Water Day

Every Friday is Water Day at Brooklynn's school and she LOVES Water Day!  Here is a pic I took yesterday morning as we were about to leave.

Update:  Mom is slowly beginning to eat a little more.  Many of you who have brought or ordered meals for the meal train in the past have asked what to bring Mom.  My response for the past month was nothing because she isn't eating.  Hopefully that is changing.  I added a list of things she is eating to the meal train site for those of you bringing meals in the next week or so if you are interested.  I'm pretty excited that I can actually answer that question a little differently here lately!  

Update 6/29

Update:  Mom has had a pretty good week this week.  Well, a better week than she has had in the month of June.  She is starting to open her eyes a little more and interacting with people.  The physical therapist has been awesome!  She came today and had Mom out of the bed and standing with the walker for 30 seconds at a time and also doing exercises to strengthen her legs.  Mom was not happy with her and let her know about it.  Dad, Aunt Shay, and I enjoyed seeing Mom moving around and sitting in the living room.  I also liked the fact that the physical therapist, also named Jill, wasn't afraid to tell Mom what she needs to do in order to get stronger, even though Mom didn't want to hear it.  It means a little more when it isn't coming from one of us.

The best thing that happened today was that Mom ate half a pimento cheese sandwich and some potato salad!  That may not sound like a big deal, but when you think about the fact that she has had nothing but liquids (with the occasional pieces of fruit and watermelon) for the past month. That is huge progress!!!  She can't get stronger until she starts eating solid foods.  She did enjoy the lemon pie that Nick's aunts Laura and Beth made last week.  Dad absolutely LOVED the coconut cake they made.  He ate that cake for breakfast for a week.  He loved it so much that I got the recipe and made another one for him yesterday.  Yes, that is right, I attempted to bake.  The verdict is still out, however.  We have yet to try it!

Beach Babe

Last weekend we went to the beach for a few days.  Brooklynn was very excited to spend some time with cousin Marlee.  The two girls had a blast!

We went to Family Kingdom and Brooklynn got to do one of her favorite things, ride the rides!!

She also spent some time at the beach Saturday.  When she got up Sunday she said she didn't want to go to the beach unless she had a surfboard.  So, a surfboard she got!

We also went out on the pier, which Brooklynn was not crazy about.  She thought we were going to fall in so she held tight to Mommy and Daddy!

Princess Brooklynn

Brooklynn got to spend every day last week at Princess Dance Camp. She had a good time and her final performance was last Friday morning. Luckily Pops got to come see her perform, which was great since Mom and Dad didn't get to come to her recital a few weeks ago.

Below are some pics I took each morning and then some pictures from her final performance.

The final performance:

She wouldn't crack a smile the whole time! So serious!

Not so sure about Cinderella!

There's a smile!

Weekend Update

We have had a busy week which hasn't left me much time for blogging. Brooklynn didn't go to school last week but stayed with me and went to dance camp. Wednesday we went to Monkee Joe's with cousins Meredith and Kylie. Brooklynn had a blast!
I have lots more pics of B's dance finale and our weekend trip to the beach. As for now I have some unpacking to do, so I will upload those pics tomorrow. FYI . . . I have no idea who this kid in the pink shirt is in all these pics. Brooklynn made a friend and she never left her B's side.

Update on Mom: Mom had a good weekend. Getting her off the massive amounts of meds she was taking has been a big help. She is aware most of the time of things going on around her, which is a big improvement. We had about a two week period that I'm sure she remembers nothing about. Dad and I have learned to flush, set up and take out her ivs so that she is able to have those treatments at home three times a week. No chemo this week as I mentioned earlier. The nurse came today just to supervise that we could manage the ivs, and she won't be back until next week sometime. The physical therapist came today to help Mom with her movements. I came in on the tail end of that, and Mom was not at all excited to be sitting in the living room and out of the bed. I, on the other hand, was shocked and loved seeing her out of that dang bed! She did what she was supposed to do even though it was obvious she wasn't happy about it.

As mentioned in previous posts I've had lots of calls and emails about specific things to pray for. These are our concerns this week:
- Pain in her stomach to subside- I'm not sure if this is the cancer or chemo, but it bothers her. It has gotten better, however. She isn't taking nearly as many pain pills and often can just take Tylenol.
- Mom' hands, legs and feet are very swollen. Again, not sure what this is from.
-Circulation- Her poor little toes aren't getting much blood flow apparently. I asked the nurse why her toes are purple and black and didn't get much of a response. But nothing a little foot rub can't help. It doesn't bother her, it just looks uncomfortable to me.
- Here is the biggie: That we get some good results from next week's evaluation. We are hopeful that the chemo has made a dent in this cancer. We know that it is spreading rapidly and is very aggressive. A little hope would be welcome.

