another ambulance ride...

you would think by now i would have learned that i should send in that measly $50 when the ambulance assoc comes around...but no, i think what more could possibly go wrong!!!

tonight it was ashley's turn to be in the spotlight. while playing soccer her and another girl collided while going for a ball and one got up and one didn't. next thing you know she is being strapped to a back board and wearing a neck brace and heading to the trauma center in hershey. (like we don't spend enough time there). to make a VERY LONG evening a short story...all her limbs are now working and there are no broken neck bones...she does have a WICKED HEADACHE and a VERY STIFF NECK and they say she will for a couple of days. WHIPLASH with no evidence of a concussion was the final diagnosis.

thanks to all who held our family up in prayer tonight...it was a very scary evening. i heard that one of ashley's friends called our youth pastor and asked him to pray and i heard that the whole team got in a huddle before they started to play again and they prayed...parents on the sidelines were praying...fred was down for the game and i think he is still praying...thank you all.

ashley is home and hurting a bit but should be fine.

tim sees the doctor in the morning. doubtful that appt will be too eventful since we haven't gotten the esophagus scoped yet, but i will update if we know anything new on that front.

megans car goes in for a second attempt at passing her emissions testing. can you pray for a car?? we needed to replace the catalytic converter. hopefully things will go well with that in the morning.

well...i have about had enough for one day.

thanks for checking in

tim and tammy

thursday "early " morning...

i am off to work but all is well.

tim is in that "holding" pattern. we are waiting for an appt to scope his esophagus but we still see the doctor on monday. he is still having the same issues but it does not seem to be getting any worse.

he is having some other minor issues but overall he is feeling pretty decent this week. we have the night games tonight...jv field hockey at 6:30 and varsity at 7:30pm. late night tonight.

have a great day...

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

tuesday morning...

another day in late september that will reach almost 90...yuk!!!

tim is a happy man...i am thinking that after the kiddos are gone and out on their own he will start to try to convince me that it would be nice to live in florida or arizona.

speaking of tim...how is he after that wild weekend? he certainly woke up sunday morning with NEW aches and pains. it is taking a little bit longer in the morning to get him up and moving...but he is actually doing OK.

as far as the yeast infection vs other nasty news...the 14 days are up and he is still having the esophageal pain. we talked to the post-transplant nurse yesterday and they are going to schedule a scope/biopsy to see what is going on down there. we don't know a date yet...hopefully within the next two weeks. (ashley said...it is about time!! she watches her dad like a hawk)

continue to keep us in your prayers as we figure out what lies ahead. we are still hoping and praying for an infection or irritation of some sort...

i am heading to the bloomsburg fair today...for a fried oyster sandwich.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

...

i am at a loss of words. (i know that you are all thinking that is impossible) but i can't seem to find the words i need to "try" to express our gratitude to everyone who participated in the golf outing and dinner on saturday.

words like awesome, overwhelming, unbelievable come to mind but there is really no way to say how we feel.

i was reading my devotions this morning and i am just going to sum it up with a verse that i read in Hebrews 13:16.

AND DO NOT FORGET TO DO GOOD AND TO SHARE WITH OTHERS, FOR WITH SUCH SACRIFICES GOD IS PLEASED.

i know this weekend GOD was PLEASED!!!!

we have such a HUGE support base and we are truly BLESSED BEYOND WORDS>

thanks to all.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

saturday night...

WOW!!

tim and tammy

friday has arrived...

and i have the day off...yeah!!!

thursday was a long day...up at 4am for work then two field hockey games (both of which we won) and then high school open house where we tackled the job of trying to meet all the teachers of three high school students with just two parents!!! (that was a challenge).

tim had a bag of pretzels for supper and i had a pack of m & m's and a diet pepsi.

i am so ready for the weekend...i have been asked on a daily basis how tim is doing with his esophageal issue and the best i can tell...there has not been any significant improvement over the last week or so. there are times that he seems better and then there are times (like tonight) when he really struggles to drink something as smooth as milk or water. i guess we are just going to have to wait and see what the doctor says at the next appt.

well...it has been a long day. i am off to bed.

thanks for checking in.

(i will see all you golfers on saturday morning and the non-golfers that are coming to the dinner on saturday afternoon---we are looking forward to a great day).

tim and tammy

mid-week update...

