We did it! Last week of school over!

Our busy week is over! This week was filled with dance dress rehearsals, dance recitals, school awards assemblies, graduation ceremonies! With all these things we attended Paul realized one thing…it hurts to clap. I assume that is a part of the neuropathy. He chose to give thumbs up instead of clapping.

We are glowing parents after this week, we are so proud of our children. It definitely makes us smile to see them making such big accomplishments in their young lives. It is a joy to see them loving God, loving others, and loving life.

Now that school is over and our busy lives are settling down for a while, our children have gone to Hooker to stay for the first week of summer. Although, we miss them dearly, as adults we have some sleep we need to catch up on. I also have some housework to catch up on.

We are definitely filling the rest of our weekend resting and enjoying the time we have with just the two of us. Next Wednesday is chemo again and we will start the next rollercoaster ride. The ride of Paul feeling bad for a several days before he will fill good again!

Got Flamingos?? We do!

This morning we were surprised by a flock of pink flamingos in our front yard! What a pleasant surprise it was. The note on the door says “anonymous” made a donation to the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" and recommended our yard as the perfect place for the flamingos to rest for the day. Thank you!

The sign in the yard lets those that drive by know it is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

This is a time that I must say thanks to everyone. This journey is not easy; Paul has good days and bad days. It seems we are on a rollercoaster at times. I must admit I have a few bad days myself. But I know you are out there praying for us! Things like this make me smile, knowing we have all your support. We just continue to take one day at a time, but look forward to the day we can finish this chapter in our lives.

Today, we are happy to have a flock of pink flamingos in our yard. We just have a couple of busy days left this week, then hopefully a relaxing weekend. Paul is wearing down; I know he must be looking forward to the weekend as much as I am.

Unfortunately the flock of pink flamingos were moved to their next destination at 6:15 tonight. Tomorrow some other family will awake to a yard full of flamingos like we did!

Memorial Weekend Over

It's official, Brent finished his high school education at HHS. It was a memorable event, he is a member of the centennial class at HHS.

We headed out of Amarillo Saturday morning. Paul drove the entire 2 1/2 hours while I took comfort in the co-pilot seat. We went to graduation and to the celebration lunch with many family and friends of our nephew Brent. That was all it took for Paul to tire out and he spent nearly the entire rest of the day sleeping.

Sunday we drove back to Amarillo with a stop in Dumas to visit Paul's parents. While visiting with them we were able to see Paul's brother and his family as well as Paul's aunts and uncles. It was great to see everyone, we certainly enjoyed the visit.

We made the final jaunt back to Amarillo and spent the rest of Memorial Day weekend catching up on much needed rest.

The kids only have a few more days of school left, but they are busy ones. Hopefully this busy week won't wear Paul completely out!

Memorial Weekend and Chemo Weekend combined

This morning I am waking up early to get everything ready so that we can go see our nephew's graduation. It is hard to believe that Brent is graduating from high school today. If you came to our wedding, Brent was our little ring bearer. On that day he was dressed in a little tuxedo. Although he was only 4 then, he looked so grown up and handsome. He was a great kid then and has turned into a great man today. Brent, we are very proud of you.

I really hope that when Paul wakes he feels like going. Chemo weekends are full of fatigue and yesterday was no different, the fatigue set in about 2:00 PM. So I hope he wakes in the next couple of hours feeling refreshed and ready to drive two and a half hours to the graduation. If he is able to go, I am thinking he must be our driver. The OKC trip made me aware that he isn't the best passenger, I am hoping that driving instead will keep away the road sickness!

Other than that, we don't have many Memorial weekend plans. I will certainly let you know if Paul is able to go!

4 months and counting...

Many of you may know this story, but our journey actually began on January 19th of this year. After having pain on and off for nearly a month, the pain during early morning hours of January 19th is what brought Paul to the conclusion that he must go to the doctor. He went that morning and the first CT scan on that day showed kidney stones and an enlarged lymph node. This is when the whirlwind of doctors visits, surgeries, and different diagnosis started.

He had kidney stones; they knew that for a fact. But the enlarged lymph node in the belly was a concern. The first PET scan was on the 21st of January and with that he got his first cancer diagnosis…lymphoma. Despite all the pain of the kidney stones, we went to see our first oncologist and after a slew of blood tests, it was determined Paul didn’t have lymphoma. Whew! We thought we just had to get rid of the kidney stones and our lives could go back to normal. Getting rid of those stubborn stones was not as easy as expected, it took two surgeries before they were finally gone! In the meantime a couple of weeks had passed, all the while Paul in immense pain. Although they were giving him pain medicine, it didn’t seem to affect the pain. And although the kidney stones were gone, the pain was not. This is when things really were scary for me.

