Round Two.....

  Ted was back in the hospital on the 26th to take on round two of his chemo. He flashes his "v" onto victory sign. So proud of his courage. He is doing well . This chemo is different than the first round.

  His numbers are on track, that is what the nurses and drs are telling us.

  The chemo is a stronger version but not a 24 hour drip. He gets two 2 hour drips, twelve hours apart.  He gets eye drops 4 times a day. The "drunk" test is actually checking his balances. Thankfully he is passing each test. We have been masking up and walking down the hall and back.

  This is the T-shirt my daughter Liz's family got him for his fishing trip coming this spring. He really loved it. This picture was taken at home after we spent a couple hours with the family. He was gaining strength each new day.  I will ask that you will pray for Ted or send good thoughts his way. The prayers you all sent up for us has truly helped us thru . We so appreciate everyone of you. XO

  Layla got a new purple guitar from her "Gigi"  She certainly looks happy with it. Her daddy Brock, played next to her here.

 Max got to visit some life animals at the Nativity right before Christmas.

Little brother Luke was truly loving being placed on the back of a burro.  We did not get to cuddle the little kids at Christmas...could not risk germs.  We have a whole lot of hugging to make up for once Ted is thru these chemo treatments.
   I hope each and everyone of you enjoyed some family time during the holidays. I am wishing all of you a Happy New Year of  love and good health.  XO

Holiday Visit....

 My Teddy got to come home for Christmas. He will be back at the hospital right after Christmas day. He will be starting his second round of chemo . He had to stop at CVS, for meds on the way home from the hospital. I had to go back the next day to get the potassium, as it had to be ordered.  Then it was up early and out to the drs. office one morning, then wait for the home nurse to come check him out . Then up early today for blood work to be faxed to all the doctors. Waited for the nurse again today. Thankfully I will be taking care of Ted now. No more waiting.

  Wednesday morning looked like this, so pretty  and mild.

  Same day's sunset. Love this sky.

 Here's our wee Christmas tree. My daughter and granddaughter bought this for Ted's hospital room and we brought it home. This is about the extent of my holiday décor this year. LOL

My daughter Kathy did even simpler ...she bought a rosemary plant and strung a tiny strand of lights on it.  She says it smell good too.  The holiday is so near now and I am feeling happy to have Ted home to enjoy it with me.  We won't be going to anyone's gatherings....just to be safe from germs. Have to have Ted ready for another round of chemo.
  I wanted to thank all you wonderful people who have prayed, sent cards, and well wishes Ted's way. Also for the prayers for me to have the strength I need to help Ted thru this. So many compassionate people in blogland. I am so thankful for each of you.  Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas. Love you !!!

What We Hear.....

  The sun rising around the office building on the St Vincent's grounds.

 Same day's sunset reflected in those office windows.  Even a sunny day has hope.

  This is one of the boards the nurses keep up for patients and families.  You see at the bottom where it says , biopsy with platelets.  On Thursday Dec. 6th, Ted had a bone biopsy to see if the chemo had done it's job of killing the cancer. Ted's cancer doctor never comes in on weekends (?) so one of his associates comes to review with the patient. The doctor on Saturday told Ted his cancer was in remission....What do you hear when a dr. say, "Your cancer is in remission"...I heard hope, Ted heard hope and no more chemo. Thinking now get thru this truly sick stage and heal.
  On Monday Dr. Birhiray(cancer dr) came in and said , "Did I say, If or maybe? No, I said you will have three chemo rounds. You will be here a month, maybe go home two days , come back another month, and then repeat a third time.  " So  in this first round of chemo, Ted's cancer is gone"(remission)...as is his immune system and many other daily things our bodies do  for us.
  He has been so ill, not eating, diarrhea, sick to his tummy( a little thankfully ). So now he is getting extra attention for his bowels.  He finally did eat yesterday. I tell him eat things that may be easy to digest.  It's hard to think, "what would I like to eat...when it comes down to what would I like to throw up?"  He  needs to keep trying...food makes energy that he needs for this fight. His counts are slowly climbing.
  I am ever so grateful for all of you out there with prayers and well wishes.  I know in my heart all of them are helping us. I try to stay with Ted when he is at his worse moments. I just finally had to come home and get to the chiropractor. My back has been so bad I could barely walk yesterday. Thankful for my grandchildren and daughters for all their help .

 Here's my Teddy without his hair. He had me clip it all off.  Lynzie and her husband Mark with Ted one evening when I could not be there. You can see Ted tries to always smile.
  I will tell how the cancer doctor told us about this cancer AML, and treatment.   Your bone marrow is a garden growing flowers(cells) Cancer is weeds taking over the garden, chemo is herbicide . At first you use a big amount of herbicide to kill the weeds, which also kills the flowers. Once all is killed, the garden has to sit awhile...which is where Ted is right now, the really sick stage,  After some time, the flowers will grow again....the weeds will come back, but not as many...you need more herbicide.(not as much as the weeds are not as thick).  The garden is killed once again, the garden has to sit for time to bring it back. Then a third round of herbicide(chemo) is used, not so much this third time as the weeds are less . The garden sits to rest and comes back healthy. This is the hope of all the chemo treatments. Ted will be tested time and again after this to see how well he is doing and to make sure the cancer is not back......at the end of three years he would be considered cured.
  Please pray for Ted  and anyone else with cancer. I sit and think of this as , one floor of cancer patients in one hospital and then I am overwhelmed by the enormity of cancers out there. It touches all. It's a disease that includes the whole family in the emotional pain. May God bless all of you for your caring hearts. XO

Ted Is Fighting....

    Yesterday's picture of Ted, In what is called a "step down room" He is having a tough time but keeps giving us a smile.  They shaved his mustache off...I had never seen Ted without it.

 It seemed a beautiful day outside. Oh how I wish our winter could stay this nice.

  This is in ICU . On Friday, of course it was the day I had left to go to the chiropractor. (my back's been out since Ted's first appointments) My daughter goes to the hospital to check on Ted. She gets to his oncology room just as the doctors and nurses are rushing to get him to ICU. He had a fever spike. It was 105 degrees. They packed him in ice and  started antibiotics.  He had an infection. Finding it ...I am not sure they have yet. Weekend doctors are just not the same. Lots of young ones training. They did change out the pic line to his heart. Because the chemo goes directly into the heart .I think this was an extremely close call for my Teddy. His oncology dr is in LA and will be back tomorrow.
   I know it's the prayers that are going up for Ted that are helping us . I thank all of you who offer prayers and well wishes, they mean the world to us. I have been writing prayers down for Ted to read if he has a quiet moment. He has had units of blood, platelets, antibiotics, and meds. Yesterday he did keep a bit of food down. The first in 3 days.  I guess it was a good thing he ate those big breakfasts when he could. This is a scary time .

  Granddaughter Sierra with her nephew Leo (our great grand) sporting their teddy bear faces to cheer papaw.
   I will try to see the chiropractor again today. Can not sit still with my back hurting.  Grandson Skylar,lifted a limb out of the front yard for me . Thankful for my family standing by to help any way they can.  Hope all of you are well, thank you always for sweet thoughts and comments.XO