Help :(

We have been blessed this whole summer with friends and family willing to help us out with Michael's cancer diagnosis.  I think my friends are starting to get annoyed with me that I will not give them assigned tasks to help us out :) But we are okay physically, kinda okay emotionally but where we really need help is Financially....as much as  I hate to do this (it is a big cut to my pride) we have set up a paypal account for people to make donations. (look on the right side of the page)

The medical bills for cancer treatment are ridiculously expensive, even when you have an "easy" course of treatment.  But enough about money talk cause that just stresses me out  :)

We had a nice chill Thanksgiving, it was awesome.  Michael, Aidan and I all stayed home and had a turkey dinner complete with pumpkin pie for dessert.  No family type drama, no driving 30 miles to do go anywhere, just a nice day at home eating and watching movies.

Update on Michael:
Michael is doing well we just finished the last chemo round last week :) his appetite is slowly returning.  He is still tired and will be for quite some time.  The biggest issue he's having is tinnitus (ringing of the ears) is is pretty bad some days, it's hard to tell a energetic 7 year old boy that he has to be quite around dad.  We do not know if the ringing will go away or not , we are hoping and praying that it does.  Michael is teaching jiu jitsu at  Combat Fitness and that keeps his spirits up.  I'm working alot and Aidan is thriving at school and home :)

Hopefully Michael will do a blog post this week

Kat ;)

This is hard...

I don't really know how to explain what I'm feeling right now. Basically this situation our life is in right now is hard, I'm finding that the easiest way for me to deal with it is to be antisocial.  I'm so tired both emotionally, physically and mentally that being social is in no way appealing right now :(  I know that that sounds all sorts of depressing but it is the truth.  I find that when I talk to my friends it centers around Michael's cancer and our situation and I just feel like I'm always worrying  complaining or blubbering.  I already have to be cheerful for work 40 hours a week, so basically I just need a  break from people. . . Most of my good friends know that I occasionally go into a state of antisocial-ness and unfortunately it is happening for a bit  longer than normal.  For that I apologize, I swear I am okay.  I swear I am not inactive from church haha ;) I swear I'm not mad at you. . . I'll hopefully be back to myself soon.

Soooooo now that the depressing bit is out of the way. . .I just want to thank EVERYONE  Family, friends and even strangers for your love and support during this time in our life.  It's been crazy, but with our large group of friends to lean on it has made our life so much easier.  Thank you for joking with us, thank you for the food, the prayers, and love.  We are so grateful for everything we have in our lives right now and a big part of that is our friends :) so thank you!!

Love you all
Kat

Life is still crazy busy in the Ransom household. . . With chemo, a 7 year old, and full time work it feels like thing aren't going to slow down anytime soon :) but hopefully all will be well Michael has 1 more month of chemo and hopefully we will be in the clear.

It's not been a fun the last couple of months it's starting to get harder and harder to stay positive.  But I'm trying to get my brain to shut up and not think of all the "stress" type of stuff.  I think the main factor of the stress is just medical and other bills piling up, I know things will work out and I just need to have faith that they will and quit worrying.

We were all excited for Halloween yesterday but Aidan woke up with a fever and started puking :( it was ridiculous He was trying to convince me that he was okay because he didn't want to miss school and the Halloween party.  And right in the middle of his convincing me he was "fine" he started puking.  Needless to say Aidan stayed home from school , I went to work and prayed that he wouldn't get Michael sick.  So far Michael is fine :)

So after working 6 days in a row I finally have a day off and I'm home taking care of the sick Ransom boys :)  I'm just glad I get to spend some time with them.

Some friends have been asking for some websites I use so here they are...
Paleo Diet lifestyle I know some of you  guys think this is extreme but it's awesome you'll feel so much better and lose weight.   I went from a size 14 to a size 9 just with this diet imagine if I actually exercised ;)

Etsy - Michelle Verbeeck Leather medic alert bracelets

Sound hound app for android

Cozi Family organizer app for android This has everyone in the family's schedule in one place love it!! I have it on my phone and Michael has is on his Kindle fire and it links both our schedules so we know what is going on

Wendy's lookbook If I was a tad skinnier and had money I would dress like this girl with some tomboyish changes, she is so cute

Josie Charlwood- youtube page Michael found this girl and we LOVE her!! Her vocals are gorgeous and I dig singers who actually play instruments :)

I know it's been forever. . .

