Such an exciting night!!

So, last night I went to Memphis to hang with my brother, exchange cars, and go to the Blazer game... We met up with some friends, Jim and Suzanne Walker and Tom and Melissa Penn and met some great new friends. I was talking to my new friends Pam and Lisa, and we were talking about many different things. Lisa's husband took over Larry Franks' practice and so we were talking about my tumor because her husband does that surgery. Pam has worked for the Blazers for 15 years and she invited me to fly on the Blazer's private jet with them today back to Portland, I had to decline because I was not coming back to Portland quite yet, I was pretty sad about it!! Maybe some other time. As we were talking we starting on the topic of Marketing and I said how I took an abilities potential tests and they said I would make a good Marketing Director. We were talking back and forth and they said that I would be great in Marketing for the Blazers which I would love to do! Sports and Marketing! So fun and exciting! Who knows if anything will come of it, but if nothing else I have made some new friends. I am going to be praying that God will work it all out for me.

God is so great! He keeps surprising me and keeping me on my toes. He is making things come together that I would never envision, but would love to do... I will let you all know what he keeps doing in my life! It is incredible! I love you all and thanks for the prayers!! Muahhh!!!

So excited...

So, I thought since my health problems are at a standstill at this time (Praise Jesus), I thought I would talk about what God has been teaching me and talking to me about. I think the biggest one right now is learning and understanding boundaries. I am listening to "Boundaries in Dating" on audiobook in my car and I am going to follow this one up with the main book, "Boundaries". I can't believe how long I have gone in my life without truly understanding boundaries. I have always have boundaries in my life, but I have let others push them a bit, and I am finally learning how to take them back as my own and keep them in place. Without understanding the importance of boundaries at a deep level, it is hard to keep these boundaries exactly where I wanted them to be. I wouldn't ask questions to clarify how I was feeling, I would just try a discrete way to get out of that situation.

After listening to this book, I have found a new strength to hold onto what I know is right and know that the people that get offended by my boundaries are the ones that I need the boundaries for and the ones with good boundaries of their own will be right on board with me taking my boundaries seriously. Also, I have truly understood why it is so important to fully be myself in every situation. I knew it before, but it is sticking with me this time. If you are trying to be someone else, someone may fall in love or in friendship with this persona and one day your true self will come out and then there will be issues to deal with. If you just start out as yourself you do not have the pressure to remember who you were in your last situations. What freedom comes with being yourself!! This is how God intended it, and I believe that my generation has really been playing with these boundaries and I am going to separate myself from the norm and stand for what I believe to be true, and right, and pure. I want others around me to know that I have boundaries so they can trust me and not worry what I am feeling beneath the surface.

Just in the last couple of days I have addressed a couple situations where in the past I would have prayed and hoped that I had the strength to show the other person what I believe and if I am uncomfortable with the situation, I was hoping they would pick up on the "vibe". This time around I have asked the questions and given my opinion in order to feel comfortable with the situation at hand. It is so much easier to be up front on how everyone is feeling about each and every situation. I am not letting others push me into a situation without my full consent. (In saying this I am not blaming the other people from the past, I am just saying that I am becoming strong enough as a person to not go along with these situations) I love this freedom and I know without the little secrets being kept of feeling awkward in a situation because I will keep my mouth shut will help my relationship with the Lord as well as many others! I would encourage everyone to read/listen to these boundaries books! They explain why it is so important to have these boundaries for your safety and the safety of others in your relationships. I love you all and I can't wait to listen to the full boundaries books. God is so good and He is moving, I am just going to make sure I have His hand in mine instead of holding my own hand through the tough seasons and even the easiest of seasons! :) Have a great day and talk to you all soon!!!

From one perfect fit to another,
Amy~

Lately...

So, I am sorry that it has been so long since I have written last, and I would love to come up with a great reason/excuse why I have been away, but alas, I have no good excuse to come by. From a medical standpoint it is great because I am on half of my dose of Cabergoline so I have a half tablet on Wednesdays. I go back in on December 4th just for some blood draws to make sure that my tumor is not secreting any hormones that are abnormal. So far so good. I am just believing that this little guy is going to disappear on its own. That would be the most ideal situation. Everything looks great for now, nothing abnormal. The tumor is still the same size, but it has not grown at all. So, overall it is doing very well.

Besides my health I have been working for my dad still and I just returned to Nashville from a trip to Atlanta and then a girls' trip to New York with my mom and sister and my mom's friend Linda. It was so much fun to be with just girls. I came back last night and will be in Nashville until November 18th when I will drive home with Lexi. Hopefully there are not any early problems on the roads or else we may be driving south before coming back north. I must say though that I miss everyone back at home and the babies, but I know I will miss everyone here as well! That is what has been going on lately, I know short and sweet... Love you all!! Thanks again for the prayers, they are much appreciated! Talk to you soon, I hope! :)

Doc app today! :)

This is an email that Lex sent out earlier... I wanted to post something to keep you updated but am so tired... Love you all!

