Grace Kedir Hodson

Here is the first picture we have of our little Grace. Grace Kedir Hodson was born October 12, 2005. I have been informed that she currently weighs 12 pounds already! No word yet on a timeline to bring her home, but I know that her parents are anxious to get her and will depart as soon as humanly possible. She is a cutie! I'm in love already!

It's a Girl!

Andy and Emily got the official call today. We are having a little girl! Grace Hodson was born in October and will be meeting her parents in a few short weeks. We are hoping that she will be home in Indy by February! More details (and hopefully a picture) to come!

Christmas Photo's

Merry Christmas!

Joe and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple this year. It was a Christmas of firsts, our first Christmas Tree, our first medical obstacle, my first Christmas without my immediate family, and many new traditions. I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who has pampered me all month. In honor of his dedication, I gave Joe a Mr. Beer home brewering kit that I heard he had in college. Watch out book club, he might have you taste test it!

We Celebrated Christmas with my family when they were in town a few weeks ago. So this year, we went down to Cincinnati to be with Joe's paternal grandparents and family. It was a great time. His grandparents are hilarious, they could have their own television show (this often wasn't good for me, for it hurts me to laugh). We also celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with the Hodsons in Noblesville. We are still absent one niece or nephew, but we celebrated the fact that next year the family with have some new members!

I am healing rapidly. It looks as though I will be able to return to work a week earlier than I had previously thought. It still hurts to sneeze, laugh, and cough. The bruising is not as bad as it was a week ago, but it is still ugly. I hope to start wearing jeans soon, as I have been living in pajama bottoms for weeks. I am so thankful to have this behind us. I am looking forward to being tumor free in 2006!

Love always,

Kat

Pick-Me-Up!

So, needless to say this week was not a fun one. I find myself being thankful that nothing drastically went wrong with the surgery, but I am down none the less. It seems that my body doesn't like Percocet. I haven't have any other problems with any other medication before, but I was throwing up every time I took the pain medicine. After a few days of feeling like crap, I finally called the doctor and she gave me vicadin and some nausea medicine and I feel 100% better. So much better in fact that I am now able to put the Colts loss to the Chargers into perspective. Lets face it 13-1 is a great record to have. My Colts rock. That booing during halftime was unnecessary and was probably made from band wagon fans who only like to win or they don't like them at all. Get over it! We have one of the best teams in NFL history. We have the superbowl to look forward to. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and support your team!

Post Tumor

Thank you to all who sent me little love notes through email and the mail. I fell so special having this wonderful group of family and friends. I am truly blessed. The surgery went great! There weren't any problems. The initial biopsy of the tumor didn't turn back any cancer results so that is great news. It is now being sent off to a specialist just to be sure. There was only the one fibroid so that was good. I was in and out of the surgery in an hour. The anesthesia was awful. I guess I don't do well with that stuff. I got really hot, and threw up everything I tried to eat that first day (right before a visit from Andy and Emily, sorry guys). My doctors were able to take out the fibroid with little damage to any other part of my body. I am so thankful. They said that because of how well the surgery went the odds of me getting pregnant are really good. I will have to have a c-section, but I don't care! I am very happy about how things turned out and really relieved.

Now for the post op: unfortunately I had been so worried about the surgery that I didn't expect how much pain I would be in afterwards. I feel like I got ran over by a Mac truck. I am bruised like nobody's business. I look horrible. I can't take the pain pills because they make me nauseous. So I am downing Tylenol a few times a day. But this is all temporary, I need to focus on that. I am really excited for the next couple of weeks to fly by. Hopefully I sleep through it, I am so tired.

Thank you all again for your well wishes.

Love,
Kat

The Night Before...

So, I never realized someone could get so hungry (sad to think there are many out there who don't have the luxury of eating daily). I haven't been able to eat anything but liquids all day. I am craving carbs and protein. The surgery starts in twelve hours, and surprisingly I am not really nervous. I want this chapter in my life to close and move on to a great 2006. Thank you for all the emails in the past week. They are encouraging. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends and family. The next time you hear from me, I will be 1 tumor lighter, and a whole lot happier.

Love,

Kathy

Surgery Update!

Here I am, trying to do my homework, but for some reason everything else seems so much more fun to do right now. What a week in store for us! I have my last week of school, so needless to say I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of days (10 papers-some smaller than others- and 1 presentation). My last night at Rick's is going to be on Wednesday. They are afraid I am not coming back. (I would love not to go back, and I am working on it with my Mary Kay business) Thursday is my last day of school, Joe's birthday, and there is a concert I have to go to for school. Friday, I work and I have to clean up the house for my guests. Saturday I pick up my mom and dad from the airport and then we are going to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary (Congrats on 30 years on December 6th)! Sunday is the big Colts game, Joe's birthday celebration, and my Mary Kay debut party! Wow. At least my mind won't be on the surgery. I am too busy!

We had the pre-surgery consultation with my doctor on Friday. Here are the details:
Basically, the tumor is the size of a newborn's head. I have to go through some prep in case they nick some inside stuff when they are in there (not fun!). I have to be on a liquid diet the day before and no eating after midnight. I am going to the hospital (Community North) at 7am on Tuesday morning. I have to get a shot in my spine for pain. The surgery should last a few hours. If everything goes the way it should I should be able to leave the hospital sometime on Thursday. I can't drive for two weeks, and I can't lift anything heavy for six weeks. Sounds like a fun Christmas break!

I am not as worried as I used to be. As my friend Teb says, the human body is a remarkable thing. The way it can heal itself. I just want this thing to be out, so Joe and I can move on with our lives and work on our future. I wanted to say thank you to our family and friends who have been so supportive throughout this whole ordeal. I thank God every night for the great support system we have.

I love all of you!

Kathy

Another Wedding Picture

A stroll in the street, Hodson style!