Survivor week 33 day 4

Barbara had 4 or 5 spasams this morning so we rested. Then we had a heart ultra sound They wanted to see if the heart was causing the swelling in the legs. Answer. No

Then we had an appointment with Dr Parikh. She said that Barbara was low on potassium which would cause extreme lack of energy. Also Barbara is low on protein. She said we should eat more protein. More meat more cheese more yogurt and such.

She did give us a prescription for a potassium to help Barbara

Then she had a X-ray. It showed that barbara did not have pneumonia

Thanks for all your prayers

Survivor week 33 day 3

Got up this morning and got ready to travel to OKC. So this morning we packed and left. It was a nice drive since we have air condition. Barbara is very tired but wants to see dr Parikh.

We made it to Leanna's and Brian's. We will stay with them this time. It sure is nice to have both kids here offering a room for us to stay. We appreciate Leanna and Brian and David and Sarah.

Barbara received a call from Kenya on the way here. Pastor Peter prayed with Barbara. Then he quoted her scriptures that say that God is in control and will take care of her. Very encouraging

It sure is good to have friends that encourage her on a regular basis. Thanks for all the prayers

Survivor week 33 day 2

Barbara and Leanna didn't feel well this morning. So we did not go to church. Barbara is just tired. With her blood platelet so low she does not have much energy

She still had a lot of leg pain we use an ointment with frankencense and myrrh just like in the bible the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus.

We go to OKC tomorrow for doctors appointment on Tuesday.

Survivor week 33 day 1

Barbara did pretty good today
She rested and had a couple of leg spasams. This is much better than having several of them a day like earlier in the week
We are just trying to rest so that the blood platelets will increase to 100,000 at the next blood test.

Becky Elena and Jaye came to visit. Barbara. They are heading back to Kansas City Monday

Sunday is coming.

Survivor week 32 day 7

Barbara rested most of the day. I talked to the oncologist this morning. Barbara's blood platelets are at 45000 they need to be at 100,000 before they give her the avastin so we need to wait another week for blood work. The doctor thinks it will come back up naturally.

I also asked about the sharp pains in her right leg It is probably deep muscle spasms Suggestion is to drink lots of water also electrolytes and eat bananas so we are eating bananas and drinking a drink mixture that has electrolytes in it.

Barbara only had one muscle spasm today. Much better than in the past.

Leanna arrived this evening. She is going to stay with us for the weekend.

Jeff Brenda and children came by and we were able to get a picture with them. They head back to Virginia early in the morning

Barbara still has a good appetite so rest and plenty of liquid is our plan.

Survivor week 32 day 6

Barbara was tired but we got up and went to hospital to have a blood test. No problems. Then we had lunch and came home. We took a nap and then Brenda Jeff and there children came to visit aunt Barbara. They live in Virginia

While they were here Barbara had one of her sharp pains. They last just a short time but just like a knife cutting your leg.

We did not hear anything from the Baylor doctor. I will call in the morning
Then we can make a plan as to when we go to Baylor

Thank you God for being in control. You take care of us even when we don't realize it

Survivor week 32 day 5

Barbara woke up hungry. She still likes to eat. She still has a lot of pain on her right leg. But she did not need medicine. So either the pain is getting less or she is just enduring it more.

The pictures tonight are of her wheelchair that has ladybug footies. Dwight and Nancy made the footies because the foot holder was scraping
Barbara's leg So now Barbara has personalized her wheelchair with ladybug foot covers. Thanks Dwight and Nancy.

She is always thinking of ways to use ladybugs

Survivor week 32 day 4

It started out to be a slow day. Then Judy called and said they wanted to bring lunch and come see us. Well that means I don't have to cook. So Sonny Judy Becky and Elena had lunch with us. Elena came in and had to tell Barbara about her first girl scout camp it was a mom and me she learned a silly song about a banana She and Barbara sang it together

Then we took a nap. Barbara is still having leg pain. Don't know what is causing the pain. Any way she was trying to sing me one of her favorite songs but couldn't remember all the words. Then in the mail came a card with the words to the song "it took a miracle"

1 My Father is omnipotent and that you can't deny a God of might and miracles tis written in the sky

2. Tho here His glory has been shown we still can't fully see. The wonders of His might His throne twill take eternity

3. The Bible tells us of His power and wisdom all way thro and every little bird and flower of testimonies too

Chorus
It took a miracle to put the stars in place. It took a miracle to hang the world in space but when He saved my soul cleansed and made me whole it took a miracle of love and grace

I still can't believe she remembers most of the words to songs.

Bottom line is Barbara is mentally feeling better but just wants the pain to go away.

