Any Given Sunday.....

Any given Sunday, here's what you'll see in my house......our family is die-hard Dallas fans and unfortunately this year......yuck! With Romo out for 6-8 weeks it doesn't look like Dallas is going to the playoffs this year. Not that they were doing any good before he got hurt......

I was chosen as Star of the Day at ScrapAttackScrapbooking.com with this spirited layout of my co-workers at UD! The photo was taken to show school spirit for Homecoming, which is this coming Saturday November 6th. Since the picture was 8x10 it was a challenge to scrap but fun too!

The other layout is one I did of the Mud Run the kids did earlier this month. It was held in Middletown and was a 5K through all sorts of muddy obstacles. Dani said she even had mud in her ears when she was done! It was for a good cause, to raise money for cancer research. The kids named their team after Burt (Bubba's Bruisers) and managed to raise $160.00!

Speaking of Burt, he is doing about the same. The chemo wears him out, he has to sleep it off for a few days and since it leaves a metallic taste in his mouth he doesn't feel like eating. This coming week he is off chemo so hopefully he'll feel better soon. He had a CA 19-9 test done and the numbers are still high. Normal is under 37, his was 5184. I know, I know, that's astronomically high, but considering his number six weeks ago was 5304......at least they're moving in the right direction.......down. We are just taking it day by day, rejoicing in the good days and trying to make the bad days pass quickly. Thanks for keeping him in your prayers.

Sketch 125 from Creative Scrappers!

Creative Scrappers posted this fun sketch for this week and ScrapAttack is one of their sponsors! I loved the sketch and couldn't wait to try it!

I used some old Scenic Route papers that I had in my stash, thought they'd be perfect for this photo. It's a picture of Robert and Anna Renee from 1987. I think we were getting ready to go to church. They loved the Dr. Seuss book so I used that for the title.....

Chemo today

Burt had chemo (Gemzar) today and also started on the pill form of chemo called Tarceva. After he was done we came home and he slept for 7 hours! I guess it really tires you out. I finally woke him up because I was worried his sugar might drop too low if he didn't eat something.

We will see this weekend how he tolerates it, hopefully it will be okay. He has another round next week and then he's off for a week.


I did get a chance to scrap a little bit this week, I'm so far behind on my monthly challenges at ScrapAttack I'll never catch up! I won Star of the Day with this layout of Burt and his brothers

Rainy days

Saturday Brian and April hosted their "annual" pig roast, and Burt felt well enough to go and stay for a few hours. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, just right for playing outdoor games and relaxing under the trees.


We celebrated Burt's 63rd birthday Sunday, lots of family and friends stopping by to see how he's doing. And to top off a good day, the Cowboys finally won a game! BJ and Dani did the Mud Run in Middletown to raise money for cancer research. I didn't go so I didn't get any pictures but hope someone else took some! You can see them in online photos here.... they're the team in blue shirts....

http://photosbytnt.com/Events/2010/The-Mud-Pit/13952381_TrTbk#1025446355_mn42r

http://photosbytnt.com/Events/2010/The-Mud-Pit/13952381_TrTbk#1025450358_4B32J

http://photosbytnt.com/Events/2010/Finish-Line-Team-Photos/13947454_5WUUU#1024623300_oytz5

Another visit to the oncologist yesterday, he told Burt he needs to eat more and gain some weight. Kinda hard to do when you don't have any appetite. We find out tomorrow if the blood transfusions brought his red blood cell count up. If they did, he can take chemo again, a reduced dose of Gemzar. He will also be taking Tarceva (by mouth). Since he hasn't taken Tarceva before I don't know what the side effects from that might be.

He did feel well enough today to give the dog a bath! LOL Poor Alleyah, she hates baths but I gotta say she smells a lot better!

Transfusion done

Burt received two bags of blood today over a five hour period. That should bring his red blood cell counts up again. He is starting to feel the back pain again. We go to his primary care doctor tomorrow so we'll see if the pain meds are still working or if we need to do something else.

No chemo today

No chemo treatment today. We got to the office and they said his blood counts were too low (from last week's chemo). He has been getting weaker and now I know why. Tomorrow we go to the hospital for a blood transfusion. Hopefully that will get his red blood cell count back up. Whether he can have another chemo treatment is not known at this point.

At least we seem to have the pain under control. Some days he will eat and others he has no appetite. I am blessed to have such good friends who bring over food so I don't have to cook...LOL

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Chemo starts tomorrow

Time to bring back the big guns. His first chemo treatment is tomorrow morning. He will be taking Gemzar again, since he tolerated it well last year I'm hoping it will be the same this year. Supposed to have another chemo treatment at the same time, a pill called Traceva, but I haven't heard anything else about it. I don't know it they're going to give it to him there while he gets the Gemzar or what.

We are starting to manage the pain better with the pain meds but we need to be vigilant and not miss a dose. I find myself giving him a lot of back rubs, they seem to help a little with the back pain. Nights are hardest. When he can't sleep he tries to not wake me up, but I get up anyway. I don't know how many times I check on him during the night, just to make sure he's still breathing! His appetite is a little better, hopefully he hasn't lost any more weight.

Gotta go, he's calling...