Better, Better, Better

We had a nice quiet weekend at home. We all rested and enjoyed the peacefulness. Earl is feeling so much better today. He is finally getting some strength back after his five day stay in the hospital. We hope to get our last chemo Friday and be done with this cancer stuff. One of our nurses in the hospital had a pin on that said "cancer sucks". I so want one of those. We really hope to get our life back to some normalcy. Drew is back from Costa Rico without incident and Olivia is finishing up her last week of school. 8th grade graduation is June 2. then I will officially have a daughter in high school. Where have the years gone? Too fast I can tell you that. I am really looking forward to a nice summer free of hustle and bustle and hospitals. Keep us in your prayers. Love to you all. Donna

What a weekend

Earl was scheduled to have his last BIG chemo treatment on Friday, May 14th. Well to say the least that didn't happen and we had quite the scare. His blood pressure dropped to 60/30 and they did not even start chemo. We ended up spending the night in the hospital and they ran all sorts of tests on his heart. The tests all came back good and they determined that he was just really dehydrated and let us go home Saturday morning. By Saturday evening we were back at MUSC. Earl was having terrible pain. He ended up having to get two units of blood and lots of other meds. Potassium, magnesium and lots more fluids. He was running a fever and vomiting. They pumped his stomach and put him on a clear liquid diet. He was finally released yesterday about 5pm and we made it home. We are both exhausted and ready for some relief in this crazy cancer world. I can tell you that my friends are the best friends in the whole world. So many of you checked up on us and gave us so many prayers. We are gonna survive this, I do know that. We have an appt with on the 28th to find out what is gonna happen with the last treatment. We will keep you posted. Love you all. Donna

May update

Hey Y'all,

Things are coming to an end (hopefully) Earl is schedule to have his last BIG treatment on Friday and then maybe one more little one. We are scheduled to have his CT scan on the 28th, but of course all of this depends on his count. So we are trying to keep him rested and well nourished to get those cell counts up. Anyone who knows Earl knows that getting him to rest is not an easy task. His cousins from WV were in town last week and we were able to spend some time with them and his Brothers and Sunny on Thursday & Friday. I know he really enjoyed their company. Drew is home from College now and I can say that I am really enjoying having him around, even though his room is a total mess. I think Olivia likes having her big brother home too. Earl and I have a little vacation planned for June to Hilton Head and I am so looking forward to it. I am hoping he will be feeling pretty good by then and can play some golf. I plan on sitting my bum on the beach with a good book! I may play one round with him. That's our update. All is well and we are hanging in there. Life is good! Love you all, Donna & Earl

Happy Birthday Earl

We celebrated Earl's Birthday Saturday. It was such a wonderful celebration for us all! He did manage to get both large doses of chemo on Friday, so now he only has one left! Hurray. I really thought he would be sick over the weekend and had mentally prepared for that but God had other plans. Thank you. He woke up Saturday morning feeling Super. We gave him his presents and cards and lots of hugs of kisses. He got a large fruit basket from The Lorberbaums too. I said to Olivia, "I am so surprised that he is not sick from all that chemo" and she said, "Mom, you know you can't be sick on your birthday!" God, I love her. Earl and I went to dinner Saturday night and enjoyed the rest of our weekend. He is back to work this week and feeling pretty good, just tired. Hopefully, we are nearing the end of this road. We both are ready for a "new" adventure! Love you all, Donna

Waiting on Earl~

Here is out kitty cat asleep in Earl's chair. Usually he is asleep on Earl's lap but Earl was out of town so he is just waiting on him to get home. Earl is doing very well. He has had two single chemo treatments over the last two weeks but has still not had the BIG doses. They want to do at least two more of the BIG doses but they keep postponing it because his platelets are down. So we are taking it one day at a time. Life is pretty darn good. We value each day more and more. Everyday I thank God for each moment and cherish every bit of our marriage. He makes me laugh everyday! Earl played golf yesterday and actually shot a 79. Now the old Earl wouldn't have been happy with a score in the high 70's but he came home pretty happy that he beat 80. You can't keep a good man down! Love you all.

Spring is Here!

Spring is here! There is wonderful joy ahead. God has been so good to us and our family. Earl is doing better and better everyday. We had some GOOD news from our last CT Scan. The Doctor was kind of vague but anyway, here's what he said..."I think all the cancer cells are dead, and what keeps showing up on the scan is old scar tissue" In cancer terms that is good news! So last Friday he said, "Let's finish with our two scheduled treatments and then do another CT scan. Earl will have a treatment this Friday and then one more and we will see where we are from that. We are just taking it one day at a time but we really feel good days are ahead. We try hard to live each day to the fullest and love every minute of everyday. Don't you just love this picture of me and Olivia, at Seaworld. Even though she was making a funny face, we had a good time. Life is such a blessing and spring really makes us appreciate it more. Thanks again for the prayers and concerns. Today is a good day! Love you all.

Spring is coming

Hey Y'all,

It is warming up here in Charleston and I can feel spring right around the corner. With Spring comes new life and new beginnings and I know we are gonna get some of that newness. Earl is hanging in there and keeping his chin up with each treatment and each new day. We are nearing six weeks of completion of this round. I think they will do a CT scan soon to see our progress and hopefully we won't need to do another six weeks of this horrible stuff. He had a rough week last week. He had all three chemos on Monday, March 1 and came home with the four day pump of 5-fu, which is a continuous run of chemo. We got the pump off Friday. It was a rough weekend but he has bounced back. Even played 18 holes yesterday! Did I ever tell you how much he amazes me? Every time I think he is at his lowest, he just surprises me. I read yesterday, that when life gives you a setback, that gives God an opportunity to bless you with a comeback! Well we are ready for the comeback and what God will bless us with. We have so many friends and family that call and check on us and uplift us everyday. Thank you all! It just really means so much to know how much you care about us. Love you all! Donna & Earl