Birthday Fun!

Last Saturday was my birthday and I spent the day relaxing with a few girlfriends at Glen Ivy a local spa. It was such a treat. They have these natural mud baths that are suppose to be great for the skin(picture above )mineral baths and lots of lounge pools. It was so nice but went by way too fast. Jason took me out that night and created a fun and creative evening where I had to answer lots of different questions that led to how and where the evening would go. It was super sweet and we had a great time. My kids had decorated the house with Happy Birthday banners and helped daddy make me a special breakfast. It was a super great day. I feel so blessed by all that the Lord has given to me and look forward to many more years. I have been so horrible at taking pictures lately. We are leaving tomorrow for Hume Lake so I will try and capture some great shots.

So Much to share

So much has happened in the last few days I may need to do two seperate posts :) Well Thursday I called the doctor to find out the results for the genetic test we had done. They were testing to see if I for sure had Myatonic dystrophy DM1. Well even after two neurologist diagnosed me and said they were certain I had the disease, the test came back negative. Our heads were spinning. We were of coarse grateful but were also left with so many unanswered questions. What now? Well this morning we went back to the doctor to discuss the test and other possibilities. The Neurologist told us that since we tested negative for DM1 that he was certain I had Myatonic Dystrophy type 2. Confusing right? We knew that there were two different types but since the doctors were convinvced I had the first type DM1 we did not read much about DM2. It turns out DM2 is a milder form of the disease without a lot of the serious complications. The disease could progress but might not. Our boys still have a 50% chance of having this disease however with each pass down the symptoms are less and less. This was really great news to hear. Still not feeling confident this is what I have until I get the results back though :) I have seen the Lord perform miracle after miracle and am in awe of his power and his goodness and faithfulness in my life. He can always choose to to take this away completely and I don't ever want to lose sight of his ability and just accept what the doctors think. We are relieved and will keep focusing on gaining strength and putting our trust in the ultimate healer. Our prayer is that he will get the ultimate Glory no matter what the outcome is. Thanks for all your prayers and your words of encouragement they have meant so much to us.

Grateful

Our family had a wonderful long holiday weekend. We had fun swimming, eating and just hanging out with friends. It has been so neat to see pictures of our sweet Hannah from a year ago. She has changed so much. We realized the other day that we have had her now longer than she was in the orphanage. We are grateful to have her in our lives and are constantly amazed at what a big girl she is becoming. Today we will greet a dear family who is bringing home there daughter from Taiwan. The Lord is doing great things through adoption and it is so exciting to see his handiwork. We have several friends who are in the process and we look forward to them all being reunited with there forever families soon.

I have begun to have more energy over the last few days. Praise god! I know so many of you have been praying for me and I'm so grateful for those prayers. I can't say enough how much I LOVE my trainer. It has only been a few weeks since we have started but I really feel like he is a gift from the Lord. He is having me do things I never thought I would be able to do again. I feel so encouraged and motivated every time I leave his gym and he is just so knowledgable about the muscles and how our mind plays such a big part in being able to gain the strength back. I read a quote from Joyce Myer the other day that spoke to my heart. God's will for you is greater than anything you can imagine for yourself. Be willing to obey God even when you don't understand what he is doing with you. I believe this with all my heart and I look forward to him using me.

This is a picture of my Trainer and world class champion athlete Dan Judge.

An Encouraging Day

Right after my recent diagnosis some good friends of ours the Talley's took us out to talk and pray for us. During our conversation Dave mentioned that we should talk with a guy from our church named Dan who owns his own health and wellness gym close by. He said that he has been able to do some amazing things for clients with dabilitating diseases and illnesses. A few days later at church Jason and I found Dan and talked with him. He was a nice guy and seemed like he was knowledgable about my diagnosis and things he might be able to do to help. Today I had my first appointment with him. This guy is such a great guy. I walked away from our meeting feeling so encouraged. He put me through a series of machines to test my strength. Everytime he discovered a weak muscle he said that's okay this is what we are going to do to gain the strength back. He spent time explaining how the muscles work and I wanted to cry because I was doing some things I haven't been able to do and he was pushing me and encouraging me the whole time. The Lord has really given him a gift to help others and he recognizes that our meeting is not by chance. I really needed this meeting. I have been feeling so discouraged lately, confident that the Lord is using me in this difficult time but dealing with a lot of sadness that I do not want to be a burden to my husband and children. I want to keep fighting as hard as I can and not let this disease get the best of me. I was just not sure how and today I found out how and it feels so good. I struggle with putting something so personal like this out there but I know that the people reading this are praying and supporting us through this time.

