A Hero flies Home

We all have people we look up too, our heroes. They inspire the lives of all they have touched but it's also the legacy they leave behind that makes them the cherished hero. One of Jason's hero's, his Papa, Merrill Johnson, died last night after being in the hospital 6 months fighting to recover from his heart valve replacement. We are thankful he no longer is hurting but it's always hard to let go.

Jason always looked up to Papa. He was a true Texan from his cowboy hat down to his boots. He was a welder most of his life but above all he was a devoted family man with a kind and gentle spirit. Papa, you will be dearly missed and always remembered.

Some GREAT memories; Papa burgers, Papa dollar, super jalp, shooting the left ear of a locust, first snort of beer, swing set, tree house, horny toads, turbo fan, aggie gadgets, firearms, jerky treats, hermit crabs he dearly loved, Pete the cat and great stories and sayings that always made you laugh.


I remember Faith was crying and Papa seemed to think us, women were not doing a good enough job of keeping her happy. So, he happily held her and they had a good bonding moment although it did not last too long. (I guess nobody could please her that day)

A special Papa tradition is giving his grandchildren or in this case his great-grandchildren a "Papa Dollar". Faith was only 2 months old when she first met Papa Johnson and received her treasured dollar.

We will be heading to Clifton, TX for the funeral. Please keep Jason's family in your prayers, thank you.

"Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55-56

Christ's victory over death gives us hope that we who are in Christ will live with Him forever!

Big Girl!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAITH!!!

Our sweet baby girl is growing up (I guess I forget they do that)! Though I've loved every stage so far I tend to get a little emotional about her moving more out of the baby phase and into being a big girl. Although she is growing up to be a beautiful and sweet little girl, she is also quite the fire cracker (commented by many as well as the doctors.....great!). She is our blessing and God's wonderful workmanship,masterpiece.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14

Well we had to be in clinic most of the day on Faith's birthday so it started out a little on the boring side for her. (She was as bored as she looks waiting for the doctor)



However we tried to keep up the birthday spirit by singing her "Happy Birthday" through out the day. We did get to celebrate some when we got home by giving her our present, BIG present! We were excited to give her, her first kitchen set. She loved it! I taught her how to "cook" well.... OK, I can't really cook that great but I can teach her how to boil water and cook mac-n-cheese (her favorite)! I guess we will both learn to cook.=)



We headed off to DQ for some dessert and we thought since it's her special day we will let her get her OWN treat so, we got her a strawberry Sunday! Well.....she took 2 bites of it and decided my blizzard looked much better! So much for trying to make her feel special with her own treat!

We had a party for her on Saturday (next post!) and she had a great time! Once again, I'm sorry for the long delay since my last post. We have been so busy and I have also been trying for A WEEK to upload some of the birthday video's onto the blog to show you. However! I am NOT happy with blogger and for what ever reason it will not upload the videos. I will continue to try to get it to work but I'm sorry for the delay and not being able to show you them at this time.

Quick health update~ I ran another very high fever last Tuesday night and so that was the reason we had to go into clinic on Wednesday (Faith's b-day). Turns out I do have some pneumonia in which they have put me on an oral medicine. I go back to clinic in a week and see how things are going so far. I pray this medicine works as I am not use to treating pneumonia just by pill and not IV. I'm still learning how to adjust to new lungs. =)

NO REJECTION!!!

No rejection.......those are the words we have been hoping and praying to hear. My doctor informed me today that my biopsy came back negative for rejection (I had to hold back the tears)!!! We are in a state of shock (I don't know why because we knew God could do that) but sooooo thankful! This is a huge step forward for me and feels like a breath of fresh air. God is so gracious and merciful! Praise the Lord!

To add to our blessings today we found out that I do not have pneumonia. When I got to UAB they took another x-ray and found it to be clear....it's all God! They kept me over night to watch me but I got to go home today. We went out with some good friends tonight to celebrate the great news! Once again I can't begin to express how amazing and huge this is to have no rejection. However, we won't get the results back about the infection (mold) for a couple of weeks. Thank you for your prayers!

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
Psalm 103:1-5

Thursday & Friday

Hello everyone! It's Emily Tardy. Em is without her computer tonight so she called and asked if I would put up a quick post to keep you up to date. She had her bronchoscopy yesterday and everything went really well with the procedure. She was home by late afternoon, went to a Bible Study last night, and went to bed early since she was pretty tired. They should find out the results of the bronchoscopy sometime next week.

When she woke up this morning, she had a very low grade fever and some sinus pain. After getting in touch with UAB, they decided to go to the Cullman ER in order to do a couple of tests to see if she needed to be back at UAB. As she was on her way there with Jason, she complained that the right side of her chest hurt a little bit so they did a chest xray and found pneumonia. They had done a chest xray after the bronchoscopy yesterday so either the pneumonia hit really quick or did not show clearly on her xray yesterday. They decided to transfer her to UAB so she is back at her "2nd home" tonight. She probably will not see the doctor until the morning and will hopefully know more about what this means. She has never had pneumonia with non-CF lungs so it is definitely new territory.

