Looking back on 2010

I decided to write down my thought about 2010. Let's just start from the beginning.

**January. Happy New Year. Back to school. Very cold. Lots of sickness in the Swinney house...the flu, pneumonia, stomach viruses, sinus infections. yuck. good riddance January.

**It snowed in February. Beautiful snow. We spent alot of time helping mama and daddy work on their house. It was a very cold month.

**In March Dave and I went to Hawaii with the band and choir from Donoho. This was a great trip. We had so much fun. The kids spent the week with family in Talladega. We were away from each other for 8 days. Little did we know at the time how much time we would be separated from the kids this year.

**April. So much to say about April. I was sick alot during April. I had to have my gallbladder removed on April 14th. What a nightmare that turned out to be. I spent 12 days in the hospital because of a leak in the duct of luschka . A rare thing to happen, but of course it happened to me. This was another big span of time spent away from the kids. Our dog Charlie died this month also. We loved that pup. He was our first family dog. Erin and Samuel played soccer this Spring. The girls took SAT's.

**May was a month of recovery for me. I came home from the hospital with a drainage tube in my side and was still very sore. Dave was a wonderful nurse. He took really good care of me. He was mommy and daddy for a while. He had to do all of his jobs plus all of mine. Abby turned 10. She also had a piano recital. We finished school and began our summer break.

**Erin turned 9 in June. We were enjoying summer bliss. Swimming, skiing, fishing....just being lazy and enjoying it. Dave and I celebrated our 12th anniversary at a little cabin in the mountains. We got a new pup...Copper (he now lives at my sisters house).

**Dave went to Russia in July. He was gone from the 14th to the 26th. It seemed like forever to us. We missed him so much. The kids and I spent alot of time at the lake while he was gone. It was a very good trip for Dave. On this trip he started having pain in is side and back. The day after he got back he went to the doctor. They sent him for a CT scan.

**August was a BUSY month. It was also a month full of waiting. Dave was sent to a doctor in Birmingham on August 9th who biopsied the tumor they found with the CT scan. They sent the biopsy to Johns Hopkins and it took a long time to get results. Either Dave or I called every other day checking to see if we could get results. Dave turned 37. We started school. Erin was taking violin. The girls started taking an Acting class. Samuel started Karate.

**September came in with us still waiting on test results. On September 8th our lives changed forever. This is the day we got the news. Dave had cancer. What? Really. Surely not. Well if he has cancer its not the bad kind. Its going to be an easy fix. We were somewhat in denial of what was in store for us. But I think that was good in a way. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. My new job other than wife and mommy was now going to be to get Dave into a sarcoma center. So the process began.

**We had our first appointment at MD Anderson on October 11. WOW. We were totally not prepared for what we heard on that first visit. . We had to wrap our minds around the fact that things were worse than we thought and we would be living n Houston for about 6 months. Our kids came out after two weeks, we moved into an apartment, Dave started chemotherapy, and we learned to adjust to our new life....we are still learning.

**Samuel turned 8 and I turned 36 in November. We got a brand new nephew named William. Dave continued chemotherapy.We made our first trip to the MDA Emergency room. Scary! We had Thanksgiving dinner with Mama and Daddy in Houston. The food was Delicious. We continued to be thankful for the little things like Dave feeling well enough to go to the park or walk on the beach.

**December brought lots of visitors to Houston.It also brought news that the chemotherapy was not working. The tumor had grown. Dave started a new regiment of chemo. We visited the Space Center and Houston Zoo. We got to go home for a visit. We had a Merry Christmas in Texas.

I must say I am not sad to bid farewell to 2010. I am kinda glad to see it go. I am continually hopeful for what 2011 will bring. There are many good memories from 2010. There were also some really hard times in 2010. So...what have I learned in 2010? Hmmm...let's see. I know how thankful I am for family. I always knew how important family was, but going through a crisis reminds you. I am thankful for sisters who love my children almost as much as I do. I now know personally that God uses the prayers of His people to get us through some hard days.` I have seen the best in people this year. People who don't know us have sent us cards. Our church family constantly encourages us. Gods people from all over the country have let us know they are praying. It's been truly amazing!! I have learned to enjoy every day. We should all live like we are dying....because we all are or will eventually. I hope the New Year brings good news about Dave's cancer. I hope to be a better mother. I hope to be a better wife. I hope to read more, exercise more, eat better........you know all those things I want every year.

So Happy New Year from the Swinney's. We are entering this new year hopeful.

He has shown you O man what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Doctor Visit

Todays visit with Dr. R went well. He was not happy with the fact that Dave had not been given his steroid and assured us he would handle that. Dave will begin his next round of chemotherapy on Jan 6. This is the same Gem/Tax that he just completed. Now that we know he is supposed to take the steroid it should not be such a bad round. His Next CT scan is scheduled for Jan. 24. Then he will see Dr. R on Jan. 25. This is a day we look forward to and dread all the same. If the tumor is shrinking we will move on to two more rounds of Gem/Tax. If the tumor is not shrinking or has grown we will stop chemotherapy and start radiation. Then have surgery to remove the tumor. The reason it is so important for the chemo to work is that if it shrinking the tumor we know that it is killing the seeds that may have traveled to other parts of the body. It has been amazing how God has given us grace to make it through this. I have to take this minute by minute. Yesterday we went to Bethel Church. The pastor talked about Gideon. Most of us know the story of how Gideon defeated the Midianite's with 300 men who were armed with trumpets and jars. He didn't have the biggest army and all the latest equipment. Why? Because God didn't want the Iraelites to be able to take credit for the victory. You know how we like to take credit for things God does. No one else would be able to take the credit for the victory. God really used this to speak to me yesterday. Whatever God chooses to do with this cancer, He will be glorified.