Thanks for all the prayers and calls and cards

Survivor week 32 day 3

We didn't sleep well last night so it was hard to get started I fixed turkey bacon eggs and toast for Barbara. Then we just rested. Then I sanded the front porch and got it ready to paint. I know it was only 104 but there was a breeze. Anyway after the sun was blocked by the house I sealed and painted the new handicap ramp.

Barbara is still having pain but dealing with it. We have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor next month to see why her right side hurts.

She still has shortness of breath but does the breathing excercises that doctor Parikh suggested to keep from having pneumonia

Pastor Drue called today to tell us about a man with Gbm like Barbara that took avastin and the cancer has gone away for 7 years. It gave us some hope. God is in control so
We will see what He has planned for us.

Survivor week 32 day 2

Barbara woke up this morning with a lot of pain in her leg. She was going to go to church but didn't feel well enough to go. In fact she asked for a pain pill. First time in 3 days.

I went to church while Barbara slept. Her Sunday School class that Suzzanne has been teaching performed a skit for the children's message. Great job. It was about Paul being almost shipwrecked while the Roman guard was taking him to Rome (taken from the book of Acts) The boys did a great job thanks to Suzzanne

After church we just rested. Pretty slow day.

As we finish to day Barbara is still having leg pain and difficulty in breathing.

Survivor week 32 day 1

Barbara woke up today and said that she wanted to be positive all day and that she was full of hope. Not just for her but hope that others will know that God is in control.

We just rested today. Barbara still has pain in her right leg and sometimes struggles with breathing. Her left side is still useless but she still sties to sue both arms and both legs But she knows that she is alive because of God's grace.

Thanks to the neighbors that came by with fresh food and prayer.

Thank you for the encouraging phone calls.

Sunday is coming

Survivor week 31 day 7

Barbara has been very tired today. We talked to Dr Finks office today. They said that we needed to have another blood test to be sure that Barbara can handle this drug. So we will have a blood test next week Then Barbara will be ready to take this new drug.

So we are just trying to rest and get stronger.

Survivor week 31 day 6

Barbara is still very tired. She rested until I found out that we needed to take a urine sample to Miami. So we drove to Miami and then ate lunch and came home to take a map. You notice that most of our days involve a nap.

Pastor Greg came out to pray with us after dinner. Then we went to Parsons to get supplies. Barbara didn't want to go but she didn't want to stay alone either. So it was a pleasant drive

Thanks for all those that are prayer warriors. You may not think it is important but we need all those prayers just to keep us in Gods will. Thank you

Survivor week 31 day 5

Pretty slow day. Barbara got up late. We had brunch then we took a nap. Bottom line Barbara just rested all day. She still has pain in her right leg but it is nothing like last week.

We are hopeful and apprehensive about the upcoming new medicine. We just have to see how Barbara's system handles the change. The good thing is that she'd will be able to stop taking steroids.

Thank you God for our friends that write call and pray for both of us.

Survivor week 31 day 4

Got up this morning and put a pretty dress on Barbara. We headed to the doctor. Dr Parikh was getting ready to leave because she had to take her father to M D Anderson for esophagus cancer

She has been talking to Barbara's oncologist This way all doctors will know what medicine Barbara is taking. She was very worried about the swelling in the legs. We are going to see a cardiologist about her swelling. We do not have any new pain medicine. The doctors agree that the problem in the past is that a high dose of pain medicine was prescribed and that caused a negative reaction in Barbara.

So for now we are just waiting on the oncologist to do the IV medicine to take the swelling down in the brain

We then left the doctors office and headed to Altamont. We made it home at 6. While driving north the oncologist called to tell us that Barbara's blood work looked good and that they were starting to arrange for the IV. So soon we will head back to Baylor Medical Center.

Barbara did good on the trip home. She is tired but glad to be home.

Survivor week 31 day 3

Got up this morning and had a lot of anxiety about what the doctor would say. Made it to the MRI and profusion test. Then we had lunch and waited for the appointment time.

Great news. The MRI showed that the tumor has not grown in two months. Yippie. So what is causing Barbara to have less use of her left side. The doctor said that it was still swelling in the brain caused by the radiation. So he said that he was going to use a drug to immediately reduce the swelling. We would have to go to Dallas 4 times 3 weeks apart to receive an IV. There are some side effects as with all drugs. So we signed the papers to start the treatment. Then we did some blood work to make sure Barbara's system would handle the drug. So sometime next week we will go back to Dallas for an IV. That should help the left side mobility.