One praise is that the house is going to show tomorrow! They received a phone call about the showing this afternoon so Jason is at home trying to get the yard and house ready tonight. Please pray for them and for the showing tomorrow! Thanks~Emily T

A Proud Daddy!

Faith loves to play in Jason's truck (GMC Jimmy) and on the mower and I don't think this could make Jason more proud! Faith is defiantly like me in the way she is ready to drive at a very young age! I made sure to get my permit and license as soon as I could and I have a funny feeling our daughter is going to be the same way. Her idea of fun is to play in the car and "drive." It's quite scary though watching her "drive" (not just because she is 2, well almost!)because she knows all the buttons, how to turn on the radio and the lights and windshield wipers. Although she is very safe and makes sure to buckle herself up while "driving."

I know I'm cool sitting on the mower

Yes, that is the dryer in the back ground!

After Jason raised the truck 7" and put 35" tires on, it has become the "beast" that he was hoping for. This has raised 2 problems though........1) Our daughter (or mama) can not get into the truck without some help. 2) I suddenly noticed that the truck was a lot taller then our garage door and I began to wonder how we were going to get it out! Jason informed me though that he will have to deflate the tires in order to get it out. This also makes Jason quite proud!

Update on the Jimmy~ Hopefully Jason will be turning the key to start it for the first time on Sunday or Monday. I hope our neighbors don't kill us when they hear the extremely LOUD engine come alive! He has to take it to a shop to put the muffler on but it has to be running for them to put it on the lift. Once again I'm sure we will be labeled the redneck house. =)

Daddy can't wait to take her out muddy, off roading for the first time!

Yes, these are the seats that will be going in the truck. The seats are pretty much shot so the cow seat covers (Jason's brother gave them to us a while back......thanks Brandon) will have to do for now.

Update~ I had clinic today and it went pretty well. My PFT's were a little bit better, 38% then last week (they were down quite a bit). They found a mold that had grown from the tissue they last got from the bronchoscopy a month ago. Which that might be a reason my PFT's are a little down and one of my white blood counts are high. It could also mean that I might not be dealing with as big of a rejection as they thought and more of an infection (mold). This in a strange way could be a blessing in disguise. They have put me on a medicine to hopefully treat the infection but they are eager to see what this next bronch will show.

Prayer~ My bronchoscopy is tomorrow (Thursday) so we pray all goes well and that there would be NO rejection and that we can fight this infection. Thank you!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

You might be a RedNeck if.........

I watched my mom do it growing up and my neighbors even do it but I unfortunately do not have the patience for it unless..........my dear old friend gives out and I am forced to do what I consider the old fashion way of doing your laundry! Yep, you guessed it, hanging your clothes out to dry! However we do not have a clothes line so our system of drying the clothes probably could be considered a little on the redneck side but Hey, it gets the job done.

Also to add to our redneck look our dear old friend the dryer was removed from the laundry room and was headed out but because of our unexpected crazy events recently it has found it's home in our drive way (with our house for sale I don't think this is helping our curb appeal).

We did have a good system going with me washing the clothes and Jason taking them to the laundry mat to be dried but Callie was nice enough to help with the laundry and she chose to do the cheaper way and dry them outside. I'm sure by now you are thinking hmmmmm.......Why don't they just get another dryer! Well, we would except we keep thinking we will be moving soon (more on that later) and we have a washer and dryer waiting for us in TX so we thought we would try to save money and do without. I will have to say this though, you sure start to do some funny things knowing you don't have the help of a dryer.

*Smell your clothes and decide "Ya, it can be worn at least a couple more times"

*Be extra careful in not spilling or getting your clothes dirty (which of course, when you are trying it always happens, even with bibs on)

*And to top it off deodorant and perfume are key in smelling great even when your clothes could use a nice wash, hehe. Just kidding it's not that bad!

Health Update~ We had a less then encouraging clinic day on Wednesday. My lung function was down quite a bit and one of my white blood counts was a little higher then normal. They are not sure what is causing these issues but because I'm not running a fever and I'm feeling pretty well they have decided to wait and do the bronchoscopy next week and that should show something if there is a problem (rejection, infection). We trust the Lord but don't understand His plans so we just continue to pray for wisdom and healing. We continue to ask for your prayers, thank you!

*PRAISE! My swelling and joint pain is completly gone now, God is so gracious. It's nice not to look like a hobit (Lord of the Rings) anymore with big feet. =)

But you, O Lord are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Psalm 3:3-4

Praising Him!!!!

"You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day". Psalm 91:5

God brought me to these verses yesterday and I remember thinking I have been doing the very opposite. My fears would start to set in around 10 pm knowing what would probably await me in the night hours. I remember praying, "Lord, only you can help me not to fear the night and the pain that comes with it." Well, last night my legs and ankles swelled so much that I just knew I was in for a long night and I was fully prepared for "battle". I woke up at 7 am almost in a panic wondering how I had slept that long............because I slept pain free for the first time in a week! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! I was able to get out of bed and walk and even attend the first day of MOMS (it's this great women's group I go to every week!) My legs and ankles are still if not more swelled but praise the Lord I slept pain free! I had tears of joy telling my friends at MOMS that the Lord was soooo gracious to give me rest. PRAISE HIM!!!

