Merry Christmas!

It has been a very Merry Christmas in the Doornik house.  I hope the same is true for everyone else.  I can't count how many dozen cookies we've made in the last 2 weeks.  We've shopped, decorated, listened to Christmas music (Glee was our preferred this year), and watched Christmas movies whenever possible.  It's been very nice.



Visiting Santa!



Our church is big, really big!  The main auditorium holds 4400 people.  This year, the 4 campuses held 20 identical services over 3 days.  We went to service on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed the Winter Wonderland they set up for the kids.  The service theme was Silent Night and was such a great message.  It was perfect for the season.  Jason and the girls always volunteer on Christmas Eve for 2 services as greeters.  I usually can't because we have Hayden.  This year, he was okay to leave home with Mom, so I served as an usher.  It was nice to go as a family to volunteer and give back to the church.  I can see us doing this more often.  The girls helped hand out candles for the candlelight caroling we have at the end of service.  It's a very magical time. 



Christmas Morning



The kids sure did have a great time this morning discovering that Santa was indeed here.  He left presents under the tree, stockings were filled and the cookies and milk were all gone.  No doubt he made a stop at our house!  Anna and Sydney couldn't wait to jump in and unwrap everything.  Hayden on the other hand, decided he wanted to play with his toys in his room.  It was very overwhelming to see the tree with all the presents and everyone crowded together to open gifts and see what each person got.  In the end, though, he did join us some.  We spent the rest of the day playing with all the goodies.  Well, the kids did.  I spent my time into the early afternoon putting everything together.  We had a nice late lunch and just spent the day with each other. 

The kids each had their favorite gifts.  Anna & Sydney got Paper Jamz guitar & drums from Santa.  They loved that!  Luckily, it's music that Mommy & Daddy like too.  Anna loves her Epic Mickey game for the Wii and Sydney is now hooked up with the Furry Frenzies City.  Hayden likes his super heroes play set, Cars legos from his grandparents, and his Cars scooter.  Too bad it was too cold to take it outside for a spin, but the living room worked just fine.

I have a ton of pictures to post, but for a start, here are 2.  I'll do more before the end of the year.  I know I've been terrible about updating the blog, but that's a good thing!  I don't have cancer updates or cochlear implant news to tell everyone about.  It's just our life moving forward.  We are very blessed to be where we are in our lives and Jason and I are enjoying every minute we can with our family.  The kids are healthy and strong, succeeding in the things they do.  It's just fun to be together.

Long time, no update

I talked to my Grandma Mary last week and felt bad I haven't updated in forever! I can't believe it's been 2 months since the last one. Tomorrow is Halloween and I'm just amazed how busy we've been this school year so far.

Let's recap the last 10 weeks. The kids started school at the end of August. Anna had some struggles moving on to the intermediate school. That's the 5th/6th grade school designed to help transition to junior high. The kids have 4 teachers they rotate thru along with lockers, band, orchestra, or art/music. The 100+ kids stay together for 2 years with the same teachers. They have more accountability and that's been the struggle for Anna. Her grades were suffering some, but she turned it around and ended the first 9 weeks on a positive note. She's also in choir which added to the pressure. Good thing she didn't do sports this season. She will now that we have the schedule all under control.

Sydney has been doing well all things considered. She has dyslexia tutoring before school 4 days a week and just started another tutoring program for reading comprehension. She's showing progress across the board. Her only struggle has been getting all her ARD guidelines in place with new teachers. We had some kinks to work thru but she's on her way. And she is finishing her second season of volleyball and LOVES it! Third grade is going well.

Hayden is a 4 year old! He's a hoot! He likes school and is doing well. He's starting to tell me more about things he's done at school which is a huge thing for him to do. And can I just tell you, that boy is developing quite the sense of humor. He loves to play with rocks and sticks, loves his mommy, has moments of sister worship, and his daddy gives the best tickles. Life is good. He's been going thru his annual testing, post-cochlear implant. So far, so good. He's still behind, but showing progress.

As the parents of these 3 children, Jason and I are on the move all the time. We are exhausted! Happy, but exhausted. I've never had a hard time getting up in the morning, but now it's a chore. It doesn't help that Jason works late each day and I have PTO work to do after the kids go to bed. But, we're young, healthy and able.