It was obvious he was in tremendous pain, but at this point they didn’t know why he had pain….or what was causing it. Now we had been from our family practitioner, to urologist, to oncologist, to urologist, and now to gastroenterologist. A colonoscopy was scheduled, with the thought we would be able to rule out something else, but that was when the tumor was found. The gastroenterologist took a biopsy and scheduled us to see another oncologist. With yet another PET scan and CT scan, it was determined Paul would be undergoing chemotherapy and would need a port for the infusions. A new pain medicine was introduced, in hopes to help him with pain. Surgery was scheduled for a port placement and to take some lymph nodes out of his neck. We found out the lymph nodes were enlarged because of metastatic colon cancer, and we were ready to get started treating this disease.

Within a week of having the chemo port put in, Paul was going in for his first chemotherapy. Today he is getting chemotherapy #6, and at this point we are really unsure how many he will need. There will be 12 at least. If he needs more than 12, they will change chemo medications and keep going.

I wouldn’t have ever guessed this is what would be going on in our lives. It is hard to believe that 4 months have came and gone. In all honesty, there are days that Paul doesn’t even remember because of the horrible pain he was experiencing. I was so happy when the doctor was able to get his pain under control…and even happier now that he doesn’t take near the pain medicine he did in the beginning. That itself speaks for the healing going on in his body.

Simple task big accomplishment

We had a great weekend. As you may have already noticed…I don’t post a lot on weekends. I am unsure why I don’t, just busy I guess. So I am going to try to get better at posting on the weekends and I apologize for the delay.

Friday evening Paul worked on our pickup. It had been making some racket for a while, and on Friday he actually felt up to fixing it. Paul has always been one to do things himself. He doesn’t much care to take our cars into the shop; he would much rather do the work himself.

It doesn’t matter to me either way, but I grew up with my dad always working on something. Although dad never taught me how to work on cars, I have always helped out. From the time I was little I have been the “tool runner”, getting the tools needed while dad worked on cars or machinery. This still seems to be the case. I try to help Paul, by getting what he needs to get the job done.

Our friend Jeremy came over and the guys were able to get the pickup all fixed. What a BIG relief!
I know it may sound crazy, but I think Paul enjoyed it! Sometimes the simple things give us a great sense of accomplishment. Even though this wasn’t an extremely simple task, it gives us a great feeling it is completed and we can mark it off our list of “to do’s”! Not only am I thankful we were able to mark it off our list…but I am also thankful that Paul felt up to getting it done! I am hoping you were able to tackle and accomplish something on your “to do” list this weekend too!

I Can Cope

Paul and I attended our first “I Can Cope” class last night. I Can Cope is an educational program for people facing cancer—either personally, or as a friend or family caregiver. This wonderful program is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

This was something that we had looked forward to for a couple of days because the speaker was going to talk about nutrition. I have watched Paul lose a tremendous amount of weight and not eat much for the first few days after each chemo treatment. I have worried about nutrition and the lack of energy from being undernourished, so this is why we both saw the need to go.

What a tremendous evening. The speaker was a local dietician giving us all kinds of tips on staying nourished and hydrated. What to eat and how much. They had tips on what to do on the days when Paul just doesn’t think he can stomach much, so that we wouldn’t see any additional weight loss. We were also able to meet with others going through different stages of cancer. We discussed with other attendees the things they use to manage their nutrition also. What a great feeling to be in a room with other people asking the same questions we ask!

We were given a wonderful cookbook at the end that has recipes to address specific medical needs. There are recipes specifically addressing things such as neutropenia, diarrhea, constipation, sore mouth, and even high calorie/high protein options. Paul and I are both excited to “dig in” to some of these new dishes.

We enjoyed this class so much; that we have already decided we want to make it to the next meeting, the topic is …Fatigue!

As with anything going on in our lives…it is a great feeling to connect with others going through the same thing.

Medical Terminology #3

Medical Terminology #3

There are many side effects of cancer treatments. One that has just recently struck Paul for the first time during his journey is mouth sores or oral mucositis.

Cancer-related mouth sores are sores or ulcers that form on the lining of the inside of the mouth or on the lips. From what I understand the sores appear burn-like and are painful, making it difficult for Paul to eat (which is something I think he needs to do more of!) Some people even have a difficult time talking, swallowing, or breathing because of the sores in their mouths or on their lips. These sores can appear on any of the soft tissues of the lips or the mouth, including the gums, tongue, or the roof and floor of the mouth.

You may ask…How do cancer treatments cause mouth sores?
Chemotherapy causes mouth sores because it is intended to kill rapidly growing cells — such as cancer cells. Some healthy cells in your body also divide and grow rapidly, including the cells that line the inside of your mouth. Since chemotherapy affects all cells, these healthy cells are also damaged. The damage to the cells in the mouth also makes it difficult for the mouth to heal itself and to fend off bacteria, leading to sores and infections.