Thank you for your prayers!

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." Psalm 91:4

Today's Mercies for Today's Troubles

It's been a rough couple of days but God is faithful and He has showed Himself through His Word that He is right here with me. I just happen to come across a sermon that Callie was reading and it was exactly what I needed to here. Please take the time to read this very powerful message of God's mercies for today's troubles. Here are a couple of good points in the message~ http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/32_Suffering/867_Todays_Mercies_for_Todays_Troubles/

• So we must not compound today's load with fretting over tomorrow's. We must not doubt God and say, "I have no more strength; so tomorrow will be impossible to live." That's not true. You will not be asked to live tomorrow on today's strength. What you need today is not tomorrow's strength, but today's faith that tomorrow's mercies will be new and will be enough.
• Today's mercies for today's troubles; tomorrow's mercies for tomorrow's troubles. "As your days so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25). Don't be anxious about tomorrow. The troubles and the mercies are appointed day by day.
• The second was that there is fresh mercy from God for each day's appointed pain. Today's mercies are not designed to carry tomorrow's burdens. There will be mercies tomorrow for that. Today's mercies are for today's burdens.

I'm not sure how long this will last nor do the doctors. I pray this will pass as I can't imagine living like this forever. I hope not to have to go back into the hospital but we just take one day at a time and like this sermon said God gives us enough mercy for that day. Nothing much has changed as far as the pain other then the fact that I am very swollen all over (legs, ankles, feet, wrists, face, & stomach). I'm not sure what is causing me to swell up but I guess it is just part of this strange side effect. Jason took a picture of me earlier today and I thought I would share it with you.........

I wish I could say just kidding but it's not too far from the truth....=)

We did have a good birthday for Callie though. I wish we could have done more but I think Callie had a good time. Jason cooked out and made a wonderful birthday dinner!

20!!!! It's hard to believe my little sister is 20!

The girls!

It's good to be home with my sweet girl

Thank you so much for the comments, words of encouragement. Your dedication to praying for us and lifting us up means so much to me. It challenges me every time to do the same. Now I understand why God doesn't ever want you to journey the Christian life alone, you need the encouragement, example, and support of fellow Christians. So, thank you for challenging me as well as cheering me on.

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Conflicted

I was discharged yesterday and spent my first night home in a while. The doctors felt there was nothing else that could be done and it is just a matter of time for this to resolve itself. Although I love being home I was reluctant to go home only because I knew the pain I would be in. I was of course, put on some pain medicine and Motrin to help with the inflammation and pain. I have to get a nap in the day because I know the nights don't bring much sleep. My pain always gets worse without fail around midnight and continues throughout the night as well as not able to walk (I needed help to the bathroom again. My knees, legs, & ankles can't bare my weight due to the swelling and pain) Anyway, as you might be able to tell I'm struggling emotionally today and feel overwhelmed in many area's of life right now. As much as I ask for your prayers for healing please pray for me/us emotionally. I know God has a plan through all of this but it's just hard to see that this morning and have hope when your body is always hurting and changing.

Today is Callie's 20th birthday so I'm going to try to put away my petty emotions and focus on her and her special day! She has been so amazing to help us out and not to mention she is an AMAZING woman, sister, aunt (Ya-Ya) and friend and I'm so excited for her and Hayden!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAL! (YA-YA!)

Priceless Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some pictures to describe our Sunday afternoon or a very normal day in the hospital. =)

Sleep whenever you can.......

Our favorite game to play in the hospital (too bad for Jason that I beat him most of the time, hehe)

the TV has only one channel..........The Olympics!!! (Or we just choose to keep it on 24/7)

What I tend to look like in the morning (drugged) when I finally am able to get some sleep after another long night of pain in my joints. (This picture is staged.....although I'm not entirely sure I look any better if it were a true shot)

Of course, a healthy stash of snacks to eat throughout the day (we really don't eat this bad but as you can see I threw in the MiraLax just in case, hehe)

A nice Sunday stroll around the nurses desk (work off all those healthy snacks)

So the things to do in the hospital are endless. =) I guess it wouldn't be hospital with an update so here is the update~ My joint pain continues to hit a new joint every night and last night was another long ordeal trying to find some relief from it all. The MRI came back clear (praise God) so they are now pretty certain this is a rare side effect (inflammation in my joints) from the Thymo. If I could get my night pain to a manageable place with a low dose of pain meds then I could go home but so far that has not been the case. We were joking that maybe we can go home in the day and just spend the night in the hospital (when it is worse). We just continue to take one day at a time and see how everything goes.

Praises~

• My lungs are doing good!
• Callie is here to help with Faith as well as our good friends
• When I say I'm in my second home that IS a good thing in the fact that I know the wonderful nurses and doctors (second family) and know the floor inside and out.
• A family (a CF/transplant guy who we have befriended) is up here due to some complications and we have been able to pray for them and kind of walk through this together
• My MRI came back clear
• I've been able to spend some good time with the Lord

Well, I better get back to my fun, Sunday activities but we pray tonight will be a healing one. Hope you and your families are doing well!

"For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years (or 25 years in my case) the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing." Deut. 2:2