Importance of TODAY to me | Venus Texas Newborn Photographer

TODAY! TODAY IS THE DAY! That my studio can finally re open, with some small limitations but that will totally work.   As the studio is a small boutique style studio and I typically do not have large crowds at once.   Couture Kids and Mini sessions on the other hand will not start back until later in June and we will have sessions spaced out to allow for proper cleaning after each session.

TODAY! is also another monumental day for me personally, my family as well as the studio.  You see  last year on April 28, 2019 I took my husband to the ER about 6am in the morning.  He had a severe pain in his arm and shoulder that just about dropped him to the floor.  Upon our arrival testing began and it was discovered that he had a mass in his neck and that he would be admitted.  We were both kind of in shock and knew that we were about to embark upon a whole new journey in our lives.  That week I had little league sport photo day planned and an upcoming preschool day of photos planned for work, along with a few other client sessions.  The 28th was a Monday morning.  So I immediately had to call our children, my parents, his family and then make a few calls to let these organizations know there would be no way I could make it to the photo days.  That was a challenge because they are big jobs for me, I knew that those schedule changes would effect a lot of people and families.  But, I had to do what was needed and best for my family and my self at that time.  The organizations were so very understanding as well clients that I had to reach out to over the next couple of weeks.  Everyone was amazing and willing to work with me.  I am forever grateful for that.

During that first week in the hospital, doing testing, my husband and I were told many things and different things every single day.  It was hard, a very hard week.  They knew it was probably cancer but could not tell us any more than that.  He had to have emergency surgery to remove the mass on Thursday of that week and to start to rebuild his neck.  The second surgery for the backside of his neck ended up being about a month later.  Both went amazingly well and we are truly grateful to have that behind us for sure.   On Friday May 3, 2019 one of the hospitalist came into our room early morning, while my husband was eating breakfast and shared that the MRI they had done on his brain showed leasons in the brain.  We were both devastated to say the least.  For over 24 hours we were lead to believe that everything was metastasized in his body and that it was indeed in his brain.  That my friends was one of the very worst days of my life.  Some of the hardest moments I have ever faced took place that week.   However, morning did come on Saturday May 4, 2019 and another hospitalist came to visit and was ready to let my husband go home.  He also shared that the leasons were not in my husbands brain but on the skull and that they were inactive.  So, not super great news but much better news than we were lead to believe just 24 hours prior.

So, on May 4, 2019 we headed home.  It was great to be home, because honestly I was not sure he would come home when we started the week the way we did and with the major surgery that he had to have.  It was truly a miracle and an blessing.

The following week on May 8, 2019 we had our first oncology appointment and pathology would be back.  We had no idea at all what we were going to be facing.  At that appointment we learned that he had Multiple Myeloma (not something that had metastasized and not something in the brain) it is a blood cancer, that can be treated and could hopefully be treated as a chronic illness.  Whew praise the Lord.  That was an incredible blessing and a positive thing to hear after all the scary hard days we had just walked through.

Now I share all this for a few reasons but mostly because it is pretty amazing to me how God lined everything up. (actually it has been a year full of awe God moments)  You see today is Friday May 1, 2020 which means one year ago today I pretty much had to close my studio.  I took down all of our online bookings, and cancelled all work, because I knew it was going to be journey helping my husband get through this year.  Now 1 year later,  TODAY I can reopen my studio.   How amazing is that?!!  It is pretty awesome to me and to us! Such a God thing.  Yes, we had Covid-19 a pandemic that kept us closed as well, but it is pretty cool that today is the day that I can re open the studio.

You may be wondering how my husband is and I will tell you he is a walking miracle.  He has endured two major neck surgeries, about 5 ER visits (two resulting in stays, due to treatment, etc) and then several months of treatments and then lastly an Auto bone marrow/stem cell transplant.  He has now been 5 month (almost 6 months) with out any cancer medication at all and as of March he is in stringent complete remission.   So cool!  He goes for labs just once a month, he is doing things around our property, over seeing his electrical company and feeling so much stronger.  I love seeing him doing so well.  Myeloma is not curable, but it is treatable and we pray for years of remission and healing.   He may have to start on a small dose of maintenance meds at some point but that is what our Dr. is watching with the monthly labs.

I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have followed our journey and all of you my amazing clients. You guys are the best.  I love what I do to help support my family and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do that.  YOU make that possible, and your understanding over the course of this last year has been a blessing to me and my family.

So, TODAY Friday May 1, 2020 Specialty Photography is open for business!  WhooHooo!  I am ready to help you schedule, order, print, design wall galleries, etc.  I can not wait to start helping capture family memories again.   I have been busy in the studio also painting and rearranging and cleaning out.  I am also going to be painting our entry way door and our bathroom door today!  Plus, painting the light fixtures on the outside of the studio.  I am here though and can take your calls and will be checking emails throughout the day.

I look forward to seeing you all soon.  God bless and have a wonderful safe weekend!

**I will be sharing some of our new procedures while we are still in a slow restart, but that will be another post.

Love & Laughter -
Deanna

NO "Boo @ the Barn" and Medical Update...

