We'll Call This The Lucky Number 7

So, today is 7 years since the day of my brain surgery....PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Around the End of January in 2005 I started getting headaches in the back of my head, my mom didn't pay much attention, but then by the end of February, I had one everyday and it would not go away. So on March 1, 2005 my mom took me to the Pediatrician, He thought maybe it was a food allergy, but he decided to do a cat scan just for proticol. (later i found out that my blood pressure was out of this world high and that my eyes didn't look quite right) On March 3, 2005 I went in for a cat scan, they took us to the waiting room, and then there was a phone call for us. It was my pediatrician, he said that my brain was covered in fluid but they couldnt see clearly enough to know why, so they gave me and MRI. I thought nothing of it, just being 13, i wasn't thinking something could be terribly wrong. I had a 20 minute MRI About 10 minutes later i was taken up to the Neurosurgery department. And within 10 minutes...

I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor. Everything is a bit foggy from there on out, but i remember just asking "Am i going to die" and "will i be the same..." The Answers, were encouraging! but my life was in a spiral, and i didn't know why at 13 i would have to be going through this., 6 days later i was in surgery, to try to remove it, because it was causing some things not to function right, and it would have killed me eventually, they said that if we would have waited too long, that i would have seizured and died. The Lord must have really spoken to my mom, because she had the intuition to take me to the doctor, and my phenomenal pediatrian dr johnson knew that it was a little weird, and he knew i needed a cat scan. The Lord was just working!

We were told my surgery would last about 5-8 hours...well they were wrong! I guess i always have to be the center of attention, and have to be a little bit dramatic, because quickly enough 8 hours turned into a whopping 21.5 hours! My poor family had to just sit and wait, the nurses described the process as watching Grass grow, apparetly i had a lot of blood vessels in my little brian! The surgery was Performed by one doctor (Dr. Aldana!) and his team of nurses(Renee and Kelly were my favorites)! We were told that Dr. Aldana drank a few gatorades, ate a sandwhich and went to the bathroom only a handful of times. He is my hero. The man saved my life, it took him almost 24 hours, but the man saved my life! 

On March 9, 2005 one surgen at Akron Childrens Hospital SAVED MY LIFE!!!! 

I was in the pediatric intensive care unit for a while, then got moved to the oncology floor. Never fear, it wasn't cause it was cancer, it was because i needed the best care possible! My tumor was shipped off to Johns Hopkins hospital in Boston, and they categorized it as a catagorized as an Oligodendro Glioma-Low Grade Neoplasm hahaha say that 5 times fast! We were considering doing radiation for the remaining parts of the tumor, but they decided that i'd been through enough already and that thye would just watch me.

The recovery process was long, again, i only remember little things, because they gave me medicine so i wouldn't remember the trauma. I missed a little over a month of school (mom of course stayed home with me) , and gained alot of weight due to the steroids and such ( that part was not fun! ) 

I remember the day after i found out that i had a tumor i ended up going to school to visit everyone, and just being in a complete fog, like a nightmare that i couldn’t wake up from… Everyone was talking to me, but i honestly just wanted to be in a uniform that day, and be in class instead of having people tell me how sorry they were for me...

I recieved 100’s of cards and e-mails, countless stuffed animals and too many bouquets of flowers and cookies to imagine. My School even had a special spot i the chapel where you could pray for me! Everyone was praying, literally all around the world. It was hard to imagine that my one little tumor in my head, could effect so many people! But through it all, God was my rock, and my parents and brother and sister were my best friends! I would have died without Jesus on my Side
I was terrified to go back to school, because of the embarrassing lack of hair on the top of my head, i remember coming home from my first day and taking a 4 hour nap, just from exhaustion and having to tell the story 100 million times...

I remember a few weeks after my surgery it was easter, and i got permission from the doctors to go to my grandma's house which is a few hours away and i was sooo excited. I also remember getting black and pink converse for easter! haha

Like i said, i really only remember bits and pieces, my mom and dad are the people who really remember that time the best!

But 1 Doctor on March 9, 2005 saved my life, and changed my point of view on life FOREVER!

Now 7 years later, the part of the tumor that is left in my head hasn’t grown! i am feeling great, except for migranes occasionally, and i realize that Life gives you challenges, and you can either face them alone, or rely on God and Family and Friends. We will continue to do scans just to make sure mr b.t. as i call him isn't causing any trouble. cause slow growing tumors have a mind of their own. My tumor is considered stable, its just precautionary. it gives me a sigh of relief for sure though! 