updates

After a few of you have asked I realized that I have not given any updates about my recent diagnoses. Yesterday I met with another Neurologist to get his opinion. He quickly diagnosed me the same. He said I showed classic signs of Myatonic dystrophy type one. During the exam he explained what muscles have been effected and which have not yet been effected. He explained that our children have a 50 percent chance of getting this disease. He did not recommend us doing genetic testing for them but feels it is extremely important to have there hearts checked regularly. He had a more positive outlook on things. It has still been a lot to take in. I will be going through more rounds of testing. Sleep apnea, swallow testing, and heart tests. I will continue to work with trainers to try and build up some muscle. I have joined an online support group and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the disease. I'm giving it over to the lord daily and asking him to use me in every situation to give him the glory. Some days are better than others. The things you can be praying for is wisdom on how to navigate through decisions, an increase an energy levels(we are trying different vitamins and are open to suggestions) and that I would continue to keep my eyes focused on him and not wallow in this disease. Thank you all who have been so concerned and encouraging. I feel so blessed to have you all in my life. We are looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer.

God"s Unfailing Love

So Thankful for such a wonderful weekend spending time with the Lord. Friday my husband gave me a wonderful night away. I got to leave early friday morning and go get a much needed massage at Glen Ivy :) Then I headed down to Dana Point. I can not tell you how nice it was to be in the word and prepare for speaking at the ladies tea with out any distractions. I got some much needed alone time. It made me a much better mommy and wife when I returned Saturday afternoon. The Tea was absolutely beautiful. We have such talented ladies who are so creative with there tables. It was just so nice to be in the company of wonderful woman. After I spoke at the tea a lady and her daughter came up to me. They explained some ailments that there daughter was having that were very similar to mine. They explained that the doctors have never been able to diagnose some of the symptoms. They said she was so depressed and tired of not getting any answers. She has never seen a neurologist and had never thought too until hearing my story. I agreed to meet with the daughter some time soon. I was brought to tears. The Lord is already using this trial and if I were to choose to wallow in my diagnoses I would miss all that God is doing. He is always there and we need to trust him that he is working out his plan. It was a beautiful day. Saturday night was time spent with the family and then today has been a beautiful reflection on the book of Isaiah. Our church has spent the last couple of years going through the book of Isaiah. Today we had a reflection service and it was very moving. This weekend seems to be themed around God's Unfailing Love.

How have you all seen God's Unfailing Love ? I would love to hear.

A brief update

Last Friday I had an EMG test done. I'm not gonna lie it was just plain awful. I have bruises from all the needle injections :) The doctor said that he only found traces of the Myotonia in two areas of my body. He said it wasn't wide spread enough to get a confirmation of the disease. He would like me to do some genetic testing. This requires approval from my insurance. It is a blood test that needs to be read in a special lab. I left the appointment more confused and frustrated that we still did not have a solid answer and that it is going to take 6 more weeks until we know more information. The planner in me wanted answers so that I could move forward with the next steps. I quickly remembered that God is in control and know without a doubt that he will be building my patience and character through this long wait. I hate how I quickly forget how faithful he has been in my life and has always done amazing things. I forget to ask him for total healing. I certainly know he has the ability and he can choose to if he desires. I have requested to see another neurologist to get a second opinion. I could not get into see him until next month. I laugh because I'm always telling my kids to be patient and I often struggle with it so much more. I know I will eventually get answers so for now I will rest in the fact that I know my God is in control and he is walking with me every step of the way. Thanks for all your sweet words of encouragement and prayers.