Jamie's Doing Well After Surgery

Thank you for all the phone calls, notes and concerns! Jamie is doing great after his kidney removal last night. The surgery, including prep totaled about 3 hours. He had a little longer recovery, because he loves to sleep. :) AKA, they couldn't wake him from his good drugs. :) We are so happy that everything went well and the tumor is out. They pathology results will be in either Saturday or Monday.

Jamie will now be placed on the blood thinners to help with the blood clots. It's going be a waiting game now. Hopefully he will be able to come home at the beginning of next week. Keep the prayers coming!! Thanks everyone for your love and support.

Update on Jamie

A quick update on Papa Hos:

Jamie had the "filter" procedure last evening to help stop any blood clots that may try to move. That procedure went very well, and very quickly. He has begun small amounts of blood thinners at this time, but will received a high dosage after he has surgery tomorrow due to any bleeding that could occur. Yes he has to go through surgery too. He is strong so we know he will be a trooper. The "mass" that was found on Jamie's kidney is cancerous so his kidney will be removed tomorrow afternoon at 2PM. Well, I should say "they are very certain" it's cancer, but of course they can't say for sure until it is checked after it's out. They said due to it's matter, size and it being on the kidney it looks very much like a cancerous tumor. I guess cancer on the kidneys can reoccur very often that it is procedure to just remove it totally. We completely trust Dr. Fawcet and the staff that is attending to this, so out it comes.

Although this was not something he ever expected, he is taking it very well. He is a fighter and for all of you that know him, heck even have met him once, you would know that. We are so thankful for the wonderful Spectrum staff that are taking such good care of him. With prayers and steady hands he will be back to his good ole self soon. :) He will most likely be in the hospital receiving the blood thinners for a week. Please keep the prayers coming not only for Jamie for the entire family. This has been quite the year.

Love you all! I will post something after the surgery.

More prayers please...

Tom's Dad had an unexpected trip (and now stay) to the hospital today. He has been feeling kind of funny for a couple of weeks now; having a swollen ankle, on and off pain in his left arm and some aching in the chest. Well, this morning he thought he was having a serious heart attack and ended up at the Med center, only to be taken by ambulance to the ER. He thankfully was NOT having a heart attack but he did have two blood clots in his lungs causing this horrible pain. He was admitted right away, put on blood thinners and will have a procedure to put a "filter" of sorts near his heart to catch any clots. We are so thankful that the clots decided to head that way and not to the heart.

On another note, during the MRI he had they saw a mass on one of his kidneys. A biopsy will be taken of that while they are doing the other procedure. Obviously we are keeping positive about this, but MORE PRAYERS are needed. Jamie is doing well as he can, taking pain medication and being on total bed rest at the hospital. They suspect a 5-7 day stay.

Please pray for the entire Hosford Clan, this will be yet another hurdle we will jump.

Good Having You Home Grandma!!

All of your prayers are working!!!

After a little scare and a trip back to the hospital, my Mom is home for good now. After my last post, my Mom came home but her stay was very short. Not even 24 hours to be exact. There was a complication with the pain medications that were prescribed and her BP meds, and she fainted at home. Luckily my Dad was right there to help, and the doctors were on the phone immediately. They told my Dad to get my Mom to the hospital right away. After everything was regulated, she was feeling much better. In fact after her second day back in the hospital, a little more of her vision came back!! The more and more this happens only makes my Moms spirits better. They sent her home after a few more nights. :) So you can see why it's GOOD TO BE HOME!

Now it's time to RELAX. There will be no running around, cooking, shopping, CLEANING, or any of that business (which is driving my Mom nuts of course). That's what her family and friends are for!! :) Maddie is a big help, not only with the house (I know you're thinking child labor laws) but she helps with just making my Mom smile. You can see how thankful my Mom is to be here with us and be able to kiss her granddaughter. God truly is wonderful.

Phone calls are welcome!! I know my Mom would love to hear from you all! Thank you all again for the thoughts and prayers. There truly is power in it.

Not to happy camper...

Do I really need to type anything for this picture??
This is every two year old when they are told no. :)
Still so sweet.