Well, now I must go get packed. We are heading home for 8 days!!! Hooorayyyy!!! I can't wait to see our family and friends, go to church at Grace Fellowship, sleep in my own bed, drive my van, and see those beuatiful mountains. If you are not busy tomorrow night the 28th, you should watch The Kennedy Center Honors as our friend Jamey Johnson honors Merle Haggard. Gotta love that old country music :) I hope you all have a Happy New Year. I'll check back in after the first of the year, unless something really exciting happens that I really need to tell you!

Christmas

This is what our house looked like on Christmas day. We sure missed being home on Christmas. It was cold in Houston....but no snow!! We did have a good Christmas here though. It was emotional for me and Dave as everything seems to be lately. We could learn from our kids though....they said this was the best Christmas ever. They are happy as long as they are with us. We enjoyed having family here for a few days before Christmas. We went to see the new Narnia movie on Christmas Eve. We also went to the Christmas Eve service at Bethel Church. It was a very worshipful service. Christmas Day was good. The kids got lots of fun stuff. They each had a gift card to Target that a sweet Secret Santa sent to us. Instead of using it for themselves they wanted to buy me and Dave a gift. So Dave and I got some fun gifts too! Our Christmas dinner was Chinese Buffet. I thought it would be quiet and not crowded, but apparently alot of people eat Chinese buffet on Christmas day. We are looking forward to going home for a few days. Due to the New Years holiday Dave will have a break in his treatment. This will let us spend about a week in Alabama. Maybe we will get to see the remnants of that snow at our house.

Down below is a slideshow of our December in Houston. Enjoy the pictures !!

Create a slideshow

Wow. What a busy week this has been. My days are beginning to run together. Dave has been feeling better today. We found out he was suppose to be taking a steroid along with his chemo. How did this get overlooked? Not sure. But it seems he would have had a much better weekend if he had been taking the steroid. Maybe we could have avoided a trip to the ER. Well its neither here nor there now.....we just have to make sure to ask more questions and not let this happen again.

We have been enjoying the week with family. I have had the best time with my sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews and my mama and daddy. Yesterday we all went shopping......a man walked by us and said.....wow, you are a big pack of people. That made us laugh. It was a fun day. We went to the Bass Pro Shop and then walked around an outdoor shopping area. Today we all went to the Johnson Space Center. This was great!! We went on the tram tour and got to go see the control room which was totally cool!! Afterwards we went to a neat little town called Kemah. We walked on the boardwalk and let the kids ride a couple of things. We got back to the apartment around 7:30. Then Tracy, Lori, Giny, Mama, and I went to the Galleria and Target. This was so much fun. It has been so good for me to get to spend so much time with them this week. We laughed til we cried tonight. Then of course we came home and cleaned up and washed a couple of loads of clothes. : ) We had a picture taken of all 20 of us at the space center today...I'll post that soon. Well it's really late so I should try to sleep.....or go wash more clothes. Hmmmm....hard decision. Any way, Dave see's Dr. R on Monday then we get to go home. yay!! If you don't here from me again, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

We got home from the ER around 4 am Sunday morning. Dave has continued to run a fever all day. It has stayed between 99 and 100 all day. He feels so bad. He told my sister that this is the worst he has felt since he found out he had cancer. So sad. I feel very helpless. I take his temp, make sure he takes his medicine, give shots, change bandages, and try to make sure he eats and drinks. But I can't make him feel better. I treasure the days when he feels good. When he feels like joking and laughing. If you have ever heard Dave laugh you know what I mean. It's his distinct laugh. Samuel laughs just like him. I love to be in another room and hear him laugh while hes watching TV. It makes me smile. Hopefully he will start to feel better and be able to enjoy Christmas. Tracy and her family arrived yesterday along with Abby. Everyone else along with Erin and Samo will be here tomorrow. Tracy and I are going to cook a big dinner tomorrow. We are all (all 20 of us) gonna squeeze into our little apartment for a meal and I am gonna enjoy every minute of it.

update

The fever has gone down and he is feeling better. They have been giving him fluids along with pain medicine and antibiotics. We will know if there is more infection in a day or so. He had a headache and he was also very dehydrated. We will go home in a couple of hours after he has had enough fluids. Gotta run get his prescription filled. I'll update again tomorrow.

A trip to the ER

Today Dave started feeling really bad. He has been achy, which we knew was a side effect of this chemo. He started running fever this afternoon. The doctor told us if his temperature ever gets above 101 to go to the ER. His temp stayed at 100.9 for a while. So we waited.....Dave did not want to go to the ER until it went over 101. So we are now at the ER at MDA. They are running test trying to find the source of the fever. Hopefully it's nothing, but we can't be too careful. I'll post again when we know more.

