Thanks!

Wow! It's hard to believe so much time has passed so quickly. I was just thinking on the way to work this morning how quickly the time has gone by. Just a year ago, we were in the midst of treatments, and I had, for a lack of better words, holed up at home. I had no desire to go outside of the house for much, and I pretty much didn't. Now, here I am a year later, quite the opposite! I am back to working 4 days a week, keeping up with the housework (or trying to at least..haha), running most days (I even get to sneak a few days of running with my favorite running partner, the hubbs, every now and then!), and being busy on most weekends. What a blessing! Before this whole ordeal I would have never thought of "being busy" as a blessing, now I know it is nothing short of that, and thank God every day that I am able to count that blessing.  I apologize for not updating more regularly, I always have full intentions of updating at least a month, but as we know, life creeps up and plans change. :) Thankfully my mom picked up the ball and covered for me the last time. Haha. As she reported, I had my 6 months scans in August and was given the all clear for another 3 months. So we will head back at the end of November for my next scan, and God willing, receive the same results. I can't express enough gratitude for all of the prayers you have been sending my way- please keep them coming! The first two years after treatment are the most crucial, as that is when most recurrences creep up. I am fully confident that with your prayers and God on my side, I will make it to the 2 year mark all clear, and each 3 month check mark is just another reason to for praise and thanksgiving!

If you missed my mom's previous post, we have two other reasons for praise in our family lately! Two babies! Kalen, Trisha, and Jack welcomed Miss Cora into the family about a week ago, and Kaleb and Fabi  are expecting their baby boy in just a few short months! :) Unfortunately, I have yet to meet baby Cora, but she is absolutely gorgeous in her pictures (There's been some chatter she looks like her favorite aunt??), and I can't wait to snuggle up to her soon. I've even heard big brother Jack might be liking her a little bit as well. I'm a sucker for babies, there's no way around it, and I'm hoping God will bless us with a family sooner rather than later, but these two will certainly curb my baby fever for awhile! :) haha

And yet another blessing, Matt and I were finally able to go on vacation! :) Due to my diagnosis coming right after our wedding, we truly didn't have time for a honeymoon as we had to move full speed ahead with treatments. So we promised ourselves that once this was all done and over with, we would go somewhere. Holding on to that thought kept me going many times when things got ugly... and thank God, we finally made it! We just returned from Montego Bay, and it was absolutely amazing. I feel bad because every time someone asks about the trip, that's what I tell them, but there are just no other words for it. The whole entire trip was utterly amazing. The most simple and obvious reason being the fact that Matt and I finally had a chance to get away from everything, and remember what brought us together in the first place. It was so nice to be able to focus on and appreciate each other, and gave me the time to celebrate the fact that I am married to the most amazing man I know. How I ended up with such a selfless, considerate husband is beyond me, but I will never get tired of thanking God for that blessing. ;)  Beyond that, Jamaica itself was just breathtaking. The scenery was awesome, clear blue waters, a beautiful mountain back drop outside of our room, and such vibrant colors in both the wildlife and the agriculture, I could go on for hours. lol. The culture as a whole was inspiring. It's a shame we don't see more of that here in the states. Everybody was in a good mood/happy/helpful! I don't think we dealt with one person that wasn't outgoing and helpful. Granted, most would say this is because they are paid to be that way, but to me it seemed more than that. It seemed as though it was innate. And the food there..don't even get me started on that. I'm pretty sure Matt and I gained 10 lbs while being there. It'll be time for some serious dieting in the Fausset household now. lol. I would say the coolest part of the whole trip was the snorkeling we were able to do a few days. It was so neat! Seeing all of the different creatures in the ocean, and feeling jellyfish and other fish, awesome!  I've often heard that people feel closer to God/God's presence by the water, and it's definitely true for me. I've always been a beach baby at heart, and this trip sent me home feel completely refreshed and renewed.

Please continue to keep us in prayer, and we will continually pray for all of your as I know there are so many of that need it right now.. but also remember that just as important as it is to ask for God's help, it is equally important to praise for the blessings already given to us. I heard something before that has always stuck with me; "What if all you woke up with tomorrow, is what you thanked God for today?". It's a very good point. Each of us have something to be thankful for, whether big or small. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the crisp fall weather that is upon us now!

2nd one down!!

I was just checking in to see if Meg has had time to keep this blog updated and not surprised to see that the post are few and far between! It is sooo easy now at this point to forget the past year and get distracted from what has happened. And then a little reminder pops it's ugly head up...like her 6 month scans. But once again things have went well and she remains clear. Also good news is that they can now start thinking about that family she has always wanted..no rush though b/c we already have 2 new ones on the way..1 any day now and 1 in September. It has been such a busy summer with so many good things going on that I have to remind myself  to remember that in the middle of the darkest day God was there and remains there even when we are too busy enjoying this life to truly take time and appreciate the way he holds us close. So thank you Lord for this latest blessing!

