The Ewing Adventures: It's the Little Things

Thursday, August 29, 2013

It's the Little Things

Being a parent is hard; sometimes excruciatingly hard. There is always that fine line between overbearing and just-the-right-amount of parenting and I'm kind of ashamed to say that I tend more toward the overbearing side. So, as I try to grapple with letting Spencer make decisions on what is "too much" extracurricular activities and with Cole growing up so fast, I am going to focus on my top 10 little things that made me smile this week.

1. Spencer had a check up with Dr. Warren and he said that this was the BEST chest x-ray that he has EVER seen from Spencer in 14 years! Made my day.

2. My friend Karen has basically "adopted" Spencer as her own and she is always including him when she does anything fun with her puppies. I loved that she asked Spencer to join her yesterday when she took her dogs to a friend's house to swim in the pool. Spencer sent me this picture of Fenian; I WANT him!

And Karen sent me this one of Spencer with Lucy and Dumas.

3. I had to go to the State office today to get Cole's work permit renewed and I was in and out in SIX minutes!

4. I bought matching bra and panties yesterday!

5. Kari Shea is coming over to swim today and it will be just her and me in the pool; all the kiddos are at school.

6. Skype makes me very happy because I can't imagine going months without seeing Spencer.

7. The weather is hot in LA (going to be 96 today) but it's still cooler than when it is 96 in Arkansas.

8. This boy has been working so hard on school and auditions. We are so incredibly proud of the young man he is becoming.

9. It's a three day weekend and we have no plans and can hang out at the pool.

And, #10,

Brad and Spencer will be here in one week!!!!!

"Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Loves does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

~1 Corinthians 13:4-8

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Spencer's Story

In November 1999, when Spencer was three years old, he began experiencing headaches, vomiting and left sided paralysis. An MRI revealed a very large brain stem tumor that stretched from the bottom of his ponds down to C4 in his spinal cord. We flew to Beth Israel hospital in New York City where Dr. Fred Epstein performed the first of two resections (tumor removal). After the first surgery, Spencer woke up and was paralyzed from the neck down; he could blink once for yes and twice for no. The doctors placed a trach so that he could be placed on a ventilator, and a feeding tube in his stomach. After six weeks at Beth Israel, Spencer was transferred to Arkansas Children's Hospital for three months of rehabilitation.

After another tumor resection in June of 2000, two years of weekly chemo treatments and seven weeks of radiation, Spencer's tumor has been "stable" for the past 12 years.

At Spencer's time of prognosis, the doctor's told us that less than 10% of children with this type of brain tumor live past the age of five, but we know that God's plan trumps anyone's speculations.