Good day

Today has been a good day-the best since we came home. Last night Marcus and I spent the night at a local hotel because he thought soaking in a big jacuzzi tub may help him feel better. So yesterday after his routine labs, we checked in and he relaxed for a few hours. When I asked him if he felt better, he kind of shook his head side to side, as if to say so-so....all I know is that he rested well last night and only woke up twice instead of every 2 hours like the past few nights and ate a few pieces of meat off the top of a slice of pizza :) This morning when we came home after checking out, he sat up at the table, actually talked some to his mom and I (he hasn't been talking much, he signs or writes things down on paper) and even drank a carnation instant breakfast shake and took his meds with no complaints!! I would say that just those events make today a good day-maybe even a GREAT day considering how this past week has gone!
The doctors office did call this afternoon though to let us know that his White Blood Count is really low-expected after chemo-but reminded us to keep him away from groups of people and especially no one that is sick-basically keep him home if possible-and take labs again on Monday instead of waiting until next Thursday....so please pray for him that his counts can come back up so he doesn't have to battle another neutropenic fever like he did in Dec.
He is still very swollen, but it has only been 2 days since he started the Lasix, so I am praying it will start working soon, without dehydrating him. His right lung is almost completely collapsed due to the tumor and fluid, so breathing has been very difficult-he pretty much has to stay on oxygen 24/7, and uses a walker to walk. Please pray the chemo starts shrinking those darn tumors, so he can start breathing better and walking again freely! He is battling so many things right now and only God can truly carry him out of this....and after all the prayers, texts, emails, etc of support we received yesterday, it is totally obvious to me that God is working and hears our prayers. My strength needed a boost-I was really crumbling fast-seeing him suffer like he has been this week has been extremely difficult for me-way harder than I ever imagined it could be-and there were moments when I thought emotionally that I couldn't take it another day.....but God is so good and He stepped in and sent me the support, encouragement and strength I needed to press on....and when I awoke this morning, I knew it would be a good day :) THANK YOU GOD!!!!
So thank you all our faithful prayer warriors-your prayers are working and believe me they are GRATEFULLY appreciated. We love you all so much and don't know where we would be without each and every one of you-you each touch our lives in a unique way-so THANK YOU!!!

Healing Hand of God

Well, yesterday I went home to see our girls, go to the movies with them and out to eat, then spent the night with them at my mom's house-I needed to see them so bad. Marcus' parents stayed with him and after a rough night, finally some good news!!! Before returning to Houston this afternoon, I called my mother-in-law to see what the dr. said...and according to his labs, his kidney levels were back to normal and he would be starting chemo today!!! PRAISE GOD!! So around 6pm they began his first part of the chemo, which will run 3 hours, then the second part will go 30 mins, so probably around midnight he will be done and hopefully resting as good as he is now. They have been really having trouble managing his pain level, but I think they have it pretty much controlled now and I will just continue to pray things keep working after we go home. The main thing is getting the tumors shrinking and then the fluid and pain should resolve....so we need extra prayers please ;)

As I was driving back, I had Jeremy Camp turned up loud and the song, "Healing Hand of God" came on. As you probably know from my prior posts, I am a huge Jeremy Camp fan and have never found a song that I didn't like by him....but this song in particular, really spoke to me today. So I was even more excited when I found the devotional video I have attached....it was like God had Jeremy create this video for Marcus and I to help us keep our heads up and faith strong. Please watch/listen to it and I pray it speaks to you in your life as well.

Many prayers have been answered today and I am so thankful-you just don't know!!! I told the girls before I left that daddy was getting chemo today and that meant one day closer to him coming home!!! I don't know who was more excited-me or them ;) So as it looks now, if things go as planned, we may be home by saturday. They want to get more antibiotics into his system because he still has some bacterial infection in his lung, but the final tests are not completed yet to know exactly what it is (pneumonia or something else) but they want to keep it in check with the antibiotics-which, is what Marcus told Dr. Kim on monday before he was admitted-he told them he felt like he still had some infection in his lung and needed more antibiotics-but they had to get cultures of the sputum to see what they were dealing with...ANYWAYS-if you ask Marcus, he would probably tell you that he should be a doctor-and after all he is going through, he probably is right!!!!

So my mom-in-law and dad-in-law went home and I am sitting here waiting to see if Marcus needs me...his mom and dad pampered him like a king while I was gone-I hope he doesn't wake up asking me to go get them ;) Just Kidding!! They know that I will take care of their son-always! I really feel better today than I did yesterday and am so grateful for them staying with him while I saw the girls. I needed to hug and kiss them and just be with them-just their smell makes me happy-I know that sounds nuts, but you moms out there will understand...something about the scent of your babies-it just makes a momma happy!! Kinda makes me sound like a bear or something ;) Oh well, I needed to be with them and now I am back at my job as Nurse/Wife and will do everything I can to get Marcus well! So keep sending prayers PLEASE!! They are truly being answered everyday and I have seen the healing hand of God-today, more than ever! THANK YOU LORD!!!