Hey you guys!  I know it has been a while since I have sent out an ENews from the studio, but things have been a little busy around here.  As you know back in April my husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma and he has had two very successful surgeries to repair damage to his C5, healed up from that and started his treatment for the Myeloma.  He has done very well during this treatment phase and the myeloma has responded well.   He was originally scheduled to do treatments for 8 rounds and that would put us in the beginning of December.  However, it has responded so well that we are now at the place of preparing for his Bone Marrow Transplant.  His Myeloma on a recent bone marrow biopsy showed less than 1% myeloma in his body and his blood showed 0! We are super thrilled with that!  The bone marrow transplant is to get him to remission and to keep him there longer.  It is life giving!  We are praying for full remission and for his disease to continue to be responsive and kept at bay.  God has been so very present throughout this entire journey and we want others to know of His goodness and grace through our story.  

My husband has had all of his workup testing and we are actually just waiting on our schedule to start the transplant process.  What that will entail is us relocating for a period of time closer to Medical City Dallas.  As we are too far out should he need care right away.   His bone marrow transplant is an Auto meaning he will donate to himself.  How that is done is they have the disease way under control with treatment and when we begin he will be given some shots to encourage his baby stem cells in his blood to grow.  This will be given for four days.  Then on day five they will start harvesting and freezing his baby stem cells.  These are baby blood cells that don't know what they want to be yet.  (Like white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets)  These are all cancer free!  They will harvest anywhere from 3 - 5 days (each session is about 5 hours)  Then once they get enough stem cells for this transplant and to save some for years down the road he will be admitted to the hospital.   Once admitted they will give him two days of high powered chemo and then a day of rest.  on the fourth day in the hospital they will give him his stem cells back.  This is done like a blood transfusion we have been told.  This is considered his NEW BIRTHDAY! and celebrated that day!  Then the process of watching and waiting for those to graft into his bone marrow begin.  He will feel bad during day 4 -10 or so and then start to feel better and be on the climb back to health.  After day 10 those stem cells will start making the new healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and lastly the platelets.  He will be in the hospital for about 3 weeks and then we will stay closer to the hospital for 1-3 months.  Just depends on progress and when we are released to go home from our transplant Dr.  

It is not anything we ever expected to experience or go through, but we are so grateful for the opportunity for healing.  Though the journey might not be easy, it will be worth it!  Please join us in praying that side effects will be minimal, doable. We are praying for complete healing and ultimately God's will in the journey.
We appreciate you guys thinking of us and joining us in prayer.   

Feel free to add me "Deanna Lynn Belser" on facebook (as a friend) and you will be able to see my updates, should you be interested in staying in touch with us more closely.

I will update here from time to time, but not that often during the process.  As it is going to be a busy time and I will not be in my office during this time.

I share all of this so that you know what is happening and why the studio has not really been having any events and why I have only done a few sessions during this time.  As we are heading into Halloween this next week and one of the events we always host is "Boo @ the Barn"  but... this year there will be NO BOO!  So sorry, but I know you guys totally understand.  This is always such a fun fun night, but I plan on having it again in 2020!

Also, as we end October and head into the next few months the studio will be CLOSED! just for a period of time.  I will not be able to do any sessions, orders, etc. while we are away.   I hope to be able to reopen the studio sometime in the Spring of 2020.  I will keep you posted through our facebook page, blog and here in the E-News for when I reopen the studio.

I plan on having a fun "GRAND RE-OPENING" event.  I already have some ideas and am working on putting together a fun event to kick off getting back to work.  I LOVE what I do and I love being apart of your lives and look forward to the time that my husband and I can be back in the studio.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this update, thank you for your prayers, love & support!  You guys are the best!  I pray that you all have a fabulous holiday season and enjoy each and every moment, even the hustle and bustle of the season, time with friends, time with family.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow so be grateful for each day you are given. 

God Bless you all....

Deanna

Sarah Part 3 {North Texas Senior Photographer}

Yea!  She made it!!  Sarah's college graduation and party have come and gone and what a celebration it was.  As a mom I sure did cry many many happy tears... I even have a red nose in our photos right after graduation lol!   Oh well... that's what a mom is suppose to do right?!  This one anyways.   We had such an awesome time celebrating Sarah and watching her reach this amazing goal.

Here are a few highlights from her Graduation weekend from HPU...

The "CHIME OUT" service at HPU...

Chime Out is an HPU tradition in which graduating seniors pass a chain of ivy to underclassmen, symbolizing the passing of authority, responsibility and privileges to those students who remain on campus to carry on the traditions of the university.

Graduation Day at HPU...

 Sarah crossing the stage to receive her Diploma.  So proud!!  

So excited to have our family join us for the celebration!  I always have to grab a few family snapshots to celebrate :)

Graduation Party Highlights...

The week following graduation, we had a party at our home with our family and friends.  It was such a special time and we are so thankful for all those attended and made this time so full of memories for Sarah and our family.

Here is a fun little Iphone collage from the party.  

Thank you all for allowing this proud momma to share a little personal memories on the blog today.  I am so thankful for my children and grandchildren and thankful that I get to celebrate life along side them.  Such joy!

Make it a wonderful weekend friends and hug your family.  They truly are a treasure!!

Love & Laughter -

Deanna