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cherylyn_p
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Name: Cherylyn
Gender: Female
Interests: With 5 daughters and 2 granddaughters, I keep busy with girl stuff and what THEY find interesting! The summer of 2009, with lots of prayer and application of my faith, I successfully fought breast cancer. It metastasized to my spine, and I'm now standing on God's Word for a complete healing.
Expertise: After leaving corporate America, my biggest area of expertise is children and training them to be children of God. I am homeschooling our last three children and love them all and my husband.
Occupation: SAHM
Message: message me
Member Since:
2/7/2007
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| It's been eons since I've last written, on my Xanga blog.
I keep waiting for a period of time when I can write a long "catch-up" post and post a bunch of pictures.
That time has never come around. 
Soooooo, I'll try for a short catch-up post with NO pictures!!!
1. Jesse has recovered from his hernia surgery. He's still having problems lifting heavy things (like his lawnmowers) but he has had someone helping.
2. Rissy had a birthday on February 27th. She turned 11 and has begun looking more preteen than little girl. She's taken an interest in skin care and make up. She's not allowed to wear anything, but she has sneaked in a little lip gloss and blush and we've turned our heads. She looks very natural and it's not worth the fighting over WHEN she is "old enough" to wear those things. She has also taken an interest in perfume. She's begun to make jewelry as a hobby. N.I.C.E jewelery. Sterling necklaces with charms or tiny beads with crystals, etc. They are nice enough to give as gifts and I'm hoping she makes something for my birthday (April 12th). 
3. (The biggest change) Jesse's half brother and his family have moved here from Virginia. By "moved here" I mean, they have moved into our house with us. They have 3 children, so that makes a grand total of ten people living under our roof. They have two dogs & a hamster, which upped the animal number living under our roof.
It's been easy to accommodate them. They are very much like us and we move easily in out of our daily routines with no problems. Actually, their living here has been more of a help. The children get along well, too. 
4. Can't remember if I posted that we gave our Yorkie (Little Bit) to a friend's family. He's happy and we get reports on him every so often.
5. AND . . . (sadly, I must say) I had to have Chirper put to sleep about 2 weeks ago.  He wasn't able to recover from the last illness (a sore throat) and he had developed a chronic kidney disease sometime before Christmas. He was so sick those last few days. I felt more comfort putting him out of his misery than I felt sad to lose his company. He was one of those one in a million pets. I'm so thankful for the time God allowed me to keep him. Now, I'm praying for another small kitten (a boy).
6. Annamarie had a birthday last week. She turned 12 and HASN'T shown signs of being pre-teen, like Rissy. She's content with Barbie dolls and Zhu Zhu (spelling???) pets. She DID ask me if she could start painting her toe nails and we said, "Yes." That was a big deal to her and a small deal to us, in the grand theme of "little girls growing up and gaining privileges." 
7. About 4 weeks ago, we made the decision to put Adrienne (Luci) in public school. She had become too difficult for me to manage and her school grades were plummeting. She spent more time in her room throwing fits of epic proportion than she did at the kitchen table learning. Unfortunately, that distraction carried over into the ability of Annamarie and Rissy being able to concentrate on their school work.  Everyone was failing in school and my patience was nosediving, too!
She likes school and, so far, she hasn't had a meltdown. The teachers are aware of her issues and said she might be able to hold it together for the rest of the school year. Something about the "honeymoon period" where children behave really well until they are comfortable. THEN the bad behavior begins to surface. At any rate, things are running smoothly here, as far as homeschool.
8. Got my MRI results back last month and most everything was continuing to improve (the scars from the tumors in my back are even shrinking). There is one area in my lower back that is very small and may need to be radiated. I admit, I am having some pain there. The last radiation I had to my lower back removed the horrible pain when I was about 3 or 4 days into the 2 weeks of radiation treatments.
9. It looks like we are skipping from one of the mildest winters on record and heading into summer. We have had lots of rain (a VERY good thing) but high temps. Yesterday was in the low 90s. I just hope the rain plans to continue to fall, so grass will continue to grow, and my husband will continue to have an income to support our family.  His brother, Richard, has been helping him with his lawn work, making it easier for Jesse to not lift too many heavy things by himself.
10. Me? I'm trying to cram the rest of the school work, we have to finish, into a small capsule of time. I don't want to be teaching all summer long. I'm giving accelerated new work assignments and not giving as much review work to them. Most likely, I'll order the Bob Jones Summer Workbooks, again. Two pages each day of four different topics. VERY doable. I think the two pages take 15 - 30 minutes each day.
11. I've kept busy putting winter clothing away and hunting in the attic for boxes of summer clothes. The 3 girls are having to share one walk-in closet (for the time being) and we have seriously discussed limiting the things we bring down from the attic. We'll let them pick their favorite colors and send the remainder of things back to the attic.
I'm doing the same. I've picked black (always black, no matter WHAT season!), white (EVERYTHING goes with white), navy (another color staple for my wardrobe), greens/aquas, and orange - one of this summer's popular fashion colors. I have a few tops, a belt, and some cheap bracelets in orange.