A year gone by??

Whoa- it has almost been a year already?! It is so baffling to me to think about a year ago I had just found out that I most likely had cancer, my husband was in Afghanistan, I was trying to plan a wedding, and prep for an upcoming surgery....only to hear the other shoe drop, and face 6 months of chemo. The silver lining behind all that is that it simply amazes me to think how much life can change in a year, and what amazing power prayer and faith in God has. There is no doubt in my mind, where I stand today is thanks to all of you and your many many prayers, and good thoughts, and the love of God.

So sorry that it has been so long since I have updated..Matt and I have been so busy lately, but I'll take it! I love the fact that thanks to all of your prayers, I am feeling well enough to BE busy. Let's see where everything is at now.. I had my reversal the first week in March. Just for anyone who stumbles across this blog that is in the same boat I was in and unfortunately needs to go through this operation, the best advice I can give you is what everybody tried to tell me, but I didn't listen- STAY AWAY FROM THE INTERNET!! Leading up to my surgery I read so many horror stories, I was convinced the whole surgery was going to be traumatic, and that recovery was going to be even worse. I was sure that my life was going to be confined to my house, and therefore I didn't make many plans to do anything afterwards. Everyone in my family tried to discourage me away from reading these stories, but I was sure they didn't know what they were talking about since they weren't "in my shoes"... (yep, insert foot into mouth now.) That is not to say that there isn't a lot of great advice out there- just be sure to proceed with caution,  and filter!! Not every scenario will happen to you..everybody is different, every person heals differently, and the power of prayer really does deliver miracles.

Somewhere in all the negative thoughts, my stubborn attitude came through and I made three goals following my surgery. #1. Get back to work, somehow, somewhere. I felt terrible for not contributing to our monthly bills, and also it was just driving me nuts being home all day! #2. Be able to comfortably attend Matt's Army ball..(anybody that knows me knows that I have pretty much been looking forward to this since the day I met Matt.lol) #3. Participate in the Dirty Girl Mud Run 5k.

Well I can tell you I have now completed all three of those goals!! :) Looks like I will have to set some more goals soon. Recovery from surgery was MUCH easier than I anticipated, I was back on my feet and feeling better in no time at all. Actually, I am just about to the point now where I am feeling back to "normal" (or as close to normal as I have ever been.. ha!) and it is SO nice. I made it through my recovery with no complications yet *knock on wood*, had my 3 month scans in May- which were clear, and had my port removed! Such a simple thing, but it was so nice to remove the last physical reminder of this battle, aside from my fantastic scars or "battle wounds" of course.

In the midst of all these other happenings, Matt and I also moved into a new place last weekend. Thank God for Jodie and Tom being so generous and helping us with a place to stay for many months, but like my mom has always said, you don't want to overstay your welcome, and it was time for us to get on our own feet. We found a place much closer to Matt's work (actually he can run to work if he wants...bets are open, who thinks this will happen?!). Although I am not enjoying all the unpacking that comes along with moving, it has been nice for us to get a fresh start- a new place, without cancer. :)

Goal #1- 6 weeks after surgery I started working as a nanny for a 15 month old boy, Grady, and an awesome family! They have been super supportive of everything that may pop up in my life, and it has been a great transition for me back into working.

Goal #2- Matt and I made it to the ball in the Inner Harbor and had a blast! It was just what we both needed. Luckily, we had some good friends to spend the night with as well.

Goal #3- Participated in the Dirty Girl Mud Run 5k with Lacee, Brandy, and Vicki and had a kick ass time!! Not only is this an accomplishment I am proud of due to the fact that it is 4 months out from me finishing chemo, I'm proud of this period because I don't run..unless I'm being chased by T-Rex or something serious like that.

Agh- I have some great pics of ALL of these goals to share with you, but in typical fashion, my computer won't cooperate. BUT I will try again tomorrow so just try to have some patience with me. :)

Matt's brother Brian and his girlfriend Lacee came out to visit us for the week. Such a good time! Always a great time having company, but so quiet after they leave. Hopefully they are back soon!!

More exciting news- we will have another niece, and either a niece or nephew this fall! I can't wait, love spoiling them!

Sorry for rambling, but there's been so much going on. I apologize in advance for not updating much- but that just means life is good. Life is calm again, and I am back out enjoying it, rather than hanging out in hospitals with doctors. I would much rather it that way, what about you?! As I always say, thank you SO much for the continued prayers and love. Although things are good now, I know with something like this I am never completely "out of the woods", and I know now is not the time to stop praying- so please keep them coming if you can! :)

Hope you all are out and about enjoying the start to your summer!

