We have been living back in Lancaster for 4 months now! I feel like it has gone by so fast because we have been so busy. I have done so bad at keeping everyone up to date on our lives, I'm so sorry guys! So the biggest news is that Curtis has been working at his new job for 2 months now! He is really enjoying it. The hours are perfect, which has been strange for us to get used too. It is a much less stressful job than his last one so its just what the doctor ordered. We are so thankful that God worked it out perfectly for him to get this job!
Even though his job is perfect it has still been a huge adjustment as a family getting used to us both working. He is making about half of the money he was at his last job so on top of learning how to live frugally I still need to be bringing in a big chunk of money which means working a lot. Once again God has blessed us so much by bringing many families to us who need me to watch their kids during the week so I can be earning money and being with my kids. And the times I work out of the house my awesome sister watches the kids so they can still be homeschooled. So even though money is tight in a way that we have never experienced before, God is providing for our every need.
Even though the reason for this move was very stressful I really thing that the timing was perfect, God had it all planned out and we will continue to trust that everything will continue to fall into place. Curtis has gotten the opportunity to join the worship team at our church which he hasn't been able to do for the last 8 years because of his schedule. Its such a joy to see him getting to do what he loves, makes me heart melt. The kiddos have been making a lot of friends through church, homeschool park days, and awana. Timm loves awana so much that he has almost finished two books already and is quoting scripture pretty much all day. We also decided to adopt two puppies this week so the kids are very excited about that.
I have gotten the opportunity to join a birth network here which has given me a chance to get to know some amazing women. A birthing center just opened here as well which is so exciting and will give me some chances to start teaching classes and leading support groups ect. So even though the doula business hasn't grown super fast I feel like its starting to pick up. There are a lot of new babies coming in the next couple months and I'm so excited!
You can continue to pray that we can be making enough money so that its not a cause of stress. Pray that schedules will work out so that I can still be making the money we need but also getting to see Curtis enough. Pray that we continue to adjust to the life of two working parents, specially that the kids can keep doing well through it. Pray that Curtys health would continue to to not just stay the same but would get even better. Thank you all so much for your continued prayer and support through the last year, it means so much to us!
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
As we enter into a new year though it is hard to be hopeful. Most years January brings about renewed energy and hope for an even better year than the one before but I will be honest I am struggling with that this year. We have been in Lancaster for two months now and Curtis hasn't found a job and my Doula business is starting very slow. There are moments when I wonder if we made the right decision to move down here so quickly. But Curtis is amazing and is as optimistic as always and is always reassuring me that we made the right choice. God has provided for us so far and I know that He will continue to do.
I know that I need to look at all the positives in our lives. We are truly so blessed even though we are going through this trial. We have three kids who are so adorable and healthy and bring so much joy to us everyday. We have supportive family so we know we will never be hungry or homeless. We have found a great church family down here. And Curtis is feeling really good and has not had any symptoms worsen.
I always find so much comfort and encouragement through worship and Christian radio. So many songs speak to my heart when I am having a tough day. One in particular is the song "Just be held" by Casting Crowns. I am going to share some lines of it, hopefully it can encourage you if you are having a tough week or month as well.
"So when you're on your knees and answers seem so far away
You're not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place
I'm on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held"
"If your eyes are on the storm
You'll wonder if I love you stillBut if your eyes are on the cross
You'll know I always have and I always will"
Please continue to pray that Curtis will find a job. Also pray that we would learn to work together now that roles have changed. Its hard for Curtis to get used to being at home with the kids all of the time and its hard for me to be away from the kids so much. So pray that we can both put in extra effort to keep life normal and joyful for the kiddos even when we are tired and stressed. Pray for our continued health, I keep getting sick and I really need to stay healthy to keep working. Pray that I would see more hope this week and run to Christ alone with my worries and fears.
Thank you all so much for letting me share my feelings and prayer requests!
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Update on our new life
Sorry that we haven't updated you guys in a few weeks! Life has been hectic trying to get settled into our new home, and honestly there isn't much to update you about. Curtis is still looking for a job. He is the most dedicated, motivated, hard working man ever and I am so blessed by that. He has applied for at least 50 positions without caring about how lowly these jobs might feel compared to his normal job. He is constantly searching for more places to apply. He has had two interview so far and we are praying for many more to come in the next couple weeks. I know God will be faithful and provide the right job for him.