Dave had chemo today. He is having a little nausea tonight. He has taken some compazine and is snoozing soundly on the couch!! I'm watching the 10:00 news.... that will scare you to death. In other news..... I think the people who live above us either dance or do aerobics all night. I had a flashback to living in an apartment in college the other night...I actually got the broom out and beat on the ceiling. They did stop for a while, but the noise eventually was back. I think I get mean when I'm tired. I was tired that night. Well I really could ramble on all night, but I won't. Tomorrow Dave gets a nuelasta shot. I hope he continues to feel good. I think the next scan will probably be Jan 31 or so. We are praying that the tumor is gone or significantly shrunk by then.......so pray with us please.

10 days til Christmas

I can hardly believe its almost Christmas. All of our shopping is done and now we are waiting to see the family. We are excited about a possible trip home at the end of December. If all is well with Dave's numbers we will be coming home. He has felt amazingly well this round. An old friend of his came for a visit this week. They have enjoyed catching up and Dave has laughed alot! It does my heart good to see Dave feeling well and enjoying life.

Tomorrow he goes for the next dose of chemo which is Gemzar/Taxotere. He will see Dr. R on the 27th and if all is well we will come home. yay!!! I hope everyone is having a great December.

Until September 8, 2010 I didn't know what sarcoma was. We have become very acquainted with this terrible disease over the past few months. One thing we have discovered is that there is very little information and research on this type of cancer. I have linked several sites in the right column of this blog to sarcoma sites. I know God is the one who will ultimately heal Dave's cancer if he chooses to do so. I also know that He is using the doctors and their wisdom to treat Dave. My prayer tonight is that there will eventually be a cure for Leiomyosarcoma!! I am hopeful that this chemotherapy is killing the cancer in Dave's body. He is feeling good physically. Sometimes his emotions can wreak havoc on him. He tires easily, but has not had much nausea. Maybe I can get him to do a post soon. I would like to hear what he has to say....wouldn't you?

Yesterday was a LONG day. It was a good day though. We flew out of Birmingham at 9:30, had a plane change in Nashville, and arrived in Houston at 2:00 which was 25 minutes early. His appointment was at 3:00 and we were signing in at 3:02. Pretty good huh? We got back to the room ready to begin treatment when the nurse realized Dave had not signed any consent forms for this new medicine. Soooo......we walked from the Mays Clinic all the way to the Sarcoma Center. That is a long walk! We had to wait 45 min. to see Dr. R's nurse. So we learned about the two new drugs, signed the forms, and took the long walk back. So it was 5:30 before he was able to start the treatment. He was done around 8:30. We had taken the shuttle to the hospital, which stops running at 7:00, so we had to take a cab home. What a long day.

The two new chemo drugs are Gemzar and Taxotere. The side effects are not supposed to be as bad. Nothing should be as bad as the Adriamyacin. It was brutal!! He is feeling good this morning. No nausea overnight. I'll let you know how he does.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Steven Curtis Chapman

This is my favorite Christmas song! Listen to the words. You need to go scroll down to the bottom of the page and mute my playlist so you can hear this song.

As I type this morning I am feeling sad. It was very good for us to come home and see everyone, but also very hard. As we were leaving our house last night we all just cried as we sat in the driveway. Not because of the house, although we do love that cozy little house, but because of what that house has always meant to us. It has always been full of people. College students, friends, family, neighbors, children. That’s what yesterday was like. People in and out all day. Eating, playing games, talking, and just hanging out. That’s what we miss…..
We loved watching our kids play with their friends. They pulled out every toy they could find. Samuel played outside for two days! It was cold but he didn’t care. Erin nurtured all her baby dolls and played office with some calculators she found in the desk. Abby sat with the adults mostly. That’s what she likes to do. She did enjoy getting to see her friends Kade and Bailey.
We will board our flight to Houston in a few minutes. Dave will begin chemo this afternoon. We are so hopeful that this new medicine will do the trick. Also hopeful that it will not make him as sick! I’ll update soon and let you know how he does.

Sweet Home Alabama.....oh so sweet

After our not so good news yesterday, we decided to fly home for a couple of days. It's going to be a short visit, but it is doing our hearts good to see family and friends and be in familiar territory. Dave's mama and sister were waiting for us at the airport....oh the emotion when we saw them. We surprised our kids : ) I got to hold my new nephew William....so sweet! Got to see my sisters, brothers, and mama and daddy. Now I am looking forward to going home, our home.

Results

Today's results from the CT scan were not what we had hoped for. The tumor has actually grown a little. Dr. R was disappointed and so were we. The plan now is to change the chemo drugs. He is going to discuss Dave's case on Wednesday and he is due to start round 3 on Thursday. He is still planning to do radiation and surgery as scheduled. The surgery should be in April or so. One bit of good news today was that the pulmonary embolism was gone. Dave is doing OK. It seems we just get bad news at these visits. But we are still hopeful for good results with the next round. I am thankful today that we had such a good weekend with friends. Dave laughed alot and that was good for me to see! Continue to pray for us.

The last few days have been really good for Dave. He has been walking on the treadmill, trying to build up his strength. The kids left on Wednesday with Mama and Daddy. It was so hard! Everybody cried!! I cry every time anyone leaves. We got to skype with them once they got home and they were running around, laughing, hugging their cousins......so that made us feel better about them leaving. Dave and I are homesick. We know we are in the right place for him to get the best treatment, but we miss our friends and families terribly! Tomorrow is the big day. He will have his first scan since having chemotherapy. He has an appointment with Dr. Ravi on Monday and will begin round 3 of chemo that afternoon. So next week will be busy with going back and forth to the hospital for treatment. I am so thankful the kids will not have to be here. I hope they have a couple of weeks to not think about cancer. I sent their schoolwork with them. My Daddy is responsible for making sure they do their work each day :) They are right on track, and will be ready for 2nd semester after Christmas. Dave has been teaching the girls Latin for the past year and a half, but I'm thinking about maybe teaching them a little Spanish next semester. Houston is such a melting pot. We hear lots of different languages everywhere we go. So maybe we should start learning one. If anyone has any ideas for a good, inexpensive Spanish curriculum, please let me know.