The rest of the colors (browns, yellows, pinks, corals, fuchsias, and pastels) will be left in the attic this year. They can be used another summer. Since we no longer have our wonderful seamstress to make dresses, we have switched to skirts and tops. It's easier to find things on Ebay and in thrift stores, and we are still able to dress modestly. Ebay and thrift stores have supplied us girls with an abundance of clothing!
12. I have let my time slot for letter-writing disappear and have missed sending letters. I want to start that again. I truly enjoy writing my friends and family "old-fashioned letters" using pretty stationary.
I've also stopped reading as much as I used to. Another think I want to resurrect. I ordered a few used books from Amazon.com but haven't read them. It's all a matter of finding a block of time.
KIND OF LIKE FINDING TIME TO BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l
That was the story of my past couple of months in the shortest version I could present!
I would love to hear what all of you are doing and what has happened in your lives. I haven't had time to READ blogs, either! So, please write and let me know! 
Be Blessed ~
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P.S. Since I write less frequently than I have in the past few years, I've decided to start adding my Xanga blogs to my Facebook page. If anyone is reading this from Facebook, I wrote this a week (or so) ago and that was all the news.
Nothing has changed since then - except . . . Easter has come and gone and we had our Passover/Easter Sunday dinner, yesterday, which included a glorious lamb and ham dinner for the twelve of us. Lamb was new to some and that's the reason for the back up ham. From rolls to the 3 different desserts, it was a contented group!
Company and food were outstanding!
Such happiness in our large, expanded family!
Be Blessed ~
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| Thank you for your concern, well wishes, AND PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Jesse drove for the first time, this past weekend. I still stay close by when he showers, etc.
He's having some strange pains in areas away from the incision. I'm sure there are parts inside that have been moved where they weren't used to being moved and there are those inside stitches that tug on the healing nerves from underground.
Jesse will have the 8 staples removed, tomorrow afternoon. He's not looking forward to it and I plan to ask for some lidocaine injections before the doctor pops them out.
Jesse had staples removed from his fingers one time (years ago) and they told him the shots of lidocaine would be pretty painful, so he opted to not have the numbing shots. Afterwards, Jesse said, "If they ever have to remove staples from me again in the future, remind me that I definitely want the lidocaine!"
Things haven't been anywhere near to normal, here. School tries to happen, but it's usually the short version!
We had a brief and beautiful snow yesterday. I took some pictures of the girls playing, before it melted.
I'll try to post the snow and the January Christmas pictures soon.
Please continue to pray for Jesse's strength to return and his "wound" to heal and disappear.
Thank y'all, and
Be Blessed ~
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| Jesse had surgery for a hernia on Tuesday morning.
He came home the same day, sick with a migraine headache from the anesthesia, and a catheter in his stomach that dispensed morphine for 48 hours. I was given instructions to care for him, and had some experience with abdominal surgery, and how to maneuver afterward, because of my own prior experience.
He really has had a rough time. The migraine caused him to vomit and vomiting, with abdominal stitches, is a HORRIBLE pain to endure. The pain has been almost intolerable and it wasn't until last night that I understood why.
His surgery was to have been done as laproscopic surgery. The little "chop stick" surgery where they poke little holes in you and don't make huge incisions.
When I pulled off his bandage yesterday, so he could bathe, I saw one LARGE incision with staples. It took me a while to process what I had seen.
Then I "got" it!
He had had the old fashioned kind of incision (much like a C-section) and I later counted 8 staples, plus the suture material.
That explains the severe pain. He has no appetite and even dealt with a fever on the 2nd day.
The surgeon told me (with raised eyebrows and shaking of the head) the hernia was "a pretty good size," but I wonder why he didn't tell me the change of plans to cut him and why Jesse wasn't admitted to the hospital, rather than sent home.
Please pray for him to continue to mend without any complications.
God has blessed me with an enormous amount of strength, so I can be some "real help" to Jesse.
The girls have pitched in and helped,, too.
Thank you in advance for those prayers, my friends.
I'll write soon (and post pictures) of our January 29th Christmas. It was SO MUCH FUN and felt just like a December 25th Christmas!
Meanwhile . . .
Be Blessed ~
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| Jesse had surgery for a hernia on Tuesday morning.
He came home the same day, sick with a migraine headache from the anesthesia, and a catheter in his stomach that dispensed morphine for 48 hours. I was given instructions to care for him, and had some experience with abdominal surgery, and how to maneuver afterward, because of my own prior experience.
He really has had a rough time. The migraine caused him to vomit and vomiting, with abdominal stitches, is a HORRIBLE pain to endure. The pain has been almost intolerable and it wasn't until last night that I understood why.
His surgery was to have been done as laproscopic surgery. The little "chop stick" surgery where they poke little holes in you and don't make huge incisions.
When I pulled off his bandage yesterday, so he could bathe, I saw one LARGE incision with staples. It took me a while to process what I had seen.
