TE (Total Exhaustion)

So, we knew this was coming when Dan started the credentialing program. The Teaching Event (or TE or the TPA or the Mistress) is the big project that stands between students and their teaching credential. Dan has already been working hard in school, but he has been buried up to the neck for the past month or so. We are realizing now that the year-long break Dan took to have surgery and heal has actually made his TE a little more difficult for him. Not impossible, just difficult.

We haven't been able to spend much time as a couple since I've been working a lot at the hospital and Dan's been stuck with the TE. Even for his birthday, he did homework when he came home from our "date night"! We're trying to make the time we do have count, but it will be a breath of fresh air to have my happy husband back. We're fairly used to challenges in our marriage, but this has been stretching us pretty thin.

We are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, as the TE is due next Thursday. God willing, Dan will pass the first time and be done with this for good! Please pray for endurance for Dan and that he would finish well.

Though Toulouse is sleeping and quiet at the moment, he is showing us that he does not like being home alone so much. He knocks over all of his water dishes and our cups, eats anything he can grab (including my hair) and tries to get into every cabinet he can. Just a couple days ago I had to "cat-proof" our kitchen. Now, all our cupboards have baby locks on them. Good grief.

In health-related news, Dan has scheduled his hip replacement surgery for July 28th. It will be a rough bit of rehab, but then Dan should feel "young" again and not dependent on a cane. He's much more excited about this than I am! Yet, it will be nice to know all the nurses since the surgery will be at my hospital.

We cannot wait for a break. Even if our first day together with no work or homework consists of running errands or just sitting on a couch, we will be thrilled. The next couple weeks are going to be murderous for both of us, so any and all prayers would be appreciated greatly!

That's the news for now. We apologize if we have been non-communicative lately...you'll all begin to hear from us again soon :)

The New Year

Yes, we do know that it is half way through February and we are just now blogging about the new year. That is just how life is right now.

Back up to Christmas: we were blessed to have our families come to Southern California to celebrate a few days after Christmas. Since Lise and I worked all of the holidays, it was so refreshing to make our own holiday celebrations. What a wonderful way to start the new year!

Dan has started back at UCI to finish his teaching credential. He is BUSILY doing his teaching event (TPA) and student teaching. He is training in a middle school in Garden Grove, teaching algebra and geometry. From what he says, he will like being a teacher but does not like the process of getting there. The next few months will be just as crazy as the last couple have been. The "light at the end of the tunnel" is June when he gets his credential, though Dan will have to take one more class in July to be officially done. Then, we hope and pray that God opens doors for Dan to find a job.

Ashley is now working days on the oncology unit. It is a fairly stressful and busy unit, though in a different way than her last unit was. The patients are more complex, which means Ash is learning a lot. God is also providing lots of opportunities for her to give spiritual care and take care of the whole patient and their whole families. The hospital is busy right now, so there have been quite a few long days and extra days...which makes for one tired Ash most of the time.

All that to say, the Howens are ready for a break soon, but are pushing through like always. We are praying that we will be able to make a trip up for Easter....hopefully.

On the cancer front, Dan had a CT this month that showed us good news. The tumors have not grown and his liver is healing from all of the abuse it has been through. At this point, we are waiting to schedule the 2nd ablation until after Dan graduates. The surgeon and oncologist feel it is safe to wait since the tumors are not doing anything scandalous.

That should about sum it up for now. Dan and Ashley are busy and tired, but learning and growing. God is good; He is in control.

Please pray with us that God will continue to protect us and give us the endurance to keep on the path He has set us on.

Bronchitis

That's what the doctor says Dan has. Lungs sounding gunky+fever+clear chest x-ray=bronchitis. Hopefully, antibiotics and stronger cough syrup will do the trick.

A chest CT will be added to the abdominal CT in February just for good measure.

We thought a few people might want an update. Thanks for the prayers.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2010 has come to a close. What a crazy year.

Dan and I haven't blogged since his last ablation, so I suppose we should start there.

We went back for the second round of ablation in November. We were a little hesitant about whether or not it would happen since Dan had developed fevers for a couple weeks. None of the doctors could really figure out why he was running fevers, but decided to at least look at the CT.

We spent Thanksgiving with the families and then drove to Stanford.