Thursday, June 21st

Mom went to her "make up" chemo appointment today. Her blood platelet level was back on track, so they went ahead and gave her the final chemo treatment this round. She did well today. She slept most of the day and I am hopeful that tonight will go just as smoothly. Brooklynn has her last day of Princess Dance Camp in the morning and we have invited Pops to the Cinderella Tea Party to see B's final performance. If Mom has a good night, hopefully he will leave Aunt Shay in charge for an hour or so in the morning. Mom has the week off next week and doesn't have to make one trip to the doctor if all goes well. Sometime next week they should let us know what will happen in terms of assessing the chemotherapy treatments and if they have worked etc. We are keeping our fingers crossed for good news. Lord knows we need some good news!

Tuesday, June 19th

Today was a good day for Mom and I got my wish. She was able to carry on conversations for much of the day, and she even watched a little tv. That hasn't happened in weeks! Actually I can't remember the last time she was well enough to watch tv. I didn't want Blake to miss out since he was at work, so I called him and Mom was able to talk to him on the phone!

Tonight Tracy and Kelly, two of my friends from work, brought dinner over. They brought with them a bowl of grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe. Mom actually ate a lot of it. Again, the most I have seen her eat in weeks. Hopefully she will continue to feel better. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Monday, June 18th

Monday Mom went for her last chemo treatment before her scans. I didn't go because Brooklynn has dance camp all this week. Dad said that they decided to not give her the chemo because her blood platelets were too low. Instead they gave her an iv and meds to help her platelets. She goes back on Thursday to get checked out. They will try to do the chemo then if her platelets are back where they should be. If not, I don't know what they do from there. I guess we will just wait to see.

Other than that there is no news to report. Mom still isn't eating, but has been drinking one Ensure milkshake a day that Aunt Shay whips up in the blender. She isn't talking much these days and mostly just sleeps. I really wish she would feel like sitting up and having a conversation or at least want to watch a little tv, but that isn't happening.

The nurse is still coming regularly although she is gradually handing out more responsibility to Dad. As if Dad needs any more responsibility, but I understand that is just how home health care works at this point. I've received more calls about specific things to pray for so here goes: Dad, Dad, Dad! He is doing all that he can and it is wearing him out, although he would never admit it. Mom- that her nausea continues to not be as severe and for her pain to subside. They are also working on her pain meds again to try and get her to not be knocked out 24/7.

The meal train has been awesome the past two weeks. I think Dad looks forward to having us all over for dinner each night. That's his time to talk about things other than cancer. He really needs that. We have dinner for him through next Thursday. The link is at the top of the blog. Thanks to everyone who has already volunteered. I truly mean it when I say that the meal train has been a blessing for Dad. One small spot of light in this cycle of continuous bad news.

Just as a side note to an otherwise depressing post. Brooklynn started Princess Dance Camp yesterday. She is channeling her inner princess all week and on Friday I am hoping to get Dad out of the house for B's princess tea party! I heard a rumor that Cinderella might be there!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Happy Birthday, Nick! We are pretty crazy about you!

Happy Father's Day

I've been surrounded my whole life by some pretty amazing men. Of course I have known this for years, but this summer especially has taught me how lucky I am to have this guy in my life.

Love him!

Thursday 6/14

Yesterday we took Mom to the hospital to get her port put in. The doctors decided not to put the port in because she is too weak and it requires minor surgery. Instead, they put in a different type of iv line so that Mom can have iv treatments at home.

The nurse came over yesterday for the first time and taught us how to flush the iv line. The nurse, Jean, will come on Wednesdays and Fridays to administer the ivs. Hopefully this will help Mom to feel a little better at home during the week and also give Dad a break. Mom had her first iv treatment last night and perked up considerably by the time I left. In fact, she actually corrected Dad's grammar at one point which made us all laugh. A sure sign she is feeling a little better at least. When Aunt Shay left last night Mom told Shay that she was sorry she had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Those of you moms and teachers out there are probably familiar with that children's book.
Mom is resting comfortably today in her new hospital bed that was delivered this afternoon and is taking in much more fluid than I have seen her drink in quite awhile.

