Thanksgiving @ Disney Land & Surgery

We took the kids to Disney Land for Thanksgiving. I hadn't been there for quite awhile and it was the kid's first time. It was seriously magical. It was a big treat to see Chelsea and Justin as well. We want to go back every year. Perhaps on our way to visit family for the Holidays to miss the crowds next time though ;)

Almost all of my Christmas shopping is finished and frankly I'm becoming dis-functional as Justin's surgery grows closer (which is probably a good thing because I'm spending WAY too much $$$). Justin's surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Thursday. It's projected to last 4-6 hours. I'm hoping we're finished before noon. The surgery is at Barrows then he will be moved over to PHX Children's Hospital immediately following the surgery.

Here are some pics of our Disney/CA Adventures Trip:

 Waiting in line to ride the "Cars" ride. Our first ride...which we rode

twice and only waited 20 minutes for. Best ride ever!!!

 Logan pants with his mow-hawk.

 Justin chillin', waiting for a ride to start.

 Logan pants on the Merry-Go-Round.

Luv these 2! 

Splash Mtn before the Splash

First time on Splash Mtn...all Logan could say afterwards was 'Oh crap'.

2nd time on Splash Mtn....we got smart then proceeded to ride 3-4 more times. 

 Tower of Terror...I had no idea what this ride was. Poor Logan

was crying afterwards. If I knew the craziness of the ride I

wouldn't have took Logan. Totally a thrill...Justin loved this ride,

I think we rode it 4-5 times.

 Justin and Jason in the middle row. Tomorrow Land was my favorite.

 Again on Space Mtn with Justin and Justin in the back (can't see Justin),

Chelsea and Jason in the middle and Justin's parents posing in the front!!!

Luv the poses.

 Justin in the Treehouse.

Logan pants playin' on the railing as we waited in line.

Prayers

We went to Vegas a few weeks ago for my cousin Nick's farewell. He is going to be serving in Mexico. I love this picture because it is the beginning of another seed of truth planted in my children's hearts. I'm so grateful for Nick's fatefulness in serving a mission...so proud of him and all my cousins/family who are setting a good example for my kids.

I love seeing my aunts, uncles, cousins and grams...we had a great time although the trip was way to short. Jason and I snuck away and visited one of Jose Andres' restaurants (and spent an obscene amt of $). The food was Divine and worth every penny (or so I thought until the government shut-down and now Jason is working for free...doh!!!)

Anyways, there is always something happening in life...no matter what the world is throwing at us I feel comforted to know that I have the truthfulness of the gospel in my life and that everything is going to be okay.

Jason and I are headed to the Temple tomorrow and are asking for prayers on our behalf and Justin's. We have done our homework...talked to lots of doctors, gotten second opinions, spoken to others in similar circumstances, read literature and prayed and fasted and now we are going to the Temple. We just want to be 100% sure we are doing what we are supposed to do for him...no regrets!

Thank U Thank U

CHOICES

Today was an awesome day. It started out with a 3 mile run on 3 hours of sleep followed by bribing Logan to get out of bed by offering him a cookie for breakfast...with a side of carrot applesauce then off to preschool on to Justin's class to help out. Picked up Logan from preschool half asleep and spent a few hours watching reality TV although I should have been reading a few books for some upcoming book clubs but just wanted to watch TV and veg. Made some yummy Reese peanut butter cupcakes and no bake protein bites then picked up Justin came home took a nap and went to watch one of the young woman's volleyball game. Oh, the memories that came rushing back. It was so awesome. Since quitting my job I feel like a new person...and I must admit that Dr. Laura played a big part in taking that big step to quit my job (so thank you Dr. Laura...I luv u, most of the time). It's an amazing feeling and I am reassured everyday that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. 

I locked my keys in the car at the high school, so the kids and I walked up the street to McDonald's where we waited for a ride to mutual. We ran into some fellow ward members at McDonald's and they assisted in getting my keys out later that night...thank you Bro. Harris and Bro. Swain...you guys are sooo awesome! I was able to catch up with some good friends while at McDonald's then we had a great time at mutual 'til Logan pooped his pants...why is he pooping his pants? I don't freakin' know. He has been reverting back to not getting dressed on his own and not being able to do anything his insisted on doing for the last few months, including going bathroom in the toilet. Not sure what his deal is but needless to say he went commando and had wet short cause I washed them in the bathroom sink at the church. 

