Hello everyone!

I wanted to thank you all for your prayers, and I can feel them! God is contstantly sending me little reminders that I'm not alone, and that this will be over with before I know it, if I can only hang on just a little longer. Psalms has been helping a lot, and other passages like those in Hebrews and Romans as well.

I DO have good news to report. One of the tests that was done on me last saturday when I was in ER came back abnormal. One of the blood tests showed something abnormal with my pancreas. They still think I'm dealing with Endomitriosis, but they also think I've got something wrong digestionally. So, I have two appointments coming up with specialists: August 25th with the GI specialist, and September 2 with the OBGYN.

I'm thanking God that they are finally on to something, because to be honest, this is progressively getting worse. I was only able to eat solid food on sunday and monday of this last week. The rest of the week was liquids, and any attempts of solid food came right back up. As of today, saturday, I am very weak, and have had a hard time with even liquids. The pain is growing to a level that can't be taken away with a pain pill anymore, and I'm just plain TIRED. That is the status as of right now, but I'm hoping I'll have another good day or two next week that I can keep food down so I can get some strength back.

I've NOT lost a ton of weight though, which is good. I think as a total this summer I've only lost about 12-15 pounds, which isn't a whole lot. The liquids that I drink consist of protein drinks, 100% juices, V8--when I can handle it, and this wonderful thing called ICE-CREAM! Oh yay, I can still have ice cream, and it settles my stomach. I had a couple mini saltine crackers today, but those almost didn't stay, so I'll stick to liquids for a little bit longer.

Their is a group from church that is going to Colorado this next week for a rock climbing expedition, and I've been looking forward to joining them for over a year now, so they haven't made me stay home! YAY! I don't care if I can't climb a mountain by the time I get out there, I just need to SEE them. lol I probably won't be able to enjoy all the stuff they do like I did last year, but I'll get some good pictures. I'll drink plenty of water and my protein drinks.

I've still been able to enjoy time with the girls, and we even went to the Iowa State Fair yesterday for a couple of hours before we just got too tired. I'm glad the girls tired out at the same pace mommy did, so we could all enjoy a little bit and then go home. Andrea just lost her two front teeth, and melody is already trying to see if she can loosen hers up to join her sister. lol Andrea starts school on the 20th (FIRST GRADE!!) and Melody starts that thursday I believe. I start my classes on the 27th, and it's going to be a hard semester. I've got 3 chemistry courses, and a spanish course and an art course. The last two are pieces of cake for me, more of a stress relief than an actual class, so I'm not as concerned as I was before. :)

Well, that is all for now, and I'll be posting some pics of the girls and I on here soon, and maybe some of colorado when I get back! We leave thursday morning!

God bless!
~Rebecca

Hello all!

Its been a long time since I posted anything, and it's been a busy and stressful summer. I am putting out a strong prayer request. I need your prayers for mainly my health and finances!!!! This is an urgent request, as the situation seems to be getting worse rather than better.

Thank you all and God bless!
~Rebecca Torres

Please keep me in your prayers. The pain is back and it seems to be getting worse. I'll be going back to the doctor for more tests in two weeks. God bless you all and have a great week! Three weeks till the end of my semester! YAY!~Becca

This is the painting I did over spring break. You can't see it very clearly in the photo, but it was SO FUN to paint. The seahorse has a lot of detail in it, as does the coral, but its all blinded out by the flash on the camera, and you can't see the painting very well without the flash. I'm planning on doing another one soon with some tropical birds! By the way, I'm feeling a little better.... I can walk and stay awake longer than 2 hours! I don't remember a lot of last week, but I am still in pain. I'll be going to the doctor this week hopefully, to see if there is something that needs to be done or if it is something that will resolve itself in time. ER docs can't tell you much. I had a really rough night last night with returning pain that lasted 3 hours, but then it finally eased up. It just left me very very weak, so now I'm just trying to build up my strength again. I didn't understand why it robbed me of SO much of my strength until they explained to me that I lost a large amount of blood, making the body crash, (the shock I went in) and then you have to start from scratch. Teaches me to take things slowly I guess. :)

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! Wish I could have made it to the meeting this weekend! God bless you all and have a great week! I'm glad my semester is NEARLY over!

~Becca

Hello all! I had an exciting week.... a little too exciting for my taste. I want to thank everyone profusely for praying for me, and for sending me encouragement through your emails, I needed it!

Monday night I rushed to the ER with a friend of mine due to severe pain that I thought was from another kidney stone passing. I passed out three times from the severity of the pain, so I began to wonder if it really was a kidney stone, or if there was something else wrong. Unfortunately, I got the doctor that didn't care to check for anything else, all he did was run an x-ray for a kidney stone, told me it must have been muscle spasms or something, and sent me home. That made me mad, considering I've passed kidney stones three time before, and had two children naturally, and have never felt pain like that before.

So Tuesday I moved some heavy stuff around thinking it was okay since I had already 'passed the stone' and didnt' think too much about it till I started feeling a little light headed and dizzy. So I stopped and went to bed. The next morning, during English class at 8, I started hurting again, and feeling light headed and COLD. So I took a pain pill and left for the doctor. The doctor thought it was a little stone passing after the big one, and ran an xray, but didn't find anything, so he released me after giving me two pain shots in the behind. (Joy!! lol) While I was waiting for my ride to show up, I guess I passed out, stopped breathing, and had no pulse. They called the ambulance, loaded me up and sent me to Des Moines. They did a bunch of tests on me, and found through an ultrasound that I had an ovarian cyst that had burst. I had passed out due to shock from losing too much blood internally. I felt like an idiot because I probably wouldn't have gone into shock had I not been moving some heavy things around the night before. DUH! lol

God is good, praise Him, I did not die. Came close, but did not die. My girls are safe, staying with a family at church, and I'm at home resting. I slept for 12 hours last night. WOW! I really needed that though. Now I'm trying to catch up on sleep and homework and getting ready for school again. I had a test and a paper due yesterday that I couldn't get done. So that is what I'm doing today, while laying down.

So, I'm okay, for the most part, and will be back on my feet in no time!! God bless all of you who were and are praying for me! I appreciate all the concern, prayers, and encouragement!

~Rebecca