Has it really been 2 weeks?

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun (or just busy as a bee!). Harold finished up his chemo on Sunday the 19th. He did better this time with the nausea. He woke up the first night around 2:30am and almost didn't make it to the bathroom. But after that night, he was borderline okay. So for now, we'll keep using the phenergan. 5 More Months!! It doesn't seem like it's been 7 months already...it seems like an eternity.

Hunter's been busy with homework and reading and studying. We're signing the boys up for the Fall sports this week. Holden's playing soccer again and Hunter's playing baseball. They will kick in high gear within the next 3 weeks. It's hard to believe that it's almost August already.

Last weekend, we surprised my mom with a trip to Myrtle Beach for her birthday. She thought it was only going to be her and her husband, Bruce. But they made a pitstop on the way out of town...at our house to pick us up. She was very surprised. But the best surprise was when we told her that she was going to see Randy Owen at the Alabama Theatre. She cried for almost an hour....I've never seen her so happy! We didn't tell her until we were right in front of the theatre looking at the marque. We had the best time. He played for 3 hours and was very entertaining. He makes you feel welcome and personalizes his show. And to top of the perfect night, we stood in line for an hour for the meet and greet after the show. We got pictures with him and he autographed our tickets. He's very friendly and definitely likes to talk. He asked us where we were from and told us about a trip to Pope AFB and a helicopter ride he took. The rest of the weekend, we walked the shops at Barefoot Landing and then strolled on the beach that night. It was a great time! Harold's mom kept for the boys for us. I'm so greatful that we have family close by that can help with them. We have to plan a trip with the Subletts soon.

Thursday, July 16th

Yesterday, my baby had his first day of 4th grade. It's hard to believe that Hunter's already in the 4th grade. One more year at this school and he'll be in middle school. EEEKKK!!! That scares me! We met his teacher Monday night during Open House at the school. Her name is Ms. Ulloa (pronounced you-low-uh). She seems very nice. And Hunter's "girlfriend" is in his class again. Hunter had me iron his clothes for school....fix his hair....oh...and they don't use bookbags or backpacks this year...they use "messenger bags". I'm so not ready for all of this yet!

Holden went on his first field trip at daycare today. He went to the movies and then to Hardees for lunch. I cannot imagine that many 4-yr olds! But he said he had a great time.

We also got some fantastic news from Harold's Uncle Butch, his mom's brother. He found out that he has an anaplastic astrocytoma brain tumor, but it was considered inoperable last year. The good news is that he went to Duke today, had a MRI and a PET scan...and was told that his tumor is GONE!! The only thing present on the scans is scar tissue! Can you believe it?? Praise the Lord! Butch called us tonight to tell us the fantastic news!! He will continue to go to the Cancer Center monthly for his Avastin treatments. I'm not sure how long he will continue those, but that's awesome!!

One day I'll slow down...

Nah...I doubt that! We've had a busy week (as usual). Lots to report...We finally got Harold's lab results back late Monday evening and the nurse ordered his chemo. It arrived yesterday in the mail, so he started last night. We thought he would have a normal night. But that changed when he woke up at 2:30am and almost didn't make it to the bathroom. He scared the daylights out of me...I didn't know what was going on. We really don't know what happened or why he got sick. He's been fine today, other than being tired from no sleep last night.

He took his chemo around 8:45pm last night. I was a little worried that his body didn't absorb the medicine by the time he got sick. I called his nurse and left her a voicemail at 7am this morning. She said that most likely his body did absorb the chemo before he got sick. To be on the safe side, he is doubling up on the phenergan tonight before he takes his chemo. We'll see how it goes tonight.

But, let's back track to a couple days ago...Monday evening. Harold's brother, Michael, coaches the Village Christian Academy baseball team. Coach Jeffrey also helps coach the team. A couple months ago, Coach Jeffrey found out that his 4-yr old grandson, Cooper, has an inoperable brain tumor. Michael surprised Coach Jeffrey with the team wearing jerseys with Cooper's name and T-ball number on the back. All proceeds from that night's game will go to Cooper's family. News14 had a camera guy there and Fayetteville Observer had a photographer there. Cooper threw out the first baseball. It was a very touching game...Michael has such a huge heart! Cooper finishes up radiation next Tuesday and then they will follow up with a 2nd opinion at Duke. We will continue to pray for him and his family. Here's the story link and a slideshow of the pictures I took:

http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=611927

They also had a golf tournament fundraiser for Cooper today at Baywood. Harold went out to help first thing, but came home to sleep this afternoon. Harold said that Cooper's tournament was full of teams AND had 20 teams on the waiting list! That's incredible. I hope they have done well with it!

