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| Front Entry |
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| Half-bath on main level |
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| Living room, right off eat-in kitchen |
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| Looking back at entry. Office is through the french doors and kitchen to the left behind the couch |
Sunday, October 27, 2013
A Glimpse of Home
Found a few pics that I took awhile back of the new house....I'll post these now, and finish taking the rest this week!
Well, that's all I have so far. I think I took these pics during nap time one day and then never finished the project! More to come!
Friday, October 25, 2013
The Secret Lives of the Fischers
There is a lot of information that I have wanted to share with friends in recent months, but haven't had the time or energy to do so.
So I decided I would do it this way. Get all the information out there at once.
We had been living in Champaign for about 3 weeks when I got the opportunity to take a weekend visit to Ames with some friends while Brandon and the kids stayed in Illinois. I had a great weekend and returned home Sunday night to a family that seemed just as happy and healthy as when I left them.
Turns out, it was that weekend that Brandon started having headaches. They would come and go, but never fully be gone. As the days went on, his headaches got worse and he started having other symptoms too. He had aches in his neck and shoulders and a tingling sensation that went from the base of his neck up into his forehead. He got adjusted, but that didn't help. In fact anything we tried did not help, and the symptoms were becoming harsher and would stick around longer. They stopped "coming and going" and just stayed. His symptom list grew and grew and with all these health issues, it really started to affect his mood and ability to be the father and husband he wanted to be. He felt sick to his stomach, his limbs would tingle and go numb, he would feel dizzy, and the list goes on. His days were spent sleeping and resting as much as possible.
His boss, who has brain cancer, told him that those were the same symptoms he experienced when he first found out about his illness, which caused a little worry in Brandon's mind....so much so that once he started looking into his symptoms, he decided to go to see a doctor about getting a CAT scan. Insurance actually called for an MRI, which is more "powerful."
He got his MRI on a Friday and we were told the results would be back within 3-5 business days. That weekend was a challenging one as Brandon battled thoughts of cancer and what that would mean for his growing family. I did not let myself think the worst as it could have been a number of things causing his symptoms and it would do no good for me to worry about something so unknown.
The following Monday, Brandon got a call that the MRI results were back. Now, we weren't expecting a call till Wednesday at the EARLIEST, so hearing back from the doctor so quickly made Brandon fear the worst.
Turns out, they did find a mass in his brain called a Cavernous Malformation. It's a mass of blood vessels that have been formed incorrectly and something that he has most likely had since birth. These blood vessels can be prone to leaking (bleeding on the brain) or they can go on undected with no problems for an entire lifetime.
Brandon was referred to a neurologist and a neurosurgeon to discuss the details of the diagnosis and the treatment moving forward.
His boss gave him the following week off of work as he started on a medication that would most likely take a week to get adjusted to. And boy, it sure did. I'm thankful Brandon got to spend some rest time at home where he was able to sleep and let his body adjust to the medication. It's actually an anti-anxiety medication. As Brandon looked into possible causes for his symptoms, it made him stress to the max and create even more sickness.
There is no treatment for the cavernous malformation, other than brain surgery to remove it. After speaking with the neurosurgeon it was determined that we would wait till next year to have another MRI and if it grows, then we will probably move forward with surgery. Brandon was told he had to take a few things off his "bucket list"- like skydiving or power lifting (jk!)- anything that would cause lots of extra pressure on those blood vessels.
Now we're on the other side of this whole ordeal, which lasted for about 6 weeks, it's nice to be able to take a deep breath and thank the Lord for bringing us out of that trial. Brandon is off his medication and we are starting to function as a family again, not a mom taking care of the kids and her sick husband. I'm so thankful to the ladies in my MOPS group who lovingly brought us meals as a way to ease the burden as we were waiting for answers about all the symptoms that were affecting Brandon's entire body.
So there you have it. That situation was one that was hard to talk about in the midst of it, especially when we didn't have any answers. But now I can see how that trial was used to truly deepen Brandon's walk with the Lord, and our relationship to each other. We are so thankful that the diagnosis was not "worst case" and it's nice to have answers to our questions. Brandon is doing well now, with a few tough days mixed in.
So for those of you who have been wondering what's up with the Fischers? That's what has been going on behind the scenes.
So I decided I would do it this way. Get all the information out there at once.