Mom's coming home!!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my Mom is coming home today!! She has a long recovery of course, but we are just glad to have her home. An in home therapist will be coming over to help her. They will be working on compensating for the loss of vision and will be working on her reading. That is what is frustrating her the most I think. She is not able to read at this point. She sees letters, but due to the vision, he can't put them together to make a word. All of you that really know my Mom, know that reading is a huge passion of hers, and she proof reads EVERYTHING. :) Obviously she is so thankful to be alive that she is more then willing to re-learn these things. It's just a tough thing to go through. I got her a couple books on CD's to keep her busy. :)

I know that she would love to see so many of you, so please feel free to call and or stop by. Company and conversation is what is keeping her from going nuts these days. She can't read to pass the time; watching T.V. is extremely hard to do and staring into space just isn't all that fun. :) So, please take the time to stop by if you can. :)

Thanks again everyone you are the best!!

Update on my Mom

First off, a HUGE thank you to everyone for the wonderful comments, thoughts and prayers. I have told my Mom about all of the notes from here, e-mails and texts to her, and she is very thankful and overwhelmed. I'm telling you, even when she went through the car accident three years ago and now this, she is still shocked that so many people care THIS much about her. My Mom has always been extremely humble. So, I promised her I would say THANK YOU to you all. :)

I didn't really give much detail in my first note, because I was on the Hospital PC and there was a huge line. My laptop only had so much juice left. :) The surgery was a success because they were able to remove the largest of the two tumors. The surgeon actually didn't think we was going to be able to do even that, because when he made the incision, her brain herniated. (no details needed there I'm assuming) So when this happened, they actually worked for hours trying to decrease the swelling of her brain and get it back in without damage. Once he was successful with that ( and apparently there were some thoughts they he wasn't going to be able-Insert GODs hands) he was able to lift the lower left lobe and remove the large tumor. I firmly believe that it was God that allowed the surgeon to make that last gutsy call and have to courage to do it. He actually made the comment that he was going to just get the swelling under control and close her up without removing it, because of the danger. Someone helped him, I'm certain of it. :) The second smaller tumor is not removable due to it's location on the brain stem. The surgeon made a comment to us about possibly using radiation at some point to stunt the growth. That is WAY down the road and is kind of an after thought right now. That tumor is much smaller that the one that was removed. The removed tumor was the size of an egg. Yikes. She had 5 hours of recovery and was moved to the ICU where she spent the last couple of days.

Yesterday my Mom was moved from the ICU to the Nero Science Unit, still at the downtown campus. Lets just say, it was like going from a 5 start hotel to a 1 star motel. ;) She just kinda giggled at how pampered she was in the ICU. Not that she isn't getting amazing care, as of course she is, but the room is tiny and she shares it. Hopefully it won't be her home for long. The surgeon told her and my Dad that she should be able to come home by Monday or Tuesday. YEH!! She is feeling much better. The extremely bad headache is subsiding due to the pressure of the swelling going down. Her eyesight is still being a little funny. She has extreme blind spots. If you stand in front of her and she moves her head to the left a little you are cut right down the middle. She has been told that is should improve or go back somewhat. We are hoping for a fully recovery of course.

Thanks again to everyone and keep those prayers come'n!!! Love to you all.

My Mom's Surgery

I wanted to post something about my Mom's surgery, as so many of you have been praying and calling me. :) I haven't been able to get to my voice mails, so I'm sorry about not returning your many calls. My Mom's surgery was 4ish hours and a few twists and turns. With out all of the details right now, the end results is that they removed the largest tumor. They are not going to be able to remove the smaller of the two due to it's location. She is doing pretty well. She has lost some vision, that they Nero surgeon says should come back. She is it the Surgical Critical Care Unit at the Butterworth campus, downtown. We are not sure how long she will be in here, hopefully she can get a room in the cranial wing very soon. My Mom wants me to thank you all so very much for the thoughts and prayers. She would really like to wait until at least Friday to have visitors. Perhaps she won't have to be on so meds by then. She is a LITTLE spacey and feels funny talking to people. AKA, Good drugs. :)
I'll post more when there isn't a line for the hospital PC. Thanks everyone, we love you dearly.

