"Live with hope, deal with reality."

This is a quote on little Andrea's Caring Bridge website. Andrea attends the Day Care my cousin owns. She was diagnosed with 'infantile spasms' when she was five months old. This diagnosis basically means that she has several seizures a day, which has led to many problems physically & developmentally.

Andrea has made improvements since I first met her. She is now following people with her eyes a little better & is not as rigid when you pick her up to hold her. On Thursday, I stopped by the Day Care to visit Teri, Luke, & Zach--and of course while I am there, I love to go to the baby room & hold the babies! It is a tough job, but someone has to do it! (SMILE) Teri showed me a 'Build-A-Bear' that three of the girls who work in the babies' room made. It was amazing. They built a bear, named Lashes (after Andrea's beautiful long lashes), and painted a helmet for the bear that looks like the one Andrea has to wear for her seizures. It was so heartwarming--and tear provoking. It was just the sweetest thought & gesture. And people say the world is a bad place? This was proof that there is still so much goodness & hope present. I took some pictures of the bear & Andrea's helmet & Andrea with the bear. On Friday, Andrea was supposed to received a g-button, which is a fairly new feeding tube that is available. This will provide her with the nutrition she has been lacking & will hopefully boost her progress. Andrea's family is obviously an amazingly strong one. They have been through a great deal this past year--& they have a long road ahead of them. I am sure they would appreciate any prayers that you send their way. Andrea's family has a website to keep everyone posted on the latest happenings of Andrea. That website is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andreadanielle

Here is a picture of Lashes & Andrea's helmet

I am sure if you would like to visit the website & leave a note of encouragement, the family would appreciate it. I know Teri has gotten very attached to Andrea--how could you not fall in love with her? I also know that when I'm having a bad day, one of my favorite things to do is to go to the baby room & rock babies & play with them--especially Hobbs, Claire, & Andrea!!! My prayers are with Andrea, her family, & the doctors.

Today I spent a majority of the day in the library studying Genetics. I had no idea how much math Genetics would entail. Most of the problems so far deal with a lot of probability. It has been awhile since I've used that kind of math, but I am working hard to try & become more efficient with it. It was nice to see other people in the library so I didn't feel so alone studying on a Saturday when the sun was shining! (smile) SLinda, you'd be proud!

I got a report back from the doc. Turns out that I'm anemic & my nutrition is not so great. SO--they put me on old people vitamins--yep, that's right, I'm now on Geritol vitamins twice a day! (And as Sharon reminded me, no one in the Geritol commericals are under 65--haha). This is what I get for always saying how much I love old people! (SMILE) We will see what this does for me & test the blood again in a few weeks. I am actually happy about the results for two reasons: (1) I now know why I've been so exhausted lately--its not just me (2) It could be a lot worse & we should be able to correct it with increasing my vitamin intake. Anemia & malnutrition were side effects of the surgery that they warned us about--of course, you all know me, I don't like to pass up anything! (SMILE)

I'm also on a strict diet. They had me look up specific diets on-line for "dumping syndrome" which is actually a real medical diagnosis, with a not so medical (or pleasant) name. So,I am doing my best to stick with it. Dr. Baker has been encouraging me to try & eat more, but it is very difficult when almost everytime you eat, you feel nauseated or get sick. But, I am learning what foods to eliminate to ease it a bit & how to cope when it happens since it causes your body to go in a 'shock-like' state. It also turns out that my hypoglycemia attack is also a side effect of the 'dumping syndrome.' My body absorbs the sugar too fast, therefore, increasing my insulin levels too high, which then leaves me with virtually no or very little sugar, thus, the hypoglycemia episodes. So, we are learning how to deal with those too. I now know why the doctors fiddled around trying less invasive procedures to fix my blockage for so long & I appreciate them trying to prevent the inevitable. They were right when they said "it's a major surgery with potential lifelong consequences." They did what they could, but it had to be done. So, now we just deal with comes our way--and we can. All I can do is give it my best & see what happens from there.

I love the quote Andrea's mom has on her blog "Live with hope, deal with reality." I cannot imagine the reality she is dealing with-they must be saints. I think I can also use this quote for my life too--I'll live with hope & deal with the reailty. Maybe that is something we can all live by--afterall, it's what we all have to do to get through anything.

So, may you all be filled with nothing but hope! And the strength to deal with reality!

Goodnight.

Me & Luke on Thursday! (while I was visiting the Day Care). I just love this kid.