Coming Soon...

I'll be writing more in a couple of days.

Photos. Commentary. Good Times.

Frolicking

...in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

Where are you?

We have been getting along. Very busy trying to find the "new normal". Making adjustments, trying different things. Some work, some don't. Ups and Downs. Working together. Having good days and bad days.

Your prayers are still greatly needed. We appreciate all the love and support we are receiving.

Pray specifically for the girls too, that they will adjust well and lean on the Lord for their strength.

Pray for me, that I would make wise decisions (all of them! :) ).

I will try and post more later...

Update on the girls

Both of the girls have upper respiratory infections. They are both on antibiotics, but we are really just keeping the temperatures under control and waiting it out.


They are still cute though... :) I always told Donna she made cute babies.

Overwhelmed!

Words cannot express the overwhelmed feelings I am feeling. We have suffered a loss that is unlike anything we've ever experienced. We've encountered trials that we never imagined we would go through. I cannot tell you how much I miss Donna. I cannot tell you how much I miss Donna for me and for the girls. My favorite picture of her stares me in the face, every time I sit down in our favorite coffee spot in the house. I look at it and think, "Oh honey,..." How I wish she were here. How I wish to tell her so many things. How I wish I could ask her so many questions.

...but God

God is providing. He is providing for me and the girls like I never would have imagined. And in so many ways. Every need is being met... and much more. I see God's provision in so much of what is going on, that I'm ashamed that I doubt Him sometimes. Many times I want to try and "do something" to help Him out in some way. But what could I do?

I was talking with a good friend when Donna was in the hospital. They had been prayed that they would be able to "do" something for us. But he came to find out, that the "doing" was praying, and the "doing" was being faithful to God, and the "doing" was trusting in God in every circumstance, and not relying on our own feeble attempts. The "doing" is relying on Him; trusting in Him. That His will is good and perfect and always loving.

I still find myself trying to "do" things... and I have to catch myself, and turn back to relying on Him.

A favorite song of mine says, "[I'm] prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love..." How true that is of us who are still here. Donna is not prone to wander now... how cool is that!

Please continue to pray for me and the girls... they both are fighting something and have temperatures over 101. Probably take them to the Dr. tomorrow if they are still like this.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Met with the oncologist last evening. It was a "good news / bad news" kind of discussion.

The GOOD news:

1. What she was brought into the hospital for originally last Saturday (septic shock) has been cleared up.
2. All her vitals are good and stable. She is only on a small amount of IV fluids now and a small amount of antibiotics. They are no longer monitoring her heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen all the time.
3. She is physically gaining strength back.
4. Her "fight" is good. She has a good attitude.

The BAD news:

1. The chemo drug being used for her treatment is no longer working (Abraxane). The Dr. said it probably worked 20% - then did not work any longer after the initial improvement. We knew it was working initially as she began feeling better and most indications showed that she was improving.
2. The latest CT scan has shown the lesions on the liver are bigger and worse. I didn't think to ask what "worse" meant at the time, but I will later. Did it mean that it is now more aggressive? Does it mean there are now more lesions? I'll need to clarify this more when we talk again.
3. The main issue now is the liver. She still has fluid build up and swelling in the abdomen and legs.
4. Her mouth is still extremely sore and she is still having a hard time eating much real food. She is able to drink a lot of water and cranberry juice, so that's good.

Is there a new plan?

1. The Dr. is going to change her chemo regimen since the Abraxane is no longer having effect. They need something that is not as hard on the liver. They said they will have a plan by Wednesday this coming week. They have some options, but finding a chemo that is "easy" on the liver is the challenge, there are not that many.
2. She may have more fluid drained. They have not decided on this yet, but think this may happen on Monday. This is the same procedure that was so painful before. They will be putting her under for this procedure this time.

What can she do in the meantime?

1. She needs to push herself to eat. This will help get her strength back.

How is she doing - really?

1. The situation is still very serious. Now with the Sepsis gone, the concern turns back to the liver. I asked the Dr. about the break she had in chemo when the kidney stone situation arose. He said we might have had a CT scan a couple of weeks earlier if she had stayed on course and we would have found out a little earlier. That was less time than I had thought, but it would still have taken time to get through the chemo and have a CT scan. So, basically we are 2 weeks behind where we would have been.
2. Her attitude is good - she is ready to fight. But we know that our strength only comes from one place - Jesus Christ. Our lives are in his hands.

What can you do?

1. Pray for healing for her body.
2. Pray that she would be able to eat more.
3. Pray for no nausea.
4. Pray for the girls and me - for understanding, perspective, and peace.

Sola Deo Gloria!

Down for the CT scan now

Donna is down for her CT scan right now. They are going from the pelvis all the way up to the brain.

She seems more alert to me today. Her mouth is still really sore. She said she is feeling better today. It seems like she is able to take more down, although, she did not have hardly anything for breakfast.

She took the CT contrast easily today, so that was an answer to prayer!

We were told by the ICU nurse that the results would be available today. I called our chemo nurse, and she said that the oncologist will be out this afternoon. This may be why he said he would discuss the results tomorrow at 5pm, but if we can, I'm pushing to find out today. The results will be what they will be, but I'd like to know today if I could.

If I find out today, you will too.

I know there are so many people praying for Donna and for me and the girls. That means so much to us. We thank you more than we can express.

We're Coming Mama!

Donna called and we can come and get her ASAP.

We are all excited, but guess who is most excited?

The Boy

Day at the Spa

Actually, I'm getting chemo today.

When I had my first round of chemo, Scott and the girls came with me. There weren't many patients there, so my nurse let the girls sit in the recliners and watch movies, listening with headphones. She covered them with warm blankets and gave them root beer to drink. She gave them pink backpacks full of little goodies. At one point, Emily looked over at me, smiled and said, "We're doing this for you, Mom!"

Please pray for my blood work today. We want high numbers for white and red blood cells, but very low numbers for liver enzymes. I'll update later... Thank you!

UPDATE: I'm feeling good today. My red and white blood cell counts were very good. I was disappointed because the liver enzymes were slightly higher than they have been, but my oncologist wasn't concerned and expects them to go back down.

Church Signs

Do you ever wonder why some churches put such cheezy sayings on their signs?

I was made aware of a website, where you can make your own and put a customized message on it. I did this for my girls this morning, and I told them that they had to look at these signs I just happened to find on the internet.

Now, our church, does not have one of these signs, but I used our church name anyway. The girls thought they were real and the look on their faces was so funny.

I first did one for Rachel...

Then one for Emmy...

They were both so surprised to see the signs with their names on it... That's when the fun started!

They both got into it. Emily did one (but we didn't save it). Rachel, our 11 year old, is so funny sometimes. Here's her's... notice the LONG service time! :).

Try it out...!

Fun Times

We wanted to share some fun pictures with you all. We took these last night. Donna wanted to get some good pictures with the girls. Here is the first one. This is the good one.

This next one is Biscuit using his "evil powers" to try and make me get a treat for him.

Then the fun one, where they are pretending to be on a roLLer coASTer.

And finally, one with Scott, and his uncanny ability to close his eyes each time there is a camera flash. It's unmatched!

Again, we thank you all for praying for us. We know the Lord is with us and we are under His care.

Donna goes for her 3rd chemo tomorrow. Pray that it goes well and that she feels good in the days after.

Thanks!