Monday 6/11

Just a quick update on Mom tonight. They did decide to do the chemo treatment today after giving her an iv. She will have one more round next Monday and then they will rescan and make a decision from there. I'm not going to lie, Mom is very very sick and I don't mean as a result of the chemo. This cancer is so aggressive and I don't expect for the chemo to have made any improvements. Hopefully I am wrong, but we will just have to wait and see.

Today was ok for Mom, but tomorrow is going to be the true test. Last Tuesday was a challenge after the chemo and I am hoping that tomorrow will be better. They will put in her port on Wednesday. This will be the site that they use to give her chemo treatments and ivs.

I've had several people ask me for specific things to pray for this week. The major thing would just be for the pain in her stomach to subside and that the nausea will be manageable.

Catch Up

I haven't had a chance to post the pics of Mother's Day and Brooklynn's first dance recital with all that has gone on over the past few weeks.

We celebrated Mother's Day at the Farr's house. Brooklynn was very excited to give Gram the bird that she picked out all by herself. Yes, Nick took her to Trade Route (one of our favorite stores) and Brooklynn insisted that Gram MUST have this green bird. I didn't see it beforehand which left me a little nervous about the gift, but after seeing it opened up I think B did a pretty good job.

We also got Granny a few pictures that were taken at church this spring. It's been awhile since we've had B's photos made.


Last Saturday, June 2nd, was B's first dance recital. Nick and I were so excited but also pretty nervous at what she might do on that big stage at the Peace Center. We have never even taken her to dance class because Mom took her every Thursday. Once Mom got sick Aunt Kaley took her for the remaining three weeks, so Nick and I have no clue what she has been doing in dance class since last fall. Needless to say she looked pretty cute thanks to Aunt Laura getting her hair up in that required bun!
B actually surprised us and danced her little heart out. Unfortunately I couldn't record it, but I am working on purchasing the DVD so Mom can see her performance.
B was pretty proud of herself afterwards. Mostly because she got a medal and Gram and Poopa rewarded her with the much anticipated Minnie Mouse umbrella. She was doubly rewarded when it rained the next two days and she was able to show her new umbrella off at school to all her friends. Ahh, the little things!

Update from Home!

Mom left the hospital today and is feeling a little better. This afternoon when I went to the house she was sitting up in the living room drinking a milkshake! Talk about an improvement. Hopefully over the remainder of weekend she can continue to eat and get enough fluids to be strong enough for chemo on Monday. She will go to the Cancer Center on Monday and they will evaluate her and go from there. We definitely want chemo to happen on that day, so that we can continue to try and fight the cancer, which is very aggressive.

Aunt Shay and Mike came into town on Friday night and just in time. They have helped to lift everyone's spirits. Mike, always the good storyteller, has kept everyone laughing. I can already tell after one day that having Aunt Shay around has motivated Mom to get up and do the things she needs to do instead of staying in the bed. I'm not sure anyone could have this effect on her other than Aunt Shay. I'm very happy that she is going to be here all week long. It's good for Dad as well to have her around. I don't know that she knows how much we appreciate her being here.

We are still working on getting the at home treatment and supplies for Mom. We ran into a roadblock, also known as the weekend. It seems the people we need to talk to get things done are only Monday - Friday. Hopefully all the things the case manager discussed with us last week (hospital bed, supplies, etc.) will happen this week.

As for now we are just taking things one day at a time and encouraging Mom to keep eating and drinking in order to keep her strength up.

Update from the Hospital #2

This morning Dad and I met with the doctor. He said that Mom doesn't have an infection and that they are going to stop the antibiotic. He also said that today is the day to see how Mom does without any ivs. They have been pumping her with fluids since she got here, so he wants to see if she can consume enough on her own. The doctor mentioned that she needs to get up and walk around today and sit up in the chair so that he can see if she is ready to be at home. The PT people came early this morning and walked her up and down the hall. Afterwards, they determined that she is too weak to walk without a walker and also without someone helping her along. So they have ordered at home PT care several times a week. Mom is going to love that (not really).

Today is definitely the best I have seen Mom is the past two weeks. It's good to see her sitting up and taking part in conversations. She is still in a little pain and weak but definitely an improvement over where we have been.