Then the tremors. He said they were not tumor related. Since we have an appointment with Dr. Parikh tomorrow he wants her to call him tomorrow so together they can set up a pain management plan

He listened to Barbara's lungs and said they sounded good and clear. He never used the word pneumonia

The pain in the legs will have to be dealt with by Dr Parikh

Overall a very good meeting. We have a plan and now we need to work the plan

Thank you for all the prayer and being our prayer warriors. God has been with us daily. We have seen little miracles daily

Survivor week 31 day 2

Barbara was very tired this morning so we did not go to church. Leanna found some salve that seemed to really relieve the pain in the leg. (the salve has frankincense and myrrh) Just like in Jesus time
So we headed to Dallas to be here to see the oncologist in the morning. Barbara slept most of the way leanna slept also.
Barbara calls this her sleeping car. So she enjoys rides in the car and catches a nap when she can

Since we didn't make it to church we continued to read the Bible together. We are reading through the Bible. We are in Micah in the Old Testament and in Hebrew in the New Testament

Thanks for your prayers

Survivor week 31 day 1

Barbara woke up with a upset stomach and chest pains then her right leg became very tender to the touch. Then we read an article that said that corn starch would relieve the leg pain. The corn starch seemed to relieve some of the leg pain. Eating chicken noodle soup seemed to help with the stomach pain. The chest pain just continued.

But we have to remember that there are a lot of people in more pain. Thank you God for helping Barbara through the pain.

Sunday is coming Sunday is coming

Survivor 30 weeks 7 days

Barbara rested all day. AC and I played golf. It was good to hit the little white ball.

Barbara is still having pain in her chest. Caused by the pneumonia. Pray that the medicine clears up the pneumonia

She did her excercises a couple of times today. She just wants to strengthen her muscles

Survivor 30 weeks 6 days

A fair day. Barbara slept late because we didn't sleep well in the night

Then we took a nap after our exercises more rest then AC and Virginia came for a visit and then they brought us dinner for our anniversary. (maybe we can play this anniversary thing all month.).

Barbara did her exercises (they are very simple)a couple of times. She just wants to get her strength back. Each time we go to the ER we have to really work to get her strength back.

Survivor week 30 day 5

Barbara is done with chemo for this cycle. Today we had a good day. Barbara was alert joking and hungry. She did some exercises and when moving from chair to chair took actual steps. Tonight we watched part of the star wars movie set of 6

No ER today. Maybe we are done with that for a while. I talked to our primary care doctor and she said that sometimes when they try different combinations of medicines that the patient has an adverse reaction. I am just glad that we were able to determine that Barbara could not handle those combinations.

We have not taken a pain pill since 5:30 this morning do her pain is getting less.

We are taking to take care of the lung infection that they found during testing in the ER. That medicine will be done in a week. Barbara has pneumonia and wants to ask all her prayer warriors to pray for healing

Survivor 30 weeks 4 days

Barbara and I got up at 5:30 and moved to the wheelchair. Then her right hand began to tremor and shake then she became unresponsive to me and stopped breathing twice for about 20 seconds each. I was unable to get a response from her so I called 911

The medics came they loaded her into their vehicle. They worked on Barbara for over 10 minutes in the driveway. Then they took her to the nearest hospital.
So we were now in our 3rd ER in 4 days. They found that the muscle relaxing medicine and pain medicine was causing Barbara to become non responsive. (remember how the medicine we received in Rolla ER caused Barbara to lose reality). Well this caused her to become non responsive. So they told me to stop
giving her muscle relaxing medicine and increase the anti seizure medicine

So we left the ER and are at David's. After lunch and a nap Barbara began to
Act normal. Now she still can't walk but she can sit up and take part in a conservation

Tonight we took the last of the chemo regiment. Barbara was wanting to move from chair to chair and to the bed. She knows that the more she moves the better circulation she will have

Thanks for the many prayers they helped to get us through the day.
Leanna and Brian came back for their vacation to be with Barbara.

Survivor 30 weeks 3 days

What a day. Barbara continued to have a lot of pain throughout the night. So at 4 I packed the car. Then I waited to call doctor Parikh. She told me to get to Deaconess Hospital as soon as possible. So Barbara and I headed to OKC for the hospital.
We got here and learned that our emergency was not the staffs. Lord teach me patience. It even got to Barbara who is the one that tries to teach me patience. After lots of tests they do not know what is causing the pain. They do know that she does not have a broken bone. They do know that she does not have a blood clot. They do know that morphine does not control Barbara's pain. It knocks her out but only for a short time. Then the pain is still there.

So at the end of the evening we were told that she had tremors that develop
into shakes and shakes that
develop into seizures. So they are going to control the tremors and hopefully stop the seizures.

So bottom line we may still have a rough night but we will know what it is not. We will be talking to Doctor Parikh tomorrow.

