Dino's Adventures

In February of 2012, Dino mysteriously disappeared from the Stilwell home. They were unsure if they would ever see him again. While they prayed and begged for his return, Dina was on the adventure of a lifetime!

I feel like I'm starring in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!"

 

Oh, where are they taking me??

I found this really cool playground!

Planning a trip to New England!

It can be awfully lonely on a train.

Practicing for the Olympic ski jump!

I always wanted to meet a cute chick.

I miss the ice age.

"911, how may I help you?" "HELP I'VE BEEN DINO-NAPPED!"

Wait for meeeee!

Sniff. I miss these people.

Rockin' with my peeps.

I really don't know what birds see in this stuff.

Wow, New England IS amazing!

I heard my family loves this place so I had ice cream in their honor.

After many months, Dino was returned to sunny Florida. We hope to continue to hear of his adventures.

Continued Documentation

I apologize to my readers (all two of you). My blog has become more of a journal where I'm documenting things I don't want to forget. I give you permission to skip this post.

Saw Dr. Lane today for a post-op. Sinuses were very inflamed and swollen again and he did a lot of cleaning out. I told him I've been fighting a cold and that my stent was scheduled to be removed tomorrow. He said this was not a good combination and was concerned that the swelling would close the opening that surgery had provided. After much discussion, he decided to put me on major antibiotics and eye drops quickly and let me continue with the stent removal tomorrow. I can now move my follow-ups to every 4 months for a year.

Looooooooong wait for Dr. Tufano because they forgot about me. As for the thyroid nodules everything I heard was what I expected. Repeat sonogram in a year. If any new nodules over 1cm appear they will be biopsied. If current nodules increase by 20% then we will discuss surgery. If I have any new symptoms, repeat sonogram.

When he felt my neck he hit the painful area near the salivary gland and I winced. I told him the CT showed an enlarged gland but no mass or blockage. Both Drs in the room suddenly had a sense of urgency. I gave them the radiology report but he really wanted to see the films which they couldn't find. He wants the films and report to be sent to Hopkins radiology. I heard the same thing from Dr. Gourin 4 weeks ago and they still haven't made that happen. He mentioned auto-immune again like Dr. Gourin did.

See family doctor for a sleep study.

Reminders

There have been so many amazing God-provisions on this journey that I wanted to take some time to document them so they wouldn't be forgotten. I tend to remember the BAD instead of the GOOD. This is an attempt to permanently capture the GOOD. Or should I say, The God!

The Cards:
In the midst of the anxiety of the past few weeks, our Women's Ministry was on a card writing kick. They were challenged to send notes of encouragement to our staff. One day, I received 5 cards in my office mailbox. FIVE! I carried them to my office in amazement. The timing was unbelievable. I knew the senders well and they didn't just write random, general notes. They wrote heartfelt, sincere words. I couldn't believe it. They had no idea how timely their encouragement was. I just shook my head in amazement.

THE Card:
Just before Barb and I left to go for my biopsy, Jim grabbed some staff members to circle around me to pray in my office. There was one person in the group who had no idea what I was going through. But she prayed with us anyway. As soon as we were finished she scooted from my office. I felt so bad because I thought she was offended because she was left in the dark. But a few seconds later she reappeared and I quickly said, "I'm sorry, you probably have no idea what is going on." She smiled and said, "No, but that's okay" and handed me a card and said with complete wonder on her face, "My card is late. I wrote it just this morning not knowing anything you were going through." We exchanged shocked glances and I briefly told her the details. We were both in awe of God's timing.

The Shared Burden:
On Monday, Jan. 23rd, I finally told my Small Group about the anxiety I had been hiding. I asked them to pray that I would stop obsessing about this mass and that it would stop invading my every thought. By the time I went to bed that night, I was already feeling at peace. Tuesday was my biopsy and I had a totally different outlook. I realized I wasn't obsessing about it and I was also starting to sense that it was benign. For the next several days, I was experiencing peace. Friday I received the benign news and since I was going to see my Small Group that night for dinner before Girls' Weekend Out I decided to hold the news. That night I offered to pray for our meal and I closed the prayer with "Thank You for answered prayers like giving me the news of benign nodules." My girlfriends screamed in surprise. It was such a fun way to break the news. But the best part was yet to come.

One friend, Kathleen, was in tears upon hearing the news. She's not one to cry so I was rather shocked. After we processed the news a bit she shared that on Monday night when they prayed for me she specifically asked God to take the burden of anxiety away from me and give it to her. She was asking to bear my burden. She said He did exactly that...she was feeling heavy all that week! Which is why the news came as such a relief to her! She said that the news felt like it was actually about her. I think this may be the coolest thing that has ever happened to me.

Disney Bound!
For two years I have been dying to go to Disney. My family has had a trip planned for next week and I couldn't commit to going because of health. Now that all is clear, I'm headed to DISNEY! I have so little time to get ready (and I shouldn't be spending time on the computer!) but somehow it will happen.