Then I "got" it!
He had had the old fashioned kind of incision (much like a C-section) and I later counted 8 staples, plus the suture material.
That explains the severe pain. He has no appetite and even dealt with a fever on the 2nd day.
The surgeon told me (with raised eyebrows and shaking of the head) the hernia was "a pretty good size," but I wonder why he didn't tell me the change of plans to cut him and why Jesse wasn't admitted to the hospital, rather than sent home.
Please pray for him to continue to mend without any complications.
God has blessed me with an enormous amount of strength, so I can be some "real help" to Jesse.
The girls have pitched in and helped,, too.
Thank you in advance for those prayers, my friends.
I'll write soon (and post pictures) of our January 29th Christmas. It was SO MUCH FUN and felt just like a December 25th Christmas!
Meanwhile . . .
Be Blessed ~
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| Hi, everyone!
It's been a while (again!) since I've been here.
I've had an enormously busy January. Can't believe it's January twenty-something, already! We've had a gazillion medical appointments between Jesse, me, and the little girls. Mostly routine except for Jesse. He will be having hernia surgery and then everything should slow down.
 
I've also successfully staved off our Christmas celebration. Plans are to have it next weekend.
There are a few things that still need ribbon and one or two that need wrapping. AND, only one gift left to purchase (one Rissy needs to get and one *I* need to get) and then it will be time to concentrate on our traditional Christmas dinner: tenderloin roast beef, twice baked potatoes, and a head of cauliflower with green beans around it. I'll also be making a beautiful dining room table in reds and whites.
Stocking stuffers hidden at the top of my closet.
I'll honestly miss the decorations, once they come down. That den is a beautiful place with all those twinkling lights around the doorways and on the mantle! If it had snowed, it would have been a perfect "Hallmark card" sort of scene!!! Who knows, maybe our family WILL have a white Christmas!!! LOL
I have a routine appointment to see the oncologist next week. I finished all of my MRIs and CT scans last week.
The nurse called after one of the MRIs and told me it showed CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT! Guess that means even the scar tissue (where the cancer tumors had attached) is shrinking and maybe even some bone growth in my spine. Wouldn't that be just marvelous???!!!!
The changes were significant enough that when the nurse called and told me the news and I said, "Ok." She asked, "That's it? Just 'ok'???"
I mustered enthusiasm and said, a little louder, "OKAAAAY!" and she told me that was more like it.
So, I'm taking it that the changes for the better are significant. I'll find out the total results next week at my appointment.
At one of the MRIs, last week, I was given a paper to take to the MRI desk and for the very first time saw my diagnosis written down on paper:
STAGE 4 CANCER
It made me shutter.
That's the exact reason I told my oncologist (the first day I met her), "I don't want to know what the report says, nor do I want to see any pictures of the tumors."
I was afraid my faith would waiver if I had a picture, or the written diagnosis, in my brain. You know? If I *saw* that the cancer was THAT BAD, I might not be able to trust God to be big enough to heal me; even though we know how big our God is.
I didn't want the enemy to make my circumstances any clearer or to etch the diagnosis in my brain.
I knew it was Stage 4 Cancer - but, I focused on and trusted God.
I told Dr. Bova, "I don't want to know what the report says or to see pictures of my spine and the tumors in my chest. *You* do what you do best and treat me; and, *I'll* do what I do best, and that is to pray!"
And I'm still giving my testimony of what God has done and how I've had not one bit of surgery to remove the cancerous tumors. Praise God!!!!
On a happier note:
I'm home alone in a quiet house.
Everyone has gone to church and will go by Jesse's mother's house afterward to drop off some laundry Jesse did for her. I had a rare but rough day with pain, yesterday, so Jesse let me sleep too long this morning, and I didn't have enough time to get ready for church. He assumed I wouldn't be feeling good enough to go.
Wrong! I feel good enough (thank you, Lord!) but it IS a nice break to have a bit of silence!
I have a few messy spots that need to be tidied up while the family is gone. My wrapping paper, ribbon, and all that stuff are still in the bedroom and Jesse will be so happy to see those things gone!!!
We gave Little Bit away this past week.
I know - a shock!
We've been so busy and gone so much that he has been very lonely. He needed a home where someone could attend to him 24/7. The gal doing my cleaning said she had several people wanting him and gave him to a family (her husband's relatives) with lots of children. She told us, "I don't think his feet have touched the ground since he arrived. Someone is always carrying him around and he looks like he's in heaven - SO very happy!"
In my whole life, this is the second animal I've had to give away. My horse was the first. If I get a pet, I commit to that pet. But, Little Bit and the horse both needed more attention then they were getting. So giving them to GOOD owners made me feel better.
Sushi is doing well without him. And, we were shocked by how quiet our house has been since Little Bit left. I didn't realize he created so much excitement and noise! He barked all the time and, I guess, I had just become used to it!
I really need to get dressed and get Sunday dinner underway - so, I need to say "good-bye" for now.
Be blessed ~
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