April 07 - Mom is very weak......

Mom went to the doctor last Thursday. Her throat was hurting her badly, so they asked her to come in. Apparently the Thrush has gone down her throat too. They ended up giving her two bags of fluids while she was there. Dr. Dayton reviewed her last scan too. According to mom, it's about the same as it was the last time. Not any better, not worse. Roger says it's worse. This is the news I get when I cannot be at her appointments. I started getting sick last week and was off work Thursday.

I did go ahead over Friday night and spend the night at mom & Roger's. Roger had to work the REMC meeting at the school Saturday, so they had asked me to come over and stay with her while he was working. I figured it would just be easier to spend the night, so I could also spend more time with her.

They finally broke down and purchased a medical lift chair for her Friday. That helps her get up out of her chair in the living room, however Mom is very weak. It takes what little strength she has to walk between the Bedroom/Living Room, Bathroom/Living Room. The thrush has made it so she can barely eat......not that she's felt like eating much at all either. She's lost her appetite too, even the medicine they've given her isn't helping her appetite. She was complaining of her heart pounding hard Saturday. (Her INR was up to 6.1 on Thursday.) She slept from about 8:30 pm to 7:30 am Friday/Saturday night, then she went back and laid back down at 10:30 and slept til 12:00.

She's at the doctor's office this morning. I tried calling and Roger told me to call back in a few minutes. I'll let you know what I find out in another post.

Uncle Fred is not doing good at all. Apparently they are going to take him off his respirator. I spoke to Angie this morning and she said, "he's holding his own." However she nor Aunt Mary have been able to get ahold of Aunt Donna or Uncle Steve.

Please pray for my family......this has got to be one of the most difficult periods we've gone through in a Long, Long time...... To have not one, but two going through a struggle with life. It's ripping our hearts open. I'll post more later. Love you all.......

Jan. 27th - It's been awhile.

Sorry. I know it's been awhile since I posted anything on this blog about mom. Not much has really changed. I guess can be good or bad depending on how you want to look at it.

She finally got over all that crap at Christmas and is back to eating "good" if you want to call it that. I still don't think she eats enough, but I know it's also tough to eat when you just don't feel hungry. (Oh, I just realized, I forgot to blog about that. We ended up taking mom to the ER on December 30th I believe. She had gotten dehydrated. She got to the point where she could keep anything in her stomach and had diarrhea really bad. They ended up giving her fluids and sending her back home.)

Mom will be going for the third set of chemo in this series/round (hey it's late) on Thursday. Then the following week she will go for another CT Scan and follow that up the next day with a doctor's appointment. We'll just keep praying that things are going the right direction. Last scan showed some improvement. Let's pray the same happens next week.

Good news is, it's almost February. Mom should finally start getting her disability checks and the back pay for the last 6 months. I know they really need it. It's been tight around there and they are blessed enough to have insurance. I can't imagine what people without insurance do. We are also blessed in that it's been 6 months now since her diagnosis. Alot of people out there with Lung Cancer don't make it that long.

Roger seems to be holding up well, but I know deep down inside he's dying too. I can see it in his face every time I'm over there. You wanna see true love. Look at him and how he takes care of my mother. I just hope he realizes how much I love him too. The Lord blessed me and was watching out for us when he put Roger in our lives.

Little Roger has been great too. That gives me great peace of mind knowing that as soon as he gets off work, he goes over and checks on mom. When he's going to town, he always asks if she needs anything. I'm so proud of him. He's come a long way.

Devin doesn't really say too much. He went over there last weekend and stayed so Darin and I could go to Indy to the woodworking expo. He always has and always will be Papaw's buddy, but he's still pretty close to mom too and I know that it tears him up inside. More so when he's around her.

Myself, well......it's just another day. I hate being so far away from her. I know 30 miles isn't that far, but when gas is $3.00/gal, it might as well be 100 miles. I do call her everyday on my way home from work though. I know she probably thinks I'm crazy, but I need that. I need that connection....to hear her voice, because I know one day, it's not going to be there.

Sometimes I feel like I'm sinking further into my own depression by just avoiding everything I can. My house is a mess, but I just don't have the motivation to clean. Financially I'm a mess. Heck...my whole life is a mess right now. I just don't know how to get it all back together anymore. I think another reason I don't like to sit here and blog about it, well.....right now I'm sitting here crying. When I get to thinking about the cancer, it just kills me. I'm sorry to go on about myself. I know that's not who you came to read about.

Please just continue to keep us in your prayers, but most of all.....Keep mom at the top above us. Don't forget Uncle Fred too. As soon as we find something out next week, I'll be sure to get on here and blog. We love you. Please keep in touch. If you need our phone numbers...please contact me through here and I'll get back to you. Lots of Hugs and Kisses........ Tammi

November 29th - GOOD NEWS!!

Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile. I've been busy working two jobs and running Devin around (Scouts, Church, Basketball...) There's just not much time left at the end of the days. Not to mention my house....you don't wanna see it. It's 10 times worse than it normally is....NOW THAT'S SCARY!!

Mom had a doctor's appointment on the 29th of November. We got the CT Scan results. GOOD NEWS IS.....The treatments are doing their job and the cancer has slightly decreased. They don't believe it's in her adrenal glands now as they didn't respond to the scan as normal cancer tumors would. So, Left upper lobe and liver.... Still Stage IV. Dr. Dayton wants mom to stay on the same regiment as she has been on, which is Carbo Platin, Taxol and Avastin. I believe she'll go through another 3-4 rounds (which consist of 1 treatment a week for 3 weeks, then a week off), then they'll do another scan.

Please, Please, Please....continue to keep my mother in your prayers! I believe that PRAYER WORKS!! While you're at it...throw up a few extra for the rest of my family too. My uncle isn't in the greatest of shape. Last I heard he was in the hospital. My cousin, Carrie, is doing Great and we want her to stay that way! The rest of us just need strength to make it through all of this.

Well, it is late and I must get to bed. Thanks for keeping up with mom and her condition and for all your prayers. I know she appreciates everything everyone has done for her. May God Bless each and everyone of you and your families this holiday season and beyond....

Much Love,

Tammi