I will let you know how the scan goes. Have a good weekend!

Today after church, we went to Bass Pro Shop. The kids got to get their picture taken with Santa and of course told him what they wanted for Christmas. Samuel loves that store. He could stay in there all day. Dave has been feeling good the last few days. His scan will be Friday and the we will start round 3 of chemotherapy. The kids are looking forward to getting to go spend some time with their cousins. They have missed them so much!! They will get to meet baby William for the first time. : ) They will also hopefully get to see some of their friends. Being out here is hard for them. They have to be quiet in the apartment, they can hardly go to any part of the hospital, and when Dave is going through treatment he feels so bad. I want them to have fun, play, and just be kids for a couple of weeks.

So this our tree this year. We made most of the ornaments on the tree. The only ones we didn't make were the ones mama brought from our house that I had bought after Christmas last year...they were on top of all the Christmas boxes in target bags and easy to get to!


I love this picture of us with our bracelets. Reminders to pray and also to bring awareness to this horrible! horrible! cancer!

Happy Thanksgiving and a very happy birthday

Look what Dave gave me for my birthday! A purple computer!! I love it. It's a mini Dell and will fit right in my purse. I have had a very nice birthday. I slept until 9:00, Mama cooked a big yummy Thanksgiving meal, we had birthday cake, skyped with Dave's family, and now relaxing with the kids. Dave is having a good day. yay! It is raining and the temperature is dropping. It's gonna be in the 50's tomorrow. woohoo!!! What a great birthday present that is...cold weather.



Another great present is my new Keurig coffee maker from mama and daddy. I love good coffee and this makes some good coffee. So I have had a great birthday. I hope all of you have a had a happy thanksgiving and taken some time today to think about all you truly have to be thankful for.

How thankful I am for.....

Everyday this month I have been keeping a list of things I am thankful for. It is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it has made me stop at the end of some pretty long hard days and remember to be thankful. So this is my list. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving ! !

MD Anderson
good nurses and doctors
sisters = lifelong friends

Dave feeling better :)

mama and daddy driving really fast to get to houston

abby, erin , and, samuel

sarah from houston

visits from friends

ice cream

my crock pot

home school....even on days like this

good friends

Wii

skype

cool weather

sleep, restful sleep

GPS in the Jeep

chocolate birthday cake

walking on the beach in November

girl time with Abby and Erin

sunshine

Alabama football

painting with the kids

library books

frozen yogurt

long walks in the park

1000 piece puzzles

good coffee

lazy mornings and school in our pjs

days when Dave feels good

an apartment in Houston

Grace Fellowship

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

Good News! Dave is getting to go home today. To the apartment home not our home. The doctors think he is doing well enough to get out of here. He has had lots of nausea and a headache that lasted a while. BUT.....he is feeling much better today. They gave him Compazine for nausea and it was great. It stopped the nausea and knocked him out. He has eaten pretty well today. He even got up and we went for a walk down the hall . He is very glad to be going home today. He will get his next Lovenox shot around 4pm .....courtesy of me :) ......I am going to be giving him these at home, so I need to show them I can do it before we leave the hospital. So we should be ready to go shortly after that. Looking forward to getting home and cooking some yummy food with my mama and my girls for Thanksgiving!!

Today has been an OK kinda day. Dave is taking nap now. He has a headache that we are trying to stop before it gets any worse. He will not be able to go home today. They want to keep him here and observe him a little more, make sure he is doing well on the lovenox. What we understand about the blood clots is that this is pretty normal for cancer patients. The kids are with my parents at the apartment. So thankful to have them here with the kids knowing they are in good hands so I can take care of Dave .

Dave is settled in to his bed at the hospital. Hopefully he will only be here one day. They started him on Lovenox (blood thinner) and just want to monitor him since he had clots in both lungs. He is still having some pain in his left side when he takes deep breaths. He is getting some morphine so hopefully he will be able to rest well tonight. My parents got here around 6 pm so the kids will be with them tonight. I am so thankful they are here so I am able to stay with Dave. The kids got to go see a play tonight with a sweet lady who is a good friend of one of our friends from home. They were super excited about getting out. I hope they had a great time and didn't think about any of this for a few hours!



This is the story of our day. Friday night Dave started coughing and coughed up some blood. He went on to sleep after that and woke up around 5:30. He was having pain in his left side. He said on a scale of 1-10 the pain was an 8. We all jumped up threw on clothes and headed to the ER. I dropped him at the door and went to park. The kids and I rushed in and after a few minutes and one minor meltdown (that's a whole story in itself), we made it to the room with Dave. They started running test immediately. They did blood work, chest x ray, and a ct scan. The doctor came in at noon and told us he had clots in both lungs. and that is where we are now. One thing that I am learning through this is we have to take this one thing at a time, try not to think ahead, because we never know what tomorrow will hold with this cancer. Another thing I am learning is that God is giving me just enough grace to make it through each thing with this cancer. I know Dave is learning too, maybe he will do a post sometime and share with all of us. We appreciate every single person who has prayed for us today and everyday.

