the klug crew: monday 7:59 am
UPDATE 7:38 pm EST, from Billy’s facebook page: “I’m so happy I am sick to my stomach. The surgeon said tumor is 100% removed and there is no noticeable nerve damage. It was ependymoma, so more analysis needed as to malignancy. More details on blog later tonight after I take a deep breath and kiss my baby girl. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and praise Jesus for being Mal’s keeper.”
if you have seen my facebook page or my twitter stream, you know we are absolutely DELIRIOUS with this huge success. getting the news directly from rachel’s very exhausted but joyous voice just made today’s victory that much sweeter.
make sure to check billy and rachel’s blog later tonight for more detailed updates.
and, THANK YOU for your continued and unwavering support. the posts and updates will continue as i receive them and learn more about the road they have ahead of them.
UPDATE 4:29 pm EST, from Billy’s facebook page: “90% OF THE TUMOR HAS BEEN REMOVED!!! no signs of complications yet. still no results from lab biopsy.”
UPDATE: 3:20 pm EST, please check Billy and Rachel’s most recent blog post for the most current and detailed information.
UPDATE: 1:49 pm EST, from Billy’s facebook page: “Just got a call from the surgeons. The first tissue samples have been removed and are undergoing preliminary analysis now. Procedure expected to last 2-3 more hours. They will come tell us their findings soon.”
please visit their blog here for more info.
i will keep you posted as i receive more information.
all updates that i am receiving from family are immediately going on my facebook page and my twitter account with the hashtag #PrayersForMal
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i’ve been awake for hours, though i know what i feel in the pit of my stomach is absolutely nothing compared to our friends, billy and rachel.
surgery for malorie is scheduled to begin at 8. she will likely be in the operating room for a big chunk of the day and i will update you here as soon as i get word that she is out.
for the last two days that paul and i have had knowledge of what our friends are up against, i have gone back and forth between anxiously anticipating today, wanting it to arrive, wanting to know this demon of a tumor is out of sweet malorie’s brain… and i have also been scared to see today arrive. i’ve watched the clock, willing it to slow down out of my own selfishness and fear.
from my home-front, i have been able to connect with rachel’s godmother, who will most likely keep me posted until i can speak with either rachel or billy themselves. rachel has lost her voice, so she and i were able to text back and forth yesterday. she told me that malorie was “fiesty” yesterday, which instantly made me cry, because she is such a fiesty child, just like her daddy… a dimpled spitfire, which is one of the things i love most about both her and her dad.
when i dropped jackson off at school this morning, i gave him extra hugs from his godparents, billy and rachel. then i kissed the top of his head from malorie… for malorie.
and now we wait.
please head over to billy and rachel’s blog to send love and support. his most recent post was last night. you can find that by clicking here. if you are just arriving here and need to catch up, please start by reading billy’s post here.
as always, thank you for the kindness and support that you have shown our friends. it does not go unnoticed.
the klug crew
i never know how to begin posts like this, ones that are heart wrenching in ways that the english language seems to fall short in terms of description… i’m at a loss.
i would love to update you all on how magical our trip to disney was with jackson, because it truly was. and i will post about all of that in time. but not right now.
our beloved friends (jackson’s godparents) need help. support. love. prayers. healing energy. all of the above. and more.
you may remember my mention of the klug crew on this blog a couple of years ago, when their precious twins were first born and had taken residence in the NICU. their crazy dad, billy, rallied tirelessly for them and we created ‘beards for babies’ until they were released, raising money for the NICU where the twins stayed.
billy and rachel are in a position right now that is a nightmare for parents. their little girl, malorie is suffering from a brain tumor and awaiting surgery to have it removed tomorrow (monday).
malorie and her twin brother, micah are fighters… scrappers… survivors. billy and rachel fought like hell to bring the twins in to this world, and they are fighting like hell now.
i’m using my little corner of the internet to post updates from their blog, asking you to please leave them comments of love and support for them. please keep them in your thoughts. if you are the praying type, please make space for malorie in your life of those you lift up.
in the last 24 hours that paul and i have become aware of this news, i have watched many of my trusted friends and beloved readers head over to their blog and show them your support. i thank you, from the bottom of my heart and theirs. i spoke with rachel last night and she expressed how supported and loved they feel right now. thank you, truly.
if you are friend or family and aren’t sure how you found yourself on this site, and aren’t used to this whole internet/blogosphere craziness, you can find billy’s first post about malorie’s brain tumor by clicking here. the most recent post can be found by clicking here.
i will post updates as i receive them from the family.
both my facebook page and my twitter stream will be constant sources of information as well.
a couple quick things
last weekend, when my fabu-larious family was in town, we went to our favorite local breakfast joint. with 6 of us sitting at the counter, enjoying pancakes and bacon and eggs and cheese grits OHMY, a woman with video equipment approached us and asked if she could film us eating our breakfast.
