Christmas & More

Kid's Rules Apply (no time to worry about grammar, punctuation or run on sentences, etc.)

Angela has traditionally cooked a seafood gumbo for her family for Christmas. She would make her usual run to Tony's Seafood and buy enough crab meat and shrimp to where you could almost eat the gumbo with a fork.... talk about good. Well this year our friends at Tony's Seafood provided Christmas Eve dinner for us. They loaded us down with fried fish, fried shrimp, boiled crabs (do you know how hard it is to eat boiled crabs when you have two little boys who also eat boiled crabs...anyway), all the sides and two pies. It was a feast. Sebastian, Angela's brother-in-law, kept the gumbo tradition going by bringing a pot to add to all the delicious food from Tony's. The kids opened their gifts from the family and we eventually got them to bed for Santa's visit.

Christmas morning my sister and her family came over to cook us brunch and play with the kids. The boys got motorized jeeps from Santa. They put on their firemen outfits and road around in their jeeps all day putting out fires and helping people. Karlie and Vance, my niece and nephew, did a great job keeping them entertained. Kat got a baby doll with a stroller. When she wasn't riding with her big brother Alex in his jeep, she was holding her baby doll and strolling her like a big girl. Angela really enjoyed herself watching the kids play and open toys.

My B-Day (the 26th) my sister came over after work to give us a night. The night out turned into a much needed nap at home and an opportunity to soak in the tub. It was great!

Overall Angela has been really tired lately. She is finally feeling the effects of the radiation treatments. She has had quite a few headaches because of some mild swelling of the brain.... again the radiation's side effects. Christmas has been a little bittersweet for her given her lack of mobility, fatigue and the uncertainty of what lies ahead. She plan's on having on better Christmas next year ..... THANKS and PLEASE keep up the prayers!

Time to get back with kids ... they want to play on their "computers" Santa brought them.

1st MRI - GOOD NEWS!

This will be short ....we're about to be on our way to see Santa at Tammy and Joey's house. The results of Angela's MRI yesterday were good. There were still no signs of the tumor. Thanks for your prayers! I'll post more later when I get a moment.

Goodbye to Rad Treatments !!!

Just spoke with Angela at 1:50 p.m. and they are setting her up for her LAST radiation treatment at 2:00 p.m. - - THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT - - she is so very grateful to be through with this tedious part of her treatment and so looking forward to this weekend to celebrate Alex's 4th birthday.

Angela will go home after her treatment today and sleep for a few hours until her meds wear off and to get some rest before this weekend. She presented her treatment team at Mary Bird Perkins with a cake yesterday afternoon to express her appreciation for all their TLC.

Angela - you are an inspiration and example to all of us with your hard work in therapy and how far you have progressed in a short period of time !!!

A FEW CHANGES

There are a few changes to my post from yesterday. The doctor has decided not to wait until after her visit to Duke to begin the next round of chemotherapy. Nothing is wrong, just with the holidays and her not being able to get an appointment at Duke until January, they are making some adjustments. The doctors don't like to wait that long between rounds of chemo so they will begin the next round within the next few weeks. Her next MRI is scheduled for December 18th. At this time, they will be able to see if the radiation and chemo are producing the results that they anticipate. After the results are in, they will then begin the next round of chemo. Angela is very nervous about the MRI and the results so please keep her in your prayers that day.
Regarding her radiation treatments. She was not able to take her treatment today as the radiation machine was "down" at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Treatment Center. Therefore, tomorrow will not be her last treatment. BUT, Thursday is the last day and she is looking very forward to the end of that chapter.
GREAT NEWS! Today was her last chemo treatment for this round. She will definitely enjoy the break before beginning the next round. Actually, she is ready to get started. She doesn't want to waste any time!!!!
This coming Sunday, we will all celebrate Alex's 4th birthday (his actual birthday is 12/11). Please remember Angela and her family on this very special day. Days like these are very important to them and somewhat emotional.
Once again, I ask that you keep Angela, David, Alex, Christian & Katherine in your daily thought and prayers. For we know and believe that THROUGH HIM ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

THE NEXT STEP

As Angela's first round of Chemo and radiation comes to an end, she celebrates with a great deal of joy and relief. As of now, there are NO future plans for any type of radiation treatment. Her next appointment at Duke is scheduled for January 6th & 7th. It appears that she will begin her next round of chemo after her visit to Duke. Dr. Stagg (her oncologist) did mention that there is a drug she could possibly take between the scheduled rounds of chemo so I expect that she will find out more on that in the next week or so.
I did talk to her this morning and she stated that the Christmas tree is up and the kids are extremely excited. They cannot wait for Santa to come!!!! Angela is excited that she will be "treatment free" during the Christmas Season.
Her physical therapy has been going very well. She is no longer using the 4-prong walking cane ~ she is using a regular single "leg" cane. She is doing a great job in regards to getting back "on her feet". It is amazing how far she has come in such a short time. Some days, she has to be reminded how far she has come but with that being said, she is VERY thankful.
She wants to again send thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement, prayers, flowers, gifts and delicious meals. The entire family is blessed to have all of you in their lives. They have gotten where they are now because of all of you. So, thanks to everyone for beings such an important part of this journey.
OH!!!! One more thing from Angela...............GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!