Great News!!!

After visiting with the Psychiatrist who issues Stephan's Ritalin on Monday, she has taken him off the meds until all test results are in. She had some real concerns about the heart murmur and the effects Ritalin could potential have on his system - glad we're not the only ones!

Yesterday, I met Debbie and Stephan at St. Mary's Hospital for the lymph node scan and possible biopsy. It seems that the antibiotics have been doing their job as Stephan's nodes were reduced to normal size. Stephan was a bit cranky about having to miss school, but his normal charming self came out after we spoke to the Radiologist. The doctor told us about the scan and his opinion was to NOT do a biopsy as the cells have returned to normal and there apears to be no issue at this point. He assured us that if they became enlarged again, to make an appointment directly with his staff and bring Stephan back in for a closer look. He also mentioned that since Stephan had not had any previous cancer issues, he was 99.9% sure that this was caused from an infection within his body and the antibiotics were doing their job.

What a relief it was to hear this; we will be following Stephan's health closely for a few weeks just to make sure everything is good. The next step is the echocardiogram scheduled with Children's Mercy South in Overland Park on the 11th of March - that's when we'll find out about the heart murmur and put this to bed for good!

I have been at peace about this issue since I put it in God's hands and had all you who have been reading these blogs praying for Stephan. The prayers have helped my family to put our trust in the doctor's abilities as well as relied upon God to take the brunt of the uncertainty from our daily lives. I know that if the prognosis had been different up to this point, our faith would not waiver and we would be doing what was needed without alot of the dramatics that come when you don't have that personal relationship with Christ! Thanks again so much for the prayer - please keep them coming!

I made a point of stopping by Stephan's school after I dropped him off and gave the Principal fair warning that he was no longer on his meds - I figured I owed it to them!

Good Weekend!

Friday, was Stephanie's birthday (42nd). She received a couple cards, a daily devotional book and a $50 gift certificate to Kohl's (one of her favorite places to shop). Shallen and I took her out to dinner to a chinese buffet. We had a great time and didn't eat too much!

Saturday morning was pretty chilly in KC...but, I got up anyway to do my long run for the week. With everything going on the last couple of weeks and my feet bothering me a little, I didn't get much mileage in. I decided to take it easy and go a little shorter than my plan called for.

The run was in Olathe, KS and it was about 20 degrees when we started. I had originally planned on 10 miles when I woke up that morning - my run was going so well and I felt great, so I pushed it to 12. During the last two miles of the run, we pushed the pace a little bit (somewhere around 7:45) and it started to snow! This was a great way to finish the run...smooth, comfortable with snow flakes touching my face - it was a great feeling.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We tried a new church in our area and really enjoyed the service. It was a very meaningful worship time. The message was on God's sustaining love even when we don't deserve it (which is pretty much all of the time)! After church, we had a nice luch at the house with lettice wraps (I got the results back from MY blood work when I went in for the annual physical. My total cholesterol was at 249, my bad cholesterol was at 181, should be under 100 and the doctor suggested the South Beach Diet, phase 3 to get everything in check). I think this will all work out well - I could stand to lose between 10-15 pounds; should help my running a little as well.

Today, we visit with Stephan's doctor about his Ritalin LA and what we can do as an alternative. We've changed his meds before, some with pretty good results, some not so good. Continue to pray for Stephan as I take him to the hopital on Wednesday for the scan and biopsy of the lymph nodes.

Good News!

Good News has many different meanings: Jesus is still in control and Stephan's blood work came back normal...just two examples! I received a call yesterday from Debbie (Stephan's mom) that the blood work up came back normal but the doctor still wanted Stephan to get the scan and biopsy on the lymph nodes along with an echocardiogram for the heart murmur the doctor detected.
More good news; Debbie did some hard research yesterday and found out that a few of the side effects of Ritilan LA are: enlarged and sore lymph nodes, irregular heart beat, dizzines and sore throat. We see Stephan's doctor that prescribes the ADHD medication on Monday and plan to bring this up to her. I'm feeling much better about the prognosis. Stephan has backed off on his ADHD medication a little (went from 30mg to 20mg) and hopefully will be removed from it by the time he graduates high school in 2011.
Continue to pray for Stephan and the doctors as we continue to track all this down! All in all, good news!

Stephan's Dr. Appt

Yesterday afternoon, I took Stephan, my 16 year old son, to see a doctor after he had been complaining about some bumps on his neck under his chin. Those bumps, along with one on his shoulder at the base of his neck and others in the groin area turned out to be lymph nodes. As it turns out, Stephan has had these enlarged nodes for over a year - he just decided to tell us since they were sore (boy, did he get a chewing on this one from me).

The doctor had blood work done and suggested we go to the nearby hospital for additional tests and a possible biopsy. When the nurse came back to discuss our appt at the hospital with Radiology, Stephan made a point of telling her, "anytime after 3:00!" I tried to explain to him that this may be out of our control. He continued to be adament about the "after school" time - it turns out, if he has perfect attendance for the school year, the school will give him $40 - I wish my school had bribed me when I was still going!