So Amy endured a six hour doctor visit today! She is still waiting for blood work results to hear if her tumor is secreting a growth hormone. If the tumor is secreting the growth hormone, surgery is the only option. If it is not she would have to take medication that is pretty harsh on your heart probably for her whole life. If put on the medication she will have to go back to the doctor to get an Eco-cardiogram and another MRI to make sure her heart is still okay in a year. They usually don't see any problems with such a low dose of the medication that she is on, but when she got her Eco-cardiogram she had a little bit of tricuspid valve regurgitation, which means some of her blood pumped back the opposite direction when her heart would beat so they want to keep an eye on it! The doctor did tell her that her pituitary gland is abnormally small, and may be part of the cause of her hormonal imbalance. With her pituitary gland being small they are not sure if it will be able to or is currently functioning properly.

Our new prayer is that her pituitary gland will grow to normal size and that her tumor would not be secreting a growth hormone!

Thank you everyone for praying! As we hear back from the doctors I will keep you all informed! We love you guys and are so blessed to have you to pray for Amy!

Lexi <3

Nashville...

This was me and LeeLee at her couples shower!

Me and Kathy after the shower, ready to go home!

So, I haven't written in quite some time, sorry about that! I have been in Nashville for about a month now, I am living with my friends Katie, Jenna, and Molly. It has been great and we have a very cute little house. It has been interesting to see what God is teaching me by being out here. He has showed me so much love through so many people! He has also shown me what I have at home with family and friends and is teaching me more and more about putting effort into my relationships and pursuing my friendships. Another thing that He has shown me is that there are some really great guys out there in the world. It is so nice to be surrounded by such amazing solid people. (not that I do not have amazing solid people at home) We played a rousing game of capture the flag last night and I was running trying to defend my team and I slid on some roots and rolled my ankle... I was out for the rest of the game, but my team, the Mighty Ducks/ Emelio Estaves (however you spell that) still won! :) I had 4 nurses, a physical trainer, a football player, and various others who were caring for me... They were all so sweet! The girls ran and got me a bag of ice from McDonalds and Brad took me home and Jeremy wrapped my foot up with a bag of mixed veggies and held together with tights. We ended the night with Caroline, Katie, Matt, and I singing worship songs in our kitchen. It was amazing!

We had our game faces on!

Now onto my health... I have a double appointment on Friday, one more an MRI and one for a bunch of fun blood tests... It will probably take between 4 and 5 hours. They are checking to see what is going on with my tumor. My last appointment my insulin growth factor was high and so what that means is that my tumor could be secreting a growth hormone and if it is then we have to have surgery asap. So we will see what goes on... Hopefully my chemo is doing its job and my tumor is getting smaller! :) I have had headaches more often and I had one day of hardcore headaches where it put me out for a day, but for the most part it is all good!

God is good all the time, all the time God is good! "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" Psalm 46: 10

Love you all and thanks for the continued prayer!!

As of late...

Hello everyone!! I know it has been a long time so I will try to catch everyone up on what has been going on! I have been feeling much better for the most part, but unfortunately my immune system has been low and so I catch pretty much everything.  I am getting over a sinus infection.  I am on a medication that I think may be working against my cabergoline, so I am thinking that I may need to call the doc and figure it all out! :)  I am excited because I went out with two of my cousins this weekend and it was so much fun!  We went downtown to this restaurant called "Departure" and it was really chic and fun, then we went to voodoo donuts, and then took photos downtown! 

In a few weeks we are going to Sunriver and then Irvine and then Gabby and I leave on July 31st for our road trip to Nashville!  That will be very fun and exciting!  I think God has big plans for Nashville...  I am just excited to go along for the ride!! I love you all!!  Muahhh!!!  Thanks for the continued prayer!! :)  For now I just would ask that I would continue to get better and get healthy and have my energy back! :) 

Sorry it has been Forever!!!

Let's see... I guess we could look at it this way, since I haven't written in a while things have been going better.  I have been off of my medication for a few months now, which has been extremely nice, but alas, my headaches and a few other symptoms have come back starting this past Monday.  I have emailed the doctors and they have not gotten back to me, which is highly unusual because the doctors at OHSU are usually right on top of things.  

Let's catch up shall we??!!  Well, it is obviously Spring because just about everyone I know (ok like 5 people that I know) are getting married soon... They are just recently engaged.  So fun because I love weddings... My friend and I were talking today and we figured that it is some kind of a virus and we accidentally got the vaccine... :)  I am very excited about that.  This past weekend, my mom drove me up to Seattle, because I can't drive that far on my own because of my recent headaches and my mom is such a doll!  I drove from Gig Harbor to Seattle at night and found this to be a pretty awful decision... because of my head problems, I had a bit of a rough time trying to stay on the road in between my lines... Not exactly the best thing when you are driving!!!  I made it safely and had a blast with my friends for the weekend!  It was so amazing!!   They are a group of girls from Nashville, as well as my friend Natalie from here, who love Jesus, love each other and want to live that out in community which I am so about.  I am going to go out to Nashville for a few months at the end of the summer and I am so excited to see what God will bring out of that.  I am also helping Lisa Closner with the play Annie by choreographing!  It is very fun and stressful and scary as we are nearing opening in a little over two weeks....

Back to my head, I am trying to work as much as possible, but some days I just give up, today was great though.  I have a doctor appointment on the 21st so they will run more tests do some blood work and see if I will go back on meds or have to have surgery, which could be great if it goes as planned! :)  Thank you all for your prayers and support!  I love you tons... but for now I am off to bed... I am getting up at 6:45 am to go walking with my mom!! Muahhh!!!