I have been busy trying to get the house semi put together, lets be honest we are still mostly living out of boxes. The kiddos and I have been trying to stay busy making new friends. All the kids seem to be settling in well. I have also been trying to get to know a lot of the doulas in the area and have been working on my certification. While I wait for Doula clients I am trying to find people who need childcare and house cleaning.
We have gone to a new church for the last two weeks and have really enjoyed it. It feels very similar to the Well which helps us feel at home.
We are definitely missing our friends from Fresno though. Moves are hard!
Curtis's health has stayed the same so we haven't been in a rush to get more testing done yet. Once we get jobs and get more settled we will start working on that again. For now we are trying as many natural remedies as we can to help symptoms and making sure he is getting plenty of rest.
This last week we got to spend time with Curtis's parents and it was so fun and refreshing. Love getting to hang out with them! They are such a huge support for us.
We are all so excited about it being Christmas season! Its a great reminder of the hope we have in Jesus. Its such a great time to enjoy special time with friends and family.
Please continue to pray for the right jobs to come soon. Pray that we can all stay healthy, I have not been feeling great since the move.
I have been busy trying to get the house semi put together, lets be honest we are still mostly living out of boxes. The kiddos and I have been trying to stay busy making new friends. All the kids seem to be settling in well. I have also been trying to get to know a lot of the doulas in the area and have been working on my certification. While I wait for Doula clients I am trying to find people who need childcare and house cleaning.
We have gone to a new church for the last two weeks and have really enjoyed it. It feels very similar to the Well which helps us feel at home.
We are definitely missing our friends from Fresno though. Moves are hard!
Curtis's health has stayed the same so we haven't been in a rush to get more testing done yet. Once we get jobs and get more settled we will start working on that again. For now we are trying as many natural remedies as we can to help symptoms and making sure he is getting plenty of rest.
This last week we got to spend time with Curtis's parents and it was so fun and refreshing. Love getting to hang out with them! They are such a huge support for us.
We are all so excited about it being Christmas season! Its a great reminder of the hope we have in Jesus. Its such a great time to enjoy special time with friends and family.
Please continue to pray for the right jobs to come soon. Pray that we can all stay healthy, I have not been feeling great since the move.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Your Basal Ganglia looks great!
Last Friday we went to the neurologist to get results from Curtis's MRI. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was honestly worried that she would tell us it was worse than we expected. The doctor came in and of course took forever to look at the images and read the results, those minutes were a little stressful. Then she said the best words ever, "your basal ganglia looks great!" The basal ganglia is the part of the brain that controls movement, emotion, and cognitive ability. This is the part of the brain that gets destroyed by Huntingtons disease. So this means that so far HD hasn't done damage to his brain yet! Praise God! All of your prayers are working! Now we get to keep working hard to protect his brain.
The only abnormality on the MRI was that he had iron deposits near the basal ganglia. Of course we had no idea what this meant and sadly our doctor didn't either so she pulled up trusty google to look it up. We have started to do our own research on it too and it apparently is normal for any type of neurological disease. No one really seems to know how it all correlates but it does seem to point to being another marker/symptom of HD. So the MRI results still seem to be consistent with him having HD.
We moved back to our home town this weekend so now we get to start figuring out the next steps. Our insurance has still not gotten a geneticist in our network so that we can get the official test done to be diagnosed. So now we are going to try to go through the VA or UCLA to get that done. He is looking for a job that will be much less stressful so we can continue working on keeping his brain healthy for many more years. I am going to be starting a Doula business so I can help support the family but still be able to spend time with the hubby and kiddos too.
The biggest prayer requests right now are that Curtis would find the right job and that we would be able to get medical insurance of some type when ours ends at the end of the month.
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog and pray for us, it makes our hearts so happy!
The only abnormality on the MRI was that he had iron deposits near the basal ganglia. Of course we had no idea what this meant and sadly our doctor didn't either so she pulled up trusty google to look it up. We have started to do our own research on it too and it apparently is normal for any type of neurological disease. No one really seems to know how it all correlates but it does seem to point to being another marker/symptom of HD. So the MRI results still seem to be consistent with him having HD.
We moved back to our home town this weekend so now we get to start figuring out the next steps. Our insurance has still not gotten a geneticist in our network so that we can get the official test done to be diagnosed. So now we are going to try to go through the VA or UCLA to get that done. He is looking for a job that will be much less stressful so we can continue working on keeping his brain healthy for many more years. I am going to be starting a Doula business so I can help support the family but still be able to spend time with the hubby and kiddos too.
