Moving Along...

On Wednesday of this week, Shelly finished up her 23rd day in the hospital.  She was able to get a sonogram that showed baby Tegan weighing in at an estimated 2lb 2oz and doing great! 

After her induction chemo, her immune system finally rebounded enough that she was able to be released. She is at their Gainesville apartment now and will get some tests today that will hopefully allow her to go home home until the 8th of October.

On the 8th, she'll need to go back to the hospital for another bone marrow biopsy, this will be her 4 week biopsy after induction. C-Section will follow on October 11th.  Which also coincides with JC flying down for pre-testing, so he'll get to be there when lil Miss is born. 

Shelly will be admitted for the bone marrow transplant on October 23rd and will start chemo on the following day.  This chemo will be extremely rough on her.  JC will start his shots on the 26th and then fly down on the 29th to start the collection on the 30th.  The actual bone marrow transplant will happen on October 31st.  Happy Halloween!

Of course, this schedule could all change, it's tentative right now, but as long as Shelly's biopsy is good and she heals good enough after birth, everything should go as planned. 

An interesting note that I didn't know... after the transplant Shelly's blood will match JC's DNA perfectly.  Even down to being male blood!  She will have JC's immune system as well after it's all said and done. 

So basically, a lot is happening and very fast.  Please continue to keep Shelly and Tegan in prayers for their upcoming challenges they need love, comfort, and strength for good health!

Harvest

I've been gone the last two weekends so I took today off work to have a Mama/Daughter fun day.  I asked Monkey what she wanted to do on our day and without hesitating she said she wanted to go combine.  So that's what we did.  

 

In the combine with Uncle Jack

Watching the corn dump into the auger wagon
 

Farming with Papa Bob
 

It's not all fun and games, he put her to work too!

 

Farming is dirty work.... but loads of fun

Grilled Stuffed Peppers

I haven't made stuffed peppers in a while and I had some in the fridge that needed to be used.  Instead of going the traditional route, I thought I'd try them out on the grill.  BEST. IDEA. EVER.  Well maybe not ever, but best idea involving a green pepper in a long time, these were so good!

 

 

 

What You'll Need:

• 4 Large Green Peppers, cut in half and seeded
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 jar of diced tomatoes
• 1 boil-in-a-bag rice
• Italian Seasoning
• Mozzeralla Cheese

What You Do:

 

Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, tomatoes and a couple of dashes of italian seasoning.  Remove from heat. 

 

Cook rice according the package directions.

 

While the rice are is cooking, prepare the green peppers.  I wanted the peppers to be nice and charred on both the top and bottom so I took a short cut and roasted the tops right over the open flame on the stove top.  You can put them on the grill as well.

 

When the rice is done, add to the beef mixture.   Use a spoon to scoop into the green peppers.

 

Top each pepper with a slice of mozzeralla cheese.

 

Grill peppers over medium heat until the peppers have nice grill marks and the cheese is all gooey and melted. 

 

I served with a slice of garlic bread, a side salad would be nice as well.     

Another Update...

Shelly and Becky in St. Maarten

Shelly started her first round of chemo on Tuesday. They call this the induction phase and it is being done with baby on board. She is expected to be hit really hard during weeks two and three so any extra prayers and encouragement during this time will be additionally appreciated.

She has tested positive for a double mutation which may throw a wrench in things, most likely this will mean she will need a bone marrow transplant and the doctors would like for JC will be the donor. No set date for this, but could possibly be looking at mid to late October. One step at a time and right now it's getting through this first round of chemo!

Shelly is in the Bone Marrow Transplant portion of the hospital so she can't receive any flowers or plants, but if anyone would like to send a card, letter, or pictures to her, here is the address:

Shands Hospital
1515 SW Archer Road
BMT Unit/Shelly Gardner/ Rm 7120
Gainesville, FL 32608

You can also visit here for updates:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shellygardner

 

Please keep the prayers coming! 

Update on Shelly

I am asked on a daily basis how my sister-in-law Shelly is doing.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her, it is definitely working! 

Doctors are baffled by the slow progression of the leukemia as her blood work continues to remain on just a slight decline! This is wonderful news and a huge blessing for her little girl.  The doctors are optimistic at this point, but her platelet levels are getting to the point where they will need to make some decisions soon about if she will undergo a blood transfusion or get her admission underway and start treatment. Currently, they are hoping that her admission will not be until next Tuesday, September 4th, with treatment starting on the 5th. Baby will have hit 23 and a half weeks along by that point putting her at over 29 weeks by delivery time, if all goes according to plan. The first 5 weeks of treatment are beyond tough, so please keep praying.

And another great piece of news is that the blood typing came back today and my husband, JC, and his sister Becky are both matches should Shelly need a bone marrow transplant in the future! 

Thanks again for the continued prayers, and as a reminder, please please please sign up for the Be the Match bone marrow donor registry! 

Wordless Wednesday: Bow & Arrow

I love how my darling child can wear a tutu and shoot a bow all at the same time... that's what I call well-rounded!

Pizza Stuffed Zucchini

Anyone else have zucchini overload in their garden?  We certainly do.  My favorite way to prepare it is with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and just toss on the grill for a few minutes.  But there are only so many times a girl can eat grilled zucchini.  So along came this creation.  I must admit, we were pretty pleased with it.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 large or 4 medium zucchini 
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 diced green pepper
•  1/2 cup diced mushroom
• 1 lb Hot Italian Sausage
• Mini Pepperoni
• Shredded mozzarella
• Grated Parmesan cheese

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and using a spoon, scoop out the center flesh.

Place 1/4 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 12" baking dish, and place zucchini halves cut side up.

Brown sausage over medium heat.  The last few minutes of browning add the onion, garlic, pepper and mushroom. Continue cooking until veggies are soft.

Using a spoon, fill each hollowed zucchini with sausage mixture. Top with a couple of tablespoons of sauce.

Add shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Finish off by adding pepperoni. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.  You want the zucchini to be cooked, but still crunchy.