Full circle!!

  I just thought I would be nice and post some on here to be a good supportive mother for Meghan, plus I am really overjoyed at where we are now in our lives! It seems that we have came full circle from where we started this time last year. It was in April that we were planning a wedding without any major concerns about her health. It is because I have just came back from spending  a week with her and it was fantastic! I count my blessings that God has brought us to this point and I have a wonderful husband that will let me run away when I want to. Also on a side note the house doesn't even look too bad for him "baching" it for a week.
  It was such a joy to go to Meghan's and see how happy she was to play "hostess" (we pretended for Jim"s sake that she needed me to stay while Matt was away but she would have been fine without me). Their house is coming along so nicely and looks so cozy! I was so proud of the way she has went from a young girl to being a wife with a home of her own to take care of and enjoy making a home with!
 But it was wonderful and combining that with the fact that we had just had a great time at her benefit along with the knowledge that she has had the support then and though-out this journey of so many wonderful people ..it was just one of those special times in life that remind you of how lucky you are. We did manage to be slightly serious though 1 day and went to Hopkins to get her blood work done for the genetic testing
(once again thank-you to everyone who made this possible! now we can hopefully find out where this monster came from and the risks for the children in the family) But mainly we were just a young wife and 'mom' bonding while being tourist because we didn't have the time/focus or energy when we were together in that area before this.
Before I finish this I would just like to say a few things about her benefit for anyone who might not be on facebook much and is still keeping up with her blog. It was wonderful and there are so many who helped to make it a success!! It took a lot of effort from  her brother Jamie and Dad to pull it all together and even though at 1st it seems a bad date because of Easter it actually worked out well and provided a reason for so many of the family to be here for both events. She is lucky to have them both in her corner. I don't know what would have happened if her Uncle Greg and Jim along with help from Sibonne Voss weren't there to man the entrance tables with the tickets for different things. ( I know that I have spelled her name wrong but this "lady" was a god send and I wanted to acknowledge that I really appreciated her help! So sorry about the spelling. Also it is important to mention that I was no help at all!! Not really sure why but I was pretty much worthless even though I tried ..I just couldn't get it together to actually be much help. So for that I apologize. There are so many others though that did help ..the Summit Staff and Tracie that helped set up & tear down along with donating their time..the family, friends and local businesses that donated food for the event..the donations for the Chinese auction and silent auctions..Everyone who took time from spending it with their family on a holiday to show their support..those that bought tickets or even just made a monetary donation..and they are still coming in!! (how lucky she is and I can attest to how appreciative she is each time she gets even just a card from someone.) The gentleman that won the 50/50 and then donated it back and the list goes on and on....
And this is why I don't often post on here Meggie..I just don't seem to know when to quit typing. But thank-you, thank-you for supporting her and LIFE IS GOOD!

Survived Surgery!! :)

Sorry for being so late in this update..I really hoped someone else would have felt ambitious enough to put an update in the past two weeks for you guys, in hopes that it would be something a bit more interesting than my usual blog posts for y'all! haha Anyway, as you can tell, I survived surgery #2 just fine. After LOTS of anticipation, it went much better than I, and I think the rest of my family as well, expected. Surgery took place as planned on March 7th, for once I didn't decide to take longer in the OR than anticipated, and I made it out on time! I was fortunate enough to have Matt, my mom, Jim, my dad, and Mike and Brian that all made the trip to be there for support. Thank you all! I love you guys. :) Thanks to the advice I had received from some friends that had gone through this surgery, I was up out of the bed and walking LOTS of laps as soon as the nurses would let me.. I wasn't quite as stubborn this time around and nobody had to force me..lol.. the walking seemed to help tremendously.Luckily I only had to stay in the hospital for 3 days and was discharged on Sunday- I'm pretty sure Matt and my mom would have killed me if either had to sleep in the hospital another night. lol. I also had lots of visitors to keep me company/distract me again while I was in the hospital this time around, thank-you!! In addition to all the visitors, I also had pretty much the same team of nurses I had last time.. they are awesome! If you ever have to be in the hospital, the people in 6 South at Passavant have to be some of the most caring, warm hearted people. We even managed to get our Team Meghan T-shirts signed by just about everyone, and snapped a picture on the day of my discharge.

After being discharged Sunday, we made the trip to Waynesburg to attend my grandfather's viewing. He had passed while I was in the hospital..it is such an unfortunate event and a huge loss to all of us, but I was glad to be able to make it and see him one last time, and also see some family members I haven't seen in way too long- although it would be much nicer to see them all under better circumstances next time! Tom Dulaney, you were such a fighter, and will be missed and carried in our hearts forever.

