THE WINSTEADS: November 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween!!

So, we bought Braden a really cute monkey suit from Target and he had NOTHING to do with it. Braden was NOT happy, but it is hilarious. Needless to say, we took the monkey suit back. We opted for this little skeleton suit from Old Navy. I figured I would dress him up next year when he's walking and actually able to somewhat enjoy Halloween.

We went to some friend's house for chili and hot dogs and let the kids play. We've got an UNHAPPY astronaut, a skeleton, pumpkins and Woody:) Wish we could have stayed longer! Happy Halloween!!!

We went to play group with a couple of kids from Sunday school on Friday. Braden was convinced Lila and Jack were dogs and wanted to tear their costumes off the whole time:)

As most of you probably know by now, Brad was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma two weeks ago. It came as an incredible shock to us and our families. We went to a Sunday school party Sunday night and Brad played kickball with all of the guys. He was sore the next day and took some Ibuprofen on an empty stomach. Tuesday, he started passing blood in his urine and went to the walk in clinic. They immediately sent him to the ER where he found out five hours later that he had a golf ball size tumor in his left kidney. We met with the urologist the next day and he scheduled the surgery for the following Thursday. Dr. Locke was able to remove the entire tumor. He only had to remove 1/4 of his kidney. He will not have to do chemo OR radiation and for that...we are so thankful. We are finally back home and Brad is recovering well. Our lives have been completely turned upside down the past two weeks, but we both have new outlooks on life. We are so grateful that God has blessed us with our beautiful baby boy who just turned 10 weeks old this week. We have learned that life is a true and absolute GIFT and we will appreciate every single day we have with one another. I love Brad more than I ever have before. I've been scared, mad, anxious, and happy all at once. I am so thankful we caught the cancer at such an early stage. We have a lot of life left to live and so many more memories to make. Braden and I love you Brad...