The biggest prayer requests right now are that Curtis would find the right job and that we would be able to get medical insurance of some type when ours ends at the end of the month.
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog and pray for us, it makes our hearts so happy!
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
What is Huntington's Disease?
Now that you know Curtis is dealing with a likely diagnosis of Huntington's disease I wanted to take some time to give you a basic overview of this disease. "Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of the nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on the person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive), and psychiatric disorders." (Mayo Clinic) It used to be called Huntington's Chorea because the jerking movements that most patients have resembles dancing and chorea comes from the Greek word for dancing. I think this is so interesting because dancing is such a beautiful and artistic thing but most people with this disease are embarrassed and so tired from the movements.
This is a very rare disease which is why so many people have never heard of it. Approximately 1 in every 10,000 Americans have this disease. Everyone that has this disease has a 50 % chance of passing it to their children. There is currently no cure for this disease. Doctors try to treat the symptoms to attempt to slow the symptoms and help the patient function as long as possible. Thankfully some great research and clinical trials are happening now that are giving Huntington's patients new hope!
Some symptoms include facial movements, uncontrolled movements of other body parts, and unsteady gait. Loss of Memory, personality changes, and speech impairment. These are just a few of the many symptoms that people with this disease have to deal with everyday.
This disease affects everyone differently. Some symptoms are worse for some patients than others. The symptoms will gradually get worse until the patient will need constant help from others. Usually the time from disease onset to death is between 10 and 30 years.
So this is just the basics on the disease so you have an idea of what we are preparing for. It can all be very overwhelming but we are so thankful that God knows every detail of our future and that He will take care of us through it all. I cannot say that I haven't had days of anxiety and deep sadness but overall we have had so much peace even joy through this whole process. It has been a good reminder to keep living every day to its fullest.
If you want to learn more about this disease a great website is hdsa.org or you can even follow them on facebook, just search for Huntington's disease society of America.
This is a very rare disease which is why so many people have never heard of it. Approximately 1 in every 10,000 Americans have this disease. Everyone that has this disease has a 50 % chance of passing it to their children. There is currently no cure for this disease. Doctors try to treat the symptoms to attempt to slow the symptoms and help the patient function as long as possible. Thankfully some great research and clinical trials are happening now that are giving Huntington's patients new hope!
Some symptoms include facial movements, uncontrolled movements of other body parts, and unsteady gait. Loss of Memory, personality changes, and speech impairment. These are just a few of the many symptoms that people with this disease have to deal with everyday.
This disease affects everyone differently. Some symptoms are worse for some patients than others. The symptoms will gradually get worse until the patient will need constant help from others. Usually the time from disease onset to death is between 10 and 30 years.
So this is just the basics on the disease so you have an idea of what we are preparing for. It can all be very overwhelming but we are so thankful that God knows every detail of our future and that He will take care of us through it all. I cannot say that I haven't had days of anxiety and deep sadness but overall we have had so much peace even joy through this whole process. It has been a good reminder to keep living every day to its fullest.
If you want to learn more about this disease a great website is hdsa.org or you can even follow them on facebook, just search for Huntington's disease society of America.
Our Story So Far...
My Husband (Curtis) and I (Erin) decided to start this blog to hopefully spread awareness about Huntington's disease and also give hope and encouragement to those going through this disease. So I want to start by sharing our story leading up to this week.
My amazing hubby and I have been married for almost 9 years now and we have been blessed with three of the cutest kiddos ever. Curtis's dad had a disease called Huntington's disease which is genetic so we have always known that there was a good chance that Curtis would have it as well. His dad was diagnosed in his 40's so even though we knew it could start at any age we always assumed we had till his 40's till we had to worry about it. So even though it was always in the back of our minds we had decided to ignore it for awhile. A few months ago it got to the point that we couldn't ignore it anymore though. Curtis had fallen a couple times which could have been unrelated but it wasn't normal for him. He was having a lot of issues at his work, having a hard time remembering things or responding quickly under stressful situations. One day after a really bad morning at work I got one of the hardest messages ever, "I think I need to be tested for Huntington's." I pretty much cried for a few days straight because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of it starting already. He went into his regular doctor who agreed it was time to start testing. The main test that they do is a genetic test. This test has still not been done because our insurance has been making it difficult. So even though we really want to be officially diagnosed we are still waiting. The other part of the test is to see a neurologist. We went to meet our neurologist a few weeks ago and loved her. She did some basic tests for short term memory and balance and then asked tons of questions about symptoms and family history. She told us that she believes he is showing symptoms already and that his high stress job for the last 13 years has probably contributed to it coming on so early and so strongly. She told us that it was no longer safe for Curtis to work at his current job so she suggested getting a normal non stressful job(we are still trying to figure out what that looks like exactly). She ordered an MRI which we will get the results of on Friday. She also sent him to start getting physical therapy to work on his balance and gait. So even though he has not been officially diagnosed because we are waiting on the genetic test, at this point it would be very surprising if the test came back negative. We know that God could definitely give us a miracle and give us a surprising answer so that is what we are praying for but we know that He is in control no matter what the results are. At this point we are living our lives like he has it because even if it came back negative he obviously needs a change of pace so we can figure out what is going on with his health.
