Great News!!!!!!

Well guys.............. God is so incredibly wonderful, good, loving, giving, beautiful, worthy of praise, and many other adjectives!!! I have been feeling great since a bout with food poisoning a few months ago. No problems whatsoever! The three of us have been thoroughly enjoying being a family and are about to celebrate, in six days to be exact, the one year anniversary of my pancreatectomy! We have also been celebrating the delightful news of God's grace and mercy concerning the fruitfulness of the womb....my womb!!!!! I am still in shock and am in tears just typing such news! I told Jeremy that my faith was so little that I was convinced we would never be able to have another child. I say that with great shame. I have constantly asked the Lord to forgive me since the doctor confirmed that I am truly with child! Wow! Who am I that God would ordain and bestow such blessings?!? We are so thankful and we give the glory and honor to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!
We contacted my docs in Minnesota, and they were happy to hear the news but were sure to tell us to be cautious, being that they were not sure if any patient had become expectant so soon after a pancreatectomy with an islet cell transplant. They told me to keep an eye on my blood sugar levels, being that my islet cells could easily become tired and could be ruined if not given proper care. I was warned that I would probably have to deal with gestational diabetes if I was to become expectant. My response was and is, "I can certainly deal with that!" A blessing from God in the form of a child is worth all the suffering in the world.
Elyse is so excited and I really think she understands the concept. She does not understand how long it will take for a baby to arrive because she keeps petting my tummy saying,"I hold him?!?" She keeps saying "him." We'll see! She has also been saying, with a sweet, tender voice, "Hey baby.....what you doin'....I pway wit you....You need somepin?" ha ha. She's so sweet!
Thank you all for the prayers that you have sent before the throne of God on our behalf. Our brothers and sisters in Christ have been so supportive and God has used you all in ways that you will never know. Thank you.
There are so many verses that come to mind in this season of rejoicing. I am reminded of Psalms 126:3 - "Jehovah has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
A commentator wrote, "This passage acknowledges the hand of our God. Dues nobis haec otia fecit.. translated, 'God alone has given us this enlargement.' This is a burst of ecstatic joy....'Oh how happy we are!'"
And truly..... we are ecstatic and praise the One who has given us this life. Our prayer is that God would receive His due glory from this child and that we could raise our children in the admonition of His Word. Please pray for the salvation of both of our children.
I will try my best to keep you all posted throughout the pregnancy. God bless you all!

The bouts of hypoglycemia (low sugars) seem to be fewer for now and Lacey continues to do well. She's been able to go on a trip to Destin, FL with some friends and be a bridesmaid in her best friends wedding in the past few weeks. She is enjoying life to the fullest and thankful for the many blessings God is giving her. We are in the early stages of planning (with God's plan superceding and overarching) when we will be ready for another baby!! We are ready and excited but are praying for Gods timing and providence to be show us when He's ready. One doctor said pregnancy may be the "fix" for low blood sugar but we're not jumping right on that one... The blood tests that were done a few weeks back were all normal and the doctors and nurses at UMC in Minneapolis tell Lacey to continue checking her sugar 4 times daily and eating healthy, well rounded meals on a regular schedule. So in just a few months she's gone from not being able to eat "anything," to HAVING to eat!! What fun! She continues to do well and we are eager to tell all what God is doing for us. We've had several calls from people literally around the country asking about the surgery and how it went for Lacey. She takes this opportunity to recommend Dr. Sutherland to all who ask, and to give praise to God for his marvelous grace and miraculous healing in our life. As for Elyse, she is wonderful and continues to grow faster than we can keep up..She is truly a blessing and we are thankful!! More updates to come. For any and all who may read this and wonder if this Total Pancreatectomy would be an option, please email us at jermnlace@hotmail.com. God bless you all!

here are some updated pics of the family......

An update!!!