"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance" 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)

I am a people person and I truly love everyone.  I have always been fascinated with people's lives, their journey, their struggles, etc....and the bottom line is I want everyone reading this post to know I love them, to get their moles checked and I want them to go to Heaven when they die.  I don't think that is really asking too much right? ;) 

So, we are home, got back around 8:30 am and then we went to sleep :)  Last night was a rough one....after the CT scan around 4:30am the ER doc told Marcus that she was going to continue treating him like he has pneumonia, but even after the scan she wasn't really positively sure.. because of his remaining pleural effusion in the right lung and the tumor, the overall view was hindered....and basically we need to get him back on a treatment regimen to get the tumors back in check, so the fluid will go away and his pain will subside...we have scheduled appts mon and tues to meet with the clinical trial dept. about that latest trial-hoping to get that rolling by next week...and until then, he needs to finish his antibiotics and manage his pain with pain meds....as much as he can.....basically, cancer really sucks and there is no prettier way to say it-as the tumors grow, they push on organs and cause pain....so you just have to manage it until you can get a treatment that shrinks the tumors....which brings me back to getting your moles checked-PLEASE, PLEASE,  whoever you are, friend, family, stranger, please check your moles....if they look suspicious, please go to a dermatologist and let them check for you!!! Just that little step could save your life.

If I didn't love each and everyone of you, I wouldn't be wasting my time typing this-but God has really been speaking to me over the last few months....and I have promised God I will listen and be obedient-whatever He tells me to do, I will do it-no matter how psycho it may seem ;) Even if it means introducing myself to a complete stranger at McDonald's and giving her my contact info because I want to make sure she knows Jesus and goes to Heaven......I hope you are reading Smoki-because you are so very special to God and He obviously wanted us to know one another-I am just blessed He chose me to meet you-I love you girl and am always here for you!!

So, the next few days are filled with basketball games, church and trying to relax and enjoy my family-making sure we all realize how very precious life is and how we can't waste it on dumb, unimportant things....My love will never give up, never lose faith, is always hopeful and will endure-through EVERYTHING!!!

Love you all!!

Always Enough!!!

No matter what-He is Always Enough for me. Yesterday was a little rough for me-but I know that God is in control-and He is Always Enough-what peace that brings to my heart!! Enjoy the video/song above...and I pray He is Always Enough for you!!!

Faith Triumphs in Trouble

Romans 5:1-5 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Yesterday, while waiting to go into his brain CT, Marcus showed me the sweet word of God above.  Little did I know that it would have perfect meaning to us today! 

Today was result day to see if the chemo was working!  Well, here's the run down: All tumors in his lungs decreased in size except for one where his pleural effusion was...and honestly, since there is still some fluid they can't tell if it really grew, or if it wasn't measured properly before due to the effusion.  No new mets in his liver, spleen, kidneys, pancreas or brain!!! PRAISE GOD!!  They did however, see a small (less than 1cm) lesion in his T12 vertebrae, but that can't say for sure if it is actually a bone met or what-because it is so small.  WE AREN'T CONCERNED WITH THIS!  So, since the bone lesion is possible and it appears the right lung tumor may have grown, this puts him into a progression category-and since he is BRAF positive, Dr. Kim wants him to go directly to one of the new BRAF phase one(where you get the medicine-no placebo) clinical trials-EXACTLY WHERE MARCUS WANTED TO BE FROM THE START!!  These new BRAF trials are seeing awesome results-we currently have a friend we have met through a melanoma patient site that is in this exact trial and currently has NO ACTIVE DISEASE after only 2 months and she had tumors all over her body!!  GLORY TO GOD!  If this progression would not have occured, then he would not be eligible for this trial-so to some it may seem negative-but to us, it is a prayer answered!!  We prayed that God would guide the doctor to whatever treatment was necessary to heal Marcus, and that is exactly what is occuring!!  We are rejoicing in this tribulation, because we know it will produce perseverance-then character-then hope-and hope does not disappoint-because the LOVE of GOD has been poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us!!!!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support-please do not stop praying!  Please stand in faith with me that this possible bone lesion is nothing and will go away and that the BRAF trial will send all this melanoma to INACTIVE MODE!!! 

The Princesses have spoken.....we are done camping!!