Dan went into the procedure room and the moms and I wa

ited in the waiting room. In about a quarter of the time the procedure was supposed to take, the doctor came out to the waiting room. At first, I dreaded what he was going to say, but he was smiling. He said that the last ablation had covered more area than he had anticipated. So, good news: 3 tumors look to have been cooked instead of 2. Bad news: the last ablation had cooked one of Dan's liver blood vessels and part of his liver had lost blood supply. Accordingly, doing the second ablation would mean inserting a needle through sick liver tissue and opening Dan up for infection and problems. So, the doctor opted to wait on the ablation. He told us to take a couple months, get a CT in February and then make more decisions. If the tumors had grown, ablation in March. If no tumor growth, ablation after Dan's graduation.

So, we got away with some IV antibiotics and a CT

and no hospital stay!

The holidays came and went quickly, as Dan was preparing to go back to UCI and I was working a lot. I ended up working almost every major holiday, but that was not a shocker for a new grad nurse. Both of our families made the drive down here after Christmas to celebrate with us and Lisa (who also worked the holidays). It was a wonderful time with everybody...and I think Toulouse loved all the company the best.

New Year's Eve was nice and quiet with just Lisa and Andrew and the cat.

Finally, 2010 ended. Dan had surgery. Dan recovered. Dan had more surgery. Dan recovered more. Dan came home. I graduated from nursing school, passed the boards, got a job and started it. We moved into a new apartment. Dan's second liver surgery got cancelled. We got a cat. Dan had an ablation. The second ablation got postponed. We celebrated out 3rd married Christmas.

Now 2011 is here, bringing changes already. Dan started back at UCI to finish his teaching credential and will begin student teaching soon. I started a posi

tion at the hospital, working oncology on day shift. We're both trying to get used to to waking up early again, but it is certainly nice to be able to sleep at the same time!

Now we are gearing up for a busy semester. Dan is a little under the weather again, so we're checking in with doctor today. A month's worth of coughing is a little much, but add some fevers and off to the doctor we go. Please pray with us that this is just a little bug and some antibiotics kick it away. Also, he'll be having his CT a little earlier than expected, though we're waiting on authorization still. Prayers that nothing surprising shows up would be appreciated.

There's our lengthy update for the end of the year. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Microwaved

Today, some of Dan's tumors got cooked.

We drove to the hospital early today and were greeted by amazing fog rolling over the Golden Gate. Despite the reasoning for the trip, it's so nice to be back home in Northern California.

Anyway, Dan got checked in, prepped, and was ready to go on time...too bad the anesthesiologist was not ready to go until 2 hours later. (I hope she had an emergency!) Finally, Dan got taken down to the procedure room and I was allowed to follow him until it came time for the anesthesia. He was already on the table when the docs let us know his blood levels were low (platelets 79, H&H 8.9-9.5). They were worried about needing to transfuse, but felt confident about proceeding.

After about 3 hours waiting, Dr. Sze came out to let us know everything went well. The 2 biggest tumors were fried/melted leaving some dead tissue to be resorbed by the liver eventually. His liver still hasn't grown much, so it seems like going with radio-frequency ablation (RFA) was a much better idea than surgery. Also, the last 2 tumors are very small (watermelon seed sized) and not growing. This means that Dan can wait a few months before another RFA cycle. To Dan's delight, he can probably get his hip replaced before he starts school. We'll have to scramble to find a surgeon, but it could happen.

Tonight, Dan will stay in the hospital for observation. His new wound is only a couple centimeters and covered with a big band aid, but there is still a chance for bleeding. The chance is low, but it's safer for him to be here tonight. Also, he can get the "good" pain meds. Though, he says it just feels like he got punched in the ribs. He has already talked the nurse into removing one of his IVs by mentioning that they could leave the bigger gauge in his hand so that the one is AC wouldn't beep at night. Good grief, he's a pro. He ate dinner fine and hopefully, it will stay down because he is already asking for more food!

