Pink Party Benefit Dinner & Silent Auction

I just wanted to thank those of you who were a part of our Pink Party Benefit Dinner & Silent Auction this past Saturday evening. We had a great turnout and had a really great evening. Together with the silent auction proceeds and the donations sent in we have raised over $2500.00 for the Komen Race for the Cure. We are looking forward to the race on October 18.

Mom really enjoyed being out and getting a chance to visit with everyone even though she started feeling ill after the party. She's had a rough few days, but we're hoping that this will be a better week for her. She doesn't have to go for any injections the rest of the week so, hopefully, she'll start feeling better soon.

Thank you all again for your support and for being a part of a special evening for Mom.
-Emily

Pray for Mom

Please be sure to keep Mom in your prayers. This has been a really rough week for her. She started her Taxotere chemo last week and had to get Procrit and Nupagen injections through Friday and goes for more tomorrow morning. She has been in a great deal of pain. So much that she broke down crying Friday evening because she just couldn't find any comfort and she was hurting so bad throughout her entire body. So, please pray that the Lord will hold her hand and see her through the remainder of her treatment. She has just a little over one month to go. It may be the hardest thus far, but I know God will get her through this.

Also say a prayer for Dad. When he called me Friday night he just felt helpless. He didn't know what to do to help her and how to ease her pain. Just pray that God will give him the strength to get through this as well. This is by far the hardest thing he's ever had to go through. He has been amazing though. I don't know how my Mom would make it without him. Dad, I know you read this and I am proud of you and tell Mom how proud we are of her. You both have been through so much during your 40 years of marriage and I am proud of you both for never giving up and for always being there for each other. I am grateful to have such loving parents who love and care for each other through it all. That's what marriage is all about and I thank you for being such a great example. I love you both so much and I am so blessed to be your daughter!

Love to all,
Emily

Where did August go?

Hi All,

For Mary and I, August was a blurr. After her third chemo treatment on August 12, her white blood count dropped drastically; she became dehydrated; was nauseated almost daily and began to run a fever on August 20. Mary's doctor had her go for daily injections for a twelve day period and had her on antibiotics for five days. Mary was very sick for two weeks but, the injections, hydrating fluids and antibiotics worked great. The past week has been really good for her, she's felt wonderful and was finally able to see our beautiful granddaughters, Ava and Allie. That really made the month for her.

August was a trying month for several reasons. Besides Mary being very ill, we were all concerned and worried because Amy's doctor had found a lump and wanted her to get a diagnostic mammogram. Emily had earlier gotten a script from her doctor for a mammogram as well. We prayed hard for Amy and Emily and, as He always does, the Lord saw us through that ordeal. Nothing out of the ordinary was found on either of our girls mammograms. Praise God for that, He certainly listened to and answered our prayers.

Mary had chemo treatment number four this morning and it went pretty well. She receives only one drug with these final treatments, where she received three drugs for the first three treatments. Two more to go and with God's Grace, she will be cancer free. Her doctor told us this morning that she will not have to have radiation after the chemo is complete. She will start a pill form of medication four weeks after her last chemo treatment and will take that pill for five years. Although she still has reconstructive surgery to go through, she continues to have to very best attitude and the most amazing strength of anyone I have ever known.

We were talking yesterday about all the medical situations we have been faced with during our forty plus years of marriage. I asked her why she thought we had had so much adversity in our lives and she responded " Because God knows we can handle it". What an amazing answer.

I want to thank each of you again for all your prayers; support, phone calls; cards and kind and comforting words. Mary and I are truly blessed to have such a fantastic and loving support group of family and friends. You have all played a part in helping us through this terrible ordeal. We have made it more than half way and still have forty-two days until Mary's final chemo treatment. Please continue with your kind prayers and good thoughts. You are all very much appreciated.

God Bless,

Ron

A great day/good week!

Well, Mom had a pretty good week this past week. Last Monday, after about 12 consecutive days of Procrit and/or Nupagen injections, her blood count was finally up. She was so excited. She called me right after getting her blood draw and wanted to see the girls since she hadn't been able to see them in a while. I took them over and we had lunch with her and Dad. She got to rest that week since she didn't have to get up and go get injections each morning. That was really exhausting to her and really took its toll on her.

She got to spend some quality "alone time" with Allie on Wednesday as well. Mom and Dad both really enjoyed that because they really haven't had the chance to really bond with her like they did with Ava since Mom has been sick since she was 2 months old. Mike was working late and Ava and I went to church that night and it was going to be a long evening so I didn't know how well Allie would do in the nursery that long. Anyway, I think Allie finally got used to being around them. She finally smiles and giggles at them now instead of crying when they look at her. She's really bonding with Mom...which I'm glad about since Ava is such a "Paw Paw's girl"!

We had a really great time yesterday at Grandma & Papa's house. We haven't seen them in a while so me, Mike and the girls met Mom, Dad, Amy and Scott out there. We visited, walked down to the dock, cooked out and played Chicken Foot dominoes. We had a blast and I know Mom really enjoyed her time.

I'm really glad she had a good week because we don't know what the next week will be like for her. Her next three rounds of chemo will be different. She will be on Taxotere which may be a stronger type of chemo. She has to take medication the day before, the day of and a few days after chemo to control the side effects. She took her first doses today since she has chemo tomorrow. She'll go in the morning for a blood draw to check her blood cell count and she'll meet with her oncologist. I guess the positive thing about Taxotere is that it is a shorter session. Before it took about 3 hours or so for the previous type, now it will be about an hour.

Well, I'll blog again in a few days once we know how this Taxotere will be for her. Hopefully it won't be bad and this will all be over for her before too long. Then, she can get back to life as it was before this horrible disease came along.

Love to all,
Emily