Even More Thankful - Revised @ 10:25pm

So I've revised this to add a couple more items that needed to be told in this post! You'll have to re-read it to get the added news. :)
• The last couple weeks (other than the fall) have been really good. We had a very nice Thanksgiving - Holly's boyfriend John cooked a wonderful spread with some side dishes also made by his mom. John's family, Rocky & Ember and my sister Renee, her husband Ted & son Johnny joined us. Johnny is with the Stryker brigade & getting ready to ship out to Afghanistan so we were very happy to be able to see him. Ric ate alot of food so hopefully that will result in some added weight when we go to his dr appt this afternoon. His appetite has been fabulous so just been praying that some of it sticks to his ribs literally!
• Friday night we had dinner with former Rebels players Molly & Megan and Megan's parents Mike & Nancy. Molly & her boyfriend Russ attend WSU so of course there was banter between them & Ric about the upcoming Apple Cup. Megan goes to college at University of Missouri so we were excited to be able to see her during this break.
• Went to Apple Cup - weather was great & Ric had lots of energy to be able to enjoy the whole game & a couple hours of pre-game in the event center. As you can see by the picture above, we finally got to meet Jim Lambright (former UW Football Coach) in person. In a previous post on the blog, Jim had called Ric to encourage him in his battle. It was really great to talk to him in person and thank him.
• Thursday before Thanksgiving we were blessed with a visit from my wonderful friend Danette & her two daughters Alyssa & Nichole. Danette & I have been friends since Junior High & she lives in Oregon. She brought us some of her homemade salsa which Ric is now enjoying.
• Sunday we had a wonderful phone conversation with our longtime friend Ive who lives in Florida. Ive is our older "sister" from UW college days. We'd lost her phone number & finally was able to get her to contact us thru her son Brandon as we knew she would want to know about Ric's battle & be praying for him (and as she said call everyone she knows to pray for him).
• Ended the holiday weekend with a very nice visit with Glen & Becky yesterday evening. Had to drop off some gifts for them to take to the children we sponsor in Nicaragua & for some good friends there as they will be heading to Nicaragua later this week for the graduation ceremony at Dario Christian Academy. It had been our hope that we would be able to attend the graduation since this will be the first graduating class from high school. We hope & pray that God will allow us to return to Nicaragua sometime next year. The staff & the children at Dario Christian Academy have been praying for Ric's healing also & have sent us many encouraging videos, letters, e-mails.
• Ric had his doctor appt today and he is up 3 more lbs for a total of 5 lbs since November 8th! You should have seen the smile on his face as he was standing on the scale & saw where his weight was. I have not seen that smile in way too long so it was FABULOUS to see him smile like that again!
• Thanks again for all your prayers, love & support. Please continue to pray for no side effects from the Avastin & that those tumors keep shrinking smaller & smaller and that Ric continues to gain weight. Also please pray for Ric's youngest sister Minerva as she's been having some health issues lately. She is the one he donated the kidney to in 2000.

Ups then downs - literally

So today started out being a very good day. Appetite is still UP. Ric is UP another pound! He had his 2nd Avastin treatment this round and was feeling good. His recent craving has been for hamburgers (not sure why) so we went to Dick's on Broadway for burgers and fries. Then we decided to stop by Michael's in Issaquah to buy some items to send to some of our little friends in Nicaragua (others are heading down next week). As Ric was getting out of the car and stepped up on the curb, his knee buckled and he fell. Usually he waits for me to come around to help him when getting out of the car but this time he did not. Maybe because he was feeling so good. Unfortunately he bruised his left ribs and ended up with a big bump on the left side of his forehead. His head hit the concrete so hard that I heard a crack and I was in total fear as I ran over to him. He didn't lose conciousness and actually was extremely mad at himself for not being able to right himself when he started to fall. It was pouring down rain at the time and he was getting soaked so I was able to get a worker at Michael's to help me get him back in the car. Called 911 so the EFR crew was there in no time. All his vitals were fine but we took him to Swedish/Issy ER. They took xray of his ribs - no fractures and because of him being treated with Avastin they had to do a CT scan to make sure there was no bleeding in his brain. Fortunately no issues - Thank God! But he is in alot of pain with his bruised ribs. Of course all of this really frustrated him as he was having such a good day. So for now please pray for quick healing of his bruised ribs and the bump on his head and that there will be no issues from this little setback.

Things are good

Ric continues to amaze me. Just last week he was needing a walker to get around as he was pretty weak due to the dehydration due to the chemo side effects and the additional weight loss. On Tuesday when we had to go to his Dr appt he decided he didn't need it and has not used it since. Our San Diego trip was really needed by both of us. We had a fabulous time - got to see lots of good friends and soaked in lots of sunshine. It really lifted us both up. Dr. appt went well. He's up one pound! Although that does not seem like a big deal it is since most every appt since August he has dropped some weight. Everyone at the Doc's office commented on how much better Ric is doing since earlier in the month. For now we are focusing on getting Ric to gain some more weight. If he keeps eating like he is that shouldn't be a problem. He'll be continuing the treatments every two weeks. Next one is next Tuesday.

