Scan Day

Today is Scan Day. We are at MDA now waiting for Dave to have the CT scan. He had blood work and xrays already this morning. His platelet count has been very low for a few days which has caused him to have pretty bad nose bleeds. They were back up to 40 today so they didn't have to give him any blood today...thank goodness. Normal platelet counts are 140-440. His had dropped to 27 on Thursday. I guess the more chemotherapy you have the more worn down your body becomes. So now we wait until Tuesday to see Dr. Ravi and get results. Thankfully, John, one of Dave's buddies is coming in on Sunday for a few days. This will help to keep his mind off the scan results. It will also be great having someone with us on results day. That seems to always be a hard day for us. Right now I am watching Dave drink the yucky drink he has to drink before the scan. Our sweet friend Sarah is keeping the kids today. She lives here in Houston and has been such a help to us. She is a friend of Debbie who is our friend in Anniston. We met her after a couple of months of being in Houston. She and her husband invited us into their home for dinner. I will never take for granted how nice it is to be in someones home. After a couple of months of hotels and apartment living it was so nice to be in their home. Our kids love her which makes it so nice to leave them with her.

Before I leave you today, I wanted to tell you a story about our nurse in the ER the other night. Dave was in alot pain when we got there. The good thing about the ER at MDA is that you don't have to wait long. He waited maybe 10 minutes before they got him back. After he was all settled his nurse J gave him pain medication. She stood at the end of the bed and rubbed his legs for a few minutes afterwards. I had to leave to go back out to the waiting room with the kids. I guess it was around 2 in the morning she came walking by me and went out of sight for a while. A little while later she came back and leaned over my shoulder and said " I've been in the chapel praying for your family." Then she kissed my cheek and went back upstairs to Dave. He said during the night she would rub his head. She had so much compassion for his pain. What a blessing it was to have J as our nurse.

The "I can't think of a title" blog post

We are finally home (the apartment home not home home). We got here about 10 this morning. It was a long night. Dave is feeling much better. The x ray showed that he has degenerative spine. The doctor still thinks the pain was coming from the neulasta shot. She said she sees this alot in the ER. We are always hesitant about going to the ER but always glad we went when all is said and done. It was hard to see him in that much pain last night. We are so glad he is doing better this morning. His blood counts are really low, so he is going to take it easy today. We go on Saturday morning for the CT scan. Thank you all for praying for us last night. I will leave you with a couple of pictures of the kids in the waiting room.



Don't you wish you could sleep anywhere like that.

Another trip to the ER

Today Dave started having severe pain in his lower back. It got worse as the day went on. It was so bad around 7:30 tonight we brought him to the hospital. The gave him dilaudid and within minutes his pain was gone. It lasted for about and hour and a half and then the pain was back. They gave him more and now he is sleeping. The doctor thinks the pain is coming from the neulasta shot he got on Friday. I can't really explain it, but it has something to do with the shot and bone marrow. Friday was his 4th neulasta shot. She said it wears on your body just like the chemo. He is going to have an x ray and they are giving him phosphorus.....because it was low. I learn something new everyday. So the kids and I are in the waiting area....waiting! I have been going back and forth from the kids to Dave. Samuel just got his second wind so this could be a long night. Not crazy about the security in the waiting area.....that's another story!!! Have I mentioned lately how much I hate cancer? On the way to the hospital Dave was in alot of pain and Samuel was crying. He told me after we let Dave out at the ER that he didn't know why anybody invented cancer. So hard for little minds to understand....so hard for big minds to understand.

I'll update as soon as we know more. Hopefully he will get to go home tonight.

We have been waiting for what seems like forever for this road to open. You can go here to read the article. Anniston Star - Anniston to open parkway at 1 p m Wednesday I wish we were there to drive it. This will make it so much easier to get to Oxford. It will also make it much easier for Dave to get from the church to the school for work each day. He can't wait to get home and back to those two jobs!!

Dave was feeling better today so we got out for a little while. We went to Pearland, Texas which is just down the road. We walked around some stores and got something to eat. I'm glad he felt like getting out. He said the walls were closing in on him at the apartment. It was a good day.

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This and That

While I was cleaning up tonight, I found what Samuel had been doing all afternoon. He is very organized with his toys. I love this. I always say "organized play is fun play" :)

These are pictures of the whole battle. Look how he has everything lined up.




It's really fun to listen to him play...all the sounds he makes for the action figures and animals...

This week has been hard. We are really anxious about the doctor visit. Dave has not felt great either. Each round of chemotherapy wears him down a little more. This week he just has blood work two days and of course the scan is on Saturday. We hope to get alot of school done this week. School is going very well. We have lots of time during the day, so we are trying to make the most of it. We are reading the through The Chronicles of Narnia series. We are in the first book now The Magicians nephew. I think I am enjoying this more than the kids. We took Lori to the airport after church. We loved having her here. She was such a big help to me. She kept laundry going and the kitchen cleaned. She was my workout partner every night. She kept the kids while Dave had chemo. She took the kids ice skating and shopping and for pizza.....they also got really lost, but we won't talk about that :) I really miss my sisters! We are really missing home right now. We know why we are here. It is important for us to be near MDA for treatment. I have realized something about myself this week. In everything I do I have the attitude of "let's get this done". I like to make a list and check things off. So....that is how I have been looking at this situation. I think it hit me this week that I can't look at cancer like that. I can't put a big check mark by chemo and not ever think of it again. I realize for now this is our life. So I have been dealing with that this week. It's hard because I really want things to be normal...and sometime they are....even if just for an hour or two. I guess for now I just have to know this is our new normal, at least for today. I have said before, the emotional roller coaster is the worst thing. Many people have asked how the kids are. They are great. They are happy. They sing alot. They love us and are just happy as long as they are with us. They miss their friends, but they don't complain about wanting to go home. Their home is where their Mama and Daddy are....I love that.

Psalm 121

These are the verses that seem to comfort me right now.

They are always on my mind.

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Chemotherapy Day

Today Dave is having his gem/tax. He will be done soon. He has taken the steroid so hopefully he will have a better experience with this medicine than he did last time. I find myself getting very anxious as we wait for the 25th. We see Dr.Ravi that day and find out the results of the scan. I could write so much more about the emotions we are having this week. I'll do that later. Now I will leave you with a couple of pictures from the hospital this morning. Oh....and did I say how thankful I am that Lori is here this week. What a help having her here to be with the kids....and they love it!!