Vern's Mother's 80th B-day

We had my uncle and aunt Alton and Esther, sister Kay and husband Lee, Amanda and Eliana, Stephen, and Vern's parents. Trey,Katka, and Evelyn joined us via a few Skype sessions.

We had a great burger cookout and mom got to blow out the candles on the home cooked coconut cake.
Deb enjoyed being surrounded by family but was very tired afterwards.
Oscar the dog was glad it is over!

Evelyn walking in the park in Brussels

The Berry monster of Brussels

Granddaughter Evelyn found a bowl of berries. Guess what she did with them?

News

Amanda and Jon are expecting a little boy! Eliana will have a little brother about Dec 31,2011!

Today Deb got to play the role of a grandmother. . .something she was unable to do last year when she was undergoing cancer treatment in Arkansas. Amanda invited us to attend the 3-D ultrasound and we really enjoyed seeing the little fellow kicking and moving and sucking his thumb. Wow!

After the ultrasound we had a nice meal and reveled in the blessings of the day.

We heard from Trey from Brussels. He, Katka,and little Evelyn had just returned from a week in Romania. He said little Evelyn was really moving about and saying words in French, English, and Czech. {can your grandkid do that???-proud grandpa}

Blessings!

Eliana's First Birthday Party...

Deb got to be an active 'grandmother' today. She was not able to be there last year for either Evelyn or Eliana.

Good word from another

"I am not sure whether platelets at 63 and going down is a good thing or a bad thing. But, we will continue praying for Debbi. We can’t imagine what it must be to be on chemotherapy every day. I noted in the Scriptures this morning that the questions “How Long?” and “Why?” are in Psalm after Psalm after Psalm And there is no answer. But of many of these people, the Holy Spirit says, “The world was not worthy of them.” I myself have been praying for 15 years for a “desperate” family situation. From my perspective, instead of it getting better, it seems to be getting more desperate. But the Lord continually says to me, “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” All I know is that the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures for all generations. (Ps. 100).

You both are in our prayers."


A Friend

Question from an Encourager

"Got a bit confused over the blog, where the doctor declared Deb cancer free, but still notice she is taking chemo?"

a friend

++++++++

Deb's diagnosis was for the high risk variety. Deb is now in full remission, meaning that there are no measurable cancer cells. That doesn't mean there aren't any! Myeloma is famous for 'hiding' and then roaring back even worse than before. Therefore, she is under 3 years local chemo with periodic tests in Arkansas which include MRIs, PET Scans, Bone Marrow tests, DNA tests, blood, and urine tests plus weekly labs at the hospital in Georgia and monthly blood tests sent back to Arkansas.

Multiple myeloma is a different kind of cancer. Even our local Oncologist is amazed at the way UAMS treats cancer. Many of our local friends who have experienced cancer have gotten 4-6 treatments then no more chemo or radiation, all in the course of a few months. Deb's treatment on the other hand has been extremely aggressive treatment and has taken her to the point of death and back.

Our classmates in Arkansas said 'the UAMS staff pulls you thru a keyhole' with their treatments.

Vern

Overdue update

Yesterday a friend reminded me that there had been no posts in a while. He's right! Thanks Paul!

Since we returned from Little Rock, Deb has been on a 28 day cycle of Revlimid, a strong chemo drug. She has the worst reaction to this drug and has not had much of a social life this month. In fact, except for the Tuesday chemo session and me taking her out for a brief Friday night supper, she spent last week in the sun room. What a blessing the sun room has been for her!

Today is another chemo day and we are expecting Deb's blood work to reveal the need to reduce the Revlimid dosage. Her blood counts are really affected and she has very little strength.


FLASH!!!! Just returned from labs. Platelets are at 63. Off Revlimid for a while.


Deb has not been in the kitchen very much except to make a sandwich. However, last night when I got home from work, a feast awaited me! Peas, sliced tomatoes,cornbread, and a peach cobbler! Wow! A summer favorite!