First Week

Well, we made it through our first week. Earl is doing pretty good. I picked him up yesterday afternoon and took him to MUSC to get his Neulasta shot. This is suppose to help him rebuild white blood cells. He felt good last night and ate dinner. He sounded good this morning and was probably just going to spend the day working from home. Tomorrow he gets his second dose of Erbitux, which is suppose to take about one hour. He has to meet with Dr. Shirai for a check up before his infusion. Earl is really a trooper and I told him that he must be made of steel because he handles this so well. He never complains, he has dug in his heels and is coping so well. Spring is right around the corner and so is our new beginning that will include good health and Earl being cancer free. I can tell you that the second time around of this battle is harder for me. I am struggling with anxiety and stress. I really thought we were through with this cancer treatment stuff. I was wrong. What I now realize is that once you are diagnosed with cancer you are really never quite done. It is something you will always deal with, in some aspect or another. That's life! Love you all, Donna

Pump off today

Today @ 4:00pm a nurse will come to the house to remove Earl's chemo pump that he has been wearing continuously for the past four days. He is over it. He will have a little break until Friday. We seem to be managing the nausea and he was able to eat dinner last night. Hopefully after the pump comes off today he might be able to get out of the house tomorrow and Thursday before his next treatment on Friday. The friday treatment is a short infusion with no take home pump. His spirits are OK. As good as you can expect when you are facing this AGAIN. Frustration is an understatment but we will make it. His arm is black and blue from the Port. He bruises easy so we were expecting that. He seemed to sleep a little better last night, except when the battery to the pump got low and started beeping. I had to change the batteries @ 2am. No biggie. It's amazing how well we can actually function while we are half asleep. Love you all! Donna & Earl

Pushing Forward

Earl received three doses of Chemo on Friday. (one is a pump that he had to bring home for continuous chemo for four days) He will get the pump off tomorrow. It's not too bad, he just has to lug it with him everywhere. It's about the size of a small hand bag. He did really well Friday and Saturday. The crash came Sunday and I knew it would. He is so drained. He slept on and off most of the day. The nausea was over bearing and he could not eat. He managed to drink three ensures and some gatorade. We are taking the anti-nausea meds around the clock but they really aren't helping much. He will probably start to feel a little better tomorrow after the pump comes off. Friday he will only have one treatment so hopefully he won't feel this bad. It is so hard to just sit back and watch the love of your life battle such a horrible disease. I just feel so helpless. Thank you all for the love and support. We couldn't make it without you. Love, Donna

Another Procedure

Tomorrow Earl is getting his Port. He is so tired of being put under. Not being able to eat or drink anything after midnight is getting old too, but I must tell you that he is really a good sport. We are scheduled for 11:30am and they said plan on being there four to five hours. Everyone we talked to said the Port was the way to go. Our new chemo plan starts Friday morning @ 9am. Hopefully he won't have too many side affects from this round. Thank you all for your prayers. We know it will get better soon and until then we will just "dance in the rain"

Love ya, Donna

Gotta have a plan

Whew, what a morning. Earl and I saw Dr. Shirai and he gave us THE PLAN. Here it is. Start chemo next Friday for six to twelve weeks. He will have Ertibux every friday, then on every third week he will have carboplatin. Also on the third week he will have a 96 hour infusion. Basically this is a continuos chemo for four days. He will have a pump that will go home with him on Friday and a nurse will come to the house on Tuesday to remove it. Earl and I both have a positive outlook about all of this and know that we will overcome this. It is 65 degrees here today and he is playing golf. The DR said this treatment won't be as bad as the last and the cells in the lymph nodes are very small. So that's it. Keep us in your prayers. Love you all. Donna & Earl

It's all how you look at life

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote, "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death."

This is one of my favorite books, who would have thought that at 14 years old she would write words that would touch so many hearts.

Love you all! Donna

Another Day in Paradise

Hey Y'all,

Earl and I are still waiting for the Doc's at MUSC to call us with their plan of attack but in the meantime we are enjoying every single minute of everyday. We had a fantastic weekend! Went on a dinner date Friday night to Oscar's. He went to Columbia Saturday to work on the Porsche. Both kids were out for the evening on Saturday so we drank a bottle of wine and soaked in the hot tub. Sometimes I look at people (including myself) and wonder why it takes a thing like this to make us wake up and enjoy the simple things life has to offer. We all only have so many days on this earth and if you are healthy you better get to enjoying them before you ain't got many left. I just know God has great plans for me and Earl. I put my trust in him totally. Your prayers for us mean more than you will ever know. Don't stop now, we need em. Love you all. Donna & Earl

Reminiscing

Hello Everyone! Last year at this time we were planning our Wedding, who would have thought that a year later we would have been through so much in our first year of marriage. While the road has been long and at times challenging, we are both better today than we were a year ago. This journey has made us both grow so much as a couple, that years could not have accomplished. I feel so privileged to have been a part of this journey with such a wonderful husband. We are ready for all the blessings that God has for us and ready to live "happily ever after. I can only pray that God will bless you all the way he has blessed us. Love to you. Donna

Another waiting game

Happy New Year Everyone! We got our results back from the PET on Thursday and they weren't exactly what we wanted. The DR saw some spots that showed up in the scan near his lungs that need further tests. So, on Thursday morning we will head back to MUSC for a scope of his lungs and they will biopsy anything that looks suspicious. (hopefully nothing). I know that God is in control of everything and we put our trust in him. Everything will be fine! Thanks for your love and prayers. Donna