.dinner table conversations @ the thomas'.

.benny.

my heart is heavy as i write this. in fact my heart has been heavy for several weeks now. my friend benny who i worked with at camp several years ago is fighting for his life. benny has a heart condition that runs in his family. his family has lost benny's brother who also worked with us at camp a handful of years ago and then last year his father. last year benny got a new heart! which his body accepted and he was able to return to his family (2kids and wife..now a 3rd child born end of dec09) this december he went in to get a valve replaced and his kidneys failed during the surgery. below is the latest email from his support page on facebook written by a family friend. i post this for a few reasons. first and foremost so you can pray for him and his family. second to remind you and i of how grateful we we should be for our families, our health and all the blessings we consider normality. i take for granted the basics of life that i'm sure benny would love to have just a few hours of instead of laying in a hospital bed.

2/9 - 9:05PM : Ben continues to experience a lot of pain, which is controlled through continuous doses of Dilauded (a heavy narcotic). This narcotic tends to cause him to sleep much of the day. It also causes moderate short-term memory loss.The most recent surgery was to remove all of the blood clots (and debris) around his lungs. This has given Benny the ability to breath better and reduced his pain. This also prepped his body for the inevitable surgery to receive a heart transplant.Currently Ben's kidneys are still non-functioning (8 weeks so far). 10 weeks is the limit before the kidneys are considered dead. He continues to have nearly daily Dialysis (2 or 4 hour sessions). But unfortunately this hasn't been the same as having real kidneys and has put additional stress on his liver, spleen, etc., which has reduced their functionality. Kidney transplants are an option, but they don't want to transplant until after Ben gets a new heart.Ben's heart is in the process of failing right now. Not only does it have problems sealing up the valves, but it doesn't stay in sinus rhythm. In fact, they've cardioverted (shocked) his heart last week but that hasn't helped. Tomorrow he goes under general anesthesia to have cardia ablation which means they burn small portions of heart (problem areas) to get the heart to beat normally. Hopefully this will resolve his atrial flutter.The long-term prognosis is that Ben needs a new heart. His kidneys need to be working before they'll consider listing him because, otherwise, he won't survive the surgery. But he can't get new kidneys until he has a heart that can support them. Catch-22. So here's where the miracle can happen with his kidneys regaining function.Here you go, you prayer warriors. You have your mission.

I did get the chance to stop by OHSU today as Benny was going through dialysis. he was
sleeping. so i left a note and headed out. please also pray for his support team of people who are spending the night with him. i was told he likes visitors and they keep him going. so if you know benny and you get the chance ..go!

.apples.

.morning reading of the costco mag.

.cupcakes.

yesterday brody and i made cupcakes. he likes to help in the kitchen.

.new bed.

it happened earlier than what we'd hoped. it happened tuesday night when brody woke up at 3am. we heard a cry. we heard a thud. then we heard nothing until his door started to open. yes, brody crawled out of his crib. then as a parent you have to make a choice on how to handle the situation. was this a fluke? would he do it again? how do i make him stay in bed? do i get a crib tent? do you keep him in his crib or convert to the toddler bed? is it too early?
because i was worried about him crawling out of his crib and getting hurt we converted to the toddler bed and consulted "super nanny." no actually we asked everyone we knew what to do. and "super nanny" came up the most. so brian and i collaborated, remained consistent and conquered. super nanny suggested not talking to the child but continue to put them back in their crib when they get out..over and over and over again. resulting in the child knowing that they have to stay in the bed. after a few nights of picking him up and putting him back in his crib - for hours, last night brody slept in his big boy bed all night! although i understand there may be some periods of regression...i'm trilled. and somewhat proud of him and us. today during his nap he woke up and cried for a second and i wasn't sure what was going on. it was quiet. i went up to check on him and he was sitting in his crib reading a book.

.grandma barb.

grandma barb came to visit this last weekend and here are some of her pics.

.trials?

if i'm not on the phone with stephanie during the AM commute (hands free device now of course), i'm listening to James on the radio. this series is on trials and its life changing. if you are into listening to teaching you should check the program out. Walk in the Word (walk in the word is linked..i just can't figure out how to change the color.)

.shedding the lbs.

this year i came to gribs with the fact i have a choice of two things...buy larger clothing or finally shed the baby weight. so i decided to loose it. and here's how it's happening...moving more and eating less...
- along with a group of our friends we signed up for Portland Shamrock Run March 14th. i'm working towards running a 5k ... others are going for the 8k or even the 15k! whew! my brother is our "trainer" and i am acutally enjoying running..I KNOW..crazy huh?! working on the treadmill right now then moving to the road!
- cutting the white carbs and sugars
- meal replacement shakes for lunch - it helps with the calorie count and less tempation to eat out. i do it because it's just plain easy. not because i think meal replacement shakes are the reason for weight loss. make sense?
- snacks are fruit and veggies...not bagels and crackers (the whole cutting white carbs thing)
- hit it hard during the week and remain "flexible" on the weekends
- we did a "cleanse" the first week, which was more of a jump start to help motivate..and it did

and that's about it!

Go TEAM THOMAS...both brian and i are down about 10-12lbs since the first of the year. here's to another 10-12lb more!

.i realize.

i spell lots of words wrong. thanks for not pointing it out. perhaps this should change as i start working on my Masters degree next week.