It's Thursday

• Ric started back on Avastin treatments on Tuesday. He will do them every two weeks with no chemo for the time being. We are very happy about the no chemo as that just totally trashed him. He also had to have two more bags of saline during his Avastin treatment on Tuesday. Still dehydrated but getting better. His appetite has picked back up without meds. He already has to take so many meds that he did not want to add more to it. I'm okay with that as long as his appetite keeps up. He's wayyyy too skinny for me. This week has been an encouragement with how he feels. Hoping that he's got the worst of the chemo side effects behind him. The mouth sores are gone so thanks for your prayers for that!
• We were originally hoping to be back at work this week but with the issues over the last few weeks it's back up in the air again. I know at some point I am going to have to return to work. I have been sooooo blessed by my coworkers donating vacation time to me so that I could stay home with Ric. You all do not realize how much I appreciate that. The people I work with are the most wonderful caring people. They have been so supportive in so many ways. We've always loved working at MacMiller but with this situation it has really pointed out what a great company it is because of the people there. Can't say thanks enough. We both really miss being there every day.
• We also have the most awesome neighbors - they have done so much for us also. Even though I know that they think it's just little things - those little things become a really big deal when you already have so much on your plate.
• It's such a beautiful but chilly day today. We are looking forward to a short walk outside after it warms up a bit more.
• We are excited as we are going to take a little trip for a long weekend to visit some friends in California. Friends (former neighbors) are lending us their condo in San Diego so we can go enjoy some sunshine (although it might rain a little while there). Once again so very blessed by those we love.
• I am a very optimistic person and always try to find the best in everyone and everything. This battle that Ric is fighting is an extremely difficult battle and a very serious battle. The fact that he is still alive and doing as well as he is doing is a miracle in itself. I am very aware of the fact that at any point in time he could be taken from me. I will continue to be optimistic and continue to pray for the miracles needed for my husband to be with me as long as God will allow it. I ask for you to pray with me for that. I live this reality every day and thank God every morning when I wake up and my husband is still here with me. Do you do that with your loved ones? If you don't you need to consider doing it as none of us are promised tomorrow. Love them like they deserve to be loved.
• My faith gives me the strength I need every day. I know that Ric will be healed either here on earth or in heaven and that since we both have been saved this life is not all there is. Don't know how people who have no hope that there is something more than this life can ever go through anything such as this. God prepared us to be ready for this challenge - we can see that as we look back on our lives. Watching Ric go through this battle just amazes me as he never complains, never says why me or anything like that. He knows that there is a purpose in all of this whether it is for us or maybe for you.
• Thanks again for all your love, support & prayers. We are so very blessed by all of you!

Next Steps

I know that you all have been waiting to hear what we found out. Sorry I should have told you that our appt wasn't until 3:30pm today. The Doc's office has just implemented a new registration/billing software program this week so we had to start from square one in filling out paperwork & getting re-registered. The new software didn't allow them the ability to automatically transfer information from the old software - hmmmm ..... Ric has to get blood drawn each time he gets an infusion or sees the Doc. So after re-registration we had to go to the lab. Sorry having fun just letting you sit on the edge of your chair waiting to hear what we found out :) Ok so Doc said and showed us that there has been significant improvement in both the brain and the liver. Right now because of the recent chemo side effects (mainly diarrhea & mouth sores) Ric is dehydrated & malnourished - he lost more weight in the last couple weeks. So the plan of attack is for him to get some additional hydration therapy tomorrow, medication to help increase his appetite, then back to Doc next week to check hydration. If hydration level is where Doc wants to see it next week, Ric will resume Avastin treatments every two weeks - no chemo. Ric will see the Doc every two weeks for now. We are very happy with this news. We knew that there was improvement because the swelling in Ric's liver had totally gone away. And we knew that brain-wise he is good. It's just that you really need to hear what you think you know. And this was just after 6 treatments so we hope & pray for even more improvement with additional treatments. This does not mean Ric is out of the woods though. We need to get his hydration back on track and he really needs to put on weight. We expect that the two meds they are putting him on will help with the appetite. Also even though he won't be doing chemo this round - as Doc thought it would do him more harm than good - the Avastin has it's own potential side effects. So lots of prayers for the last few mouth sores to be gone, hydration levels to return to normal, for appetite increase & good weight gain over the next few weeks, for protection from side effects and continued tumor reduction. God has truly blessed us - not only with this positive news today but with all of you - your love, support & prayers.

Where does the ride go from here?

Tomorrow is a big day I guess. We will find out what the CT scan & MRI are showing as of last week. I say I guess because I'm not really sure what it will all mean. We've been carried by God's grace, strength & miracles so far and I'm not sure that will change irregardless of what these show. We are praying for something positive but yet preparing ourselves in case it isn't. That's why my title is "Where does the ride go from here?" These last couple weeks have been really hard on Ric. The mouth sores returned so he's had a hard time eating & talking. They are much better today and he ate alot more than he has for awhile. He tells me that once they are fully gone then he's eating everything in sight! He's really wiped out most of the time but that apparently is called chemo fatigue. Today was a much better day than it has been for awhile so I am hoping that we are starting to move past the horrible chemo effects. Again I can't imagine if he was doing a more toxic higher dosage chemo as this has been a nightmare. My husband is one of the strongest people I know and he does not complain at all. I know that I could not be as nice as he has been while going through this. Oh he has snapped at me but only because I deserved it as I was hounding him to do something. But most of the time that was me becoming fearful that he needed to do something or he was going to get worse. It took my very wonderful daughter Holly to put me back into perspective that Ric needed to be the one to do what was needed and that I could not force him to do those things. Of course that would mean I would totally have to relinquish any form of control that I thought I had and since I'm a control freak (less than I used to be really) it was very hard for me to do that. I still struggle with it at times. But it's more that I cannot imagine my life without him and that totally freaks me out. I was able to get some Me time these past few days thanks to my brother Rusty. I'm sure Ric was thankful too! Also heard good news this morning about my sister Becky - her lymph nodes and cancer markers are clear - praise God about that! So asking for prayers for some positive news tomorrow, the mouth sores to GO AWAY, for Ric to continuing gaining strength each day and for peace & comfort for us both.