celebration and relaxation!!

Alright, so we are absolutely 100% behind and as the days march on I am finally giving in. We will never catch this blog up from all that has happened from Spring to Fall 2008. (though Dan will try and I am sure posts will pop up between here and there) I mean we are talking...camping trips, day hikes, swim lessons, first day of school, basketball camp, birthday parties, silly times, soccer, labor day woodstove projects, family campfires, garden, golf trips,tetherball installation camp Kiwanalong..my gosh the list goes on and on. After this posting I will work very hard at adding some new stuff. I have some great pictures of the kids that I am dying to get out there for you guys to see.

As I sat down tonight to catch up on e-mail, I realized that we have had such a whirlwind of events since spring that I have yet to update some people on some of these, well...pretty big events.

I finished my NAC (Nurse Aide Certification) schooling in Spring. I passed my state skills exam and written exam in July and I am now officially an NAC. In fall I began my search for a job and as of yesterday I was officially hired as a new staff at one of hospitals here in Spokane. Yeah! Just when I thought my pretty bare resume/application was finding all the circular files in Spokane! I am looking forward to the new transition and hoping that I will adjust smoothly.

Second bit of great news. I think my new neurologist is up to something. I had my 2nd year check up and when I went in I was going to stand firm and tell him I was not going through another MRI. By the time I left his office I was not only having the brain MRI but they were also going to do a cervical spine (the neck area) MRI as well. He also scheduled me for a test to be done on my optic nerve on the right eye (the eye that went blind). My MRI returned clear yet again this year. No sign of any lesions. yea! But for my Dr. this is concerning, as he seems to think that there could be a possibility that I may have been mis-diagnosed with MS. So he is having me retested to make some new baselines and then I will have the sames tests done in 6 months and if the MRI is clear again....we move to take me off my disease management drugs, then on to monitoring for awhile after that. His theory is that in the 14 or so years he has been studying MS, he has never seen an MS patient return a clean MRI. That even with drug therapy, there is always some sort of lesions still active and going on. Maybe not producing the effects physically but nonetheless they are still present. So it is all at a stand still for awhile yet but what fantastic news!! I am very excitedly embracing this news. Will have more to come on that front sometime soon.

note from Dan: There is also the very real possibility that Tina has been healed! The lesions on the sheath around her brain- and subsequent decline in health during July of 2006 - were very real. Sorry for intruding on your post babe, I just had to throw that in :)

I am looking forward to settling into fall....the kids (all 3) have their last soccer games of the season this Saturday. We have been running around like crazy people with all the soccer practices and games. I am excited to sit back and enjoy a quiet evening at home, a nice long cooked meal and a soothing glass of Merlot. Such a great feeling soaking in the warmth of this time of year. cheers! And new pictures to come soon! - Tina