The best part of today was on the way home from getting the car Justin says to me, "Mom, you are the greatest mom. Thank you for all the surprises today. I love you." He then started singing a primary song '...rainbows whenever there is rain, I want to live the best I can and live with Him again'. Then Logan kissed Justin and leaned around to kiss me (looking back, I guess he didn't have on his seat belt, whoops). I smiled to myself and said a quiet prayer of thankfulness for my two angels.

I was hoping Jason wouldn't findout about the locking my keys in the car incident because I do it often but the boys called him before they went to bed and that was the first thing out of Justin's mouth...Thaaaaaankaaaa Youuuuuu!

An update on Justin...

Justin had an MRI a week ago and it the doctors are using that MRI as a baseline to measure growth every 6 months. As far as the remains of the tumor from his surgery in May we aren't doing treatment right now and will monitor it for growth and possible further treatment in 6 months. Justin finally had his entire back scanned and his spine is clear of tumors:)

When we met with Dr. Lemole I got pictures of the large meningioma Justin had removed in May. I asked him if the tumor was as big as a golf ball and Dr. Lemole said his tumor was bigger. It wasn't the same shape as a golf ball though. Here are the images of the tumor PRE OP:

                         

                    

                         

As far as the tumors in Justin's ears we have been seeing two doctors. Dr. Jacobs and the University whose thesis put a drug into clinical trials as a cure for reducing the size of tumors is telling us not to do the surgery because the odds of him going deaf from surgery are 80%. The tumors are fundal meaning they are right at the internal auditory canal. He recommends we allow Justin to go deaf then they will remove the tumor and hopefully salvage the cochlea and if all went as planned Justin would get cochlear implants. There is no way of knowing how long 'til Justin will go deaf. He needs a hearing aid in the left ear as things are now but his right ear has perfect hearing. His hearing could remain unchanged for 20 years...possibly....there is just no way of knowing. If we have surgery to remove the tumor in the left ear they could possibly salvage the hearing and Justin could have a bone grafted implant which is the type of hearing aid he needs right now. If we don't do the surgery and just wait there may possibly be a drug available to reduce the size of the tumor so that surgery isn't necessary...but when those drugs will be available is currently unknown and those drugs are given through an IV. There are currently clinical trials being done on children ages 12 years and older so they are in the early stages and there are side effects and obviously long term effects are unknown. There are a few other moving parts to this theory but I don't want to go into everything in detail...I still have a lot of questions for Dr. Jacobs.

We are also seeing Dr.Weisskopf in PHX whom has told us that the text book answer is to go in and salvage the hearing in one ear. (Dr. Lemole also concurred with this.) We haven't talked to Dr. Weisskopf since we got this new MRI which clearly shows the tumors so we aren't sure if his opinion will remain the same but we have an appointment with him next week. If we do the surgery and Justin goes deaf he will get a bone grafted hearing aid (which he will probably get without the surgery) so he will still be able to hear out of both ears but there are complications from surgery...this surgery would be another craniotomy which would take 6-8 hours...that makes my stomach churn.

This MRI shows the schwanomas (tumors) in Justin's ears and the meningoma POST OP:

                 

It's crazy how these two little dots are causing so much trouble. Jason and I both feel that our family should learn sign language...no matter what decision we make. I am also working on putting together a half marathon / 10k to benefit the Children's Tumor Foundation to assist in the research of NF.

I know this is corny but my senior year in high school our theme was...right now, it's your tomorrow (Van Halen, the chorus is pretty rockin'). I keep hearing those words run through my thoughts...I need to stop livin' in tomorrow and make things happen NOW! for Justin and other children like him.

Disclaimer: My photoshop skills far exceed the images above...I was just in a hurry.

Time Flies

I can't believe how fast the summer has come and gone. We had a fun summer and the heat hasn't been too bad. We have had a lot of monsoons lately so it has been really humid. Here is an overview of our summer and things to come:

Tressler family reunion at Bear Lake. Doing what us Tressler's 'do' best...eating.

We made sand art with candy sand. Yumm-o.

Logan with cousins Chloe and Kaylee

Logan at the beach

Justin at the beach

Logan and Jason on the boat. Logan loved the boat...
Justin on the other hand didn't like being on the boat at all

Justin on the tube...safe on the beach

Chillin' at the beach

We headed to a cave up the mountain. Very interesting.

