http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee recent pleonast.com entries by user neenee en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=616738 I guess I'm a week late, but my time has been very productive as of late which means I've not been on pleonast as much! We've had quite an eventful year, I'd say. We celebrated our first anniversary! Of course that was not too long after Dan's big surgery, so our celebration consisted of a nice date at O'Charlie's. We also got our first niece this year. It's been full of excitements. In April, we started noticing something was wrong with Dan's abdomen, so we started seeking some medical advice. We were sent to a few different doctors till we landed at Vandy. Nobody knew exactly what that "thing" was on the CT scan, but they knew it had to come out! Surgery was Aug 15 and went very well. They did have to take a small part of his bladder along with some muscle the mass grew through. Thankfully, all was benign; it was just a big mess of tissue in there. No further treatments or surgeries!! This was such a blessing from God. Plastic surgery had to put him back together, but th... 2009-01-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=610024 "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, *a tender heart*, and a humble mind." - 1 Pet 3:8 Some people think that being tenderhearted is being weak or that it somehow makes them have less of a backbone. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our hearts need to be broken by the same things that broke Jesus' heart. He cried at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:35). He was concerned about the spiritual welfare of Jerusalem (Matt 23:37) and of the multitudes (Matt 9:36). Our hearts need to be troubled by sin. We need to be touched by those who are hurting physically. This doesn't make us weak; it makes us to be like Jesus. And *that* makes us stronger. We're heading North at the end of the week to see the Casebolts and have our holiday celebration. Then West it will be from there to see Dan's family out in K.C. I'm so glad I get so much time off of work to see our family. Not all are so blessed. Let's just hope the weather holds out for us!! 2008-12-16 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=604442 Take a look at our Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. :) 2008-11-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=603310 A turkey sat on a backyard fence and he sang this sad sad tune: "Thanksgiving Day is coming Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble and I Know I'll be eaten soo-oon Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble I would like to run away-ay-ay Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble Gobble I don't like Thanksgiving Day!" This was a song my Daddy learned in elementary school and he sang to us as children. Maybe I can teach it to Mackenna. Lord willing, we're headed toward Indy in the morning packing more food than clothes. :) It will be a quick trip but it's all about the family time. I don't like having my family far away. It's good to have just enough breathing space, but I just don't get to see them as much as I like. Right now I really miss my mother-in-law and would love to give her a big hug. It aches that I can't do that. I miss my little nephews hollering out for "Dannel" to read them a book. Not to mention, I have grandparents I haven't seen in >2 years. I... 2008-11-26 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=600620 Ok, so we might have made a big mistake last night. Last night it was snow-flurrying and we *both* (don't let him tell you other wise) felt sorry for the little frozen fur-balls outside. So we warmed them up in the laundry room. Well, Dan thought they might get into too much stuff in there, so he suggested putting them in the spare bathroom. First, Dan went down and completely gutted the bathroom. We walk in with the kitties and the room echoed! I told him they wouldn't get into just regular bathroom stuff. (And they don't eat soap!) But he was hesitant to put the toilet paper back on the roller. I have never had a cat play with toilet paper before. I made them a little litter box while Dan brought in their food and water. We gave them a little basket with towels to sleep in. We had to block the bathroom door as Chloe could crawl underneath it. They started playing with each other and seemed perfectly happy. (Except for the fact that Lola would really rather us just stay in there.... 2008-11-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=598156 Please pray for Mackenna Mae today. She gets to go home (if all goes according to plan) sometime this afternoon! Thank God for answered prayers. 2008-11-11 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=597709 I kept telling Kristopher, "Before you know it, you're going to have that little girl in a car seat headed home!" Well, Lord willing, that time is near. They're talking about letting her go home on Tuesday! Her O2 levels have been great (except for a brief bout on Saturday) and she has no supplement to help her breathe. Her biggest struggle is taking her feedings by mouth, but she has been drinking about half of it by mouth! The rest has to go in through a tube because she gets so tuckered out, so she will be going home with that. Kristopher and Tiffany have been taking turns practicing putting it in and out. We are so thankful for what God has done for our little baby. We're also very thankful for all the prayers going up on her behalf. Our Christian friends have show that the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. Sugar, spice, everything nice, and answered prayers. That's what our little girl is made of. :) Mondays are always hard for me. I get to spend more tim... 2008-11-10 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591867 I talked with Momma after evening services and they took Mackenna back off the ventilator!! She is doing pretty well. She is doing some breathing treatments and VapoTherm (a continual flow of moisturized warm air through her nasal cannula). It makes it a little easier for her to breathe. They also took her off her sedative medications. They will give her a dose periodically if she gets rather rambunctious. Kristopher also said that her color is looking wonderful today. Pretty pink, just what babies should be! Praise God! Every now and then you hear a sermon that can positively change your life. Now, will you let it? Sometimes life changes are difficult to make. We think, "Oh, when things get better" or "When I have more time" or "When we pay this off I can cut back my hours at work..." etc. When will we stop dreaming about how we want life to be and just DO IT ALREADY! Two souls were brought to the Lord today. Both are Christians repenting of past sin... 2008-10-27 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591594 I received a couple calls this afternoon from my daddy and my brother. Mackenna has taken a step back today. She went into cardiopulmonary crisis probably due to pulmonary hypertension. Now in English for those of you who don't speak Medical terminology, ;) her blood pressure got so high in the blood vessels that go from her heart to her lungs, that her heart stopped pumping effectively. She started fussing, then sweating profusely, then started turning blue. Their nurse was EXCELLENT in catching the signs and called the team in immediately. The result: Mackenna is back on the ventilator, on oxygen and nitric oxide, and sedative meds again. The cardiologist said this is an "expected" happening after pediatric heart surgery. However, after her surgery in about 6 months, it shouldn't happen again. We've known for a long time that Mackenna's progress would be two steps forward, one step back. Even though we expect the steps back, they are still hard for us to watch. Please ... 2008-10-25 http://www.pleonast.com/user/neenee?l=5&entryID=591313 I have had a day with quite a few ups and downs. My biggest UP was that Mackenna was taken off the ventilator today and she is doing excellent! She was a bit fussy after they took it out, so they let Tiffany hold her and she calmed right down. She just needed her Momma. They were going to resume her breast milk feedings sometime today (they had to hold them for a few hours before they removed the vent tubes). GREAT news! This baby is our little Blessings Baby. We can see so many Blessing from God through her! My biggest DOWN was being chewed out for 20 minutes by a patient that didn't know what he was talking about - and it was about nothing I could control. But boy, he deflated me. this is dan cutting in: i love my wife!!!! and now back to your regularly scheduled programming... Another UP. ^^I love my husband. :) DOWN - I'm sick. I'm not sure with what. I have nothing but vague symptoms. All I know is that I have a fever of 100* and I won't get to walk in the 5K race tomorrow. ... 2008-10-24