Because of him needing to switch jobs we have decided to move back to hometown to be near family. Both of us will need to work because he wont be able to have a high paying job. Thankfully having family near us will make that possible. We are excited and nervous to be moving and basically starting a new life full of unknowns. We really feel like God has orchestrated everything perfectly for this move so we are trusting that He has an amazing and perfect plan for us in Southern California. He already knows what jobs we will find and what church we will find our place in, and I can't wait for him to reveal that too us.
For all of you have been praying for us, thank you so much! We feel the peace and comfort from those prayers every moment. Please keep praying for Curty's health and clear answers regarding test results. Please pray that we would have wisdom about jobs to seek out. And pray that the kids will adjust well to so many new things.
We will be keeping you updated on our journey and will also be sharing facts about Huntington's disease so that you can all understand more about this disease.
Thanks for reading our first post!
My amazing hubby and I have been married for almost 9 years now and we have been blessed with three of the cutest kiddos ever. Curtis's dad had a disease called Huntington's disease which is genetic so we have always known that there was a good chance that Curtis would have it as well. His dad was diagnosed in his 40's so even though we knew it could start at any age we always assumed we had till his 40's till we had to worry about it. So even though it was always in the back of our minds we had decided to ignore it for awhile. A few months ago it got to the point that we couldn't ignore it anymore though. Curtis had fallen a couple times which could have been unrelated but it wasn't normal for him. He was having a lot of issues at his work, having a hard time remembering things or responding quickly under stressful situations. One day after a really bad morning at work I got one of the hardest messages ever, "I think I need to be tested for Huntington's." I pretty much cried for a few days straight because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of it starting already. He went into his regular doctor who agreed it was time to start testing. The main test that they do is a genetic test. This test has still not been done because our insurance has been making it difficult. So even though we really want to be officially diagnosed we are still waiting. The other part of the test is to see a neurologist. We went to meet our neurologist a few weeks ago and loved her. She did some basic tests for short term memory and balance and then asked tons of questions about symptoms and family history. She told us that she believes he is showing symptoms already and that his high stress job for the last 13 years has probably contributed to it coming on so early and so strongly. She told us that it was no longer safe for Curtis to work at his current job so she suggested getting a normal non stressful job(we are still trying to figure out what that looks like exactly). She ordered an MRI which we will get the results of on Friday. She also sent him to start getting physical therapy to work on his balance and gait. So even though he has not been officially diagnosed because we are waiting on the genetic test, at this point it would be very surprising if the test came back negative. We know that God could definitely give us a miracle and give us a surprising answer so that is what we are praying for but we know that He is in control no matter what the results are. At this point we are living our lives like he has it because even if it came back negative he obviously needs a change of pace so we can figure out what is going on with his health.
Because of him needing to switch jobs we have decided to move back to hometown to be near family. Both of us will need to work because he wont be able to have a high paying job. Thankfully having family near us will make that possible. We are excited and nervous to be moving and basically starting a new life full of unknowns. We really feel like God has orchestrated everything perfectly for this move so we are trusting that He has an amazing and perfect plan for us in Southern California. He already knows what jobs we will find and what church we will find our place in, and I can't wait for him to reveal that too us.
For all of you have been praying for us, thank you so much! We feel the peace and comfort from those prayers every moment. Please keep praying for Curty's health and clear answers regarding test results. Please pray that we would have wisdom about jobs to seek out. And pray that the kids will adjust well to so many new things.
We will be keeping you updated on our journey and will also be sharing facts about Huntington's disease so that you can all understand more about this disease.
Thanks for reading our first post!
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