 

 

 

I am attaching some pics from Sloane's 4th b-day party last weekend...she loves tinkerbell and anything involving princesses...so we got into character! ;) Anyways, Sela, Sloane and I have been struggling with this camping lifestyle-don't blame us, it's not our fault-Marcus has just spoiled us so much!! We have been trying hard to hang tough in the 5th wheel and pretend we are on a LONG camping trip, but we really didn't how much longer we could handle it...so, since we were planning on selling the 5th wheel anyways at some point before we build again, Marcus told us we could just rent an apartment until then-because he wants us to be happy :) This was the best news 3 girls could have heard! So we will be moving into our sweet little apartment by Jan 15 and we will have 2 bathrooms again, washer/dryer and almost 1200 sq ft...needless to say we will feel like we are in a mansion ;) Now, we just gotta sell the 5th wheel- SO, if you are or know anyone looking for a "like new" 5th wheel-we have a 2005 Open Road, 40', 4 slide outs-ready to GO!!! Just email me and I will send pics....

Marcus has been feeling really good and will even be going back to work next week on light duty...he is so ready to get on with his life and get past chemo, labwork, drs, MELANOMA!!  So please continue to pray with us and stand in faith, in agreement that he will be healed from this beast!  He has so much life to live and so much to give-thank you all for your continued support, prayers and love!  We love you all!!!

grateful for every sigh of relief :)

Well today was full of sighs of relief!
The girls and I dropped Marcus off for his appointment with Cardiopulmonary today at MD Anderson. The fluid in his Denver Cath just has not been coming out since our last drain Dec 26-which we are grateful for, but just wanted to make sure the fluid was actually gone in the pleural cavity before the cath is removed...well, the x-ray wasn't really completely conclusive-but the dr. tried to drain cath but couldn't get anything either...so he decided to take it out! Marcus was so pleased!! BIG SIGH OF RELIEF #1!!
While Marcus was handling the Denver cath appt., I decided to take the girls to the Houston Museum of Natural Science until he was done and before their appt at 2:15.....we were blessed with a great parking spot right by the door-BIG SIGH OF RELIEF #2! and really enjoyed ourselves...dinosaurs, bugs, animals, energy, chemistry-very eventful museum tour-but my favorite part was the Butterfly exhibit! I could have stayed in there ALL DAY!! I even had a butterfly land on me-Sela was mad because she wanted one to land on her so bad-and I had to threaten to beat Sloane so she wouldn't try and grab it off my shirt and put it on hers!!! They were able to touch some dead butterflies that the nice volunteer brought by-and they seemed pretty happy with their butterfly experience! Marcus was done around 1pm and we drove back to get him, grabbed a bite to eat-then headed to their appt all together.....BIG SIGH OF RELIEF #3!!
Girls had their annual dermatolgoist appointment-first time with new pediatric dermatologist in hst-dr. hebert-she was wonderful-I guess once she saw on their paperwork that their daddy was Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma, she decided to call all interns she had in her office in the room to learn ;) She came in with about 5 interns (thankfully all female or Sela would have flipped out more than she already did!) She went over all the girls moles and explained to interns and me what they were called, what we needed to be concerned with, etc...and THANK GOD-everything on them is normal! Sloane's little new freckle on her bottom lip had me concerned-and the dr said it was good that I was aware and concerned because moles on mucousal (not sure if I really spelled that right) areas are at a higher risk of metastazing if they are Melanoma-so she said to keep a close eye on that one and keep chapstick with sunscreen on her lips! Sloane will be very happy with me now-she hates stuff on her lips unless it is sparkly-guess I am now in search of sparkly chapstick with sunscreen ;) Sela has a large mole on her back that I have never liked, but dr. says it is fine-just keep watching and come back next year-and we will! She also explained to the girls-more to Sela since she is older and actually understands-how they needed to take really good care of their skin, wearing sunscreen always, protective clothing, hats, etc. and getting their moles checked for the rest of their lives-due to the family history with their daddy-I made Sela repeat what dr. hebert told her so she couldn't get mad at me when I was hounding her about all this soon ;) And I also made her promise that even when she was a grown up she would always get her moles checked and her kid's moles checked-she agreed, but then she said, "how do you know I'm gonna have kids?" ;) I was just happy with her promising me this and for the good news about their moles being normal! BIG SIGH OF RELIEF #4!!

So Sela starts school tomorrow, Marcus goes back for labwork locally to make sure all his counts are still good, and we get back to normal life until Jan 19-21 when Marcus goes back to MD Anderson for scans to see how this CVD chemo cocktail performed! We are still standing in faith, believing that God will heal him from the inside out-and we will not accept anything else!!!! Please stand with me in faith-Love you all!!!!