UM NO. THIS BREAKFAST IS MINE. ALL MINE!
but we said “ok, no prob,” because really all she wanted was cutie pie jackson on film, dancing to the oldies with his pointer fingers in the air. we signed off on some paperwork and i really thought i’d never hear from her again… or at least not for a while.
then i checked my inbox this morning and saw that she had tracked me down to let me know when the local show that cameos local businesses is going to air (tomorrow at 11 pm, thank you DVR. OHMYGOD WE ARE OLD AND JUST WANT TO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!)
i’ll get another email from her when the clips have been uploaded online so i can share them with you here, but rest assured, cutie pie jackson will keep you entertained. to be continued…
in other news, my appetite is cray-cray these days and i cannot get enough food in mah belleh.
what? you don't like a gooey and delish choc chip and walnut cookie right out of the oven so hot that it burns the insides of your mouth so good?
chicken pad thai so legit that even my husband who has been to thailand LOVES IT. no? don't like that either?
baskin robbins mint choc chip ice cream (no i was not paid to say that). see how quickly that double scoop turned into an almost single?
food is gooooooooood, y’all. this baby really really likes some food. bring on thanksgiving.
jackson hit a mega milestone this week, allowing paul to CUT HIS HAIR. he’s gotten so shaggy, esp since we haven’t had his hair cut since before the move. there’s reason why we let our kid walk around looking like a hairy hobo though, y’all. if you could witness what this child does at the little haircut joint, you would weep along with him and be all “OMG, OK, WE WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. I PROMISE” too.
paul, with the patience of something i will never come to understand because patience and i are not friends, sat with jackson on the floor in our living room FOR OVER AN HOUR and taught him the wonderful way of the hair clippers.
since jackson was not keen on the noise the clippers make, paul just had jackson comb his hair while holding the clippers. and then he got a baby doll of jackson’s and jackson gave her a little hair do. then we were kinda on a roll. paul tested the clippers with jackson a few hundred thousand times to get him used to how it felt and how it sounded… then they took eleventy and forty gazillion breaks… and then…
don't worry. it looks bad but jackson is giggling at the noise. NOT CRYING. i repeat, NOT CRYING.
i told paul to shave it all until jackson was as much of a fuzz head as he is so that we don’t have to do this again until 2012. so, he did.
ZOMG LOOK AT THOSE EYEBROWS.
and we surprisingly lived happily ever after. i believe this qualifies as a miracle and thus puts paul one step closer to sainthood.
phew… moving right along… over at babble this week, i posted about paul and i researching baby names via our family tree. seriously, this process is more fun than i could’ve imagined. we get to laugh at our ancestors names while trying to name a fetus who hopefully won’t hold his/her name against us for the remainder of our lives. (ps: i believe i find out the gender in the near future. more on that soon.)
since we were already sauntering down memory lane, i decided to take a gander at the beginning stages of this blog of mine. this little place of mine on the interwebz came to exist when i announced my pregnancy with jackson some 4 + years ago, and here i am now, blogging through another pregnancy. (it’s ok if you have ‘the circle of life’ playing in your head right now. i do too.)
and last, but most certainly not least, i admitted to myself and the internet world at large that i want to be a breast feeding champ this time around. i know! i know! it’s madness and i NEVER thought i would say that again after our trip through the 18,639 layers of hell we went through with jackson. but it’s true. i want to rock out with my… ok, maybe not quite like that, but i’m gearing up to give this boob thing another shot.
ok, that’s all. happy weekend! go eat some good food. read some good stuff. be sweet.
halloween 2011: jackson’s choice
my family has been here for the last 4 days and ZOMG did we have SO MUCH FUN. the laughter was abundant, the stories were hilarious, and the dogs… good gracious, y’all, the dogs. (notice red is not pictured. there is a reason why. our dog needs a tranquilizer.) needless to say, we had a blast! i am so blessed with a kickass family. SO BLESSED.
jackson picked out all of the costumes, mom’s dog included… this child is so loved. i don’t know a lot of adults who would go ALL OUT trick-or-treating in costumes and LOVING IT with a 3 year old. spiderman had an entourage of love and hilarity. hope you and yours had a wonderful halloween!
Have a Sip
