The medication is here....

Yesterday Mike's new medication arrived. It's called 'copaxone' and he will have one injection everyday. There are 6 sites on his body he have to rotate the injections. The medication cost $2,300/month!!! Good thing we have great insurance, only $20.00/month! What a blessing! Some time within the next few days we will have a nurse come to our home to help get us started. We are already trying to find areas in the house to keep all the supplies in an orgazined area and really out of reach for the kids! This medication should cause little to no side effects. The only side effect it should cause is some pain in the injection sites. Some of the other MS drugs cause flu-like symptoms daily, so we feel good about this medication choice. It also helps that I've given injections everyday for the past 5 years at work, so I kinda know what we're doing here.

Mike is back to working crazy hours. I am so proud to be his wife. This week he is working 67 hours! Which is WAY too much. After next week he requested his hours be cut back at Walmart, and they totally understood. The plan is to keep the 2nd job until after the holidays and to pay a few more things off, and then only ONE job for Mike! He's also been painting on the side.....He could choose to take the easy way out, he could even file for disability if he really wanted, but he is such a hard worker, and always puts his family first! I don't know many people like him!

Please pray for:

We had a talk with the kids about Mike starting the injections. They did great, didn't really have many questions, and wanted to carve pumpkins right away. I think they handled it very well. But, the we haven't started yet, and the nurse will be here, I just really don't want them to worry at all!

Continued energy for Mike.

Two main symptoms still persist: fatigue and hand pain/numbness. This continues to be very frustrating for Mike, and it's hard for me to see him struggle.

With great support from my family and friends, I quickly overcame what most people call my first really 'panic attack' episode, that even landed me in ER. I feel fine now, but I think everything just caught up to me...

And lastly, we have had to rely on our family for daycare everyday over the past few weeks, and the next few weeks. They have been so wonderful! Hopefully in the near future, we will have our awesome Laury back, but until then, we thank my parents, sisters, Mike's parents, and Aunt Mary for always being there to help!

Many songs have helped throughout this journey, my favorite is Mercy Me, bring the rain....

"I can count a million times, people asking me how I, can praise You after all that I've been through...... I draw closer through these times......Bring me anything that brings You glory.....I know they'll be days when this life brings me pain, but if that's what if take to praise You, Jesus bring the rain..."

Mike got called back to work!

Wow, were we surprised when Tiara called Mike today. He's been laid off since January. God is great! We are very excited, yet this adds some additional stress to our lives right now. Having Mike home everyday with the kids has been great, he's been their taxi driver! Now it's back to relying on the help of my parents. We would be lost without their help! Everyday they will have to help with rides to or from school. Also, Mike will be starting medications in 2 weeks for the MS. And he is going to also stay working part-time at Walmart deli (he just got a raise too!). So mainly this update is to ask for prayers. I am usually stubborn when asked if I need help, but not anymore, not when it comes to asking for prayers!

Please pray for:
Energy for Mike ~ I'm sure working 2 jobs and still being an awesome dad/husband is going to wear him out! (It amazes me what he does in one day!)

No side effects from the medication (shot)

Numbness to go away/lessen ~ Mike continues to have leg/hand numbness. I'm sure this is very scary for him, and extremely frustrating.

Me! ~ I need to be a great support for Mike, and I'm having a real hard time talking about all of this with Mike. I haven't read a single book from Dr. Landon regarding the meds. I'm just really struggling to talk to HIM about this, it just scares me.


Thank you again for all the support! Everyone's encouraging words, cards, prayers, calls, and continued meals have been awesome! We feel so blessed.

Welcome to our blog!

We thought it would be a great idea to start a blog with everything going on in our lives right now. This is an easy way for everyone who wants to be updated on in our lives, to make sure you get the correct info! :)

For those of you who don't know, Mike has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He was diagnosed at the end of August. Life has been a whirlwind since then. I don't even know where to begin. It started with days of leg, arm, and abdomen numbness. Then the days turned into weeks. Mike had me schedule a doctor's appointment, which he doesn't go to the doctor ever, so I knew it was really bothering him. The doctor ordered a brain MRI after hearing his symptoms. Two days later we went for the MRI. And the next morning we were called into our doctor's office for the life-changing results. We were then sent to a neurologist, Dr. Landon. He ordered a few more tests, a spinal tap and a MRI of his back/neck, and more blood work. We went Monday for the results. The MRI did confirm he has MS, he has lesions on his brain, and cervical(neck/shoulder are). No lesions were found on the thoracic (mid-back) MRI, so Dr. Landon said that was good. A blood test Dr. Landon ordered confirmed he had no myelin spilling into his spinal cord, which was also VERY good news. (That would have been a bad prognosis). So now we have tons on material to read about regarding medications, which is going to be a shot, either daily, or possibly every other day, we are not sure yet. We have a follow-up appt with Dr. Landon to start meds in about 2 weeks.

So as I type all of this, it still doesn't feel real. We are just taking each day at a time. Our faith is what is getting us through this, and the support of our family and friends has been unbelievable. Everyone who has been praying for us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. All of the meals, the desserts, the goodies, the cards, the calls, the money, everything has been so overwhelming, it's really what's getting us through. Mike also has 4 days of steroid IV treatments in the hospital. This was done to get rid of this 'flare-up.' Most of his symptoms are gone, he still has fatigue, and hand numbness, but he's feeling much better. The medication he will be started on will reduce the number of flare-ups, and when he does have a flare-up, it will hopefully be milder if he's on medication. So hopefully things are going to be settling down here soon! The main concern now is medication choice, as they all cause side effects.

Please pray for:

Energy for Mike

Numbness to continue to go away

Deciding on the right medication

The Economy (Mike is still laid off!)

Good Insurance Coverage

Hopefully very soon the blog updates will be all about the kids, school/sports activities, holidays, vacations, etc. We will also keep everyone updated on Mike through this blog, it's easier than phone calls to everyone, and facebook updates! :)

Thank you again to everyone, God has blessed us over and over, and has truly blessed us with an awesome family and friends, and co-workers!!!