The sweetest niece EVER!!

Gracie was serisouly SO cute on Sunday, that she gets her own post from the day. :) Not only is SHE cute, but her Papa and G-ma Hosford bought her this outfit the night before and she wore is SOOO well. :) She was the cutest!!

In honor of 60 years....

On Sunday the Hosford/Snellink family had a picnic gathering in honor of Grandpa Snellink's Birthday and Grandpa and Grandma's 60th wedding anniversary. Jamie and Gloria hosted the picnic, having burgers and LOTS of other goodies. As the ladies watched, the men of the family played a friendly game of Crockett (Grandpas favorite game). Here are some fun shots from the day. We love you Grandma and know that Grandpa is watching with a smile on his face. :)

Finally!! Baby Thys Micheal Vander Wall is HERE!

Little Man Hands...




We are so excited to welcome another baby to the world! After a grueling 40+ hours ( I am not kidding!) and a C- Section later, Thys Micheal Vander Wall is here. Born 7:03 PM on June 7th. ( Sharing his birthday with Maddie, which we think is pretty cool) I could have sworn they were going to have a girl, but nope!! Weighing in at 8# 6oz and 19 1/2 inches long, he is just perfect. Seriously one of the most beautiful babies I have seen. Such a doll...

Johanna is a very strong women and she had to be to deal with all that went into this labor and delivery. Johanna, you are AMAZING!! I know that Jason is very proud of you as we are. Jay is a already very proud Papa, changing his first diaper ( VERY dirty I might add) today. Congrats to the new parents!! We can't wait to watch him grow!
Love you guys!

Happy Birthday Madilyn!!

Today is Maddie's second birthday. :) She knew it too. I said "good morning Maddie" and she replied "Maddie's birthday, McDonald's pancakes??" :) I told her last week that I would get her McDonald's Pancakes on her birthday, and of course yesterday we were telling her that "tomorrow is your birthday" so she remembered. :) It was pretty cute. Here are a few shots of Maddie from three weeks until now. Man time is FLY'N!!!

Welcome Charlie Michael Hall!!

Congratulations Shane and Amanda Hall on their second child!! Charlie was born this past Tuesday and is SO sweet! Both Amanda and Charlie are doing great. He was 8# 9 oz. and 20-1/2" long. What a little cutie.
Congrats to the Hall Family!!

Maddie's Second (Minnie Mouse) Birthday Party!!

Maddie was our sweet little Minne Mouse for her second Birthday Party. She was all smiles and loved seeing all her family and friends. Her actual Birthday is on June 7th ( and she'll tell ya so too!). We celebrated with a grill out and some cake. :) Tom was the grill master in the poring rain and did a great job. Thanks Tom for the yummy grub. Maddie received so many wonderful gifts but just could understand why she couldn't play with one when she opened it. We did a re-opening in the house after everyone left and it was like she got them all over again!! Thank you so much everyone, you are all WAY too generous.

Awww!! She just walked to the door and asked to see her party and GG, Papa and Grandma. She thinks everyone is out in the garage. How sweet.













Look at that cake face!! YUMMY! Thanks Melissa for the great shot!!


YEH!! presents for ME!!!!!!! Thanks Melissa for the great shot!!















Spin, Spin, Spin!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Melissa for the great shot!!














Yummy cake. She just had to try it first! :) Thanks Melissa for the great shot!!

The Hosford clan :) Obviously our dear friend Melissa helped me by taking a lot of great shots!! So, last time... Thanks Melissa for these great shots!!













What would a Birthday Party be without the Grandparents!!




Two pictures here. One is of Maddie, Grandma Hosford and G.G. Snellink. The other is of my lovely sisters. :) Vicky, Chris and Elizabeth. Thank you all for coming!!!



Lastly, but not the least what so ever ( in fact I saved my favorite until that last) :) is a picture that TOM took. Yes, TOM took this! I love it so much!! He said and I quote " I tried to capture the essence of innocence." I am not kidding, that is what he said. :) God I love my husband!!! :)