Round 7 of Chemo this week

Harold had his Day 28 labs done as soon as we got back into town Friday. I haven't gotten the results yet because it was so close to 5pm. As soon as Harold's nurse at Duke gets them, she will order his Temodar for this week. We have switched pharmacies to one that specializes in chemotherapy drugs. This pharmacy keeps everything in stock and ships it next day.

Now, if I could just get the insurance straight...the patient advovate at Duke that has been helping us with the insurance told me that Temodar was a specialty drug and the copay was $150 per strength. I just about passed out. She's supposed to be making some phone calls to get something worked out. I'll be so glad when we don't have to worry with this every month.

6 more months!!

No Place Like Home

Although we had an awesome time in VA beach, there's no place like home. This was probably the best vacation we've ever had. Harold's Aunt Helen and Uncle Mike from Maryland drove down Tuesday night and stayed through Thursday. Harold's friend, Mike and his wife Kathy, also drove down from Maryland. Mike is also a brain tumor survivor. He just turned 30 years old and has recently celebrated his one-year tumor-versary in May. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with them. It really helps to talk to somene who has/is going through the same things. It was extremely helpful for me to talk to another young wife, who's going through the same feelings and emotions.

The boys had so much fun on the beach with Uncle Mike. He took them out into the ocean with their boogy boards and wode the waves back in. We had some awesome food while we were there too. Hunter & Holden swam in the pool every day, sometimes 1-4 times a day! We went on a Dolphin Watching Boat Trip Thursday. We did see alot of Dolphin, but I couldn't get their pictures fast enough, so all you see is their fin above water. A couple did jump straight up out of the water. Hunter & I both got seasick. Harold bought me some medicine on the boat to help with it, but it knocked me out for several hours. Hunter did get sick on the boat and they had to clean it up. I wouldn't want that job. While I was sleeping that evening, Harold took the boys to an indoor 3D mini golf that they loved. He said they had blacklights too.

We are already talking about going back to VA beach next year, and then maybe heading up to Maryland to see them again.

Here's a ton of pictures of our last couple days. Sorry it's taken so long to post. We were so busy at the beach and really tired when we got home. I haven't unpacked our luggage yet. :)

MRI Update

Finally got the call from Duke today regarding Harold's MRI last week. Harold's nurse, Martha, is on vacation. So the nurse filling in for her called us. The Doctor reads the MRI and sends "her" notes to the nurse to call us.


Here are the exact notes: "Stable disease. No enhancements or flares." Sounds good to me!


Harold is due to have his Day 28 labs done this Friday after we get home. Once Duke gets those results, they will order his next round of Temodar.

Virginia Beach Trip

We just couldn't wait to come to Virginia Beach....so we left on Sunday. We stayed in a cheap hotel in Suffolk, VA (only about 15 mins from the beach). It poured and rained all evening and misted rain through this morning. Luckily, it's starting to clear out.

We couldn't check into our condo until 4pm so we decided to head over to the Aquarium when they opened at 9am. Good thing too...when we left at 11:30, the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. The aquarium wasn't as good as I thought...I personally think the Fort Fisher Aquarium is way better. We had tickets to go to the IMAX 3D theatre there too. That was AWESOME. It was a 45 min educational video called "Under the Sea".

We grabbed a bite to eat and decided to head over to the condo to see if it was ready. It wasn't. So, we ventured down the boardwalk for a couple hours. VA Beach is so nice and different from Myrtle Beach. I love the Boardwalk. The beach itself is about 3 miles long and every couple of streets, they have stages set up on the Boardwalk. Different bands on different stages...at the same time. So cool. They are scheduled to have Fireworks Wednesday night over the water too.

We were finally able to check in around 3pm. This place is awesome! They have concierge every where you turn. The parking deck is across the street. We are on the 13th floor, with a 2 bedroom condo with cityview. Once you go out the back of the hotel, they have 2 outdoor pools with waterfalls, an indoor heated pool and a hot tub. They have a Tiki Bar with reasonal lunch prices. Then you can cross the boardwalk and you're on the beach. Their beach is so wide. They have about 15 volleyball nets set up along the beach, lifeguards, and you can rent just about anything (metal detector, frisbees, bikes, surfboards, etc). Pretty neat.

Here's a quick slideshow of our day...I'll be sure to post more in the week...