Normal again!

OK, OK, I know, some of you are already saying, 'you've never been normal a day in your life'.  I'll accept that but I feel normal for me with the chief indicator being that I am able to enjoy drinking pepsi again and eat whatever, including some spicy stuff, and things taste normal.

I'm half way through my two weeks off meds and going about life one day at a time - playing golf, yard work, some of Nor Nor's to-do list, and enjoying warmer weather.  It's hard finding time to do all I want to do - how do people have time to work???? or travel?

Another good day in Carolina - the last piece of our 'championship' team announced he's coming back.
Go Heels!

Praise God!!!

What a beginning to another week!  I finished the 2nd round of chemo yesterday and spent the day at Baptist hospital today getting scanned.  It was worth it since we got great news.  Dr. Aklilu reported that the medication is working - since my last scan in Dec., the tumors have shrunk approx. 30 - 40%.  He said that maintaining the same size would be good news - this is about as good as could be expected.  My body has tolerated the chemo well and it has been effective!  Therefore, I get two weeks off again, then take pills for 28 days again before my next dr. appt.  Then, we do round 4 before we do scans again.  The side effects will hopefully decrease each round as we go forward and the hope is that shrinking will continue.  This is of course answered prayer for our family.  Thank you for your continued prayers.

Leading up to today, I spent a very special and enjoyable week last week.  David and his family have been with us for a week - he and I got to play golf together - and Chris, David, and I got to watch the Masters together.

Oh, yeah!  Some friends of ours arranged for me to attend the Masters in Augusta, Ga. both Thurs. and Friday.  I got to watch the world's best golfers on the most beautiful golf course imaginable with David on Thurs. and Chris on Friday.  It's still unbelievable to me, so I've included pictures below to prove I was there.

Prayer request

Praise - Tomorrow is the last day of this round of chemo and side effects have been very manageable.

Prayer request - I am scheduled to spend all day at Bapt. hospital getting scanned and Dr. appt. to report the results.  The request is that the scans will show that chemo has been effective (whatever that means - no tumors, shrinkage) and that God's will will be served.

Thanks again for your interest and prayers.

Lots to be thankful for!

Gracie and Isaiah spent the night and are with us for the day.
David, Kelly, Mia, Jackson, and Eli are coming later today planning to stay several days.
The weather is supposed to be nicer so we can play outside (kids and adults).
Looking forward to watching the final four with family and only one team left that we want to lose.

Physically, I'm feeling good.  So far (this is day 20 of 28) this round of chemo has had minimal effects.  Thanks for the prayers - answered.  I've been able to do whatever I do everyday (except drink pepsi).  My mouth is a little tender but still no mouth sores, little acid reflux, and I've been able to sleep normally.  The only noticeable change in appearance is my hair color - it has gotten much more silver/grey - Nor Nor says it's age but I know it's because of the medication!

Also, very thankfully looking forward to the Masters next week!

How 'bout them Heels!

Good weekend so far - Carolina won, Duke lost, and UK could lose tonight.  If they don't lose tonight, we get them Sun. and it would be up to us to send them home.  As I have said in the past, everything else is 'bonus'.  However, if we come to play, we can still win them all.  It will be fun to watch.

Physically, I'm still feeling pretty good.  I had a couple days earlier this week when I didn't feel good - (maybe overdid it) - I did play golf three days and mowed the grass.  That's a pretty good week.  Today is day 12 and I have begun to have the burned mouth feeling again so I have to be more selective about what I eat (no more pepsi for now) - no mouth sores yet.  All in all, some inconvenience but thankful for only minor problems.

Nothing but praises!

As of today, I've completed week 1 of the second round of chemo, thankfully, without negative effects.  Hopefully, that will continue another week or more.

Weather is getting better with more nice days - I have plans to play golf 2 or 3 days this week and the grass needs mowing.  Trees and flowers are blooming - what a great time of year!

The Tar Heels made it to the sweet 16 - good season already with possibility of more to come!

Syracuse lost!  Marquette is a good team but we did not match up well with Syracuse - can't play against a good (or not so good) zone.  Now, we have a week to learn how to play again.

The only real downers in the NCAA is the fact that Duke and UK are still playing.  At least they can't play each other in the finals so they both still have chances to lose.

Round 2

I haven't posted anything lately because I haven't had anything to say (especially after the ACC).  As I've said all along, our goal is for all our players to return so we have a shot at the NCAA next year.  However, since we're there, it could still happen this year.  (Who will take the Tar Heels to the championship in their bracket???)  While that's our goal, the secondary goal is to last longer than Duke and Ky. - that would make this year successful.  Go Heels!

I had a brief visit with the dr. today and start the second round of chemo today.  If all goes well, I don't have to go back to the dr. until April 11.  I'll spend the day with them on that day - scans, mri, etc. all morning and visit with the dr. in the afternoon for results.  Thanks for your continued prayers - please continue to pray that the next 4 weeks will go at least as well as the first round and there will be positive results at the end (April 11).