My life verse is Psalm 46:5 "God is within her, she will not fall; He will help her at break of day." And i do not think this could be anymore true for my life. I remind myself everyday of this verse, because it reminds me that there is no reason to worry. God is in complete control over me, He will not let anything happen beyond what i can handle! 

Through the whole process everyone i know has been there for me. And I thank everyone who prayed for me through the years, and still lift me and my family up everyday...You all are the real hero's in my eyes...the prayer warriors!

Blessed by a Heavenly Daddy, 


Shelby Elyse 

 This was taken in January at my sister's wedding. I was healthy ( as far as we knew ) & still so tiny! haha i mean you can see my ribs. I was so excited to be the maid of honor! 

 This was taken the night before the surgery. Those little cheerio things were hooked up to a machine during surgery to help guide the surgen. Im sorry i look nuts...but i was a little overwhelmed!

Easter Day a few weeks after the surgery. This is the only picture we have of me during this whole time. I did not want to remember what i looked like. I was embarassed because i was getting so chunky. But my cousin Kayla convinced me to take a picture with her. Im happy we have this one! 

a giant update from the tiny taylor

 The past few months have been what i would call adventurous. Everything has been new, most things have been great, while others have been not so great. But with every adventure there is bound to be room for a little failure, or even a little disappointment.
 Last ya'll heard i was extremely sick still. Since then i have begun taking lots of vitamins and supplements, conquered my detox, found out what foods i'm allergic to ( soy & wheat ) began a completely gluten free diet, and just tried to get healthy again. Well, the fevers stopped, i am not as weak or exhausted as i had been, no more stomache issues really, except for the occasion incident when i eat something i know i shouldnt, and i'm actually strong & what i would consider healthy for the first time in a very very long time. It is a complete answer to prayer, and i just wanna say thanks to everyone who has been praying, it was a rough summer and fall, but i think that now the new year will bring room for many great things with my healthy body!
 A little bit about Celiac Disease...basically i can't eat anything that has gluten in it, so that means any product that has any kind of flour, wheat, rye, oat, they are all out. So thats no bread, crackers, cookies, cake, dough, any rolls, breakfast cereals, all the stuff that has flour in it is out. and i mean out. If i do eat them i usually spike a fever and then ya know im extremely sick for days...it is not fun at all. But i have found alternatives and many restaurants offer G-Free menu's now :)
 Second, school. I switched from Kent State to the University of Akron, and this was a wonderful decision. I am in Akron's culinary/hospitality managment program and i am absolutely loving it. My favorite part is probably my Food Prep class, it is very hands on and that is one of my learning strengths. I am what you would call a kinestetic learner, i learn best when i can be actively doing something or touching something. To me, learning about food is absolutely magical. Each week we learn so many new techniques and recipes & i just really feel like i am in the right spot.
 Another praise is that i made a really good friend in my class. Her name is Meghan, she is a Christian & in my same program. We get along great, and she is a complete answer to prayer. I prayed every day for the first few weeks that there would just be someone in my major that truly loved the Lord and could be a true friend...then one day i was talking with Meghan about my small group and she flipped and was in one too & we were instantly friends. All i can say about that one is, the Lord hears our prayers! Sometimes it just takes a moment for him to respond, so be patient!
 The Family is doing wonderfully! Dad and Mom are both doing well, both still working, both still embarassing me all the time. Jordyn, Mark & Malakai are great! Malakai turns 1 the day after Thanksgiving & we are so excited! The theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so that should be awesome! I'm making the cake of course! :) We call Malakai "Bean" i'm not sure where it came from, but i love it, and love him! Seth is well also, he is living in California and his soccer team that he coaches is going to Nationals in Florida next week, so i'd say he's living the life! I miss him most every day...its hard having your big brother live way across the country...it seems like another country.