Un.Believe.Able

Benign.

'Nuff said.

HOPE - Part 3

My wake up texts from "Texting Friend"...

Jan. 17
Romans 15:13 - May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jan. 18
I Peter 1:3 - In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Jan. 19
II Corinthians 1:10 - He has delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our HOPE that He will continue to deliver us.

Jan. 20
Hebrews 6:19 - We have this HOPE as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Jan. 21

Micah 7:7 - But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Jan. 22

Psalm 119:114 - You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your word.

Jan. 23

Psalm 25:5 - Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.

Jan. 24

Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Bonus verses: Zephaniah 3:17 - The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

Psalm 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

Progress

Making baby steps on the process...

• Found out that a normal thyroid is 4cm. Mine is 6cm.
• Still haven't received lab report but Hopkins inquired and found out my TSH is low.
• Biopsy this Tues, Jan. 24th. Results a week later.
  
• Appointment with thyroid surgeon, Jan 31st.
• Picked up sonogram films today and was able to see them. Didn't learn anything new.
  

HOPE - Part 2

Monday morning, January 16th:
The Carroll County Times headline: "HOPE Continues"
Yes, it's about the Ravens, not me, but hey, whatev!

A facebook friend posts this article:
"Living with Hope: Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands."

Texting friend sends me this: "I'm on a mission to find you every hope verse that I can! Lamentations 3:25, 'The Lord is good to those whose HOPE is in him, to the one who seeks Him.'"

HOPE - Part 1

After many considerations, I've landed on my word for 2012...HOPE.

Balance, Persistence, Joy didn't survive the cut. Here is why HOPE beat them out.

This past Sunday I was searching in my jewelry box for something purple (Ravens' playoffs). I came across a bracelet I had purchased to support cancer research many years ago. It has multiple color beads representing each type of cancer. It also has a charm which says, "HOPE." My heart skipped a beat. I've never worn the bracelet. I put it on.

Just a few hours later in the middle of the busyness of church services I received a text from a sweet friend. She has been texting me a verse each day. Sunday's verse was Hebrews 10:23: "Let us hold unswervingly to the HOPE we profess, for He who promised is faithful." Yes, my heart skipped another beat.

Fast forward just a few more hours. It is the 4th quarter of the Ravens' game and I'm getting nervous. A fellow gamewatcher says to me, "Jodie, I think your word for the year should be HOPE." My jaw literally dropped. She had no idea what had already happened that morning.

That sealed it. I no longer had a choice.

Not So Peaceful Week

I can't say it's been a roller coaster because there haven't been any highs. Many lows and mostly level ground.

I had an appointment with my endocrinologist on Wed. Ended up being a meeting with yet another dismissive, rude, uncaring medical professional. She didn't want to see any of my reports, she didn't care what the CT showed, she questioned why I had surgeons involved. Basically, she was threatened that she didn't find this first.

She has her own process so she sent me for an ultrasound today. The tech took 15 minutes to take all the pictures. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep for a bit! She took so many pictures on both sides. I could tell she was seeing definite findings. I had slight pain/discomfort when she was on the left side and some of the time I couldn't breathe because she was pressing so hard on my windpipe.

The Dr said she should know results in 3 days and would only biopsy nodules that were larger than 1cm.

Working at living in the peace again.

A Peaceful Default

I'm afraid that my circle of friends and family are tired of hearing about each new chapter of my very long medical bio. So when the latest chapter started being written a few weeks ago I kept it to myself. I wanted to wait until I got more information before I shared. Today was very informative.

A few weeks ago as I was approaching my first post-op appointment I decided I needed to inform my surgeon that the pain on the right side of my neck had been increasing. I made an appointment with the throat specialist which didn't go very well...she was rude, dismissive, defensive, etc. Treating me as if I hadn't told her correct information 7 months ago when she first saw me. But she examined me differently and she made a direct hit on the painful area. She diagnosed an inflamed salivary duct and enlarged salivary gland and began describing surgery. She ordered a CT to look for a stone, tumor or other cause of the blockage.

Multiple phone calls, insurance denials, labs, roadblock after roadblock delayed the testing and thus the results. What I thought I would know before Christmas was put off until today.

The short version: NO stone! NO tumor! The gland is definitely enlarged probably due to overuse and isn't functioning properly. The only treatment is surgical removal.

But that was the good news.

The Dr, who had been completely rude a week ago, was suddenly compassionate. She proceeded to tell me that the CT also showed an incidental finding. My left thyroid has a very large mass. I would need bloodwork and a needle biopsy. We talked over the details and at my request, she showed me the pictures. I returned to the gland issue and asked what the next steps were for that problem and she said that all that needed to be put aside for now so we could address the thyroid.

I left the office in a total state of peace.
Should I call someone? No, not yet.
Should I cry? Nope, didn't need to.
When I got on the metro, I began reading my book as if nothing had even happened.
I was completely shocked at my reaction. This wasn't typical Jodie.

God continues to completely amaze me! Peace is an incredible provision.