask Melanie about driving at night near Des Moines, the Exit, the Atlas, her cell phone in the median and the scary twist of fate that put me in the drivers seat for a while!!!! :0

While we were gone we had some news that Dot (my sister-in-laws Grandmother that lives with Jeff & Donna) had a really bad fall out their back door and broke her hip and her upper femur bone. At some point...before or after....she had a heart attack. She now has had surgery and is in serious condition. We would appreciate prayers for her. She is very special to her whole family as well as ours.
She is such a precious person.

Bo is taking off a few days from job hunting and going with some friends to Albuquerque, NM to go hiking.
Shelby is looking forward to their trip to Bavaria on Sunday to see the castle that Disney fashioned Cinderella's castle after. I believe they will will see another castle or two while there. I'm SO jealous!
Savannah is....just......being Savannah! :)
Thanks for the prayers! Hope all is well with y'all love!

It's mid July and Savannah is doing GREAT!....aside from getting robbed 2 times in one week! First- her IPhone then- her purse......both were found THANK GOODNESS!
NIH just scheduled her for her next visit the 4th & 5th of August. They will do all the normal scans etc... and we expect to hear that she is totally cancer free.

I am leaving in the morning after church to head back to Mayo for my elbow surgery.
Mom (Daisy) and Melanie (my cousin) will be going with me. Your prayers would be appreciated since I have never even seen the doctor that will be performing the surgery. The only thing he has seen of me is an xray of my arm. I see him Tuesday and will have the surgery on Wednesday. It's "probable" that I will be without pain and have full range of motion when fully recovered. :)

Shelby is living it up in Germany with Corinna (our former exchange student) and her family. She loves it there and says the architecture and history is just amazing. She has already visited a castle or two and seen the Catholic Cathedral in Paderborn. I'M SO JEALOUS!!!! She has been attending school with Corinna for the last 2 weeks but now that their school is out, I think they have some big plans......not sure what they are......it's probably best that I don't know! :)
She will be returning the last day of July. We miss her a bunch......as well as Kim, Megan & Laura and all of our other girls that don't come around unless Shelby's here!
She is trying to post pictures on facebook if anyone is interested.

Bo and Savannah are looking for jobs (again). They will also still be going to school in the Fall so if you hear of anything - please let us know!

Again we would appreciate your prayers for safe travel, good weather,successful surgery, pain-free recovery OR really good drugs and wisdom for the doctors and staff.
Thanks so much! love you ALL!

BTW - SALE at Fayetteville Trading Post - Look at their Face Book page and mention it at the register for 20% off anything in our Sassy Salvage booth.
We have new items weekly so check them out......they're Fun, Funky and perfect for putting the finishing touch in your decor.

We're also running a 20% off sale at Daisie's and Olive's in Prairie Grove and at The Treasure Chest in Lincoln.

IT'S AFFORDABLE CHIC !!!!!

Savannah has been home a little over a week and a half and is doing great! Of course she still has some pain due to surgery but otherwise she is getting around like usual only a bit slower. She says the only time she has to take her pain pills is when she is around Shelby or me. She says we make her laugh too much and it hurts her. ??? It's not like we're trying to make her laugh...... is she saying we're stupid or something????? surely not :)
While she was in Bethesda, Savannah got a cute, sassy little haircut that looks adorable. She could have gotten the same "do" here but of course it's much more trendy if you pay triple the price while you're out of town......right???
For the moment, all is well with the fam...Bo found a job, Shelby is getting ready for her trip to Germany, I'm preparing for VBS Crafts (june 21-25) and Danny is staying busy working and trying to keep up with yard work etc.....plus a little fishing here and there. And as always - Savannah lives in Savannah-land where everything is always wonderful. love!

Surgery Update

Savannah was supposed to be in surgery around 10am this morning but they were running late in O R... so... in true "Savannah Land" style, she was taking it easy, basking in the glow of "Hot Doctors" morning visit. I know she wasn't looking forward to surgery but hey.....a girl does what she has to do to get near the man of her dreams!!! She wasn't exactly dreading it.
After several phone calls back and forth, Danny finally called me at 1:15pm and said she was on her way down and it would take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. 4 hours later she was just coming out. Wheeeewwwww! rough day waiting around.
They were able to make 3 or 4 smaller incisions instead of the really big one they first thought.
Everything went well except that when they removed her spleen, they found many more tumors in it than they had suspected. Thank God it is out of there!!! AND there were no more surprises.
Danny said she probably will be too drugged up to talk to me tonight so I'm trying to be patient :)
Tomorrow they will start her on jello and drinks so maybe she can get some of her strength back.

I would like to Thank everyone who has been praying for her all along. It's so comforting knowing there are so many others talking to God on her behalf.

