Pre-Surgery, Post Dr. visist

We met with the doctor today and there are a few things we weren't expecting. Once they begin the procedure tomorrow, they will look to see what is causing the cysts. It is filled with fluid from the pancreas but they do not know how or why the fluid is filling the cysts. There are a few possibilities and I don't know how to explain them. But, if the cause is one option, they will have to remove a portion of his pancreas or the cysts will continue to return. Dr. Tarnasky said the removal will not be as serious as it could be since Mike is already diabetic. If they find that this is necessary, they will wake him up and we will discuss options. He indicated that the removal surgery could happen quickly. The recovery is one week. I'm not sure if that is one week in the hospital or just one week out of work, in bed, etc. If the removal is not necessary, they will insert a stent. Dr. Tarnasky said they will keep him in the hospital overnight to make sure the procedure does not cause pancreatitis. Thankfully, we are currently staying in the hospital hotel so I will be able to stay in our room and still be close.

Also, PLEASE keep my dearest friend Angela and her family in your prayers...her little (19 year old) brother was rushed to the hospital in Lubbock about an hour ago with double pneumonia!! He was not concious when he was taken to the hospital and I know her family would appreciate ALL prayers!!!!! Thank you all so much!!!

Mike is in his MRI right now so I don't have much time! The hospital doesn't have wireless so we can't use our laptop...BUMMER!! The hospital does have a library/computer lab area that I can use but it is only open from 9-4:30!!

The trip has been a good one so far! Monday and Tuesday were really nice and we both kind of forgot that the medical portion of our trip was coming up! I had a GREAT time with Angela...we hadn't gotten to spend time together in a while so it was very refreshing. Plus, I got to see her new apartment and it is so cute!! She has THE BEST tub...so you know I took a bath!!

We are staying at the hospital hotel and it was nice to wake up and walk through the hospital to radiology this morning rather than having to fight traffic, park, etc. It will be really nice in the morning!! We are meeting with the doctor this morning at 10:30 and the surgery will be in the morning at 8...we have to be there at 6 though!!

Tonight should be a good one...my mom and Mike's dad and Linda are all coming in this afternoon. We'll have some time to spend together before the surgery. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!!

This weekend has been super busy but we feel it went so well!! We spent the weekend in Beeville and Mike put together a Back-to-School Bash for the youth and it went REALLY well! We got a chance to hang out with the youth and get to know several of them...that was GREAT!! There are a lot of band kids so I'm down with that! :)

Mike led the introduction to Sunday school and I think he did a great job! We met a lot of parents on Sunday morning and they all had positive things to say about Saturday night.

We were able to look at houses on Saturday morning and found one we REALLY like!! I'm not going to include details in case things don't work out...but we hope they do! We should hear this week if Mike will be going back in-view-of-a-call.

Please keep us in your prayers...we'll be flying to Dallas tomorrow and spending a few days relaxing (and visiting friends and family) before his surgery on Thursday. I'll keep you updated!

I heart my sister!

I really do...some people may wonder at times since we do "fight" more than we should but it is the way we operate. Although I'm sure my mom is tired of it after 25 years! Christy and I have always had a unique and special relationship. We truly are each other's best friends. She is the first person I want to call to share news, good or bad, with (other than Mike of course)!

With all the talk of moving, I have to begin to prepare myself...to leave her again...and it KILLS me!! We have this thing where I ALWAYS try to talk her into moving where we move. I hate not having her around know I'm going to miss out on things in her life by not being here. She and I always had each other growing up. We lived together until Mike and I got married...we never lived apart. WOW! That sure changed! But, she has always been great about coming to visit...I pray that never changes.

I love how I can call Christy and use 2 words from a song and she can give me the title and artist! I love that she understands me when I'm laughing so hard, I can barely breathe and yet still try to talk! (When I was little and had a cute but bad speech impediment, Christy used to translate for my parents!) I love that I can call and tell her a movie is coming out and she gets just as excited as I do! I love that we have the same taste in music!! I just love her!!

My failed root canal...

