The McMillen Family

Tuesday night Justin and I took my Grandmother Wise out to eat for dinner.  We had a great time!  It was so nice to spend some time talking with Grandma. (Every Saturday night, the Wise’s eat at Grandma’s house, and since Justin and I got married we haven’t been very often.  Many Saturdays we have something to do and sometimes we just don’t make it, but none the less spending time with Grandma was fun!) We talked about  things going on in our lives as well as gardening. Grandma has had a garden as long as I can remember.  She plants the usual for this area, tomatoes, peas, okra, etc.  As we were talking Grandma mentioned she didn’t have a lot of okra this year, so I offered her some of our okra.  So, on Wednesday Grandma came to our house and picked our okra.  She called me after school and had me stop by her house.  Grandma had not only picked our okra, but also our butter beans.  I told her that I was not good at frying okra, and tha...

I’m having blog withdrawals.  With no update from Boston, I feel I have nothing to blog about, so I’m going to blog about not blogging. I never was one that could journal or keep a diary.  For several reasons.  (I’ve been thinking of these for hours.) 1.  I thought I had something better to do besides write about my day. 2. That something better was go to sleep.  (You should ask my husband, sleeping is not a weakness of mine.) 3.  I could only find my “diary” for about a week.  After that, I cleaned up and put it away.  Then I forgot where I put it. 4.  As I got older, I didn’t need evidence of what I had done.  5.  I didn’t want to relive what I had done or have my conscience remind me of what I shouldn’t have done. I did find a journal of mine that I started at Mississippi State.  Poor Justin, he didn’t have a chance.  I was head over heels from day one and “cheesy”.  I was a little embarrassed to clai...

Dr. Gupta called on Tuesday to give us an update.  The doctors in Boston have accepted Justin’s case, which means we are going to Boston.  (I know we have suspected this all along, but that is more of the finalization.)  There is another test they want to run on Justin before they decide on the final surgical procedure.  The doctors plan for us to make one trip to Boston for the test, consultation, and then surgery.   We hope to hear from them next week (we were hoping to hear this week, but I doubt we will since we are already at Thursday night).   Now that they have accepted Justin’s case, we hope that they will move quickly to an appointment, but they are not on our time schedule.  So, we will wait for them to call.  Justin and I were reading tonight in Luke 8.  (We have been reading through the new testament. We try to read a chapter a night, but sometimes we read a devotional instead.)  Anyway, in Chapter 8 there are 2 s...

Last Thursday, we received an email from Dr. Gupta explaining that Justin’s situation would be presented to the surgeons on Monday.  We are not sure exactly what that means or when we will know anymore details.  We definitely want everyone to agree on what should be done, how it should be done, and who the best person is for the job.   We continue to pray that all of those involved will have the wisdom to make the correct decision.  Friday was the first day of school for middle school and high school students!  So, I had my first day with students!  Mom and I teach together in the same room for those of you who didn’t know that.  Because of the laws about teaching gifted students sometimes it works out that you get 2 teachers in the same room.  We love it!  We have a 6th grade homeroom (VT- Viking Time), which is great because they are new to middle school and usually a little scared.  It is nice to be that comforting support syst...

Justin and I have had a wonderful day! Last night at church, we had a Back-to School Bash for the kids.  It was lots of fun.  They also had a conclusion service for X-treme Life Camp!  This summer has been so awesome for the kids in our community that were able to be a part of this.  Most all of the kids came with their families last night to the event.  We were able to give away 6 full backpacks and every kid went home with a pack of crayons, pencils, and glue sticks.  It is so fun to see kids get excited about the little things in life.  This morning the doctor emailed.  We are fairly certain that the surgery will be at the Boston Children’s Hospital.  The surgeon, who is reviewing the case, is the lead surgeon for the adult congenital heart division.  The surgeon and other doctors reviewing the case are working on the best possible solution for Justin’s specific case.  Dr. Gupta hopes to get some finalized plans this next wee...

Justin and I received an email from Dr. Gupta tonight.  The consensus of the doctors is that he does need surgery.  They are still talking to a possible surgeon who can do the surgery.   Dr. Gupta is staying in contact with them to find the next step for us.  The surgeon they are talking to right now is in Boston, but again no final details have been made. As we come to this information, it is a reality check all over again.  The reality of surgery and the scary parts of that. Having been through this once, we know more than we did last time, which could be good OR bad.  Anyway, I was thinking about the analogy, “going through the storm”.  Growing up I was terrified of storms to the point of physically being sick if there was a thunderstorm or tornado warning.  (I was like this until I moved to college and had to face the issue!)  You watch the tv warnings and take precautions, and you wait until the storm passes.  But the best pa...

I know many of our readers are “sitting on pins and needles” to know an update of our situation.  Ok, maybe that is a little vain of me to think that everyone is just waiting. We are just waiting.  Our doctor in Tupelo emailed to say he has no update from Boston.  But at least we know where he stands.  He has been great about keeping us posted! You know – waiting really is the hardest part.  You know how when you were little and Christmas or your Birthday just couldn’t get here fast enough.  Or a different waiting - when you were at church and your mom said, “wait ‘til we get home.” in that stern whisper.  And you started praying that she would forget.  Surely, I wasn’t the only person this happened to.  Well, sometimes that is how we feel.  You go from one extreme to the other.  That sinking pit of why can’t I just know so I can plan – for those of you who are OCD like me and need time to plan how your clothes will be organized i...