The nurse came back with an appointment for next Wednesday at 7:30am (needless to say, Stephan was not happy)! I told him, for my peace of mind, I would be happy to pay the $40 at the end of school!!!!!

Please pray for Stephan and the family as these tests wait before us! Pray for the doctors as they administer the tests and give us the results!

Stepping Back in History...

Last night I had the pleasure of visiting with a lady I'd only spoken to on the phone. Last fall, Stephan and I tool a genealogy trip to Edina, MO...just east of Kirksville. When my family moved to MO from KY in the late 1800's, they ended up settling in this upper NorthEast area. My great-grandfather moved to the KC, KS area and that's where my immediate family originated.

My great-grandfather, James Elkins, had six siblings, all who stayed in this region of MO. From our walking through grave yards and looking through old birth and death certificates, we found that the two daughter's of my great-grandfather's youngest brother were still alive and now living just across the Mississippi River in Illinois. This was bound to shed a little light on my research.

It turns out Betsy (Elkins) Wharton had a doctor's appointment at the KU Med Center in KCK this morning and her youngest daughter Marcy was driving her in for the visit. Marcy sent me an email asking if I would be available for dinner Monday night. I was thrilled to get the chance to sit down with Betsy and talk a little about the family and our connection back to Kentucky.

Needless to say, I was not disappointed. We had a very nice visit and Steph and I are making plans to visit Nauvoo, IL in April for her sister & brother-in-law's celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. We also intend to visit again in August for a family reunion (for her mom's side of the family - there will be a number of Elkins there as well).

Once I get this side of the family documented - next stop, Log Lick, Kentucky!

Another Date with Addison!

Sunday afternoon, Steph and I traveled through heavy snow to visit my daughter and grand-daughter. Steph was getting her hair colored and cut by Colby, while I had the wonderful opportunity to spend my time with Addison - who is now roughly 5 months old.

Addi is now able to roll-over from her back to her stomach and almost sit up on her own...she still weaves back and forth a little, like she's a little drunk.

Steph and I had lunch with Colby before she got her hair cut. Colby is doing pretty well - still looking for a place to live in Independence, closer to work.

On the way out to Oak Grove, we decided to go through Liberty and take M-291 to I-70 since they were tearing down the Noland Road bridge over I-70. This bridge has needed to come down for some time...chunks of cement have been falling off this thing for years. This is a very heavily used bridge as it connects the "miracle mile" on Noland Road. It's due to be closed down until mid-May; I'm just glad I don't still live in Independence - that's going to be a rough couple of months.

After the hair cut and good grandpa time with Addison, we stopped by and saw Stephan and gave him his meds (doctor is cutting back on the milligram and we got the script filled). While there, Erin (my oldest) and Morgan (my first grand-daughter) were visiting Debbie...I'm getting to see everyone today.

We stopped by mom's house on the way home and she told Steph and I about her trip with Caron out to Vegas for a week. They had a great time! They took in the Spamalot show and also saw Penn & Teller. Caron picked up buttons for Jeff, Derek and I from the Spamalot show (mine said, "It's only a flesh wound..." - Monty Python fans will understand).

After leaving mom's, we stopped by some good friends, Jerry & Debbie Noland (yes, he is related to the man who Noland Road is named after). Jerry was in the hospital recently, but recovering nicely! They are big NASCAR fans and were watching the Daytona 500 when we arrived. Keep Jerry in your prayers as he continues to get better day by day!

It's hard to believe we did all that on a Sunday, and got home in time to see Cold Case!

Beautiful Day for a Run!

The last two days here in Kansas City have been in the mid-to-upper 40's and really beautiful outside. I made sure to pack a long sleeved shirt this morning with my Garmin for a run outside over lunch.
I ran an easy six miles - or atleast I thought it was easy. I didn't look at my watch until I was about 2 miles out and saw that I was running about a 7:45 pace. I had to tell myself this is suppose to be an easy run and made myself slow it down.
It's one of those days when you feel like you can just keep running since the day is perfect. I didn't get over-heated and the cooldown was pretty comfortable.
On a love note: I made sure to send Steph a couple dozen roses at the office - she loved them! We've got dinner scheduled tonight with Shallen; should be a very nice evening. Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Annual Visit

Yesterday afternoon, I had my annual doctor's visit/physical. I've missed the last couple of years because everytime I scheduled, it seemed like my unit planned for a deployment. Not seeing a doctor outside of the military in a couple of years and with a healthcare change at Sprint, I had to select a new doctor. I played the dart board game - just took a stab at selecting a good doctor near my work to make it more convenient.

I lucked out with my choice - very friendly and knowledgeable guy who is also a runner (plans to run Hospital Hill in June). He gave me a glowing recommendation on my current health. He had a lot of questions about my weekly training - I think he was trying to get a few pointers! LOL!

I mentioned yesterday that I would speak about the current happenings at Sprint. As of about a week ago, with a lot of prayer and discussion with Steph, I decided to take their Voluntary Separation Program (VSP). I have been with Sprint for over 11 years and decided that this would be a good way to step out and pursue a career move. My last day will be March 28th giving me continued weekly pay through the 14th of November.