Well, I attempted to have a root canal yesterday!! My stubborn tooth decided it didn't want to part ways! lol... The dentist couldn't numb my nerve enough and said he is only allowed to use so much numbing stuff, SO I have an appointment with a dentist that specializes in root canals! At least I'm not in major pain!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

That is the phrase you see when first entering our apartment. Mike and I took a small trip for our anniversary...we like to get something on our trips to remember that time in our lives. Since we really didn't know what the gift for a 4th anniversary would be (paper? aluminum? silver? lol) we decided on a wooden sign. This sign symbolizes so much for us.

I find it so rejuvinating to look back at our 4 years as a married couple. We have had so many opportunities to praise God for all He has done. Others do not always understand why we continue to follow God and take steps that are out of our comfort zone. Throughout our adventures, there is one thing that has remained...God is faithful! GOD IS FAITHFUL! I love that MY GOD IS FAITHFUL!!

Praise God, for HE is faithful!

We are getting so anxious for the end of the month! We will be traveling to Beeville AND Mike will be having surgery. Our trip to Beeville will give us a chance to do something we've wanted to do our entire relationship...walk on the beach together!! Mike has never seen the ocean or beach and we plan to go South on Sunday night...

Of course I have the whole trip planned in my head, but making it a reality is so different! I did some researching today because I know some beaches and areas are better than others...especially in South Texas!! I know that no matter the outcome of my planning, we will enjoy our time together and cherish this "first" in our lives! I'll probably be calling Angela soon...her family vacations there a lot and she can probably give me some good insight! Hopefully we'll take some pictures for everyone to see!

Nothing to do on a Friday night??

Come check out Glovebox--THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY--at Sedona Grill on Wadley (and Garfield)!

Mike's dad's band will be playing at Sedona Grill...we are going on Friday night around 9...come join us...and if you let us know you are coming...we'll save some seats!!

Mr. and Mrs. Chris Wagner

A good friend of mine is about to "take the plunge." Miss Kimberly Rogers will only be Miss Rogers for one more week! WOW!!! I can't believe it's time for her to get married! I remember when she was in middle school and we chatted about life, boys, and everything in between. We wanted to know who God had for us...and now we've found them! I pray that God blesses their marriage and the life they will officially begin next week. I absolutely LOVED being a true newlywed (we are almost out of that official stage!!) and I know she is going to LOVE it!!

Congratulations Kimberly and Chris!!

May you always remember why you fell in love!!

More News!!

Mike received a call on Monday from the pastor in Beeville, Texas. We will be going down August 23 for Mike to lead a back-to-school gathering for the youth that he is also planning!! He will also lead the short introduction for the youth Sunday school. This will allow the committee to view Mike’s teaching/speaking. If they do not have any other reservations at that time, he will go down one more time in view of a call. The committee is supposed to meet between August 24 and September 1 to decide if they will bring him back in view of a call.

We are so excited about this direction. When we visited Beeville, we got such a sense of belonging. With a few of the ladies, I felt I'd known them forever. They really reminded me of the support group of adults that I had as a high school student. The committee has some great things in mind for the youth group and the future youth pastor and we are excited about the possbility of joining them. What they want for their youth group is what we have always felt a youth group should be.

We will have a CRAZY week and a half the end of August. If you haven't read the previous posting, Mike is having surgery August 28 in Dallas. That is the week directly following our trip to Beeville. We are still working on all the logistics for that! Please keep us in your prayers through all the transition and medical issues.

We have a date set!!

Mike has an appointment August 27 with a doctor in Dallas for his consultation. His surgery will be the next day. We were told he should be able to go home the next day. This particular doctor specializes in this and will use a scope to insert a shunt to drain his cyst off of his pancreas. Mike was so releaved that there won't be an incision.

Thank you all for your prayers and concern. We are praying that this surgery will help resolve his medical problems. It has been quite an ordeal!

Thank you for being a friend...

We lost a Golden Girl this week....Estelle Getty passed away. I LOVED "The Golden Girls" when I was younger (and every now and again these days). I remember watching it at my Nana and Dad Dad's house right before another show that I LOVED but I can't remember the name of it! It was about a doctor whose daughters lived with him and he had a dog...anyone? lol...anyway, I loved Estelle's character's quick whit. She was hilarious! Anyway, just wanted to say a little something about a little lady...