Update from the Hospital #1

Mom had a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment Wednesday morning. She was still sick and extremely dehydrated from the chemo once we got her to the Cancer Center. The nurses gave her several ivs and did some blood work only to discover that her already high while blood cell count had skyrocketed indicating an infection somewhere. They administered antibiotics and decided to admit her to try and stabilize her.

Mom has done much better since yesterday afternoon and they are continuing to give her ivs as we wait for the results that tell us what type or if any infection she may have. She will be in the hospital until at least Saturday. She may be released Saturday depending on how well she is doing.

We are currently in the process of working towards getting an at home nurse. She will not be there to assist but rather to teach us how to better care for Mom. They also provide the tools necessary to do so such as hospital beds etc. We were very encouraged after speaking with the case manager today. She also provided so many useful resources for us. What a blessing she will be and already is!

Thanks for all the calls, texts, emails, gifts and visits. Mom is sleeping well right now after a full morning. I'll update as we know more.

Update on Mom

Just thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone on Mom. She started her first round of chemo yesterday. She is no longer part of the clinical trial which would have meant chemo five days a week. Instead she will only have chemo on Mondays. She did pretty well yesterday afternoon but it made her sick overnight. She will have two more rounds of chemo and then they will reassess to determine the next step.

Many of you have asked about what Mom wants to eat. She is mostly only eating watermelon and cantaloupe and drinking smoothies and milkshakes. Occasionally she will ask for other things. The meal train has been such a blessing. A big thanks to the people who have already brought meals, Karen Farr, Sarah Joy Smith, Tracy LeGrand, Nancy Dover, Carolyn Brewer, and Kayla and Justin Bell. It has been great for Dad to have meals every night and good for him to get some visitors. I know that we are all concerned about Mom and her health, but Dad really has a big job as her primary caretaker and boy has he stepped up to the plate. I just want to make sure that he is also taken care of even though I can picture him rolling his eyes as I type this sentence. A big shout out as well to the best neighbor in the world, Mary Long, who is always showing up at the door with goodies. Mom ate up the watermelon and cantaloupe Mary brought that was cut into neat little scoops. I don't know why, but a scoop of watermelon must be better than a slice. She ate a bowl last night and one this morning. I need to find one of those scoops!

I've added a few weekend days to the meal train simply because at this point Mom doesn't need to be left alone and Dad needs to eat. Blake and I really do appreciate the generoisty of everyone during this difficult time. All of the food, emails, calls, and texts surely let us know that we are not alone.

Flowers

I love hydrangeas, and the bushes in our yard are really looking good this year!

I love being able to have flowers straight from the yard that look like this!

Mutt's to the Rescue!

This has been such a crazy week. Why, you may ask?! It was the last week of school, of course. All you teachers out there can sympathize with that I'm sure.

Friday afternoon was Brooklynn's dress rehearsal for her first dance recital. Getting off from work, picking her up, trying to get her dressed according to the ridiculous guidelines, her hair up in a bun again according to guidelines, and to the Peace Center was a nightmare. I don't even want to go into the details of that ordeal. Needless to say we made it on time by the skin of our teeth and I had an hour of sitting in the lobby of the Peace Center to calm my nerves. I'm pretty sure that if I weren't almost 23 weeks pregnant that a stiff drink would have been in order after yesterday afternoon. I settled for Mutt's bbq for dinner instead.
Of course once we got to Mutt's the line was out the door and well on its way to wrapping around the porch. I quickly told Nick that I just didn't have the energy to fight that crowd, so we turned to leave. Brooklynn had other ideas. She plopped her behind down on that floor and started screaming. She surely wanted some Mutts. What in the world?! Who knew she liked that place so much?! Well I had less energy for fighting her tantrum, so in line we waited as the lady in front of us said, "We know who rules that roost!" I thought to myself that if she had just spent her afternoon running from Greer to Five Forks to Greenville and then had to wake up her three year old from a nap (always a mistake) only to try and dress her and do her hair as she screams. (I must insert here that I was almost in tears at this point too!) All this while running out of time and gas and trying to find somewhere to park in the pouring down rain. I can continue with all the madness, but I will stop. Ummmm lady . . . YOU would give in too!

As we waited and waited I soon realized why Brooklynn was so set on Mutt's.

Here she is holding her ice cream up in triumph!
Seriously though, who can complain about an exhausting afternoon when there is a sweet face like this to tuck in every night!?! Love her!