I do have one Prayer Request ... as most of you know, last fall we got the news that my brain tumor was considered stable, well i have had a pretty bad headache for about 2 weeks now, and i am just a little worried. I told mama and dad about it a few days ago finally because i didnt want to worry anybody, but we have to be cautious. So i am going to the eye doctor probably this week to get my pressures checked and then hopefully get good news that everything is okay. I have peace in my heart that it is probably not mr. brain tumor, but i can not just assume, because these headaches are not fun. I've even been going to bed around 9 or 10, that never happens! haha. And if you are reading this, please dont panic, please dont start talking about it, i do not want any rumors spread, i am just solely asking for prayer that everything is okay! The Lord is in complete control & i find incredible peace in knowing that! "God is within her, she will NOT fall; He will help her at break of day!" Psalm 46:5 AMEN!

Alright, it's really late and this little lady has a big big week!

Blessed by a Heavenly Daddy,

Shelby Elyse Taylor

Even when i'm broken i will worship, even when i'm broken i will sing, even when i'm broken i will trust You, oh God, you are my King!

 A couple days ago i found out the reasons that i have not been feeling great the past few months. Some of the results did not suprise me, but some were shocking to say the least. As many of you know i have been battling sickness' most of my life, i've had everything you could ever imagine. But this past May my little body starting getting very sick, and has gotten worse and worse ever since.

 As most of you read, i got a million tests earlier this summer, testing everything from cancer to lupus, and parasites to weird bacterias, to ending up getting a colonoscopy and nothing really being found. This was all very hard to say the least, but nothing showed up, we were searching for an answer to the questions that seemed impossible to be answered. As time went on, my body just kept telling me, something isn't right and we had to get it figured out.

 I finally decided to go to a holistic/natureopathic doctor, and he did about a million tests on me, everything from hair folicle testing, to spit, testing food allergies, hormones, how my body is working, just everyhing, and on friday we sat down with him to discuss the results...okay hold onto your seats, by the end of this, your jaws will be on the ground.

 Okay so first, the food allergy testing only showed that i am only a little bit allergic to gluten, the others came back okay, but i still have to start this thing called the elimination diet, basically i take gluten, milk, egg and soy out of my diet for a few weeks and start adding them back in one by one to see if i get sick or not, to make sure the testing wasn't at fault.

Second, my adrenal glands have kinda slowed way down, and have decided they don't really want to work anymore. This isn't good because the adrenal glands kind of control everything in your body, keep everything in balance and i need them to function properly so i can be healthy and normal. so theres a thing in your adrenal glands and for normal people the levels are like 5 to 10 and mine is at a 2, which means its functioning but at a very slow rate. i am starting a supplement to get those back on track

Third, my body has decided that it doensn't want to help make probiotics anymore, those are the healthy bacteria that your body needs....i think...hahah i can't remember all the details. but anyways, because i have always been so sick and have taken so many antibiotics to fight off infections and such, the probiotics that my body is supposed to be producing have decided to take a little vacation, i dont know where they are, but if it's sunny i'd like to go visit, but until they get back i will be taking probiotic supplements.

 Fourth, they found strep and yeast in my stomache, now i'm not exactly sure what that means, but i do know it means infection, and since there is nothing to fight it off, and since my adrenal glands aren't functioning, and since my stomache has been the source of the problem, all these little infections are settling in my tummy for now, i guess it must be nice in there, because none of them seem to want to leave. Another thing is, they found this thing call saprophytic fungi, so i have some sort of other infection in my gut area and so hopefully with the probiotics and a few other things i'll mention later all of this will get undercontrol.

Fifth, theres this one immune system level, and i dont know exactly what its for other than it shows your health, and for a normal person its like 400-900, and mine was like 190, which means my immune system is just so low, and now really ready to battle anything.

Sixth, lastly...hahah kinda...there is this thing in your adrenal glands that is produced and it is called cortisol, and that is the thing that gets you up in the morning, gives you energy, and as the day goes on the level drops and by bedtime it should be low enough so you can sleep, well since my adrenal glands decided to take a nap, my levels are completely switched around, they are low in the morning and higher at night, which is like no wonder i wanna sleep all day and stay up all night, by body is completely confused and totally done fighting.

I'm going to be taking the probiotics for my body to help infection, a supplement to get my adrenal glands back on track, and then just a multivitamin type thing to help my body get enough nutrients, and no i dont just get to take one, i get to take these multiple times a day, such fun! Because basically due to all the infection, i'm not absorbing anything anymore. all my vitamin levels were extremely low & some weren't even on the charts.

