Delayed

Ok!!  So we are still at the hospital.  The doctor didn't think Dave was quite ready to leave this morning and then did not want us to leave late in the afternoon. We should be on our way home in the morning.  We were sad not to leave, but it was a good thing.  Dave had a rough day of nausea.  Alrighty then.  Gonna read and try to get some sleep....cannot wait to sleep in a bed!!

almost time to head home

Dave is doing really well.  He is getting to go home tomorrow.....and I am driving him.  All 12 hours.  Yep. 12 hours.  Stopping every two hours to let him walk around....and me too.  I'm sure I will need to stretch my legs too. :)  He has a big ole incision site.  He also is going home with one drain in his abdomen.  I was wondering why they did his surgery the way they did, so I asked the doctor.  I know that most of the time hernia surgeries are done by laparoscopy and it is an outpatient surgery.  They chose to do Dave's surgery the way they did because he already had such a big incision from the cancer surgery and they needed to be prepared if he ever had to have another abdominal surgery. We sure hope he doesn't, but you never know.  They actually went in and cut out the tissue and sewed it all back up.  They did not use any kind of mesh with him....for the same reason, in case they ever have to go back in.  Now that is my explanation from what the doctor told us.  Anyway, he is doing great.  We discovered the show Duck Dynasty today.  We watched like 5 episodes.  It is hysterical.  Dave made me turn it because it was all he could do not to laugh and laughing with a big ole incision does not feel good.  He had to take pain meds and now he is asleep.  But seriously, I think that may be my new favorite tv show.


 I am missing Abby, Erin and Samuel like crazy.  I cannot wait to get home and spend the rest of the summer with them!!  Hopefully this will be our last big time away from them for a long while.

In Recovery

Dr. Pollock just came out and told me everything went well. They opened him back up in the same incision as his first surgery.  He had to put two drains in Daves abdomen that will be there for several days.  They said he will definitely be sore for a while.  He also told me he should not do any heavy lifting for 8 weeks!  I know he will be glad to have this surgery behind him.  It's always hard being at this hospital.  I have chatted with several families today with family members having very serious surgeries.  Bladders removed, parts of esophagus and stomach removed, prostate removed.....a 2 year old with a tumor behind her eye.  I remain so thankful for God's providence in Dave's cancer.  From finding it early, to being able to have in treated at MD Anderson.  Thanks for praying for him today.  I should get to see him around 3:00 and then hopefully he will be moved to his room soon after that.

9 month scans..... CLEAR!!

We are so thankful that Dave's 9 month scan was all clear.  Now he will have his hernia surgery on June 5th.  He is looking forward to having this repaired so he can be more active.  Now we just have to keep him from doing anything strenuous over the summer.  We came to Houston without the children this time.  Since Dave will be in the hospital for a few days it just seemed easier to leave them with my parents.  Usually I have a really hard time leaving them because they are sad and don't want us to leave.  Not so this time.  They are basically having a two week vacation at the lake.  Fishing, playing in the sand, riding in the boats, inner tubing, jet skiing, spending time with cousins, and so much more.  I am so thankful for family to take care of them while we are away.  They take as good or better care of them than I do!!  So Dave and I have had a little time to explore Houston.  We love this city.  Even as hard as last year was, we still made some great memories here.  We also made some great friends.  Even though scan time is such a hard time, we do look forward to coming out to see the Pruets.  They are always such gracious hosts.  We had appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday at MD Anderson.  Yesterday we spent the day out and about.  With the business of home and all of our responsibilities, we hardly ever get a full day to just hang out together.  We had coffee at Buffalo Grille, walked around IKEA, went to a movie, and ate dinner at Cafe Pita...yum!  Today we  spent the day with Sarah.  She took us on an adventure!!  We had lunch in Round Top at the best little cafe. I had a piece of chocolate chip pie that was the best EVER. We then drove through College Station and got a look at the campus of the newest SEC team Texas A&M. 

Thought I would share a few pictures of the kids that I have gotten though texts!  Makes me happy to know they are having fun.

This is Erin in her element.....surrounded by a bunch of little girls.

Samuel's first fish!!

Abby reals in one fish after another...her secret....loaf bread.

sorry for such a dark picture....Abby and Erin both caught a fish at the same time while doing some night fishing!

9 month scans

Tomorrow Dave will have his 3rd scan since surgery. We are traveling to Houston today. We made a stop in New Orleans for lunch and walked around for a bit. We came to the the conclusion today that we don't really love New Orleans. It smells bad, it's hot, and there is really nothing we enjoy doing there. There are three things we do like....visiting the seminary, eating yummy food, and having coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Dave will be having surgery next Tuesday.

 My blogs have been few and far between lately.  We have been busy with school.  The kids took SAT's a couple of weeks ago.  We are 4 weeks away from completing this school year.  I am always burned out by this time of year.  I cannot trust my emotions the last couple of months of school.  I usually am ready to give up and enroll everyone in a school somewhere by this time of year.  But....we will make it...only 21 more days :)


We have also been busy with Relay for Life. That is the big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.   We have a huge Relay in our county. Last year while we were in Texas our church started a team. They worked so hard last year and raised over $6000.  This year I am the team leader.   Our big fundraiser this year has been a cookbook.  It turned out really well.  If you would like to buy one just comment on this post and I would be glad to get you one.  They are $12.  The actual Relay for Life event is May 11th and 12th at the soccer fields on McClellan.  If you live in our area please come out and be involved.


Dave has his next scan on May 29th which is also Abby's 12th birthday.  He will also be having surgery to fix his incisional hernia while we are there.   Dave has been setting up these appointments and it has caused him to have a bit of scanxiety a little early.  Not bad.....but just having to think about all that is a little much.  I don't know if I have gone one day since he was diagnosed without thinking about cancer.  I know there are days I don't think about it as much, but it is always there.  Dave was telling me he looks at this blog from time to time just reading back to what we were doing  last year. Everyone who lives around here remembers what they were doing this time last year.  April 27th was a day of terrible tornadoes in Alabama.  Many people were killed statewide.  We were home from Houston on that day.  We all got in our basement bathroom and rode out the storms that passed through our area. We had no damage, but some our neighbors just miles north lost everything.  People are still rebuilding.  We left and flew back Houston on the 28th.  You could see the devastation from the sky.  Just another reminder of how fleeting life is.

Spring is here.  Well we've almost completely skipped spring and jumped into summer.  It has been absolutely beautiful lately....and HOT.  We have been working in our back yard alot over the past few weeks.   It finally came together this week. I snapped some pictures of our progress.

a little school on the trampoline while we were burning the wood.

We had to burn all of the wood before we could plant grass.

Swing...before

and again from a different angle....with the new frame

Today's project....painted the swing black.  Frame has to be painted later :)

we even have some grass coming up :)

the view from the deck......100% improvement!!

We had our Project Fair and Geography Bee at ACA a couple of weeks ago.  All three kiddos did projects and participated in the Bee. Abby's team came in first place.  We all learned alot about while we were preparing for this.

The kids have been kinda sad because we didn't get to have Spring Break this week.  We had to take a week off when we went to Houston, so that had to count as our Spring Break. :(    But they are getting a couple days off due to a doctor appointment and Kids Market.  I guess two days off is better than nothing.