Mike's medical information is being sent to a doctor in Dallas. They should be contacting us in a few days. Dr. Patel told Mike to call him if we did not hear from the new doctor within 2 days. We should know more in the next few days.

On a different note--how crazy is Hurricane Dolly? My friend Angela was vacationing with her family in South Padre...thankfully they left Tuesday morning to head inland. I saw a few pictures online today but not many. I pray there wasn't much damage to the coast.

Odds and Ends

Mike is having his MRI (actually an MRCP) done as I type this. Of course, we won't know any results until next week but this is the first step to scheduling his surgery.

We are going with my mom, Craig, and my sister to the movies tonight...WE ARE SUPER EXCITED! We are going to see The Dark Knight. And we were smart! We already have tickets! Yea for presales!! It is going to be really interseting to see Heath Ledger's character. It is such a sad situation that he isn't around to see the final product.

I got to go to the Grand Opening of Maurice's in Midland last night...for anyone who doesn't know, I LOVE Maurice's! Kate was brave enough to go with me and it was a nice time. Not only did I get to catch up with my buddy but I got a few new digs and jewelry! Plus, Kate's the kind of friend that will answer truthfully to the dreaded question, "Does this make my butt look big??" Good times!

My sister scanned this picture and sent it to me...it seems like so long ago...but in a good way! So much has happened in the last 4 years and 2 months--to the day!! (I'm going to have to tell Mike, "Happy 4 year, 2 month anniversary!!" lol)

Just wanted to share this picture with you all!

OH, on an update note, Mike is having his MRCP (MRI) done this Friday morning (7/19)--keep him in your prayers!

Mike had an EDG done today. The results were good in the fact that they confirmed what the dr. thought was going on. He has cysts on his pancreas that are pushing on his small intestine, causing his food not to digest properly. The cyst is also affecting his liver numbers by cutting off something else...don't remember all of the details on that. He will most likely have an MRI done and then probably surgery...in Dallas. That is all down the road. We'll keep you posted..

Photos

So...I'm sitting at work, waiting on five o'clock...and started messing with my photobucket account. I haven't looked at the pictures I have saved on that account in a long time. It is so interesting to me how you can look back at a picture and remember either all of the positive things about that time in your life or all the negative things. Although I am negative more than I'd like to admit, I caught myself remembering all of the positive things about those times. A lot of the pictures were of Georgia and I caught myself REALLY missing Georgia: the people, the weather, the smells, the sounds...I think I just need a trip back! Mike and I have talked about visiting GA since we left 2 years ago (WOW!! it's only been 2 years???) but have yet to make it there. I hope to go soon...maybe in the next 2 years or so. We'll see! Until then, I'll have to make due with my photobucket pictures and memories of the people, the weather, the smells, the sounds...

WE'RE BACK!!

The MIKEANDCYMBRE blog is back in session!!

I'm not sure why I abandoned the blogspot...maybe it was that my life seemed more under control and didn't require as much communication...maybe I just got lazy...who knows! No matter the cause, I'm hoping to be more proactive about writing.

If you're reading this, feel priveleged! I'm not "shouting it from the rooftops" that I'm using the site again. Mike and I have always had so many people involved in our lives (not in a bad way) and I'm beginning to see the beauty of not sharing EVERYTHING with EVERYONE! It is a hard habit to break! I run into people from my past and don't hesitate to share all of our current details with them...I guess I've always been like that! Knowing that only a "few" of you know that I'm updating the blog, I feel good about sharing...but I'm also not naive to think stuff on here is private. lol...

Anyway, Mike and I are excited to say that God may be leading us to a new destination. He has interviewed with a church in South Texas and they are doing further reference checking. We hear this is normal from some of our minister friends. It's nice to have people who know how things go with ministry! Sometimes it's like Greek to me! :)

Well, this is it for my first posting back...hope you all enjoy!

a year ago Tuesday...