So we will be in OKC for the rest of the week and then go to Baylor next Monday.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Survivor 30 weeks 2 days

The medicine Barbara is taking allowed us to get several hours of sleep. That was good. Barbara slept most of the morning. At 3 the pain came back and was with us until 5:30. So the trip to the ER was a success. We were able to get some sleep and the pain was managed. We need to get it so we can control the pain all the time.
Barbara is on day three of chemo treatment. She does not appear to have negative symptoms from the chemo

I think that is due to the prayers. Thank you very much. We received a message from India that over 1000 pastors and their churches are praying for Barbara. Also our friend from Kenya called to tell about prayer meetings for Barbara and to pray with her on the telephone

God is so good

Survivor 30 weeks 1 day

Barbara had a lot of leg pain this morning. So much that she did not go eat breakfast with her brothers and their wives.

At 2 we decided that we were not controlling the pain so we called our primary doctor who advised us to immediately go to the emergency room

X-rays were taken of her hip and leg. No fractures were seen on the x-rays. The doctor also checked for sciatic nerve damage. He did not think that Barbara had nerve problems

He did increase the pain medicine to provide pain management. He wanted Barbara to see her primary care doctor as soon as possible. When we told him that we had an appointment on July 17 he was satisfied

So we are back home with more powerful medicine. Pray that it will allow Barbara tonight

Survivor 29 weeks 7 days

Ok today barbara is in a lot of pain from her sciatic nerve. But we needed to go have blood tested. We did that then we went to lunch with both of her brothers and their wives. It has been several years. Since all 6 of us were together. Barbara sure enjoyed lunch and companionship. But she got real tired so we came home and took a nap.
Then Rich Alice John and Rosey came by the house to just visit. Again Barbara enjoyed the visit.

We received a call from the oncologist. Barbara's blood platelets were 120,000
The doctor said she could start taking the chemo. So tonight we will start chemo for 5 days

Thanks for all your prayers about Barbara's blood platelet count

Survivor 29 weeks 6 days

Barbara did not sleep well. She had sharp pain in her right leg. We called and canceled therapy. Then we called the doctor. Barbara had two real good naps today so she began to feel better except for the sharp pain in her right leg

The doctor called back this afternoon and after talking with us thought that Barbara had a sciatic nerve problem. The doctor said it was unrelated to the brain cancer. So we are treating her for sciatic nerve pain.

Leanna left to go home this afternoon. She has a doctors appointment tomorrow. It was good to have her here this week.

Oops almost forgot. 43 years ago Barbara and I got married. So I just want to say that I have been blessed by be married to Barbara. She has been my partner, counselor, friend and the love of my life. Thanks Barbara for putting up with me I know the moves were no fun for you but you did them for me. You gave up a career as a teacher to move wherever my job took us. Thank you for being the best Mom to our children. Thank you for marrying me

Survivor 29 weeks 5 days

Wow Barbara was whipped after all the activity of yesterday. She was glad she did them all We just rested and then did some exercises. She likes her new upper arm bike. She can use it for her arms and also for her legs.

She is trying to rest because we have been invited to spend a week in Hot Springs with some of Brian's family. Friday we are going to test Barbara's blood to see if the platelets have reached 100,000. If so we will start chemo.

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July. We live in a great nation that fought for their independence we still enjoy that independence they fought for

We sat on our front porch this evening and watched the fireworks as they went off in Altamont. Then we watched as God brought His moon up that looked so awesome. Hum. We spend a lot of money to make the sky light up and God shows us His might every night without spending a dime

Survivor 29 weeks 4 days

Barbara did very well at therapy. Then we had lunch with john and Rosey
We took naps then went to Dwight and Nancy for dinner.

Now we are at fireworks. This is the best Barbara has felt in a long time

Hopefully Barbara has not overdone herself. Full moon looks good in the sky.

Survivor 29 weeks 2 days

We got up today and went to have Barbara's blood checked. Then we drove around Parsons. We saw an unusual site 24 john Deere tractors on a train going somewhere. Pictures attached. They were arranged from largest to smallest in the back. Where else are you going to see a sight like this?

We came home and rested. The doctor called and said that Barbara's platelet count was 93000. That was up from 43000 last week. The doctor said Barbara needed a count of 100000 before they would allow chemo. So we are going to have to wait another week for chemo treatment.

That is ok because Barbara has needed this week to get her strength back. Today she walked several times. Which last week was not possible.

While we were in Walmart Barbara said that she needed a certain ball so she could do exercises that the therapist had taught her. Last week that would not have happened. So she is getter better just not real fast

Survivor 29 weeks 1 day

Barbara did not sleep well So she did not feel like going to church. She and leanna stayed home while I went to church. Sonny and Judy brought lunch and we had a good lunch. Then we took a nap

While at church Ruth Lavender offered to loan us her "lift chair". So I picked it up and Barbara is trying to get used to using it

Barbara has been restless today. Her legs are hurting so I have been applying Ben gay It seems to help

Tomorrow morning we do another blood test to see if her platelets have increased in number

Thanks for your prayers