A year ago tomorrow Danny and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary in Bethesda because Savannah was in treatment. This year we'll be celebrating separately but I will be here for Daddy's birthday (which is tomorrow) so.....party either way!!!!!! :)

SURPRISE!!! Savannah just called. She sounded good - but drugged up!
She said she is hurting right now and is not as loopy as she'd like to be but they have given her a button to press to release pain meds into her IV so she is in control of the drugs.....uhooooh!!! :)......look out "hot doctor"!!!
We would appreciate the continued prayers for a quick recovery without infections etc.... Thanks love!

So....Danny and Savannah left this morning at around 6am for NIH. Their flight was delayed a few minutes due to severe fog in NWA. When they were approaching the runway in Chicago, they were headed down but all of a sudden the pilot pulled the plane back up. It seems the plane in front of them hit some birds and it made a big mess. They had to circle the airport til the runway was cleaned and cleared.
Both of these delays ( plus the mile trek to her gate at the other end of the airport) should have made Savannah miss her flight, but once again, God had everything under control. As she was walking up they were just shutting the door and let her sneak in. Danny had a flight one hour later so he was there just in time.
Once in DC, Savannah made the shuttle to NIH but of course since Danny's flight was later, he had to catch the metro into Bethesda.
Savannah went straight to NIH and got admitted and prepped etc....
Danny got checked into SAFRA House. They were both going to turn in early.
Savannah is 2nd on the surgery schedule so they estimate she will go in about 10am or so. Danny has strict orders to call me as soon as she wakes up!
I thought I would be ok with not being there but it's killing me! What was I thinking? Although, Danny has it all under control and he is wonderful with her so I just need to give it up and pray!!! :)
We would appreciate all your prayers! Love and Thanks to all!!

Update on Savannah

SORRY! I would have updated much sooner if Melanie or I had taken a laptop with us on the trip. It's not fun being without technology....even if you don't know how to use it most of the time. :)
Once again, God is so good and kind and gracious and merciful.......
Savannah is going to require surgery on May 18th. They will be removing her spleen and one of her adrenal glands. They said that those two spots were different than all the other cells and didn't respond to the TIL Therapy. The good news is that after they remove the organs, she will be cancer free! They said they combed the scans over and over and there was no trace of anything else. We are SO thankful for this good news! The surgery is not really major....they said if she was at home she would only be in the hospital for 3 or 4 days. Since she has to travel home they will keep her a few days longer so they told us to plan on 5 - 7 days or so.
I think Danny will be going with her this time due to the fact that 1 plane ticket is cheaper than two- AND- I still haven't recovered from my 2 week jaunt from Minnesota to Maryland back to Arkansas and all places in between. It was SOOOO much fun hanging out with Melanie again (just like old times) but we are both worn out from all the traveling. I feel like I will never get caught up again with the mail, paper work, flea market stuff and sleep!
Mel and I kept a journal of our travels so as soon as I can get time I'm going to put a few stories on the blog.
Please keep Savannah and ALL of us in your prayers!
Thanks so much! Love y'all! OXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Road tripping AGAIN!

Getting ready to leave town is always crazy but when you don't know how long you'll be gone it's even more NUTS! Tuesday morning, My cousin Melanie and I will be heading out for Rochester Minnesota for my appointment at the Mayo Clinic. I haven't been there for a few years and need to check out my "condition" to see if it has progressed and if I'm on enough medication etc....I think I'll only be there through Friday, unless they hold me over the weekend for more tests on Monday.
THEN...we'll drive from MN to Bethesda, MD to meet Savannah for her NIH appointment. She will flying out from XNA on Sunday the 25th. Hopefully we will all arrive around the same time....SAFE and HEALTHY! Savannah will have her tests on Monday 26th and clinic on Tuesday. That's when they will tell us if she needs her spleen removed or not. If not, we will be on our way back home on Wednesday. If she does require surgery, we will be there for at least 5 to 7 more days. Please pray that there will be no trace of cancer in her body.
One good thing about all of this is that Melanie and I are going to get a lot of quality time together....( melanie, I apologize ahead of time ) We haven't been on a long road trip since the last time she and Carla took me to Mayo. I'm thinking that was in 2001 or 02. Anyway, as sick as I was, I still remember how much fun we all had together. There's nothing like time spent with the cousin's.
It makes for new material for family story times. LOL! Kidddd!
Besides praying for Savannah's health....we would appreciate your prayers for safe travel, good diagnosis for me, continued health for Melanie( since she will be the one driving the most) and NO CAR TROUBLE! :)
Thanks to everyone! We love and appreciate all of you!

Don't forget to shop our Sassy Salvage booths at Fayetteville Trading Post in Fayetteville, Daisie's & Olive's in Prairie Grove and The Treasure Chest in Lincoln. We will do custom and specialty pieces. We also offer Home Staging and complete Interior Design services....(on ANY budget)
New home phone # 445-6171
cell # 871-0749
Linda # 409-3874