We had been living in Champaign for about 3 weeks when I got the opportunity to take a weekend visit to Ames with some friends while Brandon and the kids stayed in Illinois. I had a great weekend and returned home Sunday night to a family that seemed just as happy and healthy as when I left them.
Turns out, it was that weekend that Brandon started having headaches. They would come and go, but never fully be gone. As the days went on, his headaches got worse and he started having other symptoms too. He had aches in his neck and shoulders and a tingling sensation that went from the base of his neck up into his forehead. He got adjusted, but that didn't help. In fact anything we tried did not help, and the symptoms were becoming harsher and would stick around longer. They stopped "coming and going" and just stayed. His symptom list grew and grew and with all these health issues, it really started to affect his mood and ability to be the father and husband he wanted to be. He felt sick to his stomach, his limbs would tingle and go numb, he would feel dizzy, and the list goes on. His days were spent sleeping and resting as much as possible.
His boss, who has brain cancer, told him that those were the same symptoms he experienced when he first found out about his illness, which caused a little worry in Brandon's mind....so much so that once he started looking into his symptoms, he decided to go to see a doctor about getting a CAT scan. Insurance actually called for an MRI, which is more "powerful."
He got his MRI on a Friday and we were told the results would be back within 3-5 business days. That weekend was a challenging one as Brandon battled thoughts of cancer and what that would mean for his growing family. I did not let myself think the worst as it could have been a number of things causing his symptoms and it would do no good for me to worry about something so unknown.
The following Monday, Brandon got a call that the MRI results were back. Now, we weren't expecting a call till Wednesday at the EARLIEST, so hearing back from the doctor so quickly made Brandon fear the worst.
Turns out, they did find a mass in his brain called a Cavernous Malformation. It's a mass of blood vessels that have been formed incorrectly and something that he has most likely had since birth. These blood vessels can be prone to leaking (bleeding on the brain) or they can go on undected with no problems for an entire lifetime.
Brandon was referred to a neurologist and a neurosurgeon to discuss the details of the diagnosis and the treatment moving forward.
His boss gave him the following week off of work as he started on a medication that would most likely take a week to get adjusted to. And boy, it sure did. I'm thankful Brandon got to spend some rest time at home where he was able to sleep and let his body adjust to the medication. It's actually an anti-anxiety medication. As Brandon looked into possible causes for his symptoms, it made him stress to the max and create even more sickness.
There is no treatment for the cavernous malformation, other than brain surgery to remove it. After speaking with the neurosurgeon it was determined that we would wait till next year to have another MRI and if it grows, then we will probably move forward with surgery. Brandon was told he had to take a few things off his "bucket list"- like skydiving or power lifting (jk!)- anything that would cause lots of extra pressure on those blood vessels.
Now we're on the other side of this whole ordeal, which lasted for about 6 weeks, it's nice to be able to take a deep breath and thank the Lord for bringing us out of that trial. Brandon is off his medication and we are starting to function as a family again, not a mom taking care of the kids and her sick husband. I'm so thankful to the ladies in my MOPS group who lovingly brought us meals as a way to ease the burden as we were waiting for answers about all the symptoms that were affecting Brandon's entire body.
So there you have it. That situation was one that was hard to talk about in the midst of it, especially when we didn't have any answers. But now I can see how that trial was used to truly deepen Brandon's walk with the Lord, and our relationship to each other. We are so thankful that the diagnosis was not "worst case" and it's nice to have answers to our questions. Brandon is doing well now, with a few tough days mixed in.
So for those of you who have been wondering what's up with the Fischers? That's what has been going on behind the scenes.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
A First....
Well previously I had posted that we experienced a "first" when Brandon's family was here and I was going to save that story for another day...
Friday morning Brandon's brother Brian and his girlfriend Megan were here. The kids and I had just finished breakfast and I had just changed Lawson's diaper. Knowing the trash truck was coming soon, I asked Lillia to run the dirty diaper out the curb with the other garbage. She happily took it out there for me and ran back inside to exclaim about her success. With her feet going a little too fast, she tripped and fell in the living room, hitting her head on the soft, leather ottoman. I thought she was fine, but there were instant tears. And then blood. LOTS of it. I thought maybe she had a bloody nose or mouth...but it turns out she managed to cut her eye/eyebrow on the ONE TEENY TINY hinge that stuck out just slightly more than the others. The ONLY non-soft spot on the whole ottoman.