I also will be starting a detox in about 2 weeks to try to rid my little sick system of all these horrible things, during that i will be taking all the normal vitamins plus like 6 or so other kinds because my body has finished fighting, it is worn out, and it needs some help to get back on track.

 In closing i would just like to share a few things. In no way do i write all this so everyone sits reads it, and is like "awww shelby im so sorry" no way at all, dont feel sorry for me, i write this because it's like my health diary, i write it so my family in other states or further can read it and know whats goin on, i write it because blogging is my release ( other than music) and i write because, if my story can help just one person in all the years i will do this, i will be fulfilled.

The past month or so i have been listening to the CD Broken Things by one of my favorite Christian artists Sarah Reeves, she is just so pure and easy to relate to that it is hard not to like her, well on one track all she does is read Psalm 139, and then halfway overtop she starts singing "cause even when i'm broken i will worship, even when i'm broken i will sing, even when i'm broken i will trust You, oh God, You are my King, You are FAITHFUL! YOU ARE FAITHFUL!" and there is just something about that, something about the power of the bible being spoken in such a pure manner and then her words singing over it. i will leave you with Psalm 139, read it, you wont be sorry.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
 You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
 Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
 You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.

  Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
 even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,”
 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.

  For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
 My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
 How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
 Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.

 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
 They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name.
 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 

 I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies.
 Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

Blessed by a Heavenly Daddy,

Shelby Elyse 

Day 30 - Someday We'll Know

dear 3 people who actually read my blog,

 i am truly sorry that i have not written for quite some time. life in the taylor house has been quite the zoo, i often like to think of big words to describe what is going on and lets just say its been a dibockle in more than 5 ways. I think if i make bullet points of updates and then go from there it should be much much easier.

1. Grandma - She is off the vent! So that is a giant PRAISE to our Jesus! But...yea there always comes a but in our world...she is still not doing very well. There is still some kind of blockage somewhere and the past week she's been sleeping all the time and becoming more and more unresponsive...at this point more and more tests are being run, and we are all just praying for answers. I've learned a harsh reality in my life and that is called "doctors are humans too." Doctors are supposed to be the life savers, they are supposed to know the answers...but sometimes they just do not know what to do. Sometimes they don't know what is wrong or how to help. I hate it...but it is truth! So all i know is that grandma is not doing the best she could be. I think it was a week or two ago my mom said to me "well if she ever gets better it's not gunna be the same, she wont be up and cooking all the time" and it hit me like a ton of bricks...in my head i'm thinking " no mom your crazy " but in my heart i'm thinking "this can't be happening." My grandma bought me my first cookbook "Gold Medal Flour ABC'S Of Cooking" I still use it today...it's all coffee stained and drawn all over but it is very special to me...grandma instilled in me my love for baking...so imagining her not being able to cook, that is a hard pill to swallow for sure. I know God is in control. I understand that this is in his plan and that i have no control over the outcome but i just wanna scream thinking about it. I want to know if she is in pain and she cant say ... its just not fun at all anymore!!! Reality = im terrified of losing her, but i do not want her to suffer. Alright i think that's enough on that...im feeling sad i need to feel happy! CONTINUE TO PRAY!

2. Seth - He's been in California for a few weeks now and he is super duper busy all the time...but he is doing well, stressed out at times...but continuing to get all his work done and still have time to chat with me some nights...i try not to bug him too often, but hey i'm the baby sister it's my job!

3. My Eye - So i have an appointment on the 18th of May with a Surgen at Akron Children's Hospital to see if i'm going to need surgery or not. My eye seems to get worse when i'm tired or stressed...but it kinda is bothersome a lot of the time now so we need to just see what we can do!

4. College - Officially going to Akron next year...super excited for a fresh new start....also i'm sooo stoked about Elly and Jessica coming too....it's gunna just be so much fun!

Someday We'll know why bad things happen and why good things happen...but for now...i sleep :)

Alrighty, well this is all i can think of right now...i put up lyrics to one of my new favorite songs right below this post so go check it out...and the link to the video

Blessed by my Heavenly Daddy,

Shelby Elyse 

Day 22 - God's Love NEVER Ceases

So my grandma is still in bad shape and now my Grandpa has been admitted to the hospital for the night...WHEN WILL THIS END!!!!
Stressed but leaning on my Heavely Father
continue to pray

xoxo

Shelby Elyse