Why does this feel familiar???

Last year about this time Roy had his left knee replaced.  It was easy for him to have the surgery and for him rehab wasn't as hard as he expected.  His left knee felt so good afterwards that he knew that he would go ahead and have his right knee done sooner rather than later.

Then we ran into the little problem of discovering his cancer.  Thank you knee replacement for finding that sooner rather than later!  I don't think he really realized how bad his right knee was until the left knee felt so good.  He made the decision about a month ago to go ahead and have the right knee replaced, which he did today.  He is back in his room, not feeling any pain.  Ofcourse, his knee is still numb and will be until sometime tomorrow.  Then we'll see if there is no pain.  They will have him walking in the morning and in the afternoon.  He will come home from the hospital on Monday.  We really like his doctor and if you live in the metroplex we would recommend Dr. Taunton to anyone.  He has been used by many of our friends and we haven't heard anything negative about him.  The only negative thing that could be said, and this is really only Roy's negative, the food is catered at the hospital he is in.  They only have 16 beds and they bring food in from Cafe Express....foo foo food according to Roy.  Now, I love shrimp/avocado salad...tuna sandwiches...pesto chicken.  I'm going have to take him Whataburgers!!!

So, here we go with rehab for the next several weeks.  There will be someone who comes to the house 3 days a week for awhile.  If the knee has no more problems than the other knee, he will do fine.
Two weeks after surgery last year was when Stan and Sherri's house burn and Roy was walking around looking at the results of the fire without using a cane or walker..so, we feel good about the future results of this surgery.

As far as the cancer is concerned, we have appointments the middle of March.  Please keep us in your prayers that the next set of tests show no cancer.  If so, we might beable to go 6 months without going to Houston.  We are so thankful for being allowed to enjoy our family at Christmas and have the quality of life that we have had this past 6 months...pretty cool, considering what we were facing last April...God is good to us.

God is in control and holding our hands

Linda

I have to laugh

Well, we got the call today that the results of the biopsy had come back.  It seems everything is clear.  Such a wonderful feeling that we don't have to go back to Houston for surgery.  We had wanted to make sure we had surgery in December.  Now, we will just worry about knee replacement and I know that sounds like a lot but after all that Roy has been through this past 9 months, this is a surgery that is not uncharted grounds.  He knows what it is like to have a replacement and knows he can do his rehab and feel so much better after the fact.

Now, what I meant by "have to laugh".  I thought I would update the blog but before I did I'd go to the M.D. Anderson's web site.  Sure enough there it was...the next appointment for another petscan and endoscopy.  You would think they'd give us at least a week to celebrate that we've made it 3 more months of no cancer cells being seen.  So, we go back to Houston March 15th. (Ryan's birthday!)

How do I really feel about it?  I'm thankful that we have this opportunity to have tests done.  It could be so much worse.  Had we chosen not to go to Houston Roy would have already had his stomach removed.  We would be dealing with a whole lot worse situation than just...more tests.  I'll go to Houston every 3 months for the rest of our lives if that's what it takes to have the life we live.  We are so blessed by our family and friends.  Unbelievable support in   different ways and from different people.  Roy is a true testamony of friends who love and pray for him on a daily basis.  I'm just in awe each time someone says "I'm praying for you"...Wesat down in front of an older couple (yea, there are people older than us!) at church the other Wednesday night and the lady asked how he was doing....I had never met these people.  The Lord is awesome...and definitely blesses our lives.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Can't Wait Any Longer

I just wrote a whole blog about where we are now...and the only thing that posted was the letter "d".  Now how did that happen???

So, here I go again.  I had wanted to wait until we had received all the results of the tests that were done this last week in Houston.  The petscan and endoscopy reports we  received immediately.  They did a biopsy during the endoscopy and that is the results that we haven't received.  It's pretty important to get a good clean biopsy and I truly think he will, but it's aggravating not to know for sure.  If there is something on the biopsy he will need to have surgery.  I'm claiming a clean biopsy..hope the Lord agrees with me!

We have a very nice oncologist, Dr. Blum. The oncology department feels that the best thing to do in Roy's situation is to have the surgery whether anything shows or not.  As he was visiting with her on Tuesday he made the statement that he was having surgery.  Her face lit up and a big smile was there until Roy said that actually it was going to be a knee replacement.  Burst her bubble big time but she just smiled and went on with the treatment plan.  If everything is good we do not go back until sometime in March.

He has had so many problems and so much pain in the right knee this last year that after visiting with the orthopedic doctor the decision was made just to go ahead and get it done.  Ofcourse, it was the left knee replacement that helped us discover the cancer.  He did so well with the surgery and rehab that he felt there was no reason not to go and have the other knee replaced.  He will have that surgery Dec. 28th...making sure we get surgery in this year since we have definitely made all our deductibles for insurance.

So, here we are.  Praising God that everything looks good.  But if something happens and surgery does become necessary, we will face it and know that it is God's will and part of the journey He has given us to travel.    We have been blessed so much knowing how many people are praying for us.  I just can't imagine making the decisions we've made and taking the steps we've taken without the support of all our friends and friends of friends...thank you...thank you...thank you....

God is in control and holding our hands..

Linda

Here we go again...

It really doesn't seem possible that it has been exactly 2 months since I wrote a posting on the blog.
I had maintained that this blog was just to keep everyone updated as to how the journey of Roy dealing with cancer was going.

For the last two months we have basically lived our lives as though the cancer that we spent all summer dealing with is gone.  We went to ballgames every week-end.  I looked on our calendar and noticed that we were gone 7 week-ends in a row.  And, we wouldn't have change a mile we drove!  We were blessed to watch Justin play football in Canyon,Tx...Abilene, Tx...Commerce, Tx...and San Antonio, Tx.  It really was so much fun.  The trip to San Antonio was fun because we took Caleb and Tyler with us.

But I guess we are back to our "new normal".  We leave tomorrow for M.D.Anderson again.  Roy will have a petscan on Monday and an endoscopy on Tuesday.  We should have the results of the test before we leave Houston on Tuesday.

It would be ludicrous to say we want any results other than a totally clean petscan and endoscopy.  We are praying for that result.  Roy has felt so good the last two months.  I think that is one of the insidious things about cancer is, at least for Roy, there are no ill effects so therefore one feels fine until sometime it's too late.  So, please hold us up to the Lord.  He has been amazing holding our hands and keeping our spirits up and feeling good about our journey because of Him.

God is in control and holding our hands.

Linda

A Decision was made..

One nice thing about Roy is it doesn't take long for him to make up his mind once he feels he has all the information that he can gather.  That's what has happen for us today.

He made up his mind that he will not have surgery...just yet.  He visited with the PA (physicans assistant) again this morning about all the statistics and what they really mean.  She, in turn, spent time with the surgeon and called him back.  Actually, I think the Lord had a little more to do with this than what I initially gave Him credit for! (I know, Ryan, don't end a sentence with a preposition).  When she called back we learned that the surgery was having to be postponed until sometime in November due to the surgeon's schedule.  November is the same time as they would schedule another petscan/endoscopy if we had initially said no to surgery.  Now, if something shows in those test we will have surgery immediately.  No chemo/radiation will be done.  I say that, and the next report maybe totally different...

I know that we are both relieved that a decision has been made.  I pray that it will be the correct one and I have to have confidence that it is.  The Lord has paved the way for all that we have been through and has always given us a peace of mind...basically.  Obviously we are not oblivious to all the challenges we have been through but I pray we can look back someday and say to eachother that we are proud of the way we conducted ourselves.  It was important to both of us that we beable to share this journey with our friends.  I plan to someday walk this road with someone who is just learning that they have cancer and give them the support that they need.  (I know I can get them to elevator A,B,and C at M.D.Anderson!!)

I'm not sure how often I will write on this blog.  There again, it really was meant to be an update on Roy.  There will be more information as we learn new things but pray that maybe it won't be until the end of November!  Praise the Lord!

BTW..if you read the other blog...about 10:00 that night after I wrote it..it came to me. "It's manner..not manor"

God is in control and holding our hand

Linda

180 degree turn.....

I started my last post stating that I'd spent some time "thinking of what I wanted to say".  Well, I've really been "thinking" this time.

I had made the decision when I first started this blog that it wouldn't be just about what was happening in our lives, but what was happening as far as Roy's journey with the diagnosis of cancer.  That being said, we've had a pretty normal 3 weeks.  Going to ballgames, church, work and whatever else we have always done.

That changed this last week.  We were in Houston at the hospital for 3 days getting more information about surgery.  When we left the first of September it was a "done deal" that Roy would have the surgery.  The oncologist basically said there was no choice.  And, I gave the statistic in the last blog.  We got a call last week that surgery was set for Oct. 10th and that we had appointments with the surgeon and radiologist this week.