Please pray for Dave. We had to go to the ER this morning. He was having pain in his back (left side). After a CT we know that he has blood clots in both lungs. They have started him on blood thinner and are admitting him to the hospital. I'll update as we know more.

Dave is feeling a little better today. He is still really tired but the nausea is mostly gone. The kids and I met some of our friends that were passing through Houston tonight. The kids were so excited to get to see some of their friends. It was a short visit, but was so good to get to see them. We wanted to grab something to eat. They had been driving all day and our kids have to be quiet alot in this apartment, so we wanted to find a McDonald's where they could play and be loud. I think I picked the worst McDonald's in the city. I should have known right after we walked in it would not be a good place to eat, but we tried it anyway. I was so nervous I could hardly eat. I guess its never good when a police officer has to stand in the restaurant and another is patrolling the parking lot. Well anyway, we ate fast and got out of there.

We are looking forward to next week. Mama and Daddy are coming for a visit and to spend Thanksgiving with us. I can't wait to do some holiday cooking with my mama. I'm glad Dave's treatment was last week so hopefully he will feel good for Thanksgiving.

Today my little sisters turned 32. We skyped with them tonight and were so sad we were not there in all that chaos : ) If you have ever had a meal at Mama and Daddy's with all of us you know what I'm talking about. It's a good kind of chaos with mama, daddy, 4 daughters, 4 son in laws, and 10 grandchildren. So thankful to be able to skype with them tonight. Happy birthday Lori and Giny.

Pizza....in the crockpot

I bought a new crock pot. It's red and it was on sale. I love cooking in the crock pot. I was missing mine that just happens to still be in Weaver. We couldn't bring everything to Houston, so the crock pot was left out!! I was searching the 365 days of crock pot cooking site (you should check it out...look over to the left at my blog roll) and I came across a pizza recipe. Sounds crazy right? Well it smells YUMMY!! It should be ready any time now....just in time for the Alabama game. yay. It has pepperonis on top and that little bit of black you see is a few black olives for me. My family is a cheese and meet kinda pizza family, they just don't know what they are missing. I'll let you know how it tastes :)

This has been a hard day for Dave. He is having lots of nausea and his energy is zapped. He is taking the nausea medicine around the clock and we are trying to make sure he gets enough to drink and eat. His blood pressure was low this morning when he went to get his shot. By the time he starts feeling good again, it's time to start another round. Some friends sent us a card this week that said "chemo sucks, but if it sucks all this cancer out....then yay chemo" . That's kinda how I feel today!!

After we got back from the hospital this morning, the kids and I headed over to the library. We did some of our school work there and checked out some books. Samuel checked out three football books. Anything to get him to read!!! The girls have been dancing alot. They make up these dances and perform them for us. Some of the dance moves are pretty funny....like the one called crazy legs : ) Right now they are listening to some cd's that Dave students made for him. They come in here every now and then all excited about the songs they are finding. So thank you Donoho students for providing my girls with hours of entertainment!!!

Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.

2 Because he inclined his ear to me,therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The snares of death encompassed me;the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;I suffered distress and anguish

4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;our God is merciful

6 The Lord preserves the simple;when I was brought low, he saved me

7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,my eyes from tears,my feet from stumbling;

9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
10 I believed, even when I spoke,“I am greatly afflicted”;

11 I said in my alarm,“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,

14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

16 O Lord, I am your servant;I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.You have loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.

18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

Quick Update. He got started with chemo yesterday. Had some nausea during the night. He is getting his 2nd treatment now. He was up 2 pounds this morning, so that is good. He told the nurse he worked hard at that yesterday. Eating alot is hard for him.....but he is trying hard to do what he needs to do. We added some Ensure to help him with his calories. Part of fighting this beast is eating and keeping his strength up. I am going back and forth right now from the waiting area with the kids to the back to check on Dave. I 'll post more later.

The visit with Dr. Ravi went well this morning. Dave has lost a little weight so he told him to eat more. That sounds simple enough..huh! Well hopefully it will be. Mama we need you to come back and cook for us : ) He is having some pain in his neck which the doctor thinks is a swollen lymph node. He'll take some antibiotics for that. Everything else looks good with him. Tomorrow he starts chemo. The CT scan is scheduled for Dec. 3rd. Please pray specifically that the tumor has shrunk. He also starts Round 3 of chemo on that day.

OK. So that's it for now. I am going to enjoy watching The Office with Dave and the QUIET in this apartment since the kids are in the bed.....yay! I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.

Today was a very uneventful day at the Swinney apartment. The kids did alot of school and played lego's for hours. Today marks one month since Dave and I arrived in Houston for what we thought would be a week long trip. What a month it has been. Dave will see Dr. Ravi tomorrow and begin round 2 of chemo Friday. He has felt good this week. We have enjoyed him feeling good. We drove down to Galveston on Monday. We walked on the beach, put our feet in the ocean, and the kids played in the sand and picked up shells. There is something soothing about being near the ocean.

Samo turns 8 on Thursday. I think he has had a great birthday week. Happy Birthday Samuel!