Health update: all good! Just saw my oncologist this week and I'm doing fine. I go back in 4 months. I also saw my cardiologist a couple of weeks ago. Great news! I'm off my heart meds! I just have to take my tamoxifen for the next million years. Okay, just over 4 years. On another cancer note, I'd like to ask for your prayers, well wishes, good karma, etc for my friend Jo. She starts her first round of chemo next week and needs strength to get her thru this. She's in great hands medically. All of her doctors are or were mine. It's just nerve racking the first time.

Summer is Gone!

WOW! Were did the summer go? I can't believe it's been 2 months since I last posted. It just doesn't feel like it.


Well, the Doornik family has been doing pretty good since June. We took another enjoyable trip to Dallas to visit friends for the 4th of July. The kids got to shoot fireworks, something we can't do here. There is something to be said about living outside of city limits in an unincorporated area. Anna and Sydney also did a week at the YMCA camp. They had a fun time and wanted to do another week, but we didn't have time to do one. We'll try to fit more in next summer. The set up there is really cool for little campers.


Our last little trip was to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't seen the weather in our neck of the woods, it's been HOT! Like 100+, 110+ heat index. Yuck. Of course, the best thing to do is go to San Antonio, TX and visit outside attractions each day. Not our best planning, but Jason and I promised the kids we'd go to Sea World this summer so off we went. Our first stop was the Alamo and River Walk. We didn't actually get to the River Walk. Sydney was so overwhelmed by the heat, she threw up at the Alamo very soon after getting there. Later that afternoon, Anna passed out in the shower as a result of the heat and no food. The next day, we lost Hayden at Sea World for 10-15 minutes. His implants were off since we were on our way to the pool. Gotta tell you, I've never been so scared! Anna found him at the little kid pool, just having a ball. In fact, he got mad at me when I made him get out to put on sunscreen. That little stinker! Our last full day was spent in Fredericksburg. It was pleasant, hot and uneventful. Good times.


Once August hit, so did my new job as PTO president. What was I thinking of when I said yes? I said no for 5 months, then they catch me 1 month before our big spring fundraiser. I wasn't sleeping and was running on adrenaline for the longest time. I had no more strength to fight the growing campaign to get me to say yes. So I succumbed to the pressure. And now I'm paying for it. Well, it's just one year and Sydney is so proud her mommy is PTO President. I can't do as much at Anna's or Hayden's schools, but I'll still find time to fit them in.


School started on Monday. It was a little stressful trying to get everyone to 3 different schools, but we did it and the kids love it so far! Anna prays each night to God that she is so happy at Mitchell, her intermediate 5th & 6th grade school. Sydney loves that she's the first one home and has 20 minutes with me by herself. Hayden doesn't say he likes school, but his "bye Mom" as he gets on the bus is enough for me to know he's happy. Let's see how long the magic lasts!


Jason is up for a promotion at work. We are all very happy that he's gainfully employed. :)

My annual imaging happened in the last 2 weeks. I had an MRI 2 weeks ago and a mammogram on Monday. Apparently, the MRI should something that they needed to follow up on. Wasn't happy to hear that, but it ended up being fat necrosis, which isn't uncommon following the surgeries I've had. No action needs to be taken and I'm still cancer free.

Summer is Here!

It's been about 6 weeks since my last post. I've allowed myself to shut down a little after a very busy beginning to 2010. With surgeries, fundraisers, parenting, being a wife, and providing care to the entire Western World (okay, slight exaggeration), I needed a break.

Jason and I have had 2 little vacations with the kids since Memorial Day. We celebrated Sydney's birthday in Dallas with friends of ours. Our kids are all close in age and get along well. The girls do at least. Our boys aren't quite there yet at 3 years old and 16 months old. Give us another year or 2 and they will be best buds. Hayden actually learned to fake cry so I'd pick him up, or that's what he thought should happen. It did for Baby AJ.

Our last trip was to Panama City, FL to visit Jason's sister. We had such a great time. They have friends that were so nice to take us out on their motor boat one day and sail boat another. The girls were born to be sailors. Hayden was fine once we were off the boat. He hated to wear his life jacket. The water was so clear, the sand so white, and the sky so blue. And we were fortunate to not have any oil hit the beach. We saw hermit crabs, sea urchins, water snails, fiddler crabs, living sand dollars and a sting ray. Jason and I couldn't have planned a better trip. Thanks to Admiral Ken and Captain Monica!