...nothing new to report. things are about the same...there are days that tim thinks he is feeling a bit better than there are days that he is still being bothered with the esophageal pain. we are about 10 days into the 14 days on the anti-fungal medication but we do not go back to see the doctor until the 1st of october.

i guess it is good with the golf tournament and dinner being this weekend...at least he will be able to enjoy that day before we know for sure the direction we are heading.

field hockey and soccer are still going full pace...that is keeping the kids (and the parents) busy.

i am off to work...i have today and tomorrow yet then i am off until monday (yeah).

have a great day.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

monday morning...

wake up...another week is here. (and i am LOVING this weather...tim is ready to pull out his parka but i am loving it).

i am in the middle of my working 6 out of 8 days and i am getting tired...now i know why i work "part-time". we had a good weekend. my parents and tims dad came down to visit and watch the twins play soccer on sunday. we had a nice time.

kids are good.

tim is hanging in there...we are just getting through each day and moving on to the next day. one day at a time. he mowed the grass again this weekend...that is twice in the last...two years...NICE!!!
he is really exhausted when he gets it done but i think he enjoys doing it. if it comes down to doing the grass for me or doing the laundry or house cleaning for me he will always pick the grass.

i guess we are still just waiting to see if this new medication is going to fix him. another week and we should have a pretty good idea if we are dealing with an esophageal yeast infection or if it is the lymphoma back in yet another site. we are still praying for the yeast infection...

well...i have to head out to work. the kids are up and moving (well at least 2/3rds of them).

say a prayer for me today...i need a stress-reducer prayer today. we have a few things going on that have my mind racing...i need to remember one day at a time...one situation at a time and NO HEADACHES ( i feel one brewing this morning).

have a great day.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

its friday already...

the question of the week is...how are you feeling now?

i think that if i ask my husband that question one more time he will scream. it is so hard to want to feel better and want your wife to think you feel better but really have no idea if you are feeling better or not.

he is still on the morphine during the day which takes the edge off the pain, but in the evenings i still see he struggles with swallowing water...he acts like his throat and esophagus is covered in ulcers or just raw...but that could still be from a wicked yeast infection. i am not thinking we would see much of a change until he takes that new medication for about 10-14 days.

overall i think he feels decent except for this little set-back.

we have a home field hockey game tonight and then i think he is going to take the kids to an away high school football game in camp hill (trinity). i will probably skip that and try to go to bed...i have to be to work by 4am saturday morning which gets me up at around 2:15am.

hope you all have a great friday and enjoy your weekend.

thanks for checking in

tim and tammy

not much more to say...

i know that there are so many family and friends that are checking this blog on a daily basis that i feel bad when i don't update...but there really isn't much more to say.

we are getting used to the emotional ups and downs in our lives i guess because life pretty much goes on as usual...kids still have homework and soccer practice and field hockey games and moms still have to run concession stands and dads still have to run the scoreboards. i have to work tomorrow and the weekend. the laundry still needs to be done and the grass still needs to be cut and the bills still need to be paid...i guess there really is no time to sit and fret!!! it wouldn't do any good anyway.

so i guess this update is just to say HI and keep us high up on that prayer list.

have a great day...

tim and tammy

things i don't like...

...i don't like starting conversations with my kids "this probably will turn out to be nothing, but..."

...i don't like having conversations with my husband "did he say what i thought he said..."

...i don't like updating this blog with "back on the roller coaster again..."

as you are all aware we had a doctors appt this morning...well it was supposed to be in the morning but as usual the clinic was a few hours behind schedule. it is hard to know exactly where to start...our intent was to go in and try to straighten out some of tim's day to day annoyances. so we started out telling the doctor that tim has been having some serious pain and discomfort when eating and drinking. we originally thought it was just an acid reflux kind of thing but it kept getting worse and things just "burned" when he would swallow. some of you have been with him when he eats and have noticed, but he can usually work through it and get some food and drink down.

this is where it gets kinda weird...the doctor just looked at us funny and pulled out a paper he had carried in with him. he said that it was an ADDENDUM to the PET scan. (an addendum meaning and addition, appendage, attachment, extension, something extra) it was an addendum that he didn't really worry about because 4 weeks prior to today we weren't really complaining about any esophagus problems. (we can't really remember if we weren't complaining or if he just didn't feel it was crucial info at the time because of all the other stuff that was going on).

it said that upon review of the prior PET scan compared to the recent PET scan there were significant changes, including HOT SPOTS on the esophagus. what does this mean??? i guess it could mean one of three things:

1. a viral infection (unlikely because he has been on some of the strongest anti-viral medication for some time now)

2. a yeast infection (so we are starting on anti-yeast medication tonight-for 10-14 days)

3. a lymphoma issue (which he referred to as "could be a player").


i really really used to LOVE roller coasters.

we are still in the processing mode...my mother said that she never prayed for someone to have a yeast infection before but she was willing to give it a shot.

once again we are in the wait and see mode...tim felt kinda crappy tonight but all things considered i guess i do too. we have talked to the kids and our parents and now this blog goes out to who knows where. keep us in your prayers. this could be a simple little yeast infection that will clear up in a week or so...or not. but either way...it is what it is and we will once again take one day at a time and see where it leads us. God has been so faithful to meet all our needs and we have no reason to doubt that He will again.

i hope this made some sense...it has been a long day.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

ps...request was made for my e-mail address: tammydewalt@comcast.net

since the last blog...

