As most of you know, our summer started out with my diagnosis of Cancer. It was a bit of a shock to say the least. I had been planning and saving for a big trip for the month of June. We were going to a family reunion in Missouri, to sight see in Nauvoo, to go to Six Flags in St Louis (We had earned free tickets with a reading program) to stay with my Mom for a few weeks, and to go to my Dad's wedding. Instead our plans changed to me needing surgery to remove the tumor and flying my older 3 out to do all of those fun things I just said. 
The surgery went fine and I went home the next day.Trent was so awesome! Really going the extra mile with handling everything!
My good friend Bethany was here from Georgia visiting me. I was having a hard time talking to her. My mouth kept going numb. I continued to have problems that got worse through the night. The next morning we called the DR who told us to get to the hospital right away. By the time I got there, I was having a thyroid storm. It was very painful, and scary. Apparently, my parathyroid had been damaged in surgery, and that is what controls our calcium. I was running out! After a team of Dr's and nurses worked on me, I was beginning to come out of it. It took 3 more days in the hospital to get that regulated.
I came home to wonderful messages on my driveway, flowers, flowers, and more flowers! I even had Christmas in July from a friend. The first gift was a scarf, because I had confided in her that I was worried about the ugly scar on my neck!
Here is Aiden trying to entertain me and to cheer me up! What a cutie! Aiden and Taryn were here with us alone for 2 weeks. They had a great time, but really missed their siblings.
Here are some pictures of my neck about a week later. My throat was very sore for about a week, my neck for about a month. But overall, I think the scar will not look that bad.
About 2 weeks later, I was chomping at the bit to leave to go and get the kids. I had to see the Dr the day before to get the approval. When I did I was soooooo happy. After all that had happened, I needed to get out of town. I still was to take it easy, so I did not get to swim or play much, but it was so nice to see my family! We went to Missouri, my Mom met us there with the kids. I was able to see both grandparents, and some Aunts & Uncles, and my Dad drove down to see me too. It was a short visit, but very nice. I even got to see my brother Brenden who is a missionary in West Virginia. He got special permission for us to take him out to Dinner with his comp. I will add pictures as soon as I can figure out the camera that they are on! :+)
We stopped at the Arch on our way home. I have always wanted to take the kids here. I came a lot when I was a kid. It was great!
We went ahead and used our Six Flags tickets. I was good and did not ride anything. I still had a great time watching the kids have fun. The characters were fun to see also!
