Update on Patty

Patty got her shot on Friday and it didn't really hit on Saturday as we thought it would. Matter of fact she felt better than we imagined she would and we were able to get all the Christmas deco down and put away. Knowing her and her OCD that was a load off of her mind. She was still tired and experienced flu like symptoms but not to the degree as other second days. You know Patty it would take more than chemotherapy to keep her from cleaning!



Today she felt worse but felt like getting out so we took the kids to see Charlotte's Web. Great movie. Although, it didn't hold Grant's attention, who is 3 1/2, for the whole movie. I could tell though when we left she was feeling worse. By the time we got home she was looking wiped out. So I guess the shot is finally kicking in.



I'm trying to fix dinner for the kids right now. Generic Easy Mac Cheese and Cream of Wheat du jour are the meals of choice. I'm trying to throw something together quickly as I'm going to take the girls to our church's New Year's Eve bash tonight at my health system's fitness center. They'll be swimming, rock climbing, etc. for the girls and they'll be chasing kids for me! They want to stay until 2 when it closes but I'm thinking they might last til midnight, maybe.



I wish you and and yours a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.

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Patty's Treatment Update

Patty's treatment went well today. Well, but long. We got there about 10:15 and left about 3:00. She didn't have a reaction this time thankfully. She felt a twinge in her back when they first started giving her the Taxotere but, I think that was her nerves because she did fine. They had loaded her up with Decadron, Benadryl, Ativan, and something else to prevent a reaction. I told her the kitchen sink was next. She slept through the majority of the treatment. I sat on a stool and read the whole time to the chagrin of my back, lol...

Traci graciously came over and watched the boys and girls for us while we were gone. Darrell brought some of his fireman's barbecue for dinner. Patty goes for the infamous Neulasta shot tomorrow. Pray that it is better than the other times she's had it.

Treatment Today

Patty goes for another treatment today. This one is different than the the last 4 in the fact that it is a different drug, Taxotere. This is the same drug that she had the major reaction to with her first treatment so she's a little concerned about this next dose. They are going to take a bunch of preventative measures to hopefully eliminate another possible reaction. Please pray that everything will go well with the treatment.

We spent the last couple of days up in Pigeon Forge with my aunt, uncle, and my cousins from Nashville and Florida. We had a good time catching up, watching movies, and playing games. It was a lot of fun. Reality lands with a thud later today.

Merry Christmas Everyone

It's 2 a.m. and I just settled down to the 24 hours of "The Christmas Story" on TBS. The kids' goodies are out of the boxes and on display for their viewing pleasure in about 5 hours. We made the family rounds the last few days. First to Patty's grandmother's to visit with her family from North Carolina. Then yesterday up to Pigeon Forge to stay with my cousins and my aunt and uncle. Then back down to K-town to go to my other aunt's tonight.

Soon as we walk in the door at around 9:30 p.m. Grant begins to hurl all over the family room floor and couch. We get him cleaned up and in bed and about an hour later its Katie's turn. Good Grief! I'm waiting on Brett or Kendall to wake up at any minute. We're not sure if its something they ate or a virus. Hopefully not a virus. They both acted like they felt fine after the episode so hopefully that's a good sign.

This is where I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We hope that your Christmas is filled full of memorable moments that will be cherished for years to come. For all of you that are praying for us, we want to thank you for your persistence and diligence in doing so. The Bible tells us in James 5:16 that "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." When someone I know, that is strong in their walk with God, tells me they are praying for me and Patty it is a great sense of comfort because of this verse.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Heart Scan Today

Patty had a normally scheduled heart scan today. Did I say normal? I mean normal if your receiving high doses of chemotherapy that can affect the function of your heart. Preliminary results look ok but we don't have the official results as of yet. They had to stick her in both arms, fun, fun!

So, I just read what I typed above and I sound a little cynical today. I'm not, I don't think at least, that is just the way it came out. Oh, well.

We're going to go out tonight and look at Christmas lights. Supposedly there is a house in Inskip that has a coordinated light show with music that you can hear on your car radio that we're going to try to check out. That should be interesting.

Got the Christmas cards out today so if you've been wondering where yours is its "in the mail." That was a little more of an ordeal this year. Of course everything has been this year. I bought my LAST Christmas present today. John Maxwell's Leadership Promises for Every Day daily devotional. Great book. I highly recommend it if you or someone you know is in any type of Leadership position. They take snippets from all of his Leadership books and use them in the devotionals. Good Stuff.

Patty's next treatment is December 28th. Looks like we'll be rockin' in the New Year. Was I being cynical again? I digress.

I AM (Video)

If you will recall, I blogged a few weeks ago about Patty and Katie performing a song/drama to the inspirational song "I AM" by Nicole Nordeman at our church's Ladies Christmas Tea. Yesterday, they performed it for our whole church. (There was a little mix-up with the music so it starts a few seconds late.) For those of you who don't know us, the little girl in the beginning is our daughter Katie. The second young lady is April Henderson, a wonderful college student at our church. The third lady is Beth Robertson, one of our closest friends. The beautiful bald lady at the end is our wonderful Wife and Mom, Patty. There were many a tear wiped at the end. As you can see they received a standing ovation. We had a guest speaker, Ken Freeman, and he was so moved at their performance that he inquired about Patty and her situation before he got up to preach. During his sermon, he spoke about Patty many times during his message. Part of his message was that through Jesus, as believers, we can become overcomers of all (John 16:33). He told the crowd that he was deeply affected that Patty could do that drama the way she did. He told them that she is "...an Overcomer." Amen.