(*A Note to Jennifer...I know this is some of what I wrote you but it inspired me!*)

I can't believe it has almost been a year!! It's all I seem to think about this month...My mind keeps taking me back to the heat and humidity of when we moved in...We (Randy, Linda, Mike and I) were so miserable. And poor Justin Ray...we were SO thankful for Justin that day, August 8, 2005~that’s the day we moved into Sunlake and began what we thought would be the one of the greatest experiences of our lives. And it was and has been...but in a COMPLETELY different way! We soon met Justin's wife, Jennifer and they invited us over for dinner. YEA!! Another couple! Justin and Jennifer had already met Tim and Stephanie so it was a little intimidating but that meant we now had 2 couples to get to know!! Shortly after, at orientation, we learned there were several other seminary couples in our complex, one of which was Rhyne and Micah. Orientation was also where Mike met Rhyne. I wish we had met them so much earlier than we did. I feel we were cheated in a sense...we didn't have as much time to get to know them as the others. But we soon got to spend some time with them and it was like we were old friends! They are the only ones that have ever given us some competition on "Friends" trivia! (And they better be practicing because we're definitely having another round when we see each other again!) It was amazing to have such good friends with the Ray's and Putman's after such a short time.

We were so excited! And the atmosphere of the city was amazing...there was EXCITEMENT and newness! We would drive around for hours and hours, just learning the city and the sights and sounds. It was also the first time we were able to visit different churches! We were so excited about that part! We visited 2 with the Ray’s and Peabody’s and were so thrilled about the church we were to attend August 28…Gosh, it was an AMAZING time! A VERY SPECIAL TIME...

I miss that time everyday and long to go back to those 3 weeks! Gosh it would have been so much fun to live there for 2-3 years together! I think about all the things we (the 4 couples) would have shared together...probably several births (I’m sure Stephanie would have been first! Lol…She has since had a baby), birthdays, holidays when we couldn't get home...we would have been each others families and I could see God forming those bonds in those long but short 3 weeks! When I spoke with Jennifer after we were in Georgia, she said those were the longest 3 weeks ever...in a good way! Mike and I totally agree that it was as if time stood still. Truly an amazing time! But, with all things, it was to come to an end August 29...3 weeks to the day of us moving in.

Hurricane Katrina caused so much damage to the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. The area is still such a mess; I know we were blessed by being able to evacuate (THANK YOU JUSTIN AND JENNIFER...AND EVEN MORE, JENNIFER'S PARENTS!!!) without problems and most of our stuff "survived". But the emotional stress this storm brought was way more than I had expected. I was able to "handle" the changes at first but after a short time, the reality of it all sunk in. It is something I have tried to put into words for 11 months and I still come up empty…I wish I could explain it…

Despite the emotional roller-coaster it has brought, we are so blessed to have experienced the last year…We made such good friends, not only in New Orleans but also in Georgia, that will last our entire lives. Miles upon miles (lol) may be between us but I believe the friendship God rooted in us will keep us close. We share a bond that is special!!

Please keep New Orleans in your prayers…not only for those who have moved back and are working to repair the damage but also for those that continue to deal with the emotional stress of the storm. I can’t imagine enduring this without the love, direction, and support from God, my family, and friends! Thank you all!!!

I didn't want to post anything until it was official...if you've kept up with us, you know things change CONSTANTLY...Mike and I finally got to move into my Nana's mother-in-law house!! Just in case you don't know what a mother-in-law house is, it is a smaller house back behing a main house. Anyway, the tenant moved out July 15 so we got to move in Tuesday and are so excited to have our own place. We have lived with someone in many different situations since September! Anyway, it is a one bedroom, one bath house. We have a very SMALL backyard (which Mike is happy about!) and our own carport!

Other news about us: Mike is still working at Clark's hardware and I'm still at Tessco. I am planning on subbing once school starts and know that will keep me busy! Nothing much new in this area right now!!

We were so happy to get to go visit Mike's grandparents this past weekend. They live in the hill country and it is so nice to get to visit with them, play cards, and just relax! Although, we were more active this time than in the past. We drove down Thursday night after we got off, played golf Friday, played LOTS of cards Friday and Saturday night, then went to church with them Sunday morning and headed home Sunday evening. It was a great time!! I'll add some pictures below of our trip. Not many but a few! Hope everyone is having a great summer! Thanks for checking in on us!!