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My heart is so full tonight as I am just thinking about all of the things that I would like to blog about. Where do I even begin? I guess that I will start by saying how grateful I feel to be living in Tennessee. You all know how I felt about moving to Tennessee. I pictured our family moving maybe a few states away from Utah, never in a million years did I imagine us moving clear across the country. When Kevin applied for residency programs, he considered my feelings greatly and wanted to move to only the places where I felt comfortable living. I felt great about the programs he had chosen all except for one residency program which was in Nashville, Tennessee. Now you have to realize how the residency program works. It's not like you just decide where you want to do your residency and then magically that's where you get to go. If only it were that easy. Here's how it works. As a student you submit your top picks for residency programs which are sent to a central computer. At the same time, residency programs throughout the country submit their own lists, ranking candidates based on grades, interviews and recommendations. This computer system then spits out the name of the residency program that you will be going to. Here's where it gets a little interesting. Since Kevin knew how much I didn't want to come to Tennessee, he lowered Vanderbilt on his list, meaning that there would be a much lower chance that we would move out here. Apparently, his ranking didn't mean much because we still ended up here. Coincidence? Maybe? If the ranking worked the way it should have, we would be doing our residency at a completely different program, it shouldn't have worked out that we matched at Vanderbilt. There's just no way around it.

I am getting used to living in the south, life seems to be moving along when BAM I am hit with some more big news. As if having twins, frozen pipes, and a house flood aren't enough to deal with all in a years time. My tumor is back, and in a year it has almost doubled in size. I head to Vanderbilt, consult with a Neurosurgeon who informs me that I am in the best hands possible. I think to myself, "sure, that's what they all say." After failing medication therapy, I decide that my only choice is to go through yet another brain surgery. Surgery is done, and I feel beyond amazing. How could this be? When I had the first surgery it took months for me to feel like I could do even the simplest task. I had to take pain pills for several weeks, and couldn't tell you who came to visit, or what went on. The pain that I felt afterwards was horrendous. Of course I expected that this time around, things wouldn't be any different but they were different. I am a survivor yet again, I made it through and all went well. To top it all off, I find out that at Vanderbilt this is the biggest pituitary clinic in the world. We are talking 80 of these exact surgeries happen per month. Patients fly in from all over the world for the chance to be operated at Vanderbilt. Let me ask you, " Do you think that this is a coincidence that we ended up here?" I think not.

I am not a believer that things happen merely just by chance. I believe that all things happen for a reason. There is no way that moving out here happened coincidentally. Even when we moved out here, my Mom would always tell me that maybe the reason why we were headed here was for my health. I strongly believe that my health is one of many reasons why we ended up here.

Many wonderful experiences have happened to me throughout this complicated medical journey, and I don't need to share with you every single detail but overall miracles were performed. There is no other explanation plain and simple.

I also received my hospital bill and can you believe that for one day in the hospital, my bill came to $37,000.00. This was only the bill for the inpatient hospital services, and this does not include any of the professional fees. Even with our insurance coverage we would still have to pay 10% of this bill, but like I mentioned before. Miracles keep happening over and over again. For this entire hospital stay, we will be paying NOTHING! Vanderbilt has been so good to us, and I can't express my thanks enough to such an incredible hospital who is so equipped to handle any situation at any given time. Again, I ask you. "Coincidence?" to which I reply, "not a chance"

Thank you again for your outpouring of love and support, I feel great, and know that I will continue to heal each day. With much love sent to all of you!