After visiting with both of them we came away thoroughly confused.  The surgeon gave us statistics that showed whether having surgery or just watching and monitoring the area of cancer did not make that much difference.  So, the chances of cancer coming back are basically the same either way....go figure.  If Roy chooses not to have surgery he will have a petscan and an endoscopy every 3 months for awhile then yearly.  If they find cancer they would do surgery immediately.  No radiation or chemo again.  The question is do we risk the chance of there still being cancer cells that didn't show up on the last test results and they multiply quickly.  Or does he have surgery, and we were told is not an easy surgery and a very long recovery on the chance of there being cancer...still.  Recovery from surgery can be as long as a year.  It would definitely be a 10 hospital stay with a feeding tube for an extended period...depending on how well he does.

Both of the doctors (surgeon and radiologist) said they supported whatever decision that he makes.  We have not cancelled the surgery, so he has about a week to make the decision.  I am trying really hard to let it be his decision. 

I appreciate what Shana has said.  Whatever the decision is we cannot 2nd guess what is decided.  And, that is so true.  I was getting dressed to go to the hospital the other morning and had an overwhelming feeling that the Lord said to me, "Just make a decision , I'm with you whatever you decide".  I have a tendancy to "humanize" God and when I hear His voice it's in a manor I can understand.  So, I think that Roy will decide and it will be good.  Pray for us....pray that we make the right decision and thank God for being with us through out the journey.

And, on a personal note, keep Justin in your prayers.  ACU played a team in Mississippi last night.  We could watch it on the computer and during the 2nd quarter we watched him pull his hamstring muscle.  It was very obvious. We both yelled "No"!! at the same time.  Roy talked to him this morning and it is just a pull not a tear.  Thank you Lord for that!

God is in control and holding our hand

Linda

A Prolonged Journey

I've spent some time thinking of what I want to share and how I'm feeling about the news that we received this last week in Houston. 

Roy had the PETSCAN and endoscopy this last week.  We met with the oncologist on Friday afternoon.  Even though the scan showed there was no cancer cells that could be seen she still recommended that he have the surgery.  They did a biopsy on some of the tissue in the esophagus but we won't know the results of that until later this week.  It will not change the recommendation of surgery. 

It has been difficult to accept.  We have prayed so hard that they would say "no cancer, no surgery" but the studies do not support that theory.  And, truthfully, they never really did give us much of a chance of that.  What we were told by the oncologist was that 2/3rds of the people who make that decision are back in 2 years with cancer.  So, it sounds llike a no brainer...but the recovery from surgery is not easy.  It is a long and hard recovery...possibly as long as a year before he can eat what he is use to having.

So, now we are in a waiting game of learning when we will see the surgeon.  We have an appointment the 26th of September with the radiologist but the oncologist will not let us wait that long to see the surgeon.  We will just be checking the web site to see when we need to go back.  We were told that usually it takes 2-3 weeks to schedule surgery.  There is so much going on this fall that we hate to miss but guess we will.

We know that this is just part of the journey that God has set for us.  Do we understand why the prayers for complete healing have not been answered?  No, but we will accept the journey and give God the glory.  Had a wonderful experience in our class at church today and we will appreciate the friends in class for the rest of our lives!  There has been so much support from all our friends and I have confidence that God will keep those people in our lives and they will continue to support us...please, continue to pray.

It wasn't only "gloom and doom" this week-end.  After we left Houston we went directly to Ryan's in Temple and had such a good time.  Tyler and Georgia Kate were so much fun to be with this week-end.  Georgia Kate is 10 months old and loves to give open mouth kisses and then just laugh.  And Tyler is all boy and loved rough housing with me...or me with him...I'm not sure which.

We left on Saturday and drove on to Abilene to watch Justin play football.  He is a starting linebacker this year.  And, he did great!!  He was in on a lot of tackles and had a forced fumble (I had to ask what that was).  What I thought was even neater was that there were 19 of us who were there to cheer him on!  Holly and GK decided not to try to make the trip.  It was a glorious time...hot but fun!

So, here we are...just waiting to make the next move.  However we have to do it we will do it with the confidence that it is the right decision!

God is in control and holding our hand.
Linda

If i didn't know better...

If I didn't know better I'd think that we are "back to normal".  But, I do.  A friend said to me at church this morning that she could tell everything was going well because I had not blogged in over a week.  She was right.

Ofcourse, things never stay the same.  We head back to Houston on Tuesday.  We have to be at the hospital at 7:00am on Wednesday morning (these people really don't understand how I hate to get up!).  This is all in preparation for a PETSCAN on Wednesday.  This is a simple procedure that indicates where there is still cancer cells...if there are.  Not much going on Thursday, we meet with a couple of doctors getting prepared for another endoscopy on Friday.  After we finish Friday with the endoscopy we see the oncologist, we are assuming she will give us the results of the tests.  So, here comes the "prayer of the week".  Whatever God wants us to prepare for, we will.  Whether it is surgery because there are still cancer cells or a "watch and see" approach.  That would mean no surgery and him having tests every 3 months to check for cancer cells.  I'm trying really hard and praying that I can accept either choices.  There are definitely pros and cons to each.

We had a wonderful week-end, shared dinner with friends and celebrated a surprize birthday party for a neighbor.  Today we spent lunch time with a wonderful group of friends from church, watched Jake play soccer and went to see "Thunderstruck" a family movie.  Actually, we just wanted the movie popcorn..and we did enjoy it!

So, we are good.  We are blessed. And we look forward to planning our activities for the fall.  Look forward to being in Houston, also, to enjoy a dinner with my college friend Mitzi whose husband Tom is going to feed us really well on Thursday night (shrimp and grilled veggies...yum).

I just have to give a shout out to our grandson Justin who will be starting for Abilene Christian this Saturday night in their first football game of the season...we are so proud of him.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

As normal as it can get

We had a pretty normal week this week.  Roy is feeling better and better each day.  He is able to eat just about anything that he wants.  He said that every once in awhile something that he is eating feels like it is getting stuck.  Normally if he slows down eating it is better for him.

Other than not working at this time he is back to doing his regular things.  The heat bothers him.  Today he tried to mow and was unable to finish because of the heat.  He had gotten most of it done, so Ryan finished it when he got here.  He came just for the day to pick up something for the beginning of football at Westphalia.  It was good to see him but I would have enjoyed seeing the two grandkids also, they were out of town with the other grandparents.

We are still feeling very blessed with where we are in the journey.  I work almost everyday next week because I am working for a friend.  The next week we will be back in Houston.  We do have something to look forward to at the end of ther week. ( Not the doctor's appointment on Friday to tell us the results of the test).  We plan to spend the night with Ryan on Friday night and then drive on to Abilene on Saturday to see Justin's first football game of the season. 

With two grandchildren at ACU we feel so thankful that they have the opportunity to be in a Christian environment.  Shay is in the dorm I was in my freshman year...texted me pictures of her room....I don't remember mine being near as pretty...

Please continue to pray for Roy.  There is still quite a long road ahead of us.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

One Week Later....

Well, we have been home for a week.  I think we are both over the jet lag and feeling fine.  Or rather we feel like we haven't been on a plane for 12 hours...leaving from England is so much easier than flying home from Russia.  There is a 9 hour difference between Texas and Russia but only a 6 hour difference between here and England.

Roy is doing a lot better now that he is back and able to just relax and eat the type of foods that he enjoys.  He did pull a muscle in his back.  He believes it happen at the beginning of the trip, probably from carrying luggage.  During the triip he kept saying he thought it was a kidney stone but he had it checked out yesterday and it was determined that it was not.

So, now we just wait...and pray.  I really am not sure what  I  am praying for.  I pray that they don't find any cancer when they do the petscan and endoscopy but then at the same time I'm afraid that the cancer would just be "hidden" and will come back.  But surgery is so invasive and I don't want him to go through the recovery from surgery.  This is a case of just turning it over to the Lord and we will deal with whatever He choses for our lives.

It is good to be home.  Although the heat is killing me.  But I like my "easy chair" and getting to watch the Olympics...there are so many places that we are recognizing.  It was so neat to be in London, I've decided that we need to plan to go to Rio..for the 2016 summer games.  You should have seen the look on Roy's face when I said that!

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Home Again

Saturday night around 5:30 we touched ground in Texas after 15 days of being gone.  The first thing I noticed as we left the airport was how hot it is here in Texas.  After 2 weeks of wearing a jacket it was a definite change for me. 

The rest of our trip to London went really well.  Although there wasn't much "Olympic activity" involved we certainly didn't lack for things to do.  Infact, looking back there was probably only one afternoon that we could have squeezed in an event.  As it turned out getting tickets to events was much more difficult than we realized it would be.  Everything had to be done on-line...even getting tickets to Olympic Park.  There was a lot of criticism in the British news and on their BBC stations.  So, we did tourist stuff...and that was great because everyone else was trying to get into Olympic events.
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We took a bus tour of London, shopped on Regent St., saw the Tower of London, toured Buckingham Palace (which I had never gotten to do in all the times I've been to London), did a tour of the Harry Potter studio, went to Warwick Castle, Stratford-on-the Avon and Oxford.  We shopped a Harrod's and Hamley's.  For those who don't know Hamley's is the largest toy store in the world (supposedly).  It does have 7 floors which, trust me, Callie and Caleb found something on every floor that they wanted!  We spent an afternoon at Hyde Park where they had giant screens (4 of them) set up to watch the events  with games for the kids to play...us and about 3000 Brits.  Tried to get "USA...USA...USA chant started at a English Pub as we ate dinner and watched the games..unfortunately we were the only Americans in there...didn't go over very well.  Roy got to do some pin trading and all of us got into getting the pins of different sports. 
Caleb ended up with the most...most coveted was the NBC Olympic pin that a guy gave him while we were riding the tube.

Roy felt much better this last week than he did in Russia.  He still didn't have much energy, so he would spend a half day with us and then go back to the hotel and rest.  That worked out good because there were things he really wasn't interested in seeing.  He had either already been there or wasn't interested to begin with...ie. Harry Potter Studios. Our hotel room overlooked Victoria Station which made it great to be able to get back to get him for dinner or him to go back from where ever we were.  Buckingham Palace was a half mile from us.

I realize how many prayers were said over the last 3 weeks...a week before we left praying he would feel like going and 2 weeks while we were there.  No one can truly understand how much those prayers meant to us.  I am so thankful to all our friends and to the Lord for seeing us through the journey we were on.

Our journey continues at the end of the month when we go back to M.D. Anderson for a PETSCAN and another endoscopy...this will determine what happens next.  Please continue to pray that both of these test come back negative.

God is in control and holding our hand

Linda

London....

This is the first time I've had a chance to let anyone know what our trip has been like.  I really wanted to blog from Russia and title it "From Russia with Love" but I couldn't get anything but Facebook in English.

Our trip to Russia went really smoothly, in comparison to the other Hazzards.  They were late leaving DFW which made them miss their flight out of London to St. Petersburg.  They ended up flying to Moscow then on into St. Petersburg.  None of the luggage they had arrived with them.  So it ended up being 3 trips to the airport getting the luggage.  Once their clothes arrived...which was the last of the 4 pieces of luggage..they were a much happier group.

The week went very well.  Both Chris and Shana were a hit among the kids.  Chris did his TAE KNAW DO each night.  Shana had the young moms with her.  I had about 12 kids under the age of 6 who basically went pretty wild the whole time.  We did have a Bible story each night and a craft.  The thing the kids liked the most was the pinata that we had brought with us. 

On the last night a mother and two boys around the age of 13 came.  They had been walking by the night before and saw Chris and the kids outdoors doing their martial arts.  They were invited to join us the next night and came.  We invited them for Christmas and I feel certain they will come. 

The Lord has kept Roy strong this last week.  He did what he needed to do each night.  Mainly make crystal lite for dinner.  He spent a lot of time just resting.  He was asked to preach that Sunday after we got there.  He sat in a chair and did an excellent job, especially considering he didn't know he was preaching until Sat. night and he felt like he did!  Obviously there was a higher power holding him up.

We are in London now.  Tomorrow we are headed to the Olympic Park.  There are a lot of people here and many do not have tickets to events but the atmosphere is terrific.  It's different listening to the British TV taking only about their athletes...not hearing too much about Americans.

All in all considering what Roy has been through I am very proud of him.  Please keep him in your prayers for the rest of the week.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Well, he's going...

This has been a very emotional week for me.  We are so excited that Roy has finished the chemo/radiation that was the first part of this journey that the Lord has chosen us to folllow.  Obviously, our prayer was always that the test would be negative but since it wasn't, we know that He is leading the way.

I really believe that Roy spent the last week of his treatment living on adrenaline in Houston.  He had started having more issues with swallowing but was determined to keep his weight up and do what he had to do to get through the process.  So, when he got home last Friday he was really not feeling well.  He was not able to eat anything other than oatmeal, toast, jello and protein shakes.  If he took the medicine that basically numbs his throat it made it easier.  And, off and on would make the decision not to go to Russia, then change his mind and say he was going.

I went to my small group Bible study last night.  He didn't feel like going.  But our group prayed feverantly for him.  We prayed that the symptoms he was having would lessen.  That the 12 hour airplane trip (with 4 different changes of planes) wouldn't be hard on him...that he would have the strength to make the changes of planes, etc.  There were spirit filled prayers said on behalf of Roy.

I was at work today and called him in between meetings.  We talked about what he was doing and I asked about breakfast.  He informed me he had a sausage bisquit from McDonalds!!  Praise the Lord.  Never thought I would be thankful that he was eating something that unhealthy but it was food and he kept it down!  He then had a hamburger for supper tonight.  It is still not easy and he does need to take medicine before he eats...

So, we leave at 8:30am in the morning and arrive in St. Petersburg at 11:45am the next day.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We love this ministry so much and love the children we have watched grow up and have become friends with.  Our prayer is always that we show a love for the Lord and that they see there are better ways to live their llives when parents, grandparents don't show them the love of that any child should expect.

God is holding our hand and is in control.
Linda

For Whom the Bell Tolls...

This is a real blessed day for Roy and I.  When a patient finishes radiation in Houston,they are allowed to ring a bell that is outside radiation 3 times.  Roy got to ring the bell today!  We are so excited that the 5 weeks of radiation and the almost 10 weeks of chemotherapy are finally over.  At one point in the beginning I thought it would last forever but because of having the grandkids come visit, watching Shay play softball in Houston, being with my college friend, Mitzi, seeing my cousin Judy and friends from Fort Worth, Jimmy and Beth, the time did pass much more quickly.

Unfortunately, they've already scheduled the next phase.  M.D.Anderson has a web site that patients can go on to see when their next appointments are.  They have already scheduled the next endoscopy for the end of August.  One of my prayers will be looking on "mymdanderson" and not seeing an appointment scheduled.  Won't that be a blessed day???  Hopefully we won't have to stay very long when we go in August.  They (the doctors) don't understand that ACU football starts pretty soon after the end of August, we have to keep our priorities straight and be in Abilene to watch Justin play ball.

Roy is really not feeling good tonight.  I hope that it's just being tired from all that he did this week.  I think he was so excited about getting through that it's a relief now that it is over and he has just let down.  Does that make sense??  Sherri picked him up from Ryan and he got home around 3 this afternoon...took a nap and was up for awhile but now back in bed.  Eating was an issue today.  I couldn't get him to eat anything healthy for him because it was hurting so badly.  That will be something I will have to work on with him over the next few days. 

We are still planning to leave for Russia this next Friday.  Please, please keep him in your prayers.  A prayer that he will be strong enough to make the trip.  That the issue of eating will have resolved itself to where he can eat and not feel sick or it hurt.  We have been so blessed that the symptoms haven't been any worse than they have so we want them to start getting better!  How do people who don't have a faith in the Lord and know where their comfort comes from make this journey???

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

4 days to go....

Have I mentioned how glad  I am that this is the last Monday????  If not, I am so thankful that we do not have another Monday to be up really early (have I mentioned I'm not a morning person??) and go to different hospitals.  Although Roy's radiation treatment was scheduled for the afternoon.  Tomorrow he will have two treatments..early morning and then mid-afternoon with a doctor's appointment thrown in there for good measure.  This is the oncologist and the way it goes is the nurse comes in and asks all the same questions that were asked  the last 4 weeks..then we wait...and the PA (physican's assistant) comes in and asks basically the same questions...she takes notes...this takes about 30 minutes or maybe more.  Then the oncologist comes in asks maybe one or two questions and she spends about 5 minutes with us and we leave!  You know doctor's make a lot of money when you think of how much time they spend with us...at least these doctors do.

The swallowing is getting pregressive harder.  I am praying that he will figure out what he can eat that is easier to manage and learn to pace himself as he eats.  He has lost a lot of his appetite and rightfully so considering how hard it is.  It feels as though it is stuck but it's still not bad enough for the doctors to do anything about it.  They do not feel it will get any worse..which is a blessing.  We are thankful that they have said there really isn't anything they would do here so it's still ok to travel.  If it got real bad the solution is to go in and open his esophagus and he's not anywhere near having to do that.

I think we are both ready for a break.  I know that we have not had it near as bad as others...all I have to do is look in the eyes of people I pass in the hallways and I see fear, pain and frustration...but when I talk to people I also hear hope.  I think if M.D. Anderson doesn't do anything else it gives a lot more people hope that they didn't get from the doctors in their home towns.

So, please continue to pray for us.  We have a 6 weeks break and then some decisions will be made.  Also, please pray for our trip to Russia.  Usually at this point I am packed and know exactly what I'm taking.  I still need to decide on Bible lessons and crafts for those lessons...pray that the Lord will show me what the children in Russia need to make Him alive in their hearts.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda
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Home again....

I am so thankful to be home this week-end.  I spent the whole week in Houston with Roy and it was very tiring.  To be truthful I'm not sure how he has done it everyday for the past 4 weeks...everyday...it got really old getting to the different hospitals and doctors.

Although we did have people who helped make it a little more pleasant.  We have friends who have just moved back to this area (Fort Worth).  I knew Beth (Starling) Paul back in elementary school.  Her parents and mine were close friends.  Roy knew her husband, Jimmy, at Harding and they work together here in Fort Worth.  They were in Houston with Beth's uncle and aunt.  So, we were able to have lunch with them one day.  Really a good visit and then Beth rode home with us from Houston today...we didn't stop talking.  I loved it!  Made the trip go so much faster.

On the 4th of July we were able to spend time with one of my college friends, Mitzi, her husband, kids and extended family.  We had a cookout and then watched fireworks.  That was a really good day also.  They did let Roy have the day off from all his procedures, so we were able to sleep in and not be rushed to get places.  It's still a matter of hurry up and wait.  The problem is you never know when they will take you early or when you have to wait for an hour for your appointment.

The symptoms of radiation were much more prevalent this week.  He has a problem swallowing initially.  It causes hiccups and chills...I think the chills part is kinda unusual but it happens each time he starts his meal.  Usually by the 3rd or 4th bite the symptoms have lessen and he can finish his meal.  It has not stopped him from eating which is a very good thing.  They still want him to keep his weight up (the only one who has kept "her" weight up is moi!)  We realized one of the reasons he does not need to lose weight is the fact they have "tattooed" him exactly where the radiation needs to hit and if he loses weight it will be off and not hit where the cancer is located.  The doctor we saw today, who is head of radiology, was very impressed with his "diet"  (porkchops, mashed potatoes and green beans last night).  She started laughing and commented she thought he would be ok.

So, we are down to 10 scheduled appointments (they do keep adding things to the agenda...stop!) and this is our last week to go back on Sunday...yea!!!  Praise the Lord!  He has been faithful to us.  I will come home on Wednesday again and Ryan will spend Thursday and his last day Friday with him.  When a patient finishes radiation they have them ring a bell 3 times.  Someone finished today and we heard the bell...such a sweet sound.

 Two weeks from tonight we will be on a plane to Russia...we are excited and a little nervous as to how everything will work out.  I know that God has put His plan in action for us to minister to the children in Gatchina and I have all the faith that we will see it through.

Just a little bit more trivia...there are 13,000 people who are seen at the hospitals there in the medical city area each day...think about how many people need prayers for whatever they are going through. 

God is holding our hand and is in control.
Linda

Next to the last Monday

... I am so excited that we are down to the next to the last Momday....next Monday will be the last time that Roy will have to have a 3hr. chemo session.  The last time we have to get up at 5:00 to have blood work done...then radiatiion...then chemo.  Yea...and thank you, Lord.

This morning was very early for us.  But we were through by 12:00pm.  Only had to wait 1 hr or maybe just a little longer for the chemo session to start...everything else was early.  That's usually the way it goes.  We get there a little early and are taken in immediately so then we think the next session will be on time or early and that's when we have to wait...but that's ok....I watch so many patients that look like they feel so bad...and they are having to wait.  At least Roy doesn't feel as bad as some of the rest who wait.  You can just tell they are miserable and just want to feel better. 

Roy's blood work was still in the right range.  Infact some of the numbers have gone up instead of down.  There again we are thankful and  give all our friends credit for all the prayers that have been lifted up to the Lord.  I know that it's prays from friends who have been praying for us that have given us strength to keep us positive and faithful.

We have 13 sessions left between now and the 13th of July.  Tomorrow Roy will have 2 radiation sessions.  And then next week he will 2 radiation sessions then we can go home on a Friday rather than coming back the next week.  That will be a blessing.

A little trivia.  Roy has had two haircuts since he started his chemotherapy...that's pretty impressive, I think!  It is getting thin but I think he will make it without losing all of it.  And, the cafeteria at M.D. Anderson will seat 957 people...that's too many sick people.  We are meeting friends tomorrow for lunch there.  They are here because of other family members.  Roy went to college with Jimmy and I have known Beth since the 6th grade.  On the 4th of July we will spend time with my college friend Mitzi and her family.  Hopefully, Roy will feel like being out and with people.  Please keep praying for fewer symptoms or that the symptoms he is having will disappear.  Swallowing has been more difficult, that is a result of radiation.

We were able to attend the Rangers game this week-end with all of Holly's(our daughter-in-law) family.  Holly's cousin is the bullpen catchers for the Rangers.  We have gone with the Vaughn family the last couple of years to a tail gate then the game.  This year we waited until almost game time so that Roy wouldn't be out in the heat.  But it was still really hot at the game.  Tyler and I went to the kids zone...it was air conditioned...left Roy in the heat!

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

I'm here...he's there...again

I cam home again last night.  Roy will be in Houston until tomorrow when a good friend will bring him home for me...thank you, Walt.

We had a fun week-end and couple of days with Callie and Caleb in Houston.  It was so hot that it was hard for Roy to be out in the heat.  So, we tried to find things to do inside.  Not so easy when inside is a hotel room.  But the kids did good....they had brought toys that they played with while Roy took naps.  They also spent lot's of time in the pool.  And, thanks to my friend, Mitzi, we spent time together with her grand daughter at the movies and her house.

Roy had an appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday.  He was able to get a different medicine for the nausea to go along with his other medicine.  His blood work still looks very good.  The white blood count, which is what they watch closely, stayed up and that's a great sign!  Thank you, Lord.  That has been a major prayer of mine...that his blood count would stay up. 

The most exciting thing for us is that we are more than half way through.  He is finishing his 3rd week and has only 2 weeks to go!  They have agreed to let him have radiation twice a day for just 2 days.  That means we can come home on the 13th of July.  He won't have to go back until about 6 weeks later for other tests to see if the cancer is eliminated...yea!!  Please start praying for no sign of cancer when they do the next tests.

Ryan is in town this week for a superintendents convention, so I'm thankful that I am getting to spend some time with him.  The whole family will be here this week-end for the Ranger games.  We are suppose to go to the game on Saturday.  It will depend on whether Roy can handle the heat...it's a Ranger game...he probably will beable to go.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Houston on a week-end

We are spending the week-end in Houston because of Shay's All-Star softball game this week-end.  I brought Callie and Caleb with me.  We came down yesterday afternoon and will stay until Wednesday.  The kids were much more impressed with Buc-ee's than Roy.  They would have spent more time there but we wanted to see Papa.

He is not feeling very good today.  I think all the chemo/radiation is catching up with him.  They had told us that the 3rd/4th week would be the hardest and I think  they know what they are talking about (go figure!!!).  It's difficult to watch him not feel good.  I know it was to be expected but I had prayed that it wouldn't be this week-end with Callie and Caleb here or truthfully anyother time.  But it is what it is. 

I think heat and humidity makes a difference also.  Wonder if we could get a cold front through here anytime soon???  Probably not.  So, please pray that he will start feeling better or they can give him some type of stronger medicine for the nausea. 

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Another Monday

Well, another  Monday gone...thank goodness.  Monday's are a little more stressful than the rest of the week.

Roy had to be at the diagnostic center for blood work at 7:30am.  It always amazes me that we walk into that place and there's at least 30-40 people sitting around and Roy gets in and has his blood work done within 10 minutes.  Next week was the week that he was suppose to be there at 6am.  He asked to change the appointment and found out that it is basically first come...first serve.  So, he definitely won't be going that early next week.

After the blood work we headed to the 8th floor for the chemo session.  It still isn't quite as smooth as I think it will be by the end of the 5th week.  He goes and checks in at chemo and then has to go down to the infusion center to have a needle put into the port.  We were told that once we checked into chemotherapy that he would be "expedited" in the infusion center.  I'm not sure what their definition of expedited is but I'm thinking 45 minutes later isn't very expeditious.  So after getting the needle in the port the chemo session lasted about 2 hours today.  We were too early for lunch but did watch another cute movie.  Once done with that we were free until 3:00 when radiation was scheduled.

We were able to compare his blood work from the first 3 weeks (it included the first time we ever came).  All his numbers are still looking very good.  We are praying that his white blood count does not go any lower.  They told him that he needs to be eating a lot  of protein...so we went to Outback for dinner tonight.  I really look forward to being able to have home cook meals again in a couple of weeks.  I didn't  think that would ever be the case but eating out 3 times a day can get old.

Our prayer is still that he doesn't have anymore symptoms from radiation other than the fatigue he is feeling.  And that the white blood count stays within the normal range.  He has an appointment with his oncologist (Dr. Blum...keep her in your prayers) tomorrow.  I don't think the appointment is for any reason other than to just check on him.  He has done so amazingly well...thank you Lord.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

I'm here...he's there

There really isn't much to tell about the last two days.  After Monday, these two days have been rather
"ho-hum".

The best part of the days were the fact that we got to spend some time with one of my college friends who lives in the Baytown area.  Mitzi and her granddaughter Baylee came and took us to lunch.  It felt good to be around someone who has been a friend for...do I dare say???...46 years.  That concept was totally lost on Baylee, who is only 4 yrs. old....but it felt normal to enjoy lunch with a friend.

Roy's two radiation treatments went very smoothly.  Infact both days we were about 20 minutes early for the appointments and they were able to take him in and he was finished about the time the appointment was scheduled.  They were both early morning and so we had the rest of the day free to do whatever we wanted.  Which meant lunch and an afternoon nap.  Roy is having more fatigue than he has had in the past, but we consider that a blessing in comparison to other symtoms that might occur.

I have learned some interesting facts about M.D.Anderson.  Ofcourse, I'm overhearing everyone's conversations as we sit around and wait...and then wait some more.  But, the hospital was initially a WWI hospital.  What really amazed me is they have approximately 21,000 medical staff and support people who work for the hospitals in that area.  We did find an entrance marked No. 70 ( I had mentioned earlier that the main hospital is entrance No. 2 and we had seen No. 5??? something).  I guess if I keep riding the shuttle around to the different places there might be even more!

I came home today to beable to work Thursday and Friday.  I left Roy alone but I'm thinking he was probably pretty content....I think 24/7 being around me is a little much for him.  He assured me he wasn't going to go hungry and he could get on the shuttle to get to the next radiation treatment.  Can't imagine why the "mother" in me drives him a little batty???

We are blessed so much by the way he has handled all the treatments.  I visited with a father from Kentucky whose daughter had brain surgery yesterday...after having a bone marrow transplant.  And a girl from Atlanta who has been in Houston since February in treatment and won't get to go home until August.  How can we complain about 5 weeks???  God is so good to us and we know we are walking in His light.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Monday..Monday

Just finished my entire blog and all of it disappeared.  Definitely wouldn't try writing anything important on this computer.  I'm sure it's the computer not me...

So, our day started very early.  We caught a 6:00am shuttle over to one of the many hospitals associated with M.D. Anderson.  Roy had an appointment for blood work at 6:45am (in a couple of weeks it's a 6am app't...who gets up at 5am to go get blood work done...good grief!).  We walked into a room of about 30 people but they took him fairly quickly, which gave us time to get to the next appointment at 7:40 for radiation.  We were early for that appointment...in another hospital...and were out of there in time to get back to the orginal hospital by 8:00am for his next appointment!

It kinda went downhill for about 2 hours.  There was a wait...what's an hour late???....then they (M.D. Anderson) questioned his port (a thing that they give the chemo through) since they didn't put it in orginally.  They sent us to another area to have it checked to make sure it could be used by them.  They are very "picky" when it comes to outside medical facilities.  Anyway, after another 45 minute wait we went back to the place where the chemo was going to be administered.  Somewhere along the way I didn't realize that giving the chemo would be a 3 hour procedure...silly me.  I should be learning by now.

It really ended up being ok...they are very nice.  In Fort Worth Roy says they put you in one big room to give chemo, here you have your own room with a TV.  They also served him a lunch...free...or least I think it was free...we shared it and watched a movie.  Pretty good deal for me...and so far for Roy too.  I'm sure he will deal with more side effects but so far, so good.

He has had 3 of the 28 radiation treatments, please continue to pray for no side effects.  I'm so thankful for how things have gone so far, we couldn't be more blessed.  We have such a strong base of friends that we know are praying for us and we have family who we know are there when we need them and a God who loves us...what more can you ask for??

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

He's home...all is well with the world

When we came home Tuesday, after the last Dr.'s appointment, and I  took Roy to Temple on Wednesday, I didn't realize how hard it would be for me not to be there with him.  Ryan took him on to Houston and they were together for the first two radiation treatments.  Apparently, it went well, Ryan had texted me that after the first treatment Roy and the nurses came out of the treatment room laughing.  If you know Roy well, you know he was telling one of his jokes...and I'm sure it's one he has told many times!

But, for me, being here in Fort Worth was not easy.  I really wanted to be there to know what was happening.  I guess this will be our lifestyle for the next several weeks.  I will come home on Wednesday and work Thursday and Friday.  Then on Friday I will drive back to Houston and pick him up to bring him home to Fort Worth. 

There is one week-end that Shay (our oldest granddaughter) has a softball game there in Houston.  It must be an all star game...can't remember what I was told about it.  But we will stay and watch her play, otherwise we want to spend our week-end here so that we can get caught up and beable to attend church with our friends.

We are thankful that we can make the trip and that, so far, it's working out well.  Our prayer is still that the chemo/radiation will not have the adverse effects that we've been warned could happen.  He still has his hair and he's very proud of that!

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Here there and everywhere

Well, in the last week we have been to and from Houston, to and from Searcy, Arkansas and to and from Houston..again!  Needless to say the car and I are becoming one. 

Searcy was a lot of fun for us.  We were going with Shana to take Callie to camp.  It is her first experience with an overnight camp.  If Sunday is any indication of how she will do, she is having a great time.  Once she found her cabin she didn't care whether we were there or not.

We had spent time on the Harding campus where both Roy and Shana had gone to school.  It was really interesting listening to each one of them as we drove around.  When we took "the tour" with Shana, she commented "They built that building when I was a senior" or " I remember classes in that building".  Roy gave his own tour, it went more like "What happen to the building that was there when I was here?"  So, a lot has changed in the 40 years since Roy graduated.

But on to the reason I'm writing this blog..Roy's journey.  I just happened to look on M.D. Anderson's web site on Friday night and saw that they had scheduled him an appointment on Monday!  We knew we had one on Tuesday and thought we would have a day to rest before going down.  We got home around 9 on Sunday night and left at 7 Monday morning.  As it turned out, we are very thankful we were able to meet with the doctor.  This was the doctor in charge of radiation.  She was very receptive to the idea of him going to Russia and immediately set up his radiation schedule to be finished in time for him to go!  Praise the Lord!
Now, there is still a question in our minds if he is feeling like going.  So, a major prayer from everybody would be not to let him have any of the side effects of radiation.  He is answering prayers for us and we see His hand in our lives. 

On Tuesday we were to see the oncologist.  We had just finished lunch (that should be a whole different blog about eating lunch in the cafeteria at the hospital) and were headed up stairs (floor 7) when Roy got a call that he had another appointment with a another doctor.  Did we know about it?  No, they just decided to send us to the surgeon who has taken over the case.  Apparently, they were in a meeting discussing his case when the thoraic surgeon said he wanted to do the surgery.  Actually, he heard about our trip to Russia and his comment was "I love the children in Russia, I want to see him"  You think we don't feel God's hand in this?  He was a very nice man who gave us a lot of hope.  The new endoscope that they had done showed that the chemo he is on now had eradicated one of the areas that had cancer in it!  Thank you Lord!  They still require the radiation/chemo and preferably surgery.  They will not remove his stomach (had I told that??) instead will operate on the esophagus.  Roy told him that there were many people praying for him and the doctor said they had seen miracles in the past!  Thank you Lord, again!  Now, they may decide he still has to have surgery but it's not near as envasive as removing his stomach.

I am taking him to Temple today.  He and Ryan will go to Houston tomorrow (Thursday) for his first radiation.  Ryan will stay with him and bring him back after radiation on Friday.  Sunday we will go down for the 5 weeks.  I will come and go as I need to work on Thursday and Friday.  It's not cheap driving back and forth and having hotel rooms for 5 weeks in a row.  But, we are thankful that there is that option for him.

Sorry this is so long.  I just haven't had the time to update as regularly as I would like.  We feel so blessed that things are going as well as they have been.  Please keep the prayers coming.  It is so important to us to know we have friends praying for a miraculous outcome for him.  And, keep me in your prayers as I drive back and forth each week.  The statue of Sam Houston outside Huntsville is getting to be "old hat"...I don't even notice it anymore!

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Home again..Home again

But not for long!  We are leaving in the morning to go with Shana and Callie to Searcy, Arkansas.

Callie is going to camp up near Searcy and we had made the decision several months ago to go with Shana.  We will get the chance to spend some time on the campus of Harding which is where Roy and Shana went to college. Obviously we had second thoughts about making the trip but like Roy said, all he is going to do is ride in the back seat with Callie and play games and watch movies..so it isn't a big deal to him.

Houston was a different experience...a lot of hurry up and wait.  We didn't know when we went that there was going to be an ultrasound endoscopy planned.  But it was the oncologists decision that Anderson needed their own base line scope to see exactly where this mass is located.  Not that knowing will change any of the planned procedures. 

It was scheduled for 10:30am Thursday morning.  We were so excited that they took us back early and he was all ready by 10:30...it didn't happen until 1:30.  Not much fun sitting around a preop "area" (bed and curtain) for 3 hours waiting.  The end result did tell us that the mass has shrunk!  Praise the Lord!  They (the doctors) didn't seem near as impressed as Roy and I.  Ofcourse, we want it totally gone..that's our prayer but if the Lord decides to just make it smaller I accept His will.

We knew when we left that we had an appointment on Tuesday with the oncologist but I just happened to go on their web site and found they had scheduled us one for Monday.  Nobody told us and I'm just thankful I thought to look.  We will go back Monday and be there until Tuesday afternoon.  I do need to come home and work on Wednesday so hopefully they won't add another appointment for after that.  We assume that one of these appointments will tell us when we will have our 5 week stay.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Day 2 in Houston

I just wrote two paragraphs and I don't know where thery went????

We spent most of today waiting....of the 7 hours we were gone from the hotel, we spent maybe 1 hour with the doctors we were suppose to see.  I realize that this is all a part of the process of getting well, but when it falls in the middle of my lunch time...I get a little distracted...

Actually, now that I'm fed (supper) and back in front of a TV...with Roy next to me asleep, the day wasn't as bad as I first thought.  You got to look at the positive side of things...we are one step closer to being over this cancer business.  I know that by next year at this time we will be glad we are here.  It still "bugs" me that he is just a number.  They ask for his medical number not his name.  Isn't it great to know that God knows our names even if M.D. Anderson doesn't???

Tomorrow is the endoscopy and then we get to go home.  He has an appointment next Tuesday, so we will be back.  Maybe at that time we will know when the 5 weeks will start.

God is in control and is holding our hand.

Linda

Houston....we're still here

I really expected to be writing from my own home tonight but the doctors here in Houston had a different thought..

We met with the oncologist today.  She wanted another endoscope to determine better the location of the mass.  Ofcourse, we said sure...we'll stay for another 2 days.  I might have to go shopping since I really didn't expect to stay and didn't bring enough clothes...lesson learned...be prepared for more days each visit.  So, we will meet with the anethesilogist tomorrow and have a procedure on Thursday.  Then we will come home and once she (the oncologist) reads the report she will tell us when to come back for the 5 weeks of chemo/radiation

.  We decided that we were a day late and a dollar short.  If we had come up with the idea of shuttles we would be rich.  Each hotel has a free shuttle to the hospitals.  There are more shuttles in this area of Houston than I have ever seen anywhere.  So, wished we had thought of it..ofcourse, we would have had to have lived in the area and, no offense to anyone who lives down here, it's hot and humid.

M.D. Anderson is amazing.  Not that I really like the place.  We went to have blood work done today and when we walked into the waiting room there were about 30 people waiting. My first thought was we were going to be there all day.  But they took about 10 people at a time and we were in and out within 20 minutes.  There is still a feeling of being just another number...no one seems too concern about the individual.  Maybe I'm just wishing we were at home instead of sitting in a hotel.

There was a man sitting down from me today waiting to get his blood work.  He was talking about how God had worked through his cancer and that he wasn't even suppose to be alive at this point in time.  I just sat and listened and appreciated all that he said.  I know there is a plan in our lives and this is just part of the journey that God has given us to walk.

So, hopefully we will get to go home Thursday and stay home for a while.  Our prayer is that the chemotherapy that he has already done has shrunk this mass which will make surgery a little easier. Nothing is going to keep us from having surgery but whatever makes it easier would be a good thing.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Houston...here we come!

Well, the decision has been made that we are headed to Houston to finish the journey we started 5 weeks ago.

Tuesday Roy got a phone call that M.D.Anderson had accepted his case.  At that point he made an appointment with the oncologist here to get his thoughts on traveling to Houston to do all that has to be done.  Dr. Davis (who we really have appreciated and liked) understood completely and was willing to do whatever needed to be done from this end.  Stacy went with Roy to the appointment so that there would be a child involved to beable to relay everything that was said to the other siblings.  For some reason I don't think they trust Roy or I to get things straight...go figure???  Anyway, it is a relief to know which direction we are headed, I guess....I have had a roller coast of emotions...prayerfully this decision will calm my fears.

Today Roy got a phone call that he will have an appointment with the Anderson oncologist on Tuesday.  Sure messed up our memorial day plans...wonder if they know we have a life???  Ok, no thoughts on that from anyone reading this.  We will go down on Monday, see the doctor and hopefully get to come back home.  We are wondering if they are going to want us to stay the 5-7 days for their tests that they do.  Roy forgot to ask...where's a kid when you need them???  So, we aren't sure at this point how long we will be there.  It will give us a chance to look around at different options of places to stay during the 5 weeks that we have to be there for the chemo/radiation.  Sherri has already done some checking for us so we are confident that we will find some place to call "home" for awhile.

It's amazing how God can work in our lives if we are willing to let Him.  I did have a passing "message" the other day...I don't even remember what I was doing but I distinctly heard "it's going to be ok".  Now granted I wasn't told exactly what was going to be ok but something down the road is going to be good.  That is a promise I believe in.  We also have a nest of blue birds..not blue jays...Roy says its the first time we have seen blue birds, other than just a couple years ago.  We believe they are here for a purpose.  It is a family of 4 eggs and mom and dad.  The dad watches from the fence...kinda like he has been given the job to watch over not only his eggs but us too.

Please pray that what the oncologist tells us will be positive and we will have the peace to keep traveling the road we're on.

God is in control and holding our hands.

Not so good a week-end

I think we are still dealing with the information that we got from M.D. Anderson.  So I haven't felt that our week-end was a successful one as far as our attitude has been. 

The fact that Roy got sick at Kassidy's softball game might have a little to do with it.  He made the mistake of mowing the backyard around noon on Saturday.  I had gone to a funeral of a ACU classmate of mine or maybe I would have strongly suggested that he not do the mowing when it was 90 degrees outside..ya think????  Anyway, we had to leave the ballgame and get out of the heat.  He didn't feel good the rest of the day.  And, even today we had to leave services a little early.  He is feeling much better right now.  I'm sure a lot of it is the effects of the chemo is catching up with him.  Actually, we feel very blessed that we are almost a month into chemo and just now dealing with side effects.

And, we forgot Shay's baccalaureate services tonight..bummer.  I did go to two of Kassidy's softball games this afternoon but was very disappointed that we forgot Shay's (Sherri did say it was kinda boring).

We still solict prayers for the decision we will need to make in about another month.  I just pray that there will be an obvious choice and it will be taken out of our hands to make the decision.

God is in control and is holding our hand.

Linda

Houston...we have a problem!

I had planned to come home last night after we came back from Houston and let everyone know, who's interested, what news we received.  I had to sleep on it before I could let you guys read what we learned.  First of all, and most importantly, we know that God is in control and whatever decision we make will be because we feel we've followed His will.

M.D. Anderson is overwhelming.  There are people everywhere.  I felt as if we had walked into a convention.  People at different desks getting information, people waiting on the elevators, just lot's of people.  But when we saw the surgeon I also felt we were the only ones he cared about at the time.  He was very personable and spent over an hour with us.

Reality is what M.D. Anderson would do for Roy's type cancer is different than the plan we had orginally thought would work for us.  So, now we have to make a decision which way we want to go.  He would finish his chemotherapy here in Fort Worth.  As the surgeon said "Chemo is chemo" no matter where you receive it.  but, this is where it gets different.  In Houston, they would do another round of chemo with radiation before they do surgery.  We would be required to be in Houston for 5 weeks as Roy would get the radiation part every day for those 5 weeks....not exactly how we thought the end of the summer would be spent.  Surgery is still part of the plan but it would be much later...in the middle of the fall or later possibly.

This really took us by surprise, I guess we just thought the prodical (is that the way you spell it?) would be the same and what we were deciding on would be which surgeon to use.  So, there's got to be a lot more prayer in making a possibly new decision.  We are seeing the surgeon here in the middle of June.  His chemo isn't over until the end of June.  So there is a lot of time to pray for our decision.  Obviously, we want the best results.

What are shattered our confidence was being told that this cancer was not caught in the early stages.  Not to say it is the worse case scenerio but it isn't the best we had thought it was.  But, it is what it is and we have all the confidence that we'll come out on the other side being able to support any one else who has to walk this road.

God is in conrol and holding our hand. 

Linda

Just a little nervous...

Hadn't really planned to write anything until we came back from Houston...hopefully Thursday night, maybe sometime on Friday.  But, decided to share...

I am a little nervous about this appointment.  We have had so many positive things told to us about how Roy can do through chemo and then surgery.  If this surgeon doesn't agree with the surgeon here or tells us something different, I'm going to not be a happy camper.  Just let me live in my state of "God's in control and everything is going to be good."  I really believe that...until the doubts come...then I have to turn it back over to the Lord...

Roy umpired again tonight.  He is losing more of his hair.  Caleb is spending the night with us and was taking a shower in our shower when he commented on the amount of hair that was in the drain.  I hadn't noticed it since Roy took his shower after mine.  I asked Caleb if he wanted to clean it out..."yewww", was his answer.  Thought grandkids were suppose to step up and help their grandparents when they got old..some help he is!

Tomorrow is the first time Roy will go back for the 4-5 hour chemo session.  They will put in the other 2 drugs that take longer to administer.  He will also have his fanny pack refilled.  Prayfully, he will come home feeling well enough to make this trip.  We will go to Temple (as I said on Facebook) and get to be with the Temple grandkids...that is such a blessing to me.

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

6 Hairs Gone!!

I have almost become obsessed with the idea that Roy is going to lose his hair.  He still has a head full of hair but I keep looking for a bald spot somewhere on his head.