At this time, Paul is trying to make it through this episode of mouth sores by simply maintaining his good oral hygiene. There are some things they can give to help with these types of episodes; I just pray this will be his only episode and the treatments for mouth sores are not necessary during his journey.

I have explained mouth sores as I understand them. I don’t claim to be a medical professional, I leave that to those that have that calling. As I have said before, if anyone knows of anything I have misstated, please contact me or leave a comment so I can update the information.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend was yet another cool weather weekend. We didn't do anything very exciting over the weekend, I wish we had so at least I would have something good to write.

Like most days 3-5 of chemo - Paul is tired, he slept the biggest portion of the weekend. These are the days that he is extremely fatigued, just getting up and taking a shower can be tiring on these days. When Paul is having days like this, the kids and I try to find things to do outside the house, so we don't disturb him. It was a beautiful day yesterday, so Gigi, the kids, and I made our way to Belmar Park. There have been many improvements to the park over the last couple of years, it is a great place to enjoy the beautiful weather.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day -- not only was I showered with adorable handmade gifts from the kids, I was also able to spend some time with by my mom (Gigi) and Paul's mom. I hope all mothers had a wonderful day yesterday, just as I did!

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer, I encourage all to participate. Here is an excerpt about this day from the official website.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America's leaders and its families.

The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.

Paul is taking in the National Day of Prayer by resting, I am glad he is able to do that and hope that he gets caught up on some much needed rest.

What’s the news of the day?

The good news, the lymph nodes are all shrinking, as well as some shrinking in the tumor! We are thankful for that. God is good! We are so blessed. We didn’t realize until today the extent of the amount in the liver and they even told us about some in the pelvic bone. You are probably asking the same question as me, do we treat it differently now? The answer is no. More than likely it was all there from the beginning just didn’t see it in previous scans.

So what now? Just keep getting the same chemo every two weeks, and they will check it again after a few more sessions. But I will tell you this and I want you to feel comfort in it; Paul looks better and feels better than he did two months ago and also the lymph and the tumor are responding to treatment, so that is good! Keep lifting Paul up in prayer, with Him we will make it through this journey.

Upcoming Chemo #5

It seems hard to believe, Paul goes in for chemotherapy #5 tomorrow. Some days seem to last forever and some pass by in the blink of an eye. I would never wish this journey on anyone, but I will say it has changed my perspective on many things. Many things in life seem so important until you enter one of life's trials. I understand the importance of every minute; and am so blessed that you spend your precious minutes praying for us and reading about us.

Life is precious, and unfortunately before this journey I didn't realize how precious. Don't be like me--don't hold back--let people know you care about them. Just let your heart be your guide.

I will post again late tomorrow, after chemo #5!

Cool restful weekend

We had a wonderful weekend! We enjoyed some time in the great outdoors at Palo Duro Canyon. It was a cool weekend, but as Paul said, "at least it wasn't hot and windy".

As most people say about chemotherapy, when you're feeling great, then it's time you go back for more! Paul goes back on Wednesday and I can't wait for them to tell us about the CT scan from last Wednesday. I just know it will be good news!

Medical Terminology #2

Back on March 4, Paul had day surgery. There were two things accomplished at the surgery, first the surgeon removed some questionable lymph nodes from the left side of Paul’s neck (which were malignant) and to put in a “port”. I am going to try my best to explain a port today. There may be several types of ports but the port that Paul has is called a PowerPort.

A port is a device placed under the skin. Paul’s is placed on the right side of his upper chest. This triangular device has a hollow space inside that is sealed by a soft top. The device connects to a small flexible tube which is inserted inside a large central vein that delivers blood to Paul’s heart. When Paul goes to the office for chemo, they put a special needle through the skin and into to the soft top of the port. This allows them to draw blood or inject IV medications. There are many benefits to this, but the biggest to Paul is he isn’t getting IVs all the time. Because the port places medications into the large central vein instead of the small peripheral veins, like most IVs, the medications mix more thoroughly in the blood, diluting them so they are less harmful to the vascular system. Although it sounds impossible, when the nurse accesses the port, it is basically painless to Paul.

In a nutshell, a port is a device they put under the skin. With a special needle, they can access the port and draw blood or inject Paul’s IV meds. This allows the chemotherapy meds to be infused into a large central vein in his body nearly painlessly.

Once again, I have no medical training. If anyone with any medical training finds anything that I have misstated please let me know so I can correct. If, by chance, I didn’t explain it clearly, you can read about the PowerPort here.