Samuel's Birthday Celebration

Samuel will turn 8 on Thursday. Since Dave will have a doctor appointment that day, we decided to celebrate his bday today. The girls started the day by making him breakfast. Waffles with blueberries and toast surrounded by colorful goldfish. They gave him a book and $2. It was very sweet. We did our schoolwork, then we headed out for the afternoon. The first thing he wanted to do was ride the train around Hermann Park. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese for pizza and games. The kids had a blast. Samo and Dave played lots of air hockey. Dave and I had a good time too....playing ski ball. We finished the night out by going to Target for him to spend some of his bday money. One of the things he got was some new Lego's which should keep him busy for quite a while. It was a good day.

Notice Samuel's Alabama hat and his Texans shirt

Today Dave and Samuel got to go see the Houston Texans play the San Diego Chargers. They had a great time. Unfortunately the Texans lost. Samuel still had a great time. He told me ate nachos and cotton candy. I am so glad they got to do this. This will definitely be a day Samo won't forget....or Dave. I'm thankful for the days when Dave really feels good. He has been walking 2 miles each day........I've been walking with him :) Tonight after we got home I was standing on the balcony and I could see Dave and Samuel through the trees. Samuel had convinced Dave to go down and play football with him. As I watched them, I took a picture with my heart. I heard that phrase several years ago and I like it. I loved watching them play together.

The girls and I had some great girl time today. After we dropped Dave and Samo off, we went window shopping. It was so good to just be with them today. We laughed alot and they talked alot!! When we got home I painted their toenails and fingernails. For those of you who want to know......they have green toenails and purple fingernails. You gotta love the colors they choose.

Getting ready to deck the halls....

We painted some ornaments today to put on our Christmas tree. Everyone painted their own....except Dave. I just could not convince him that painting ornaments would be fun, so I painted one for him. We had fun and ended up with some pretty ornaments for our tree.

Today my sister Giny had a sweet baby boy. His name is William. He weighed 8lbs. 12oz. and was 21 inches long. We skyped with them after his birth and will get to hold him in about 7 weeks. We were sad not to be there, but are thankful that we got to see him and hear him cry through skype. Giny and the baby are doing great.




Today has been a very good day for Dave. We take advantage of days when he is feeling well. After his blood work this morning , we explored the city. We made a trip to Hobby Lobby to just look at all the Christmas stuff. We got some ornaments for the kids to paint. If you have ever visited us around the holidays, you know we love to decorate. We have several trees and lots of Christmas stuff. Since we will be in Houston for the holidays, we of course will not have all of our stuff. So I thought it would be good for us to make some things to decorate the apartment. Maybe have a real tree....I know, I know, it's only Nov. 3. I just can't help it. I love Christmas!!!!

We have had a nice afternoon of "family time". Our kids love some family time. Out here all we really have is family time. It's a good thing that we like to be together. The kids and I took a walk down to get a hot chocolate. Now we are working on putting a 1000 piece puzzle together. I'll leave you with a picture of family time :)

a good weekend and sad good byes

We had a really good weekend with some really great friends. Dave had a few really good days Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We took the kids to The Children's Museum on Saturday. It's kinda like the McWane Center in Birmingham. The kids wore their costumes and went on a scavenger hunt throughout the museum. Once they went to all the stations they would get a prize. So we went did all the the things they wanted to do in the museum and turned their papers in on the way out. Samuel was standing there thinking he would get a big bag of candy or some really cool toy......and they handed him a growth chart. He was totally not interested in that. He just turned and walked out. It was really funny at the time. But we did color the charts today and plan to chart their growth while we are in Houston. It will be fun to see if any of them grow while we are here. :) Our friends Christy and Jason flew out and spent the weekend with us. When Jason walked up he had a shaved head just like Dave. Oh how we miss all of our friends. It was so nice having them here. They went to the museum with us and to church with us on Sunday. Christy painted the girls nails and Jason wrestled and played football with Samuel. We love having people come to visit, but can hardly stand when they leave. We took my Mama to the airport this morning. She has been with us since the kids got here last Friday. She helped us move to the apartment and get settled into a routine. So we said all of our sad goodbyes this weekend.

Dave started getting a headache last night. He still has it. It is somewhat better this afternoon, but it has been a really hard day for him. The pain medicine he has doesn't help his headaches. There doesn't seem to be anything else he can take right now. His bloodwork is still good though.

I'll leave you with some pictures from the weekend.

Dave is doing much better today. He has been up alot more for the past two days. He slept alot better last night. The night before he was up all night. Not sure why he was having trouble sleeping but we were glad he slept better last night. Today he said "the days are really long". He is not use to being home this much and having nothing to do. His job right now is to get better. I had to change the bandage on his arm today for the first time. They require you to take two classes before you can get the supplies you need to do the heparin flushes and change the bandage. Dave said he was ready so I got all the supplies ready. I wish you could have seen the look on Dave's face while I was doing this. I have been doing the heparin flushes everyday, but this was the first time for the bandage change. He looked terrified. Definitely did not look like he had any confidence in my nursing skills. I am a Home Economics teacher by trade and have been a stay at home mommy for the past 10 years. Never had aspirations of being a nurse. So anyway I followed every single step and now he has a new clean bandage. I only have to this once a week. The reason it is such an important task is because the line runs into a major vein and you do not want any infection.

He said that every day has brought its own set of challenges. Whether it be the nausea, or exhaustion, or sleeplessness each day has been different.