...i have been to a high school football game, four field hockey games, one soccer game, watched an awesome penn state game on TV, and countless highlights and scoreboards and ESPN "stuff". i love watching my girls play and i can enjoy high school and college ball, but i am not a huge fan of PRO anything. that is usually my "laundry catch-up time". (sorry ben).

tim had a really good weekend. we go off to the doctor monday morning to check his bloodwork and see what he has to say about the lumps and bumps. the PET scan showed that they were not cancer but now i guess we are going to have to figure out what they are and what to do about them. plus he has had some stomach issues that we have to deal with...i say toss all those meds he is on and start over!!! i will update when i get a chance and let you all know what we know.

i hear the golf tournament and dinner is still on track for the 22nd of this month. if you didn't get your registration to john and still want to come give him a call (717) 554-7209 or (717) 652-7698. i think he was still taking late registrations as of this weekend. thanks to all who have taken time out of there busy schedule to spend a day with us. we are looking forward to it and tim is planning on even swinging a club (hopefully).

well...gotta get uniforms ready for the morning...another field hockey game in the afternoon.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

going into the weekend...

...one tired man.

i would have to say that this week has been a good one. although he is still not feeling the best he has managed to survive me working 5 of the last 6 days. he has had to play taxi and run some errands plus managed to catch 4 field hockey games and spent all day thursday with his boss "on the road".

he came home tonight after an evening of field hockey and i think he broke a new record for the quickest i have seen anyone go to bed. he was beat but it is a "good" beat...if that makes sense.

we go and see the doctor on monday...pray for wisdom. we need to head in some direction to start fixing some of these "issues" that he deals with on a day to day basis.

a side note prayer request: the leukemia/lymphoma society has a relatively new program that helps people who qualify pay for some of the out-of-pocket co-pay expenses. we are in the process of submitting all the forms needed plus getting the doctor to take the time to fill out his portion. add this to your prayer list that we find favor with the committee who decides if we meet all the criteria. the decision is based upon which type of cancer and which type of treatment and which type of insurance and which medications and stuff like that...there is really no way to know if we will qualify without first submitting all the paperwork. it is worth a try.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy

hi ho hi ho

its back to work you all go...

hope you all had a wonderful labor day weekend. i survived working the last three days and the twins survived a three day mini-church retreat. meg was here and there and tim did the sports thing...did you know that this past weekend you could watch college football (poor michigan) and professional baseball and the us open tennis and phil and tiger play golf and jeff and company drive cars...and on top of all that the local college football and the local high school football and the local minor league baseball and our personal favorite...the local high school tennis (go julia) and travel soccer and high school field hockey!!!

meg and kelsey have their first home field hockey game today (tuesday). it is going to be an exciting year...meg does her best to keep the ball out of our net and kelsey does her best to get the ball into the opponents net. both did great the first game on friday.

this was a huge monumental event for our household...for the first time in over two years TIM MOWED THE GRASS. i am not sure who was more excited...me (who has been mowing for the last two years) or tim (who has wanted to be mowing) or my parents who were pulling in just as he was finishing up the yard!!! he was pretty sore and achey the day after, but it was a good feeling of accomplishment for him. (very exciting)

well...that is the update for today. tim still has many issues that need to be addressed and fixed but each day we are seeing little improvements also. at least now he is getting some good with the bad and not just all bad. thanks for your continued prayers and support. i can't begin to tell you how blessed we are. there are so many times that something will come up and i start to wonder how we are going to deal with a situation and sometimes (literally) within hours i have my answer. thanks to all of you that follow that little prompting that you get to bless someone else...i do miss being on the "giving" side and dis-like being on the "receiving" side but i guess there is a season for everything and this is STILL our season. God has blessed us with such a wonderful support system...thanks to all.

thanks for checking in

tim and tammy

should be a quiet one...

we are going into the holiday weekend and both feeling very old...

tim actually picked up a golf club yesterday and went out and hit that little white ball around for a while. i hope they don't need a crane to move him in the morning. he was getting very stiff and sore before he went to bed. it should be an interesting morning for him. not too much changing in his neck or his chest or his stomach issues. same old same old.

i am falling into that category of 1 in 300 adults show mild to moderate side effects from an immunization of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine. i have to say that i usually don't have any problems but this one knocked me for a loop. i have been running a low grade temp and i feel achey and have sore joints and swollen lymph glands...just feeling very YUK and i have to get up for work in about 3 hours. this is my holiday weekend to work...yippie.

the twins are at a church retreat this weekend. we were excited that they wanted to head out and get that last spiritual booster before the school year got rolling along full steam, but once we got there we decided that they probably went because of the boys (we forget)...but we are still hopeful that they will get something spiritual from the whole event. meg will be in and out and here and there. hopefully tim (and the twins) will stay out of trouble this weekend.

hope you all have some picnic plans or some family gatherings to attend...enjoy the weekend.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy