No Chemo

No chemo for now!  Clean MRI, will go back at the end of March.  He still has lesions, but they have not developed into tumors...yet.

December Already?!?

Yep, December already. Three months has gone past and it is time again for Dad's MRI. To recap, the last MRI showed his main tumor was dead, but new tumors were forming. We find out tomorrow if he needs chemo again, or can wait. If he needs it, he will be in the hospital through Christmas Eve.

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It is hard to believe that we have been dealing with Dad's cancer a year the 27th?(or the 29, I don't hve my calendar in front of me). It is times like these that I wished they lived in a larger area, so there wasn't so much running back and forth. Each MRI/Chemo session is a week+, since my folks have to travel to STL and Dad has to stay here(he cannot come by himself). It makes me thankful that I don't have a paying job, since I can't leave Dad home alone for long stretches. No job would let me take a week off every month to three months. I am eternally grateful for my Hubby's family, who have been extremely understanding this Christmas season as to why we can't be there for Christmas/New Years this year. Also, there are no Christmas cards as of yet. I am thinking maybe in January, but don't hold your breath. There isn't a lot of Christmas spirit in my house, BUT I have my real tree, so it could it be worse.

--------------------------------Merry Christmas-----------------------------------------

Play Ball!!

Alex had won Cardinals tickets through the St. Louis County Library summer reading program. So, between Dad's MRI, Eric going to FL, and me packing for FL, Alex had his baseball game. Grandma Teresa was able to join us at the last minute. This was Alex's first ride on the commuter train and he was exstatic!

The game was on a rain delay, so we had a lot of sitting around.


This was both his and Grandma Teresa's first profesional game.

Access Hollywood's Billy Bush threw out the first pitch...no really he did.

Despite the delay and freezing temps, we had a great time, even though the Cards blew it in the 9th inning.

Florida

We had an unexpected mini trip last month. Eric had a busines trip to Fort Walton Beach, FL, and I joined him for part of it. He and I had not been able to take our usual summer get away this year, so this was just perfect. Teresa came here and stayed with Alex. We had four days together, just enjoying the beach and the sights, although Eric was stuck in a lab for two days. We took a dolphin cruise, played putt-putt golf, shopped, and hung out at the beach. We even had pancakes made with Reeses Pieces, courtesy of http://www.thepancakery.com/. Click on the photo for more snapshots.

Florida

MRI Update

MRI yesterday, (in the middle of the worst two weeks possible, but that is another post), results today. There is some positive news and some not so positive.

Positive: Main tumor is dead, no further treatment until December 19.

Not so positive: A new lesion has formed on his liver that will need to be watched. It could cause liver function problems as well as be susceptible to cancer-causing cells.

Now we wait until the week of Christmas,(I'm not happy about that, but Barnes doesn't really take patients' needs/wants into consideration). It will be our second Christmas glued to the phone waiting for treatment options.

Novena time!

St. Therese Novena 2011!

I am joining over 2900 Catholics to pray the St. Therese Novena!

I’m pretty excited to pray this with so many faithful Catholics around the world and I thought you’d like to join too!

There are thousands of people praying through this novena website and there will be millions praying around the world.

+ Sign up for handy email reminders to get the the novena prayers here: St. Therese Novena+ If you have a website, post about it there!
+ Email your friends and family and get them praying too!

Let’s get all the Catholics we know to pray this novena together to St. Therese!

Chemo #3

Dad made it through his third round of chemo. He was in more pain and had more nausea this time. He was convinced he had caught the flu from the hospital, since the side-effects were more pronounced. He is home now and recovering. We should know by the end of the week when his next MRI is to see if chemo #4 is necessary.