A Little Better

Patty says shes feels a little better today but nothing tremendous. She did say she was going to attempt to make the girl's Christmas program tonight. Laverne helped her watch the boys yesterday and Janine has helped her today. I can't thank everyone enough who has pitched in to help watch the boys or brought us a meal during these weeks of her treatment. Without this support we would have been struggling. We'll be in debt to many folks for a while, lol...

Update on Patty

Patty has felt terrible today. She got up early this morning because she felt so bad and couldn't get comfortable. She says she just aches all over, especially her neck, back, and teeth. You can't even touch her skin. Funny thing is its not from the chemo but from the Neulasta shot to help boost her white blood cell count. It seems to have started sooner this time so hopefully it will end sooner as well. The kids have a Christmas pageant at school tomorrow night. She probably won't be able to make it. Another unfortunate consequence of cancer but, we will persevere. I'll tape it!

Wednesday Update

Patty was feeling a little queasy this morning but not too bad. She said her teeth had already begin to hurt. She was really tired last night and fell asleep early. Tracy has the boys today and so Patty has been able to rest at home without interruption. We have Bible study tonight so she won't have to worry about the kids tonight as well since she is going to stay at home.

Trying to maintain a normal life (work, school, church, activities, holidays) while all of this is going on is like trying to tread water...for months. I think its catching up, to me at least. As of late, it seems like I'm not keeping pace. I'm beginning to feel like the guy chasing the train that has just left the station. For a while I was able to keep up with it but recently I came to the end of the loading area and the train is continuing on.

MRI Results

The great gang as SMN squeezed Patty in for her brain MRI yesterday after her treatment. Truthfully I had a peace about it until she was actually laying on the table and then the anxiety came on in waves. She wanted me to watch but I couldn't. The last time I did that I almost exploded with nervous anticipation of what the results would be. This is three times now I've had that feeling. If you've been there you know what I'm describing if not, I hope you never have to. They called me after the scan was over and I went back and asked "how did it look?" That was a short walk but a heavy one no doubt. Thankfully, they stated it looked OK but then followed with the disclaimer that all of us in the field give when someone asks, "but I'm not a doctor so you'll have to wait for the report." The report came an hour later that the scan showed a normal brain. Now, sometimes I've wondered about that but I digress. Thanks for all the prayers for this scan. The lady that did Patty's scan is a 5 year breast cancer survivor. Her and Patty traded side effect stories especially the eyelashes falling out. She said this is when you really get the chemo look.

Patty was very tired last night. We planned on having an enjoyable time putting up the Christmas tree but have you ever tried putting up a Christmas tree with 4 little ones? No?, let me tell you, not an enjoyable time. Between managing not breaking the ornaments to trying to keep someone from knocking over the Christmas tree I was exhausted upon completion. Anyway, its done. Patty is supposed to get her Neulasta shot sometime this afternoon but I'm not sure exactly when. She'll be wiped out for the rest of the week with this.

On a side note, I was thinking for this year's Christmas cards that I could draw a Christmas tree on the top of Patty's head and take a picture of it and send it out as our Christmas photo. When I mentioned it to her she said that the red dots on her head could serve as the ornaments. The tagline could say "Have a Hairy Christmas!" What do ya think?

Treatment #5 Today

Treatment #5 is at 10:30 today. It will be the last treatment of AC. There will then be 4 treatments of another drug, Taxotere, which is the first drug Patty received. It is also the drug that she had the major reaction with so she'll be nervous about that. After that comes 52 weekly treatments of Herceptin if all goes well. This is indeed a journey. Patty is still having some blurry vision in her left eye. The doc wants to do an MRI to assure it hasn't spread to her brain. Please pray that this is not the case. He said it is unlikely but it was unlikely she would develop breast cancer at 36 as well. Especially when she did many things to attempt to prevent it; yearly mammograms, breast feeding, having children before 30, not smoking.

Patty hosted the church Christmas Tea this past Saturday and it was a resounding success. As I mentioned before her, Katie and two other ladies were performing sign language to the song by Nicole Nordeman, "I AM". What I didn't mention was that Patty did it sans wig, bald. In front of 220 people no less. They received a standing ovation and there was not a dry eye in the building, even the men serving. It was videoed and I'm going to attempt to post it here sometime. Ang, if you're reading you'll have to email me a "how-to" on video posting since you do it so well. We stayed until 11 Friday night setting up and all the tables, 26 of them, and decorating. The decor theme was a "Winter Wonderland" and it indeed looked as such. Gina Rudd and Jamie Bates had got snow used at the "Fantasy of Trees" event and transformed the conference center into a snowy landscape. Gina and Eva catered the event and I heard the potato soup was to die for. The only incident was when Carol Stout performed her version of the Talking Head's 80's smash "Burning Down the House!" when she accidentally set her table on fire when some tissue paper fell over a candle and ignited it and the surrounding snow. The amateur firefighters at her table quickly doused the burgeoning flame with their drinks. No harm done.

Pray for Patty today as she receives her treatment and also that the trouble with her eye is nothing. Also pray for our walk, attitude, mental state, and spirits as we walk through this valley.