What's Your 2009 Resolution?

Each year we all resolve to do something new or better for the coming year -- eat better, exercise, get out of debt, look for a new job, etc. Last year, one of my "resolutions" (for as much as I had control of it) was to focus on getting pregnant and do whatever was necessary to make that happen. Well, with one day of 2008 left, that's one thing I couldn't resolve to do. I tried, but came up short. I don't really have anything major in mind when it comes to 2009. My mind is swimming with all sorts of dreams and wishes and "wouldn't it be nice if's" for the new year, but it's hard to set goals when there's only so much control you have over making it happen.
Whether trying-to-conceive-related or not, what's your resolution or goal for '09?

All Went Well

Thanks to everyone for their prayers. My grandpa came through Saturday's surgery just fine. He was transferred to a rehab/nursing facility today where they'll get him moving again. Hopefully he'll be there for only a week or so. He already hates it and wants to get home.
We'll see him tomorrow when we visit for Christmas.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!

Prayer Request

Tonight I'm asking for everyone's prayers, and this time they're not for Mike (although those are still always needed and welcome). Tonight, my 88-year-old grandpa fell and fractured his hip. He's at the hospital now and will have surgery tomorrow after 4:00 PM to have a screw put in his femur/hip. It sounds like he will be in the hospital for about four days, then spend a couple weeks at a rehab center before being able to come home. So, someone I love will be in the hospital for Christmas.
Please pray for a smooth, successful surgery tomorrow, and please pray that his recovery goes well and that he's back on his feet and functional very soon. I love my grandpa so much and worry about him and my grandmother constantly. We need your prayers. Thank you.

A New Chest for Christmas

No, not that kind of chest. I'm perfectly happy with what God gave me.
Last Friday, Mike surprised with a dresser for our bedroom. I came home from work, walked into the bedroom and there it was! He even dressed it up with garland and a big red bow.
Since we got married, we've lived like bachelors in some respect when it comes to bedroom furniture. We had his parents' hand-me-down bed and frame, a small and cheap chest of drawers, and Rubbermaid containers for any clothes we didn't hang in the closet. We got a new bed a year and a half ago, and hoped to someday get the other pieces of the set. Now I have a dresser all my own! He really got me with that surprise.

Pardoned

Well, we were all set. Ready as we thought we could be. Mike was scheduled to be admitted to the hospital tomorrow morning, around 7:30 AM. They were going to put a port in his chest, by his collarbone, into which they'd administer the chemo and draw blood to spare his veins. Then, hours later at midnight, they'd begin the heavy chemo which would be given every four hours. Several days of this intense treatment would reduce his immune system to nothing, leaving him highly vulnerable to the most seemingly benign germs. He would feel weak and sick and develop painful mouth sores. December 10 would have been the day he was given stem cells from his anonymous donor, and he would be watched for any kind of reaction. From then on, the next few weeks would have consisted of constant monitoring to see if his body was accepting these new cells, and we would wait anxiously for his blood counts to rise enough to allow him to go home. All told, Mike would have spent the entire month of December in the hospital.
Several hours ago, Mike got a call from one of the doctors on his team. Mike's donor has an infection and will be on antibiotics for several weeks, which puts the transplant on hold until after the holidays. We don't quite know what to make of this news. It's a weird mix of happiness and trying to turn off the adrenaline rush of a prize fighter. We were ready to go, or so we thought. But, it looks like we're getting what we wanted most -- Mike will be home for Christmas. We're getting our wish, in a way that's different from what we expected, and we'll take it.
The doctors may want to give him a little more chemo in the interim, which bothers me a bit, but at least we get to enjoy the holidays as we normally would. Just before he got the call tonight, Mike was getting ready to pick me up at work so we could go buy a Christmas wreath for the front of the house. That was as much decorating as we were going to do -- no tree, no lights, no Christmas knick-knacks. Really, what would be the point? Mike wouldn't be here, and I'd only be home to sleep at night. Now, we will go shopping for a tree as well as a wreath.
I guess the cancer grinch can't steal our Christmas after all.