I know it has been a long time since I have posted on this site.....but our life has taken a turn that none of us were ready for. I will try to update you on what has been happening....
November brought us to the end of band season. It was a fun season but we were so ready for it to end. Bailey finished up soccer season as well. She had a great season and really enjoyed it more than we thought she would. December was full of the usual activity for the holidays. Todd and I were involved in the organizing of the John Berry concert that happened at the beginning of the month. It was a fundraiser for our band program. It was definitely challenging but in the end turned out great. If you don't know who John Berry is...he is a country singer, mostly popular in the 90's. Some of hits are "Your Love Amazes Me", "Kiss Me in the Car", and "40 again". Part of the concert was Christmas music with his "O Holy Night" rocking the house. It was a true pleasure meeting him also. We had lots of visitors through the holidays as well. All of our parents came to visit during the months of November and December which was so fun for all of us. Along with having a wonderful Christmas, we celebrated Sarah's 16th birthday as well. It is so hard for me to believe my baby girl is 16 now. She truly has been a joy to raise though. I wouldn't change a thing, and I am so proud of her.
Now for the big changes.....in November, Todd starting undergoing intense testing for the issues he has been having with his legs. After five trips to Augusta, Ga to see a neurologist there, we were dealt the crushing blow of his diagnosis. Todd has been diagnosed with ALS, or as it is more well know Lou Gherig's Disease. For those of you that don't know much about the disease, I can tell you it is not a kind disease, and the prognosis is very grim.....so needless to say our family is having to deal with it as best we know how. We had the horrible task of telling the children what was going on with Todd. Needless to say it was not pleasant, but we have vowed to be completely honest with them through our journey. We are taking each day as it comes. Todd as of right now is feeling fine and to look at him you would never in a million years think something was wrong. So we will relish in this good health while we can. He has such a wonderful outlook on life and a positive attitude about everything. That coupled with his sense of humor is what is going to bring us through this. Don't get me wrong...we have our moments where we feel the pain of what is going to happen to us, but it has been our goal for now to not dwell in the negative and the sadness. With that being said, all we ask of everyone is to just pray for him and for healing or at the least slow progression. We did take a trip last week again to Augusta to go to the monthly ALS Clinic. We will only need to go every three months at this point but when you go to clinic days you basically meet with everyone on your "team". In other words, your dietician, respitory therapist, speech therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, clinic nurse, the neurologist, and then people from the ALS Association (social worker) and MDA representatives. Todd's joke is now he is officially one of "Jerry's Kids"....so next time the telethon is on or someone asks you to buy a shamrock to support MDA....PLEASE do it....it may be what helps my husband. At this point it all is very overwhelming as far as the information that they bombard you with, but we will weed our way through it slowly.
Well, I guess that about catches you up on what is going on in our world.....it is a lot and I could probably write all night, but I have things to do and people to talk to, so I hope this finds everyone well.
Please pray for Todd and for our family. People want to know what they can do for us....pray and stay positive!