I will have to compile a list of some of the interesting thing the kids have said and just write down some of the conversations we have had. It's bound to make for some interesting reading. I'll save that for another post.

We have been in Houston for two and a half weeks. It seems like so much longer than that. This week Dave only has to go for blood work. No appointments. The same for next week. His next appointment with Dr. Ravi will be Nov. 11. This is about the same time he will begin his next round of chemo. He is feeling alot better today. He is still really tired but the nausea is much better today.



The kids are getting adjusted to their new home away from home. We keep having to remind them that they live in an apartment. Its hard for kids not to run and drop stuff and simply be loud, well it is for our kids anyway. We have had two days of school so far. That is going well. Mama is still here with us, so she has been a big help with school. She has also been keeping our laundry done and making yummy meals. We will miss her when she goes home next week. Giny will be glad she is coming home to help her with baby William. He will arrive next Wednesday morning (unless he decides to come before then).



Driving in Houston has been an experience! So far I have driven down two different one way streets and nearly turned down the wrong way on a highway. People really like to honk the horn at you here. I am learning the roads though. I know my way to Super Target very well :) And our apartment is very close to the hospital. We mostly use the shuttle though. There are some museums close by and the zoo is near here also. We will have to get out and explore soon when Dave feels better.

A new hair cut and moving day

The last few days have been rough for Dave. He has had alot of nausea and been very tired. He had his first blood work this morning and all his labs were good. After his labs this morning he went for a hair cut. He looks very handsome with this new style. He said he looks like the other pastors at our church now.... :) ......with the exception of Aaron and Bruce.






These are pictures Mama took of us waiting on the shuttle back to the hotel.

We are moving into an apartment today. Living in a hotel room has proved more difficult than I thought. For one thing there is stuff piled EVERYWHERE!! This move will give the kids an area to play outside (Samuel has alot of energy he needs to run off) and a kitchen table where they can do their school work. Yes, school work.....they seemed surprised at this. I guess they thought they were on vacation. This will also give Dave a place to be alone when he is feeling bad. Also, we will have a kitchen so we can cook some vegetables!!

Hopefully Dave will start to feel better in a few days. He has been trying to take walk in the afternoon to keep his strength up. We know so many of you are praying for us and we appreciate it so much.

The kids made it to Houston safe and sound Friday night. Two of my sisters and their husbands brought them along with lots of our stuff. We are so glad to have them with us. We are all sad that Tracy, Bradly, Lori and Ryan are leaving tomorrow. We all cried and said our goodbyes tonight. Erin seemed to be the most sad of the kids. We cried for a while and said she didn't understand why they had to leave. She has such a tender heart. My mama came with them and she will be able to stay with us to help with the kids until Giny (my other sister) has her baby.

Today was the hardest day for Dave so far. We went this morning and they disconnected his pump so he is done with the medicine for this round. He has to go in for an injection Sunday morning and the next two weeks will be checking blood and platelets every other day. Then he will start the second round of chemo. He has been really tired the past couple of days. The nausea has been really bad today. He spent most of the day in the bed. He did get up for a while to watch the Alabama game and take a walk. The nurse said this may last for a few days. We are taking good care of him. Abby has been trying to keep the room as clean as possible and making sure his medicine is close by. She is such a big help. The kids actually went swimming today. It's October!!! We shouldn't be swimming...we should be wearing coats and drinking hot chocolate. I think its going to get cooler next week...Thursday to be exact. But the kids will swim until then.

Samuel has been running down the hall all day playing football. He has two jerseys....#12 and #22. So he would change jerseys depending who he wanted to be at the time. He has had this on all day. He wore this out to eat and to several stores today. This was an early birthday present from his Aunt Lori and Uncle Ryan. Needless to say, he loves it!!

2 days down

So far so good. Dave is doing really well. He has had a little nausea. He woke up last night around midnight and I gave him some medicine and he slept well for the rest of the night. He is trying to eat several small meals throughout the day. This will be a tough job for me making sure he eats enough. You know how some people eat for enjoyment, well Dave eats to live. I love to read cookbooks, look at recipe cites on the Internet, cook food, think about food, and especially eat good food. Dave just eats because he has to. So my mission is to keep him from losing weight. We went to the Super Target yesterday while he was hungry so he picked out lots of good food he will eat. I had to take two classes on CVC care.I took them both today. Tomorrow I have to demonstrate that I can do the heparin flush, change the cap, and change his bandage. So that is what we have been up to. We hope to have a more permanent address in the next few days. Just one day now until our rug rats arrive. That will surely liven up this hotel. For those of you with little ones who watch "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" on Disney, as you can just imagine, that is what my kids think this will be like. Thanks to all of you who are praying without ceasing.

Tomorrow is the day. The day it all begins. We are ready. Dave will begin chemotherapy at 8 am. Today Lindsey (Dr. Ravi's wonderful nurse) went through everything you never wanted to know about chemotherapy. Somehow it doesn't seem as scary now that we know more about it. He also had his PICC line put in today. The day started with him having a migraine but turned out to be a good day. We can both feel that people are praying. So he will go for treatment tomorrow through Saturday. Then for blood work on Monday Wednesday and Friday until November 11. That is the day he will see the doc again...unless he needs to before then. Speaking of November 11....that is the day our baby boy will be 8. We can hardly wait to see those kiddos on Friday. Tracy and Bradley have had their hands full with 6 kids for the past two weeks. Erin had strep throat, Samuel had a migraine and maybe a stomach bug, and they have all had some other stuff going on So Tracy and Bradley will need a vacation after they bring the kids to Houston. We have gotten to skype with them and they love that. They get so silly on the camera.

