Tonight...

So, today was a wonderful day... It started with my nieces and nephews coming over and it ended with an amazing night of praise and worship. Lex and I went to Katie's church and they had a worship service. They had music, invited people to paint or write on large pieces of paper and they showed a video that was great. The video showed how things can block our sight from Jesus and knowing that He is in control and He can handle all of my problems. As I was sitting there thinking about all of these things that take my eyes off of Jesus and knowing that He can handle any problems, three things came to mind... Pride, fear, and body image. The first is a hard pill to swallow at times and that is what makes it pride, pride comes at times to cover fear or because I feel I need to "do" more with my life. I am learning that what I do does not make me more valuable or more worthy, but I am just learning that God has me where I am at this point and it is right where I am supposed to be. As far as body image goes, it has been something that I have dealt with since I was a Junior in high school. It was never something that caused me to stop eating, I was just never happy with what my body looks like. It has driven my thoughts and actions for way too long. It is something that I have tried to get healing for over and over, but tonight I feel like I have given it truly to the feet of Jesus. I am sick of dealing with this day in and day out. It is an addiction of sorts and I am going to accept it as normal. I told my cousins' small group that those three things are what I wanted to lay at the feet of Jesus, so tonight I am walking with less baggage and my load is light because I have finally let Pride, Fear, and Body Image rest at the foot of Jesus. It is so freeing to know that He can handle all of my burdens and make my load light. I am so thankful for nights like this. God is so good! I love you all and hope you have a great night!!

Test Results...

This is a photo I took from the Tram of Downtown Portland... it was beautiful!!

So, today I went up to OHSU and I got to ride the tram for the first time... It was actually very exciting to me! I enjoyed myself! :) I had a meeting first with my doctor and everything was going great... no symptoms or anything... all great news. So we realized that it has been over a year since I had my last echocardiogram and that I needed another one to check on my valve function. This was the reason that I got to ride on the tram. I got my little pass and went out into the dreadful cold and waited to ride the tram. I made a friend on the tram who works in the opthamology department and gave me a card saying, if I ever needed their services to let him know. I told him thanks, but I try to keep it down to one department at a time, can't have too many problems. I found my way over to the Sam Jackson's Hall and up to the 2nd floor where I was walking around like a lost little puppy. A lady came around the corner and goes, are you lost and are you Amy. I said yes to both and she took me back to the echo room. I had the same guy from last year so I was excited because he is super nice and not creepy at all. We talked about his kids, the holidays, and the big cardiactric convention coming up in San Diego in June. After I got my heart looked at for a while I was sent back down the tram to the 3rd story of the building I came from to get my blood drawn. I think the lady was in a hurry or something, it being the end of the day and all, and she jammed that little needle right into my arm and it was painful... She made a nice little bruise, which I amnot super thankful about... Oh well... at least she got the blood, and hopefully I don't get her again. There is this guy who normally takes my blood who is amazing and nice and cute... Why I didn't get him... I will never know.


Tonight I got my results back from my blood and my echo. My echo is unchanged from last time, which is good news and my hormone levels were low, thus showing that I do not have to go in for another 6 months. When I go in, in 6 months we are hoping my levels are still low because I will be able to come off of my medication at that point and next year I will get another MRI to see that my tumor is gone... hopefully!! I am so happy about this and so thankful for all of the prayers and support. I truly love you all!!! Have a great night!!

From one perfect fit to another,
Ames~

Just so ya know...

Hey, I wanted to let you all know that I go to the doctor on Friday so I will have more info after that. I won't have the test results, but I should have some kind of brain information for you all! Thanks again for the continuous prayers and support! I love you all!!!! Muahhh!!!

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