When All The Music Dies

Morning-
I have a couple of things to write about,
first and foremost, I scrapped!
I need to just listen to music
whenever I cannot find my mojo
because song lyrics always breathe life into me.
Dare I even say that
I am thinking I will never attempt to journal
ever again when there is a plethora
of wonderful inspiration out there.
I adore this song by Train
(and hope it stays that way,
"Hey, Soul Sister", I'm talkin' about you!)
Anyway, even though my wedding photos
make me absolutely cringe,
this song has meaning for us a couple.
After Ryan got ill the first time,
my husband who is the most positive person
you will ever meet (while I am the opposite)
told me that when he initially heard
of Ryan's cancer diagnosis,
he said, "It was like all the music died."
We have weathered many obstacles
and our daughter's illness has been the biggest.
And we are still here :*)



And lastly, a P.S.A that in my opinion
is looooong overdue!
I posted this as my Facebook status because
for me it was revolutionary
and I want everyone to know.
I have stainless steel appliances
that had seen better days.
I bought every.single.product
on the market for cleaning them to no avail.
Hell, I could've bought new appliances
with the money I have spent.
But I stumbled upon this baby:



Seriously? Pledge?
Is this a governmental secret?
Why is this not more wide-known?
I will be shouting it from the rooftops!
"MY APPLIANCES ARE FINALLY BEAUTIFUL
THANKS TO PLEDGE FURNITURE POLISH!"
And the kicker to all of this...
my husband is a kitchen remodeler
and even he had no clue.
Oh and you're welcome,
because you will thank me ;)

Have a great day!
-Jody

Broken

Hi-
Remember a couple of posts ago,
I was hoping that being away
from scrapping so long
would be just like riding a bike?
Well, I think my bike is broken.
I finally scrapped last night,
but the same intensity and love
that normally goes into a page
just wasn't there.
And that made me very sad.
I don't know if there is
a direct correlation between
my state of mind these days
and the hobby I love,
but I just don't feel it :(
I adore this photo of Ryan
and I recently bought
these American Crafts papers & Thickers,
so you would think it would just click.
I am hoping that those sage words of advice
that my Grandma used to say
will help me along, "This too shall pass..."



Ryan is doing well,
she has been out and about,
sleepovers, a friend's Sweet 16 party,
and I am happy to say we have mastered
the at home antibiotic infusions!
I think I can become a nurse
after everything I have seen & done
for the last 3 years.

Hope you all are well!
-Jody

In An Instant

Hello-
I'm sorry I haven't been updating
very much lately
but the health issues with Ryan
have been very scary of late.
Monday we headed down to the hospital
for Ryan's weekly checkup.
While in the waiting room,
I asked if she would like me to get
her something to eat or drink
and she requested a water bottle.
So off I went to buy her a bottle
from the cafeteria.
I was not gone 10 minutes when
I received a call on my cell phone
asking me to return to clinic immediately
becasue Ryan was asking for me.
When I got back,
Ryan was in a private consult room
bundled in blankets, shivering like crazy,
ghostly pale and running a fever.
In an instant she went from fine to very sick
:*(
These past 3 years, I have seen many things,
but this moment was one of the scariest for me.
It turns out that Ryan's mediport had become infected
as they had accessed the port an hour prior to this
and now her body was going into septic shock because of it.
After her oncologist and a nurse
attempted to get blood from her veins
(which had now collapsed due to the septis)
she was poked 8x unsuccessfully.
The blood-curdling screams were too much for me to take.
They immediately admitted her to a room
and antibiotics were started A.S.A.P.
Her temperature rose to 104 degrees
while her blood pressure crashed to a low of 70/30.
At that point they scheduled an emergency removal
of her port late Tuesday/early Wednesday night.
The surgery went well
and she never experienced another fever
or low blood pressure after that.
:::sigh of relief:::
This wonderful news was countered
by the sad news that she would not be able to go on
a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas
that her boyfriend's family had suprised her with
as her Christmas gift.
She was absolutely devasted.
(They have generously postponed the trip for February)
She is now home and we are giving her antibiotics
intravenously for 10 days after being taught by a home nurse.
So suffice to say, no scrapping has been done...
but I will leave you with a photo of Ryan
from last Sunday night posing with a "Hope" cake
my good friend Helene made for her,
how incredible it was (and tasted!):



Have a great weekend!
-Jody

Done.

We are home.
We are happy.
The treatments are done.
Be back soon :)
Love,
Jody