Group photo. The peeps not in green are my cousin Jeff, his wife Kim and their kids.
Also my Uncle Ernie, Aunt Margo and Aunt Lucy whom we hadn't seen in 20 years.
It was great to see them, probably the best part of the Tressler family reunion.
We were missing Leanne who was recovering from delivering baby #6...yo go girl!

Justin playing air hockey with some of his cousins.

We headed to 7 Peaks in Provo in between the two family reunions.

Going down the lazy river.

We headed up to SLC and spent a few days with Kami and Jason.
We hiked up to Donut Falls with Kami.

We met my dad in SLC on his lunch break where he treated us to some
food we had been wanting to try out for awhile @ Bruges Waffles & Frites.
Thanks Dad!

Jason and I shared this bad boy called a 'Machine Gun'. It has sausage on the bottom in a fresh

baguette roll then layered with their award winning french fries and topped with this spicy, yummy

sauce. It was too die for. Loved it, loved it! We will have to visit this place on the regular.

Main reason for the visit was to get one of their L'eige waffles. Basically a waffle that has yeast in it.
It wasn't a disappointment...especially with that HUGE scoop of whipped cream. So heavenly.

We then met Kami and Jason's parents at Los Taquitos, which has been featured on the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I feel bad we didn't get any pics of Kami and Jason...just the food. Sorry sis!

Now on to Jason's family reunion at Bear Lake. Jason working on his panoramic skills. Looks good J.

Logan and Justin with some of their cousins. Trent and Addie.

Eating licorice on the hammock.

We all went through the Manti Temple with Ali to get her endowments taken out in preparation for her mission to Reno, NV. It was an amazing experience and I'm sure even more amazing for Janet and Ardean to have all their children in the Temple for the first time...all together. It was very special. This little cutie was blessed after the Temple session. Maree is such a sweet baby.

Cousins chillin' in the water on the trampoline. Good times.

My father-in-law Ardean, baptized this man (Jean Claude)...30-40 years ago while he was serving his mission in Australia. Jean Claude moved to France and him and his wife (Natalie) were visiting the states and were able to do a session with Ardean and Janet while we were in Manti. I sat by them at the luncheon and asked where they were living and when they said France, I said...'oh, my sister served her mission in France'. Come to findout Jean Claude and Natalie were the Branch Presidents in the mission when my sister, Heidi and her now husband Chris were serving. They actually have pictures of my sister when she was serving in France 15-20 years ago. Very small world...it was cool to be able to make a connection with them. Very nice couple...and do I look like an amazon woman here or what?!?!?!...geeze. I'm tall.

Paella anyone?
Jason and his Sous-Chef Mark, made Paella for us. They did not disappoint.

Sous-Chef Mark at his finest;)

My mouth is seriously watering. This is the chicken paella.

The start of the seafood paella.

We are always with family for Justin's birthday since his birthday is in July.
He is opening his gifts here. Happy as can be. He is now 7!

Hangin' out with cousins.

Logan, Campbelle & Addie. One of the few times Logan
wasn't torturing one of his cousins.
The kids had such a great time at the reunions and it was so great to have
them both at the same place so we didn't have to travel too much in between
and were able to spend time with both sides of the family. Thank you to
everyone who put in time and effort planning and making the reunions successful.

Jason found Logan under the desk one night when he returned home from work at 4 am.
Logan has discovered monsters and being scared. He is a fruit cake.

We invited a few friends to see Despicable Me 2 and then to McDonald's
for a small birthday party when we returned from Utah.

We received this from the Christensen's. I was so touched...it's so cool
to have such great support. We love seeing this everyday.

Justin started 2nd grade yesterday and Logan starts preschool next Tuesday. Justin is really enjoying 2nd grade and Logan can't wait to start preschool. Justin has healed very well. He is handling everything extremely well.

Jason and I both had MRIs and things seem to be clear...so we don't have NF2. YAY!

I got a call while I was writing this Blog informing me the results were back from the genetic testing and Justin definitely has NF2. Even though we knew he had it...getting the confirmation made me sick to my stomach. I hope research has grown and there is a cure other then surgery when the time comes for Justin to have children. His children will have a 50% chance of having NF2. I don't want him to have to make hard decisions. I want to get involved to help raise $ for research and I plan on devoting more time to NF2 in the coming months to make this happen.