The weeks preceding our trips, Jason had to be in Peru. He's going again in a week, getting back the day before we have house guests for 4th of July. We go to San Antonio in August. Want to bet he's in Peru again before we go? :)

VBS starts tomorrow. The girls always love this week during the summer. Anna's a little bummed though. All her friends that usually go are on vacation, so she doesn't have a friend in her group. She'll make some though. Sydney is with one of her best friends so she's all set! They have a week of day camp with the YMCA in July. Hayden starts his own camp on Wednesday for 7 weeks. He goes on Wednesdays to a hearing camp set up by his former AV therapist and deaf ed teacher. Once he sees them both, he's going to be so happy.

So, we are off to a great start on our summer vacation.

Done!

I am done! Yep, that's right. Known surgeries are done, chemo is done, radiation is done. I am so happy to celebrate my 2 year anniversary as a breast cancer survivor and be done with it all. I still have follow up appointments and medicine to take daily, but I'm cancer free so who cares!

The last reconstruction surgery wasn't as bad as the other 2. It was outpatient, but still a long day. I'm symmetrical and happy! The one thing I've got to still adjust too over the last 18 months is the amount of scars I've got. Each surgery adds to the existing scars. I really wasn't prepared for that, but in the years to come, they should fade and just be faint reminders.

The kids are gearing up for the last month of school. Anna finished TAKS testing last week and I'm sure she did great. Sydney had a wonderful field day on Thursday and Anna will have hers on Tuesday. Hayden's is next Friday. We are preparing for a busy month at school. We have field trips, book fair, teacher appreciation week, science week, and year end testing. Hayden has his ARD for school next year. This is were his teachers, therapist, counselor, and school administration all agree on what our goals are for him. Can't wait. He should be going 5 days a week, up from 3. This will be great.

Jason's birthday is tomorrow. To bad he has to work. We did get to celebrate a little today. We had lunch, did some planting and he got a game and a few books he really wanted. My hope for him tomorrow is to be home before dark!

Welcome Spring

Much has happened since my last post. We recovered from the flu, enjoyed a very relaxing spring break and then spent 3 weeks finalizing details for our spring fundraiser at school. The kids and Jason were very understanding as I neglected them for Camp Springetti. But it was worth it. We netted $71,000. Not too bad for a K-4 elementary school, post-recession by about a week! I won't do it on my birthday again though. My fellow parent volunteers surprised me with a birthday cake and gift. I was totally caught off guard. But I worked so much, I actually forgot it was my birthday the first half hour I was up.

During all that craziness, I was also nominated and elected as next year's PTO president. Don't know what I was thinking! They caught me at a moment of weakness and I had no more energy to fight it. I'm already getting roped into decision making and prep for next school year.

The kids are doing great! Report cards came home a few weeks ago and Anna is on honor roll and Sydney is doing fantastic since getting help for dyslexia. Hayden's speech is exploding. His bus driver says "Girl, he never stops talking!" Too funny!

Easter weekend was beautiful. The kids had a great time at our church egg hunt and the hunt at home. The service was very nice and Jason volunteered with the girls again as greeters. It was just nice to be together for a few days.

Wednesday, I will have what I hope is my last surgery for breast cancer. There is a small chance I may need more, but this is the last known surgery I'll need. It's out-patient and I should be able to drive by Monday. This is the "fixer uper" surgery to make everything aesthetically correct. I'll try to update soon after to let everyone know how it goes.

This image shows an antibiotic for double ear infections and Tamiflu for 3 sick kids. That's been our week. Hayden was confirmed to have the flu on Monday along with the ear infections. This was 3 days after I started experiencing the same symptoms. Monday night, Sydney started throwing up. Tuesday morning, Anna came home from school with a fever and headache. Wednesday, Jason stayed home with the same symptoms. Thankfully, with just Hayden's confirmed case, our doctors were able to call in Tamiflu for all of us.

I've never handled all 3 kids sick at the same time. I've had 2 out of 3, but not the full set, and then throw Jason in the mix, well, that was fun. Thankfully, he rested a lot and was able to go back to work today. The kids though will still be home tomorrow. Spring break starts this weekend for us. At least they shouldn't be sick at all!

Score!

