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.