So as Dave would say.....Lets Do This!!!

Restful Weekend

This weekend we have gotten to explore this community. A few blocks away from our hotel is the Reliant Stadium where the Houston Texans play. We are very close to the hospitals. And there are a bunch of hospitals in the medical district. There is a Wal Mart close by...gotta have that. There are some stores in walking distance which will be nice when we just wanna get out and walk. The kids will love that there is a Toys R Us very close by. We went to church this morning. We found a church through the 9 Marks website. It was good . So much like Grace Fellowship. The people were so friendly. The first guy we met works at MD Anderson as a Sarcoma Research Assistant. This will be good to have a church to visit while we are here when Dave feels like it. We already miss our Grace Fellowship family so much. What a support system we have there.

So it has been a pretty restful weekend. Tomorrow we have an appointment to get educated on the catheter they will put in for chemo. Tuesday they will put it in. Wednesday is his first treatment. I think he will have treatment Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then the kids will be here Friday night. Soooo ready to see them. Also, it's warm here. I'm really, really ready for some cool...cold weather. Maybe by Thanksgiving we can wear a sweater :)

Friday's Appointment

I know everyone has been anxiously waiting with us all day. Dave will begin chemo on Wednesday. He will have 2 rounds then Dr. Ravi will check to see if the tumor has changed. Each round is 3 weeks. 3 days of chemo and every other day he will have blood work. All of this will be outpatient. He is glad about that. If the chemo is working, he will continue with more rounds and then check the tumor again. Then he will have radiation then surgery. The path report from this week revealed that everything was essentially unchanged since the fisrt ct scan. This has been a long day. Thank you all for praying for us.

Friday

Today Dave will see the doctor at 1:45. We will have a plan for the near future after this appointment. We have been looking at places to live while we're here. We are so ready for the kids to be here with us. Kids have a way of taking your mind off of things.

Dave's tests results this week have been good. Our doctor from Anniston has been able to look at these this week and let us know this info. So thankful for the little bits of good news. I'll update after the appointment.

Todays Appointment

Today's appointment didn't go as we had hoped. The difficult thing about LMS is that it moves through the blood stream. It also can't really be graded. Dr. Ravi is concerned that it is already traveling to other parts of the body. Dave has lots of tests this week and he will see Dr. Ravi again on Friday. So this is the plan. Dave will begin chemotherapy on Monday here at MD Anderson. Dr. Ravi said that after a few weeks he will be able to tell if the chemo is working to kill the cells. Then he will have radiation followed by surgery in about 6 months. They are watching the tumor react to the chemo and radiation before they remove it. Dr. Ravi is glad that he is able to treat Dave from the beginning. Had the tumor been removed, he feels like more cancer would have occurred elsewhere in the body. Chemotherapy is a must!

Today was difficult. So please continue to pray for our family. Our kids will be joining us here next week. We miss them!

Today during the pep rally the students, faculty, and parents all wore purple LMS ribbons to honor Dave. This was such a sweet time. One of his precious students prayed for him in front of the whole student body before the pep rally. Here are a couple of pictures I got.

Our family after the pep rally

The Senior Band Members

This is the site to read more about LMS...... http://www.nlmsf.org

Family Photos

Last Monday we had some family pictures made. Thank you to Millie Nelson...she is the best photographer ever. This was such a fun photo shoot. The weather was perfect. It was rainy and cloudy up until time for our pictures. Then as we were beginning, we saw a beautiful rainbow. It was great. So here are a few of our pictures.

handwriting today

Today for Handwriting, I asked Samuel to write a story. I gave him a cute little sheet of writing paper with a big truck on it. I told him to write about anything he wanted to write about. This was his story just as he wrote it...spelling and all :)

My Momy and Dady are goeing to Texas.
I am not goeing to crie.
I am goeing to stay wis my aunt.
We are goeing to hav so much fun.
I am goeing to get my new DS gam.
The End

I almost cried when I read this. A little background for ya....Samuel does not spend the night away from home... EVER!!! The only times he has had to in the past year is when Dave and were in Hawaii and when we took another short trip.....and when I was in the hospital. He just wants to be at home. So, a couple of weeks ago he and I took a walk on a Friday afternoon. I got a chance to talk with him about his Daddy and how important it is for him to go to this hospital. It was like after that that he was OK with whatever we needed him to do. Amazing. So for him to actually be somewhat excited about staying somewhere other than home, and somewhere Dave and I aren't going to be is pretty great!

Tomorrow we will work on that spelling :)

The Weekend

The first picture is of Dave and Samuel watching the Alabama game last night. He never misses and opportunity to cuddle with Daddy on the couch.

Today we had a baby shower for my youngest sister Giny. She is expecting baby #2 in about a month. William will definitely have plenty to wear. I have never seen so much blue!!

Dave is ready to see the doctor. We hope to have a pretty normal week of school and activities this week. The kids are looking forward to spending the week with Aunts and Uncles and cousins while we are gone. We are so thankful to have so many people who love our kids. That will be one thing we don't have to worry about while we are gone.