My plan is to go into the Construction Project Management field. KU offers a Master's in Construction Management and I already have over 19 years in Project Mangement experience - sorry, didn't mean to make this sound like an interview! I have a number of applications in the mix right now and hope to have a new job in April to place most of my Sprint checks in savings.

Steph and I are placing our trust in God that a job will come that is exactly what I'm looking for. I just wanted to give everyone an update on where things stand for me with all the layoffs being experienced in Kansas City with Sprint.

Have an outstanding day and be available for God to open a door that leads to growth and relieance upon Him!

Another Drill Weekend

My Navy Reserve unit drills at Whiteman AFB in lovely Knob Noster, MO. The Stealth bomber is housed at Whiteman. We are the only Navy unit on the base. Being a Petty Officer with an eagle on my collar sure causes a lot of undue salutes from the Air Force community!

Saturday, we went to the Reserve Center in Kansas City to get a lot of medical/dental issues knocked out and bring the unit to a mobilization-ready status. This is an annual event that has to be maintained - that's the purpose of a Reservist, to be ready for immediate deployment (contrary to what a lot of Reservists thought prior to 9/11). After all the medical probing and proding, I got to have a nice dinner with my wife on the Plaza at the old George Brett's place (it's now "210", Brett got out of the restaurant business).

Following dinner, I had to go to Whiteman to stay the night for Sunday's drill. We had our advancement exams on Sunday. I felt pretty good about the results...a lot of the questions looked familiar to me! I'm also the Assistant Command Fitness Leader (one more collateral duty to add to my eval) and had to work with a group of sailors who failed the last physical fitness evaluation.

On my way home from drill, I stopped by my brother Jeff's house in Lee's Summit and had dinner with him and the kids - it was nice to spend time with all of them. Jeff is doing well and recently got a new job not far from my house up north. Tomorrow, I'll talk a little about life at Sprint and how that's about to change.

Everybody's OK

My good friend Paul Turner and his family live in a suburb outside Nashville, TN. While driving through the snow and ice yesterday on my way to work, I gave Paul a quick call to make sure everyone was OK following the unbelievable night of twisters that moved through five states and took 55 lives.

Paul's brother James and his dad Chuck were visiting to catch a couple of the girl's basketball games and just get back together following Paul's mother's untimely death back in December (I wrote earlier about Francis Turner).

Paul was at work and assured me everyone was OK. He explained that the twisters went on both sides of his town as they moved north through Nashville and surrounding towns. I was watching the news as I woke to see Union University, a Southern Baptist College, destroyed beyond belief and hear the stories from some of the students about pulling couches over themselves to shield them from the roof coming down. Paul's oldest daughter Shelbi is due to start classes at Union University in the fall and Paul has a Youth Minister's conference at Union University in the summer - they may be looking for a new location now as the rebuilding starts.

Please offer up a prayer for the people of these 5 states who have lost loved ones, those that are hurt and those who start to rebuild their lives after this devastation. May God bless and encourage everyone who has been effected by this ordeal.

"SUPER" Weekend

This weekend was non-stop! Saturday morning (early), I ran 14 miles - after not running as much as I needed to during the week, this proved to be a pretty comfortable run. I was a little surprised at how resilient my body was to that distance; thank goodness it didn't let me down!

Saturday night was Shallen's boyfriend's Court Warming (he attends Park Hill High School, just down the road from our house). Matt and his friend came by to pick up Shallen and her friend Annie to go to the dance about 5pm. Of course, we got our fill of pictures and I had to make Matt feel a little uncomfortable - it's a Dad's job! Annie's mom came by to pick up her things when she asked, "What time will you be bringing the girls home?" Matt and his friend looked puzzled, so I helped them out, "Have them home by 1am!" It's all I said and they seemed to agree - like they had a choice?????

After the kids left, Steph and I settled in on the couch with the fire going and a movie in the DVD player - We Are Marshall! Interesting...I opened a Collection Call Center for Sprint in that town about six years ago and stayed in the hotel right across the street from the Diner that all the people gathered in on the movie. They still have all the newspaper articles framed and hanging on the walls from the crash back in 1970. It was interesting seeing all the streets in the movie and knowing that I walked (and ran) on a number of them when I was out there.

Sunday, we did a little work around the house after church and went to see a few "new homes" from the KC Star not too far from us - we also went to see the model plan for the home we want to build after the kids are away at college and the military - we're still trying to decide if we want to tell them where we're moving?!?!

Of course, we watched the Super Bowl! It was fairly obvious right away that the Patriots we're going to have their hands full when the Offensive line couldn't protect Brady and Manning had all day to view the field before firing a pass to his receivers. I truely think the Giant's defense made the difference in that game and gave New York the win. Had they not pressured Brady like they did, I think the outcome would have been very different - the Patriot's would have had their Perfect season! And how about Belichick - to have walked off the field with 1 second remaining on the game clock, even after the Ref told him the game wasn't over; what a wonderful example of unsportsmanlike conduct for our kids to view. I understand he hated losing, but he's suppose to be the leader and set an example - he did...but it was the wrong kind! Seeing Eli win - he truely comes from one of the greatest NFL families!