 Before the surgery

It has been a while since I have blogged, but I figured I should start again.  There has been a ton of stuff that has happened not only this year but also this summer. . . 

This summer started as normal preparing for and going to Hodia (a diabetes camp I have been going to off and on since I was diagnosed).  This is where the craziness started, Hodia is up in the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho.  And when your in the middle of nowhere you do not get cell phone service :) So on our  rafting day I call Michael to say a quick hello and and I love and miss you, and Michael responded with "didn't you get my voicemail?".  Nope I had not... Well Michael's older sister Irene had had a massive stroke the night I left for camp.  She had a blood clot the size of a fist removed during brain surgery!!  It's so crazy, Irene is only 44 years old :(

So with Irene being hospitalized that left us with our niece and nephew living with us.  So in one week we go from a family of three to a family of five with teenagers!! Lianna our niece is sixteen and Jonathan our nephew is seventeen.  Don't get me wrong we LOVE our niece and nephew tons!!  But going from cool Uncle Mike and Aunt Kat to parental type figures has been a tad odd.  We all of a sudden have had to come up with rules, restrictions and consequences.  Crazy!  Not only that but we live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1300 square foot  house...Perfect for our family of three but now for our family of five it's a little cramped.  We do not know how long Jon and Lianna will be living with us...It is up in the air right now.  Irene is doing good she is living at a rehab clinic and recovering nicely.  Poor Jonathan is sleeping on the couch in the front room, Lianna is calling our old office her room.  We are currently trying to find bunk beds for Aidan's room so we can move his bed into the office for Lianna.  Sooooo all this is happening plus the next part of the story....

Michael had been having an issue with his testicle being large and being as hard as rock.  I had been telling him to go our family practitioner and he had been putting it off like any man.  Well he finally went to a "Doc in the box" because he was in pain, he said it felt like he was being kicked in the junk with every step he took.  The doctor said it was a bacterial infection and treated him with some antibiotics.  Three weeks later and Micheal's testicle had not go any better so he finally went to our family practitioner.  He went to see our doctor on Tuesday and by Thursday that week he was diagnosed with Testicular cancer.  Friday that week Micheal had his right testicle/tumor removed. Michael started a blog about his experience www.alifeworthfighting4.blogspot.com

It was the longest and fastest week of our lives.

After Michael's surgery the doctor found me and explained the procedure, everything went well.  I asked what the next steps were.  He said a CAT scan to see it if the cancer had spread.  I asked in his medical experience if he thought Michael would need further therapy.  He said most likely yes, there was a high chance there still may be cancer in his scrotum, and he may need chemo. He stressed that was not a diagnosis but in his experience that's generally what happens. So Basically high chance of chemo awesome...

I was then allowed to see Micheal.  Best thing ever!! Let me just say Michael on anesthesia and narcotics ...the SWEETEST person ever!! No joke, All the nurses LOVED him.  I was walking towards his room and I could hear him asking "Where is my gorgeous wife? I wanna see my gorgeous wife Kat..." I walked in Michael's eyes lit up "There's my pretty wife!! I love you".   The nurse then told me that he was only supposed to have 1 cup of water and 2 crackers, he had 4 cups of water and 3 crackers..."He was just so sweet I couldn't say no...he's so nice" the nurse said.  

Michael had an appointment for the pathology results of his tumor Friday this week (8/3).  BUT it was changed to Monday (8/6), then that was cancelled and changed to 8/20 !!  The doctor sent his tumor to a specialist in Indiana for a second opinion.  Which should make me happy because it means my hubby is getting the best care possible.  But it just thoroughly ANNOYS the crud out of me!  I don't want to wait any longer! I want a specific plan of what's going to happen!  We still don't know if he needs radiation  or chemo.  He still needs a cat scan to see if the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.  He still may need another surgery to remove his lymph nodes....I'm tired of waiting.

Michael has been so positive and strong through all this, I've been a wreck :) I recently up until this had happened lost weight, I went from a size 14 to a size 9/10.  Well I hate to say it but I've been eating my feelings.  I've been worrying like a crazy person, I'm going to give myself a ulcer...well maybe not, can you get an ulcer if your stomach is full of cookies and milk?! 

A big thank you to ALL of our friends and family for their love and support, love you all.