Please be praying that Dan's liver heals fine and that there is no internal bleeding resulting from the procedure. Also, pray his good eating continues (he's halfway to his pre-Whipple weight!) and that his pain can be easily controlled. Finally, pray we can get some sleep tonight and get out of here safely tomorrow morning. We're hoping to drive to our apartment on Sunday with a healthy Dan :)

Exhaustion

So, I just woke up...at 4:45 pm. This is becoming normal. I've been working night shift (6:45p to 7:45a) for about 6 weeks (about 3 weeks without a preceptor), and I like it. Except, I don't have much of a life. I'm always sleeping when others are awake. Usually, my days off makeup for it, but the last couple weeks have been the exception. Due to Dan's procedure coming up, I've had to pack in all my shifts into a tight time-frame. Also, since I work nights, I sleep a little before the shift and then go to bed after. Dan says it wastes 2 days for each shift. He isn't a fan.

Anyway, I'm saying all this to just explain if I'm a bit of a grump lately. I like my job and am very thankful for it. I am just exhausted. Here's my schedule since last Friday:

Fri: work

Sat: work

Sun: sleep

Mon: work

Tues: sleep

Wed: work

Thurs: work

Fri: get ready for Dan's procedure, do housework, sleep

Sat: housework, sleep

Sun: church, work (Today)

Mon: work

Tues: pack, sleep

Wed: work

Thurs: get home at 8am, shower, drive to SR

Fri: wake up early, drive to Stanford, Dan's procedure, overnight stay (hopefully)

Sat: drive back to SR (Hopefully), sleep

Sun: drive back to La Habra

I also say all of this to remind you all that Dan is honestly the man. He takes care of the cat, makes sure I eat occasionally, cleans the house (kinda :)), pays the bills, cooks me dinner before work, encourages me to do what I love and to lean on the Lord when I hate what I am doing. He is wonderful and the perfect calm to my constant busyness. I hope I can be this supportive when he starts working.

Dan's procedure is this coming Friday at 8am. It should be an overnight hospital stay as long as there are no complications. Please pray for an easy procedure and recovery. And pray that it is successful! He'll need to have this same procedure one more time, so also pray that my boss will be understanding when I need to ask for a special schedule again next month.

One last thing: pray for energy and endurance for me. I am tired.

Well, I'm going to go eat my hubby's yummy dinner, drink my Diet Dr. Pepper (DDP) and put on my scrubs. It's time for work.

Breakfast

So apparently we've been sleeping for a month and a half and we're just now waking up. Ok, that's not really true. But there hasn't been a lot going on. Well there has. But we just haven't blogged about it. I will try and catch everyone up.

Ashley passed her boards and got a job at Whittier Presbyterian. She is now working 12 hour shifts after going through orientation, which was arduous. The 12 hour shifts are long, but it's nice to work only 3 days a week. She will soon be switching to night shifts, which will be interesting. We'll see how it goes. The extra $8 an hour will be nice.

We celebrated 2 years of marriage by going out to some nice restaurants and Ashley going to work. 2 down, 58 to go.

I had a CT to see how well the embolization worked (and if the liver was big enough to handle surgery). Long story short, the liver did not grow as much as expected. I still have pretty good liver function, but it would not be good at this time to further insult it with a surgery. So the plan as of a few days ago is to do Radio Frequency Ablation, which is colloquially called 'Microwave on a Stick'. The radiologist will insert probes into my liver with the tips in the middle of the tumors. The tips will get really hot and melt/burn the tumors. It's a lot less invasive than surgery and still holds a good success rate. The procedure will happen in two parts a month apart (hospital stay is likely minimal- just overnight for observation). I'll let you all know when it is scheduled. Hopefully I can also get my hip done before UCI starts in January.

We got a kitten from Ashley's friend Katie. He is gray, tiny, precocious, ferocious, and his name is Toulouse. He likes naps, meowing when we're not around, going into the refrigerator, and climbing.

While Ashley is at work, I watch movies on Netflix Instant Watch, do chores and errands, read the Bible, read the Book of Mormon (I am almost finished!), keep an eye on Toulouse, eat, and play PS3.

Football is coming up. I am very excited. Predictions are in: I think the 49ers will win the division, but the Super Bowl will be San Diego over New Orleans. Disclaimer: it is very very difficult to predict the Super Bowl before the season starts.

Our new apartment is awesome. If you google IL Pompeii La Habra, you can take a look around.

This last one is not new: God is good. Also, I am hungry.