My apologies for the absence of updates over the past several weeks. Lacey continues to do very well and has been off of insulin for several weeks now. She is doing well and is living life to the fullest. She is wide open all the time and seems somewhat unstoppable. She is loving being able to be a "mommy" full time, and she loves having the strength and health to keep up with Elyse, who is now 16 1/2 months old. She continues to monitor her blood sugar, which is basically the only health issue she's dealing with at this time. Her pain is completely gone!!! She eats anything, everything, and as much as she wants and I can't express the joy I feel to watch her eat a nice meal. Her enzymes that she takes with meals are working well to digest her food and she looks healthier now than ever! God has been so good to us! However, she has been having some unusually low blood sugars over the past 10 to 12 days, and many times at night her sugar drops well below normal, even after she's eaten. Remember, she is on NO insulin, this is her body producing insulin at this rate. We, and the doctors are slightly concerned about this problem and she had some blood tests drawn this past Friday to attempt to determine the cause of this problem. The problem can be dangerous, especially if Lacey is alone because her rapidly dropping blood sugar can cause unconsiousness and possibly even death, so she tries to monitor it very closely while the doctors test to see the cause. I truly want to blog more often, because it brings light to my spiritual life and also to the life of many others. God has blessed us immeasurably and we must share. We are planning to share our testimony at Landmark Memorial Church tomorrow night and hope to share with many other bodies of believers in our region. Our God is an awesome God, His work in our lives is humbling and we can only be thankful. His work is perfect and all His ways are just! He is a God of faithfulness and we wish to praise Him more. Please continue to pray. More updates are promised!!

I'm back!!!

Hello everyone! I first off want to apologize for not posting as often as I should. I really had no idea how many people were following this blog until my first trip to Wal Mart after my surgery! A few days ago, I had three more people stop me in Wal Mart and ask if we were done with the blog. I promised them I would post more regularly so here it goes!

My progress is a direct result of God's sovereign work in our lives and His desire to bless us is utterly amzing! I want to be able to share what God has done for me and my family through my pancreatitis and shout it from the mountain tops! I am feeling so much better than I have in a long time. I still have a little back pain here and there and my sugar bottomed out this past Saturday night ( I'll give you the details later in the blog) but other than that, I feel amazing! Just knowing there is no pancreas inside of me is almost undescribable! Lol! I'm eating like crazy and enjoying every bit of food that God allows me to put into my mouth! I actually look forward to eating instead of dreading it! I have rediscovered the beauty of food and am in awe of God's creativity in the foods of His creation!

Something else I would like to say, and never cease to do so, is that I want to thank every person who has prayed for us and helped us throughout this whole ordeal. God has truly blessed us with wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ and we want you all to know we are forever indebted to you! If we can ever help any of you in any way, please please, please let us know! "I give thanks to my God on every remembrance of you..." Php 1:3

As far as last Saturday night, here's the story..............
After Jeremy and I put Elyse to sleep around 8 pm, Jeremy went to work out, as he usually does 3 times a week, while I began to get myself and the house ready for bed... you know...laundry, dishes, Sunday clothes, etc. I was double checking the locks on the doors (I knew Jeremy locked them before he left but when he is gone, I do not take any chances.) I began to feel a little dizzy so I tested my sugar. It was 63. It was then I made the mistake. When I should have eaten something to bring my sugar level up, I instead tried to finish everything I had started...thinking I could get in bed and enjoy a piece of cake once I finished everything. Well, as you can imagine, I ended up on my knees, crawling to my phone, trying to dial Jeremy. He was unable to reach his phone so I tried to dial mother. Now you must understand, when your sugar gets low, you become very weak and very lethargic. I don't remember reaching mother but she later told me that she received my call and I was mumbling something so she immediately got in the car and drove here. Somehow and the reason being, I believe, a true miracle of God, the front door was unlocked, leaving mother a quick entry into the house. She found me on the floor with a half eaten piece of laffy taffy in my mouth. To be honest, I cannot recall what all she told me she did but I soon awoke on my bed with mother and daddy hovered over me, trying to get me to drink orange juice. Jeremy soon arrived and everyone was startled by what had just taken place, including myself. We have been told by doctors that when one's sugar bottoms out, there can sometimes be brain damage if he/she has been out for any length of time and too if one is left for several hours in such condition, it could possibly lead to death. So, needless to say, we were all very shaken. I learned my lesson. I will immediately eat something when I began to feel my sugar getting low. So praise be to our God for blessing the situation!

"For he says to Moses,'"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." Rom. 9: 15-16


Thank you all again for your love and support. Please continue to pray for us. We have a follow up visit with Dr. Sutherland in Minnesotta on February 17 so please pray all goes well. We will be gone for three days.

Again, I will try to post more regularly to let you all know what God is doing in our lives! May He continue to bless you all!

Love,
Jeremy, Lacey, and Elyse