So I quickly moved her from the carpet to the kitchen and grabbed a towel to try and start to control the bleeding (and if there were any blood drips they would end up in a place that was easy to clean up and not on our cream colored carpet). Thankfully Lawson was reading books in the other room, so I wasn't worried about him walking into this mess.
After controlling the bleeding a bit, Lillia and I ran upstairs and yelled for Brian to help. He was SOUND asleep, but once he came to the bedroom door he jumped into action to go be with Lawson while Lillia and I got some clothes on....because it was obvious, she was going to need some stitches.
Brandon met us at convenient care and we were quickly taken into an exam room. After getting Lillia all cleaned up the doctor ended up gluing her injury (which I think was a better option than stitches, especially considering Lillia squirmed and cried just for the glue!)
We left the office with a few stickers, a purple bandaid, and instructions to keep a bandaid on and not let the glue get super wet for the next week or so.
It's been almost two weeks since our first trip to the doc for stitches (almost). Lillia's cut is looking better and she got to go back to swimming lessons this week!
I'm thankful I didn't have any family pictures or 4 year pics scheduled! :)
Friday morning Brandon's brother Brian and his girlfriend Megan were here. The kids and I had just finished breakfast and I had just changed Lawson's diaper. Knowing the trash truck was coming soon, I asked Lillia to run the dirty diaper out the curb with the other garbage. She happily took it out there for me and ran back inside to exclaim about her success. With her feet going a little too fast, she tripped and fell in the living room, hitting her head on the soft, leather ottoman. I thought she was fine, but there were instant tears. And then blood. LOTS of it. I thought maybe she had a bloody nose or mouth...but it turns out she managed to cut her eye/eyebrow on the ONE TEENY TINY hinge that stuck out just slightly more than the others. The ONLY non-soft spot on the whole ottoman.
So I quickly moved her from the carpet to the kitchen and grabbed a towel to try and start to control the bleeding (and if there were any blood drips they would end up in a place that was easy to clean up and not on our cream colored carpet). Thankfully Lawson was reading books in the other room, so I wasn't worried about him walking into this mess.
After controlling the bleeding a bit, Lillia and I ran upstairs and yelled for Brian to help. He was SOUND asleep, but once he came to the bedroom door he jumped into action to go be with Lawson while Lillia and I got some clothes on....because it was obvious, she was going to need some stitches.
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| Getting ready to leave for the docs office |
We left the office with a few stickers, a purple bandaid, and instructions to keep a bandaid on and not let the glue get super wet for the next week or so.
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| All patched up |
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| A look at the healing injury |
I'm thankful I didn't have any family pictures or 4 year pics scheduled! :)
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Lillia
It's hard to believe, but we now have a 4 year old! Lillia's birthday was October 3 and she got to celebrate it these past two weekends with family!
Her request was to have a rainbow birthday cake. That's all she wanted. So, I obliged and made her a rainbow birthday cake without artificial food coloring. I followed a tutorial from here. But instead of making individual layers, baked all the colors together and it turned out cute.
The first weekend in October my mom and grandma came to town. We had fun shopping, going to the Farmer's market, celebrating Lillia's birthday, and going to the Apple Orchard! Come back soon you guys! And Lillia loves all her new clothes!
The second weekend in October, the Fischer clan came to town and once again, we had a fun, full weekend! A first happened that weekend, but I'll save that for another post! And here is Lillia and Papa helping her read a card during her second birthday gift opening! We loved having everyone here...especially on the mornings that I didn't have to get up with a little boy and change his morning diaper! ;) Come visit us ANY time!
Her request was to have a rainbow birthday cake. That's all she wanted. So, I obliged and made her a rainbow birthday cake without artificial food coloring. I followed a tutorial from here. But instead of making individual layers, baked all the colors together and it turned out cute.
The second weekend in October, the Fischer clan came to town and once again, we had a fun, full weekend! A first happened that weekend, but I'll save that for another post! And here is Lillia and Papa helping her read a card during her second birthday gift opening! We loved having everyone here...especially on the mornings that I didn't have to get up with a little boy and change his morning diaper! ;) Come visit us ANY time!
Happy Birthday to our Lillia Paige! We love you so!
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