Some Light at the End of the Tunnel

I was back in the ER last night beause my pain has become unmanageable. I couldn't get comfortable in any position sitting, standing, or laying down. Luckily the ER doctor that had originally seen me on November 23rd and had referred me to a neurosurgeon was there and very frustrated that it had been 4 weeks since he saw me and that I STILL had not been seen by the specialist. He called over to the neurosurgeon's office and talked to a different neurosurgeon this time. Once he explained what was going on, the surgeon said he wanted me to call the office the next morning and would make sure I got an apt Monday or Tuesday. I called this morning and cringed expecting the same cranky receptionist to tell me I would have to wait and "we can't make an apt till your doctor reviews your cast....stop bothering to call. Instead, I met no resistance, she still had quite an attitude, but she put me right through to the nurse. When I spoke to the nurse she said that Dr. Tolbert had called his office and let them know I would be calling and that they were to make me an apt. I was actually able to get an apt tomorrow at 2:15. About time!! I WON'T be  seeing Surgeon "I am too busy to make you a priority, who cares about your pain!"  I WILL be seeing Surgeon "Wow you need to be seen as soon as possible!" I like the second surgeon he agrees with me and my ER doctor. Guess being the squeaky wheel over and over has finally paid off. Yet another Christmas Miracle!

Updates

A lot of people have been asking for updates, so if you are one of those people, here are the updates on my back and deployment etc...

I am still waiting to see the neurosurgeon about my torn L-5/S-1 disc in my back. My case was submitted to him on December 3rd and his office staff is not allowed to make me an apt until he reviews my case. Which he still has not done. It has now been 4 weeks since my back was injured and everyday I feel like I gain a little more movement, but I still cannot sit or stand very long with pains shooting down my legs into my feet or having my lower legs go numb or my back cramp up. I also cannot bend over or pick up things. (Not very conducive to being a busy mom of 5 kids with a house to run) Thank goodness my mom is still here, she has been my cleaning, cooking, and childcare angel! Don also going to be home for the rest of the month on Christmas break leave starting Monday.

In other news, Don was suppose to be deploying in a few weeks, but we had a Christmas Miracle, before he was put on the deployment list, he was on assignment to PCS or move to Ft. Hood, Texas in April. His chain of command got a call telling them that his PCS was more of a priority than the deployment because Ft. Hood is understrengthed for Don's Army Job. So he is officially off the list and we are moving in April as a family in April. Hallelujah!

That is all for now, I will update more as I know more. Thanks to all for your prayers, support, and love! I appreciate it more than you know. :)

My Decision to have Family Home Evening

I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or also known as the "Mormons". In our church they encourage us as families to hold a weekly "Family Home Evening", one night a week where we stop running in 5 million different directions, assemble together, turn off electronics and just spend time as a family. For a long time I fought against this. For my husband and myself when we were growing up in our individual families, we referred to FHE as "family fight night". It happened irregularly and we always fought against it when our parents tried to do it. This may have been some of my hesitation in holding them in my own home. But every time I turned around it seemed, I just kept hearing 3 basic things that were supposed to be doing to strengthen our families. 1-Pray together as a family. 2-Read scriptures together as a family. 3-Hold weekly Family Home Evenings. Well I would say to myself, we are doing 1 & 2...2 out of 3 is not bad. But then I started asking myself, why I am not doing all 3? Don't I need all the help I can get to strengthen my family and my children in a world where families are falling apart?

So I made the decision a few months ago to start holding them. Tonight's was a short sweet lesson on Being a Child of God and an individual. I showed my children this clip from mormon.org: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages/topics/children?v=1101413030001

After watching the video I asked my children? Did you see how many different people were in this video? People with different colors of skin, people old and young, people that spoke different languages (even sign language) my 8 year old pointed out. Then I asked what did all these people have in common? They are all children of God. Then I asked have you ever noticed snowflakes? How they are all different? Yet each one is beautiful and unique. I encouraged my children to look for the good in other people, even people they maybe didn't get along with, to try and appreciate that we are all Children of God and have our own talents and abilities, strengths and weaknesses. What a boring world this would be if we were all the same? We practiced finding good in others by throwing a ball back and forth to each other and who ever caught the ball had to say something they liked about someone else in the room. My children range in age from 10 years down to 3 months, so not all of them understood, but I think they all genuinely enjoyed the time we spent together. We finished off by making snowflakes and taped them to the windows, you can see how unique they each are. It may be "Spring" outside, but inside our house snowflakes are falling and our love is growing.

My children eat up this time we spend together. I have seen the peace and the blessings it has brought into our home. They may be too small to remember the spiritual lessons or to remember much about what was said, but I am hoping more importantly they will remember how they felt. They will understand that our family loves each other and enjoys spending time together. Those are just some of the reasons I am glad I made the choice to hold Family Home Evenings and plan on making it a continuing tradition in our home for years to come.