This morning as he was getting dressed he commented on the fact there were a few hairs in the sink.  I immediately went to check them out...I counted 6..that's all...just 6.  I came to the conclusion that if that's how many he loses at one time I may need to find a new obsession.  We are told God knows the number of hairs on our head...wish he'd give me an idea of how many Roy's got left.

You must understand, he is not at all concerned with his hair loss...in fact, he's talking about a ball cap with dreadlocks...so please pray that when we are faced with the consequences that we are so blase about now that we will be able to handle them.

We leave for Houston on Wednesday.  So we are seriously praying for positive results.  Our prayer is the 2nd opinion that we are seeking will be exactly what we've been told by the doctor here.  We aren't prolonging life...we are curing cancer.

God is in control and He is holding our hand.

Linda

BTW...my Mother's Day was good...thanks to all the grandkids in the area and the moms and dads who shared the day with me.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

I meant to share this last night, but felt I had gotten a little long winded.

We have a very good friend who had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Lands recently.  One of the places she got to visit was the valley where David met Goliath.  The story is found in I Samuel 17 how David picked up 5 smooth stones to slay the giant Goliath.  Our friend brought back stones from that valley. She knew there would be people who she would come in contact with that needed a stone to help them on their journey, whatever it was.  This was several weeks before Roy's diagnosis but Pam thought of us when she heard Roy's diagnosis. It is a reminder of the story of David and Goliath.  So, we have one of the stones that Roy keeps in his pocket to use as an anchor and reminder that the battle belongs to the Lord.

Ofcourse, Roy being Roy did ask where the blood was????  I told him I felt it was probably one of the other 4 stones that David picked up and just dropped out of his bag after he slew Goliath....don't you agree???

God is in control and holding our hand.

Linda

Houston..you're makin' us crazy!!!

Today has been a whirl wind of emotions....phone calls...change of plans...but then not really..back to the orginal plan...oh no, that won't work...oh yeah, it will.

We had gotten a letter yesterday from M.D. Anderson giving us the details for the appointment we had asked to have with them.  It was going to be a whole lot more than what we were expecting.  They had planned to do all the tests that have already been done..again.  We were told to expect to spend 5-7 business days there.  And, we were to be there Thursday the 17th.  So, we're trying to figure out if we are there Thursday/Friday...what do we do over the week-end?  Do we come home then go back for Monday through...whatever??  Shana and Caleb plan to go with us...back and forth???  Good grief!  This is too complicated for our (maybe I should say..my) feeble mind.

So, deciding to "let it go" for the evening, I went to my prayer group for dinner, conversation and a lot of prayer!  I asked that we pray that things wouldn't be as nearly complicated as they seemed to be yesterday...I love this group...some I went to college with and the rest just took me into the group when we moved here 13 years ago.  We have prayed eachother through divorces, deaths, marriages, babies,  sickness, alzheimers...just about anything that life sends our way.  We haven't always gotten the answers that we wanted but we have always gotten answers.  And, we boldly ask.  When you have 16 ladies petitioning the Lord for results I think He answers those prayers.

Bottom line...the prayer was answered.  We go next Thursday to meet with a surgeon.  This will give us the 2nd opinion that everyone seems to think is a wise idea.  And, we don't have to stay 5-7 "business" days and Roy does not have to have all the tests done again.  It did take most of the day to get all this accomplished...He (the Lord) never said it would be easy...He just said He'd never give us more than we could handle, right?

The next few weeks are really full.  We will get to see the Temple grandkids on the way to Houston..we will spend the night with them.  The following week Shay, the oldest grand daughter graduates from high school.  We are so proud of Shay and the young lady she has become.

On top of all of this, Roy is still doing great!  He had his fanny pack reloaded today.  Still no nausea or fatigue and as far as we know his white blood count is still in a good range.  Shana thinks he's losing some of his hair but she also called the day after he started chemo and asked if there were hair on his pillow...not yet, Shana....

God is in control and is holding our hand.

Linda

Keepin' the faith

Let me begin by saying we are so thankful to the Lord for the answered prayers for Roy's health.  We are amazed how well he feels. 

That being said, writing about him feeling good is not what I expected whenever I made the decision to keep everyone who was interested posted about our "new normal".  The fact that I had 390 text messages in about a 48 hour period of time initially was really what started this process.  Now, I don't have anything to say...which is good.  I told a friend at church this morning, I really have nothing to write and at the same time I don't want to have anything to write..that would mean something not so good might be happening!

We had a great week-end, doing exactly what we would normally do.  Had dinner with some really special friends, the Jameson's, on Friday night.  They live in the T&P  Towers in downtown Fort Worth on the 12th floor.  What a view when the storm started coming through although it ended up fizzling out.  Roy worked on Friday and Saturday, he came home tired but that would be normal after working all day.  I did the ballgame bit and just hung out.  Church on Sunday, which always lifts our spirits.

We are waiting on a call from M.D. Anderson to have an appointment for a 2nd opinion about the type of surgery he will be facing at the end of the summer.  We are praying that the next phase of chemo won't have any more effects on him as this first 10 days have had.  We are still expecting him to lose his hair, probably in the next 2 weeks.

So, if you are willing to pray for us, please pray that the next 7 weeks (which is about how much time he has left with his chemo) will go according to God's plan and we will praise Him in all that He does for us.  He really is in control and we know that whatever happens will be to His glory....but maybe not any mouth sores please Lord????

God is in control and holding our hands.

Linda

Awesome to be at church this morning and see Caleg (the 5 yr. old grandson) in a video..he looked so cute!  And then have the minister mention Shay (the oldest grand daughter) in a good way from the pulpit!  You always want it to be positive when the minister calls you out...right?

Fill 'er Up and Praise the Lord!!!

We have had such a blessed day today

Roy had an appointment with the oncologist today to refill his fanny pack with the chemo that is a continuous drip.  What was ironic about it was until it beeped to say it was out of the chemical we didn't know what would happen if he ran out.  Well, it ran out just as we walked into the exam room.  Now that's what I call timing.

After visiting with the oncologist and explaining to him what all we had done over the week-end, including Roy working 7 hours Monday and going to Waco for Shay's ball game last night, he was amazed.  He asked about fatigue and nausea and we explained that there hasn't been any, he then told us if Roy hadn't had those symptoms he wouldn't expect him to have them moving forward!  Praise the Lord!  He is mighty and has answered our prayers.

Now, we know that we will have other "trials" to go through but we are taking it one celebration at a time...and we are celebrating.  Our next prayer is the low white blood cell count that comes with chemo will not cause anymore complications.  He can expect the mouth sores, etc...won't go into anymore details but God will see us through whatever else that comes our way.

I think it is so amazing that my faith is never as strong during the prayer time as it is after my prayer is answered.  I also  include the prayer that Roy wouldn't face cancer when God answered that prayer with cancer then I was fine because I knew the answer.  Now, I will pray and know there will be an answer and how ever He answers our prayers we accept it and will keep on keeping on!

Hope this all makes sense....I'm not sleeping so well....so if I don't make sense...I apologise...

God is in control and He is holding our hand.

Linda

A Day of Rest????

We had a very "active "week-end as I had described in my last post.  Some of it we did, some we decided wasn't worth the effort.

Roy worked on Friday.  I think it made him feel good to be back at work.  They have been so good to tell him that he can work when he feels like it and when he can't work not to worry about his job, it will be there when all this is over.

Roy did get up and umpire his 3 ballgames Saturday morning.  I was worried about how he would handle it.  I knew he'd be ok for the first two but the third was after the weather started getting warmer and that made me nervous.  I got up and went to watch Kassidy (the 13 yr. old granddaughter) play softball.  She had a tournament this week-end and had 4 games on Saturday.  That game was over about the time Roy's 3rd game was to start, so I went to make sure he was ok.  Although I'm not sure what I thought I could do about it if he weren't.  I certainly couldn't demand he leave the field but it made me feel better to talk to him.

We were to help Shana and Lena Pope Home do some volunteer work at the Rangers game on Saturday night.  Roy got home Saturday afternoon and by the time we were to leave to go to the game we decided it probably wasn't such a good idea.  Not because of the chemo but the parking lot that we were to park in was a long way from the stadium.  He didn't think his knees would hold out to walk that far and I didn't really feel I needed the exercise...ok, that may not be the truth.  So, we went back to watch Kasssidy play
ball.  It was a beautiful Saturday evening to be out at a ballgame.  That's what we call normal.

After church this morning we joined our care group for lunch.  This is a blessed group that we have had the priviledge to be a part of every since we moved back to Texas.  We love this group of people and enjoy being with them so much.  It was fun to be able to catch up with everyone as we had missed a couple of months because of other activiites.  I then took off to Stephenville for my aunt's 96th birthday.  Roy had volunteered to go with me but I knew he would much rather watch Kassidy play ball (only 3 games today).

So, we had a very active week-end with no side effects from the chemo....that is our prayer that when the side effects do start they will be controllable and minimum.  Please keep the prayers going....

Remember God is in control and He is holding our hand.

Linda

Heigh-ho...Heigh-ho, it's off to work he goes

Roy made the decision to go to work today.  It is the first time he has had a chance to work in the last two weeks, so I think he was glad to be able to be back to normal.

He did fine.  He was tired when he got home but that would be normal for him.  So, he is sitting on the back porch, watching the birds, feeling good.  Now, tomorrow maybe a different story, he is planning to umpire 3 ballgames in the morning.  I personally think it may be a little too much but he thinks he can do it.  We will see.  We are also scheduled to volunteer for Lena Pope Home tomorrow afternoon at the Ranger game.  I may ended up going alone for that.  Then Sunday we have lunch with our care group and a birthday party in Stephenville for my 96yr. old aunt.  Ya think our lives need to slow down a little???

We did get a call from M.D. Anderson yesterday to set up the appointment to see the surgeon there.  They were to call back today but we haven't heard from them.  Actually, I'm not sure we have time for that either.  Shay, our oldest grand daughter has a playoff softball game in Waco Tuesday.  You know, we have to keep our priorities straight...softball or M.D. Anderson???  Yeah, we lean toward softball.

I'm sure some are "rolling their eyes" at what I just said.  But as crazy as we know it will be in the future, if the present can be normal that's what we are hoping for.  As long as Roy is feeling the way he feels right now we will continue to live our lives the way we always have.

Pray that  he will continue to feel as good as he does.  We have been warned that next week might not be as good.  But we know we have an awesome God who will answer our prayers and with a touch of a hand make things right for us.  We pray for that.

God is in control and He is holding our hands

Linda
I will probably think of something else I meant to say after I publish this...

I have to be honest

I do have to be honest....I also passed out one time...

We were on a cruise...had just gotten on the ship and were at "muster".  If you've been on a cruise you know that muster is where you go to know what to do in case of an emergency.  We were standing in front of the lifeboats and the last thing I remember is telling Roy I thought I was going to pass out.  Next thing I knew I was looking up at my friend Barbara who was standing beside me.  She told me later that I was "very graceful" as I went down.  I had on a skirt which I was very thankful stayed in place.

So, I do know how Roy felt.

1 Day Down and 62 To Go....

Today was the first day of chemotherapy.  It wasn't a very auspicious start...but I'm sure it will get better.

Roy, Caleb and I went to the doctor today.  Caleb and I went just for a little while, but after they had checked Roy's blood presssure, taken blood, checked all the vital signs there was a slight problem.  Roy passed out on us.  No one was in the room except Caleb and I.  He was sitting in a chair and I noticed he was not really aware of his surroundings.  I started calling his name and slapping him...lightly, I assure everyone...finally I turned to Caleb and very calmly asked him if he would go get a nurse for me.  Caleb was so intent on playing his DS game that he really didn't want to.  By that time, the doctor had heard me, well, actually I was yelling Roy's name, and they came and we got him conscious again.  There wasn't anything really wrong that they could find but it did put everyone on alert.  It is amazing how many people can get into one of those little examination rooms.

After that it was decided he was still good to go for chemo.  Caleb and I left to go spend our day somewhere other than that place!  Everything is fine.  He had driven himself there and this afternoon I went back and followed him home.  He came home with one of the drugs that is a contimuous drip for 7 days.  He will go back next Wednesday to have another 7 days of medicine put in his little fanny pack he has to carry around.  He also came home with lot's of anti-nausea medicine.  My prayer is no nausea.  The fatigue is to be expected but I want him to feel good even if he is tired.

So, if you will, pray for as good a day as can be.  We know this really is the beginning of the new normal for us.  Up until now nothing has really affected how he has felt.  I'm afraid we are really facing what can happen when he has cancer.

God is in control and He is holding our hand.

Linda

A Port of a different sort

When I think of the word "port" I don't think of what we spent 7 hrs. having done today. I think of Cartegena, Columbia, Juneau, Alaska, Tallin Estonia (thank you Stacy) or any of the other exotic ports we were priviledge to visit while cruising.

Today a port took on a different meaning. We were to be at the hospital at 11:30am for the doctor to implant a "port" into Roy's upper chest. This is to give them access for the chemotherapy drugs that start Wednesday. The implant was to start at 1:00. I am learning there is "hospital time" and time that we consider the right time..or the time they tell us to be ready. By 2:00 I was getting a little anxious to have it done. As it turned out it didn't start until 3:30. They had the wrong port and if Roy hadn't tried to impress the doctor/nurses with the name of the port they wouldn't have known it. It would have been ok but while giving the drugs it would have been a slower process. So, anyway, it is in, we were only about 3 hours later than we thought. And, Roy did not umpire. For some unknown reason he thought he could umpire 2 ball games tonight. Go figure.

I ended up leaving the hospital to just get away. It was really cold in the hospital, so I was out in the car. By the 3rd phone call from the nurse telling me what had happened I'm pretty much wondering if I would ever be "in control" of my life. I stopped and listened (if you have heard Rick's sermon Sunday...) and plainly was told that God is in control and let Him lead me. He speaks if we are willing to listen.

We are still doing well. I did suggest we go to eat after church Sunday for a last meal before chemo. I don't know if his taste will change but it was a good excuse to eat Mexican food and me not have to cook. Had a friend over for barbeque Saturday night..now if I can just work in chicken fried steak tomorrow night after we watch Shay play ball. Any excuse to get out of cooking.

God is in control and is holding our hand.

Linda

A Step in the right direction

We are so thankful for the doctors we have been with the last two days. They seem to know what we need to hear and make us feel at ease.

Today we went back to the oncologist to set up the chemo procedures. The first thing he said was "I know you have a trip to Russia planned for July" (Our surgeon had already ok'd it). He then explained the chemo that Roy will go through. It will be 21 days straight, but only 1 day at a chemo facility, the other days will be with a fanny pack with medicine given through a port. He will do this 3 times...so a totally of 63 days..straight. But only 3 days sitting and the rest of the time doing whatever he feels he can do. Our prayer is that all the chemo will be finished by the 1st of July and he will have time to recover before we leave. Shana, Chris, Callie and Caleb will be going with us. Shana will do parenting classes with the young moms and Chris will be doing martial arts with the teens.

In the scheme of things Russia may not seem so important as Roy's health...and realistically it's not...I know that. But, it is a part of us keeping a normal life as much as possible. There are so many things that aren't going to be normal that I'm praying fervently for this trip.

The surgery that has to be done will be done as soon as we can schedule it when we get back. That's really when things will be "out of kilter" (is that a word???) for us.

So, please keep us in your prayers. He will have the port put in on Monday and chemo will start on Wednesday.

God is in control and is holding our hands

Linda

By the way...I know I keep repeating myself on some things...it's because I can't remember what I've written and I forget to reread my posts before I start writing the next one!!!

I forgot to mention

I think in the 3 paragraphs that got deleted I probably mentioned this tidbit of information..

Roy's cancer is call esophagealadenocarsinoma...which is a long word that really means this cancer is located at the base of the esophagus/stomach. It was caught in the early stages but is still a difficult type of cancer to deal with..

A day with the doctor

I just wrote 3 paragraphs and somehow they got deleted...I'm really not good at this.

We were at the surgeons office today. If I could remember how to spell his name I'd tell who he is but it's a long name and I'm just going to call him Dr. J. We really liked him and love the fact that he talked about the miracles God has already worked in our lives...like the fact this cancer was found early. And that we are working toward a cure not just giving us more time. He gave us a lot of information and I was so thankful that Ryan was with us. He was able to listen, comprehend and explain to the sisters what is happening next....which I'm not sure I can even do now that I've had time to think about it.

• We have an appointment tomorrow with the oncologist, Dr. Davis, tomorrow to determine when to start chemo. Roy will have to have a port put in and I think he is going to have 3 sessions of chemo. There will be surgery when he is finished with the chemotherapy.

How are we feeling? I think we are still in shock but both of us have an attitude of we'll do what we have to do. We will take it one day at a time. Our trust is in the Lord. He is in control and holding our hands as we make this journey.

I love all of you and appreciate the support that we have had and I know that we will continue to have.

Linda

The night before the surgeons appointment

I can't believe I've really created a blog. I didn't particularily want to do this. I've never felt I had anything that anyone else would be interested in reading. I guess with what we are starting in our journey through Roy's illness that this is the best way to keep everyone posted.

Last Tuesday I awoke to hear Roy being really sick in the bathroom. Nothing like I had ever heard before...by the time I got to him he was out of it. It took about 30 seconds for me to get him aware of me. He wouldn't let me call 911 at the time, decided he would just go back to bed. I went to work but only stayed about an hour...came home to find he had passed out again. When he passed out the 3rd time (ok..I'm not really that slow on the uptake..but he kept saying not to call the paramedics) I called 911. When they got here his blood pressure was 78/43 and he had been bleeding internally.

One night in ICU and 2 pints of blood later, the hospital started testing. Bottom line is he has
esophagealadenocarsinoma. He had a PET SCAN today and wil see the surgeon tomorrow. We don't know what we are going to be told...all I know is I've been praying that the "mass" is gone. If not then whatever we have to deal with, we will.

God is in control and is holding our hands.