Since then I have been home, between Brockport and Ridgway, recovering. I am so happy to say that this recovery has NOTHING on the last one! Thanks to all of your prayers I am sure, this recovery has been pretty uneventful for the most part. The pain has been manageable, I have mainly been doing a whole lot of sleeping to catch up, and my appetite is even starting to come back..which for anybody that knows me, knows that surely this is no concern, everyone has no doubt the fat kid in me will be back in no time. lol I love food way too much to expect anything besides that. This time around we have had no issues with dehydration, no admissions to the hospital, and even the ugly incision they left me after the surgery is starting to heal up! *I will do you all a favor and NOT post a picture of that..lol* Mom and I made the trip to Dr. Medich's office yesterday for my follow up appointment and so far they are pleased and everything looks great! So that means Friday I will be heading back to MD.. I am very excited to see my wonderful husband again finally, not so excited about returning to those wifely duties. haha..

Even better news about this smooth recovery? I will be seeing you all at the Team Meghan Benefit coming up in a few weeks! I am really looking forward to seeing you all, and being able to thank you all in person for your love, support, and prayers! :) You have been absolutely amazing. Keep them coming--This is no doubt another step in the right direction on the road to recovery, but I know well enough we still have quite a long road ahead. Thank you! Hope you all are staying warm- I know if nothing else, I will be glad to be back in MD for the weather..lol The first day of Spring, and up here in PA it just seems that we keep getting more and MORE snow!

Well..Here goes nothing!

First of all- thank you to everyone who attended my "birthday party" on facebook, and anyone that popped in to read my mom's last blog entry, and for the comments. :) Also, thank you to my momma for taking the time to be so thoughtful and putting a smile on my face by doing those things. Although I was away from everyone on my birthday, I really didn't feel alone at all. I felt so much love from you all and my "team" everywhere!

So the big day is almost here- I will be honest, I am a big ball of nervous and anxious today..but I am trying with all I've got to be productive. lol . Matt and I will leave tomorrow to head to Pittsburgh..that is, if Mother Nature cooperates. Of course Maryland would decide to get it's snow storm now, when we have to travel. ha! So some prayers for safe travels would be greatly appreciated. :) Then the real fun begins. The hospital will call sometime Wednesday to let me know what time surgery is on Thursday. Yikes. I know the end result will completely be worth it, but I DREAD the idea of being back in the hospital. Something about shots, the oh-so-comfortable hospital beds, and the 2am wake ups from nurses needing your vitals just doesn't really do it for me. However, I am looking forward to the fact that I should have about the same group of nurses as I did last time, which is a huge relief- they were nothing short of amazing. :)

According to Dr. Medich, this surgery should not be nearly as intense as the first surgery. His words exactly were, last time I felt like I was hit by a train, this time I should only feel like I got hit by a truck. Agh- we're supposed to find comfort in that?? haha. But it gets better- then he goes on to tell me I will feel like someone is stabbing me in the stomach with a knife- but that will be controlled with pain meds. Now I could be wrong here, as I have never been stabbed before, but I can't imagine that is a pleasant feeling either?? The good news is that, if all goes as planned and my body cooperates, I should only be in the hospital for about 3 days. Yay!! From what I can understand, there will be about 2 weeks following the surgery that things will be really rough, but after that things should start to improve. So going with that frame of mind, I should be doing okay by the time the Team Meghan fundraiser rolls around at the end of this month..at the very least I want to attend for whatever time I can handle to see all of you that have been supporting us every step of this journey!

I am sure one of the family members will be keeping tabs on this place after surgery to give y'all some updates...they are better at coming up with interesting updates anyway! haha. Hope everybody is having a great week..thank you in advance for all the prayers this week/weekend..and here's to kicking butt and closing this chapter. Love you all!

~God Bless

Happy Birthday Dear..It's YOUR party!

Happy birthday to you! I am trying to have a party for you but it is a little difficult when you live in a different state! I tried to create an event on facebook and invite ppl to post on here for you today but..you know my computer skills! Please don't think you are all alone and no one cares if the party is a bust and nobody comes. I can't believe everything we have been through in the last year and how unexpected a good bit of it was. Maybe sometimes it isn't good to know EVERYTHING the future holds. But I have seen more good than bad and look forward to what the next year will bring for you. I have always looked forward to each new stage as you grew and maybe that is why as the years past that I didn't seem to have as many negative feelings/sadness for the parts left behind that some parents do. Although not much compares to small hands and dirty faces or sweet sleeping smiles and damp ringlets.
This year I have seen you develop into a strong young woman that brings with it the knowledge that  now can definitely quit worrying about who will take care of me when I am old. I feel confident that as changes continue to come in your life, you will be able to meet them head-on, overcoming the obstacles that life often brings with it's joys. So happy birthday and even if it's "your party" don't cry..just stay in your pjs, eat bon-bons and watch soaps all day if you want! Love you.