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

It snowed!

Can you believe it snowed in Charleston? We got almost 7 inches in Summerville. Earl was supervising Olivia while she was building her snowman. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was a super weekend. Earl's treatment was cancelled this week and I think that was a little gift from God. We had a nice weekend of no chemo and no sickness. Earl really needed the break and feels GREAT. We had a nice quiet romantic dinner at the house Sunday night. He is really doing so well. Hopefully this Friday will be our last BIG treatment and then maybe only a couple more weeks of the little chemo treatments before they do another CT scan. I feel really good about everything and I know Earl is getting stronger everyday and I just know the cancer is going away. This is our Year! Please keep the prayers coming. Love you all. Donna

Looking Good

This is a recent picture I took on Sunday before we took Drew out to dinner for his birthday. Earl is feeling really good. Everyday I am just so amazed at how strong he is. I knew he was a strong person, just didn't know how much. He has completed three weeks of a six week cycle. Has only lost a couple of pounds and is eating very well. He has not missed any work but is pretty tired by the end of the day. Friday will be a long day as we get all three chemos that day and then come home with the pump for the weekend. He will be pretty beat by the end of the pump on Tuesday. I know the treatment is working and I can feel God's blessings raining down on us. I know today is a good day and he is getting stronger and healthier everyday. We have so much life ahead of us and this is just a small chapter in what will be a great story. Please keep praying for his healing. Lots of Love to all our friends and family who are pulling for us. Your prayers really mean so much. Donna

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