This is maybe an odd thing to be super excited about, but I am! After 3 years, we finally have a formal dyslexia diagnosis for Sydney!!! I knew she had it before she started school, but our district doesn't test until 2nd grade to allow for normal development and growth.

We kept in contact with her Kindergarten and first grade teachers about her progress. She's been getting tutoring at school for reading since Kindergarten which as really helped. Once I met her 2nd grade teacher in August, I let her know our concerns and our wishes: get through benchmarks as soon as possible then start the testing process. By the late fall, her teacher nominated her for testing. Having gone through the initial screening, she clearly qualified for the formal testing which was done last month.

I got all the results today. She took 6 different tests and the results show she struggles with reading fluency (rate and accuracy) and rapid naming. The other areas she is within normal range. Her dyslexia teacher said that her form can be difficult to overcome, but she was confident that Sydney would be able to do just that. She is very bright and loves to learn.

We hope that she starts sometime next week with her dyslexia teacher. She'll meet 4 days a week for 30-40 minutes a day. We also mapped out things to help her in class and at home. This will guide her instruction into 3rd grade which includes TAKS testing. I think the items we have in place will really help and having all of us on board, Sydney can only improve.

First Week Solo

It's been just over 4 weeks since my surgery and life is looking bright. Jason's dad went home last Sunday morning, so it's just been me to take care of the kids and house. We made it! I've done laundry, cleaned floors, done the shopping, continued my volunteer work at school and managed a sick boy. It feels good to be getting back to myself.

In 2 more weeks, I can resume all my normal activities. The thing I want to do the most is hold Hayden. He's been great knowing I can't hold him yet, but he really wants me too. My stomach doesn't hurt as much as it did, nor are the muscles as tight, but the incision site is still healing and can be uncomfortable at times. Have I mentioned the incision? It's huge, like 18+ inches, from hip bone to hip bone. It'll take a lot of time, but it is supposed to fade and be less angry looking.

To make my first solo week challenging, Hayden has been sick with a nasty cold. He's been home from school most of the week. Jason, Anna and I have managed to get variations of his cold, and little Miss Syd Syd has escaped. I don't know how she does it, but she doesn't seem to get sick as much as we do.

My work at school is picking up too. I'm VP of Fundraising this year. We just finished our 1st ever cookie dough sale. Distribution was challenging with a 15 pound weight limit! I had a couple of people to help me which was nice. Now we are moving on to CAMP SPRINGETTI! This is our spring fundraiser which is on my birthday this year, April 9th. It's a great family event with auctions, raffles, store, bingo, children's tent and dinner. I'm really excited about it. We've been working on it since October. I've been working on solicitation since December and we've already had 75 items donated. It takes hundreds of donations to make this work, so we still have a way to go.

I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers over the last month. Our family is getting back to normal which is wonderful.

Recovery

DISCLAIMER: I am talking a little more candidly about the reconstruction surgery. Use caution if you don't want to hear about the details!













Ouch! That's my saying this go around.



First, I want to thank everyone for their prayers, well wishes, good karma, etc. It is definitely being felt here. We all appreciate it.

I had my first reconstruction surgery last Tuesday. This one was the DIEP flap procedure that takes tissue from my stomach and is used to rebuild the left breast. The stomach is then closed similar to that of a tummy tuck. My plastic surgeon is one of the best in Houston and really knows his thing so everything is going to look great once I'm all healed. Right now though, not so much.

I have a huge incision from hip bone to hip bone. It's supposed to heal and fade in the next 9-12 months, but it'll always be there. I'll have another surgery in a few months to finish the reconstruction. I'll have an implant on the right breast and my surgeon will make everything even and symmetrical.

To be honest, I hate how I look right now, but I know as everything heals, it'll look better. No one said fighting cancer looks good. But, the happy news is that we are near the end. For me, surgery is the end of the road. I should be done this spring. Starting Feb. 1, I do start taking the maintenance drug, Tamoxifen. This is a pill I'll take daily for 5 years. Tamoxifen helps prevent estrogen from binding to cells which should prevent the return of cancer. I just hope I can remember to take it every day. That's not one of my strong points.

Again, Jason and I want to thank everyone for their concern for our family and all the prayers. Though we are far away from most of you, we feel your presence and love.

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoy this little look back on 2009. It was a rough year for many, but there were some good times as well. Happy New Year!