Quilts and Kiddie Kamp!

Lets start with Carson. Alan's Grandmother has made everyone in our family a quilt. And when I mean made, I mean made by hand and not with a sewing machine. They are wonderful and we treasure them. She recently brought Carson his and I wanted to share it with everyone. Can everyone say "Woooooo Pig Sooiee!!! She made Carson a Razorback quilt. He LOVES it!!

Next we have Sydney at Kiddie Kamp that our cheerleaders put on yearly. It's so funny to see Sydney out there and brings back the memories of me doing Kiddie Kamp when I was her age and also teaching it when I was a cheerleader. The good ole days!! HA Sydney had fun during the week, but I'm sure she worked on her teachers pretty hard, LOL. See the Eagle mascot...yep, Sydney attacked that poor little bird. I could see it in her eyes before she pounced. She kept hiding under her tail and would not leave her alone. It was pretty funny and not a surprise!

Jenna Cate, Sydney and Anna Claire

8 Years of Marriage!

Yesterday Alan and I celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe it's been 8 years. Actually, if you put all of our years together, it's a total of 13. Last year we celebrated our anniversary in the hospital after Alan's surgery. You can look back at my post from last year and you will see a picture from our wedding. Alan was pulling me down the isle. haha This year we celebrated our anniversary not much different from last year. Alan was not in the hospital this year, but he was not able to get out and go anywhere. Alan's mom made us dinner last night and it was wonderful. Thank you Cookie.

Also, poor little Carson came down with a stomach bug yesterday. He just happened to be at Alan's parents when all this started, so besides them making us dinner, they also were dealing with a very sick little boy. He threw up ALOT. I think he finally stopped about 4:30 this morning. Cookie said you would have never guessed he was sick as of 8 this morning. He was running around like nothing ever happened. Kids!!! I'm sure Cookie and Rusty are anxiously waiting for him to take a nap. I'm just so glad he is feeling better. Obviously he stayed with the McCone's last night b/c he could not be around Alan and I could not help Alan and take care of Carson at the same time. Thank you Nena and Papaw!!

Speaking of Alan, he had to start a stronger pain med Monday along with what he started taking last Friday. He was still in alot of pain over the weekend and just needed something stronger. He can tell that it is finally helping. He is still having the break through pain here and there, but I guess not the constant pain. I hate that he is on so much pain med, and he does too, but whatever it takes to get him through this. His spirits are good and he sounds better in his voice. He is still using the walker. I'm sorry, but that walker is a blessing. Thank you Kami and Ms. Wanda for letting us use that. We are still working on arrangements for our October 5th visit to Houston. I guess we are kind of holding off making final arrangements until closer to time to see how Alan's pain is. I'm just kind of stumped on the right way to handle this.

As always, I just ask that you continue to pray for us. So many people tell us that our strength is amazing or that they are inspired by us. I have a hard time thinking of us in that way. I just think that we are doing what anyone would do...putting up a fight against cancer and cancer is NOT going to win!! No, I don't know what God's plan is and whatever it is, I will make peace with it, but right now, we are just in fight mode!

We love you all and thank you!
Melissa

Alan Update

I just want to thank everyone for your prayers, emails, visits, calls...everything!! What wonderful friends we have! We love you guys!

I just wanted to give a quick update about Alan. Not much has changed really. As of today, he is starting a stronger pain med. The other is just not doing enough to help control his pain. We need to get his pain under control before we can get to Houston and just to give him better relief. As far as we know, we are still keeping the October 5th appointment. I don't think they want us to come earlier b/c they want to get the pain under control before we travel south. Of course we wish we were leaving tomorrow for new scans and to see Dr. Amato in Houston, but that's just not going to happen. I wish I had some amazing news to give, but like I said, everything is still pretty much the same. Of course, Alan's spirits are still good. What an amazing person he is!! God love him for being so strong right now! Alan is a fighter and thank goodness for that.

Alan Update

I have gone back and forth on whether or not to post about our latest, but I feel that I have shared our life thus far, so why keep everyone in the dark now!

If you follow my blog and read updates about Alan, then you know about his back trouble and the cancer in his back. The cancer is in the L2, L3 and T11 vertebrae. It is also in the spinal canal and nerves. The last 2 weeks have been very challenging around our house. While Alan continues to keep his spirits up and make everyone believe that he is doing just great, his back is telling him different. Alan is in alot of pain right now. He is not able to sit or stand for very long and he is pretty much in the bed most hours of the day. We did get him a lift chair that he is able to sit up in. He will be mad at me for telling this, but he is having to walk with a walker right now. Mentally, Alan is doing great...just being stubborn!! :-) I finally got him to start taking pain meds Saturday. He did not want to start taking them with, I'm sure, the fear of having to depend on them. He is taking the pain meds like he should and I can tell it his helping him get some relief.

I know Alan and I both have so many emotions going on with both of us, well, our whole family does. So many concerns, questions. There is much more involved to this situation, but not anything that I care to share at the moment....sorry. It gets too personal at this point. I just ask that you continue to pray for Alan, Me, our kids, our family. Our kids are 6 and 2 and they do not understand. Sydney is very concerned for her daddy and Carson can't understand why they can't play horsey anymore. These are just very sad days for us. Another sad situation is that we are working on Alan's Long Term Disability. I never thought it would come to this, but it has. It's all very heartbreaking actually.

Alan's next appointment is October 5th in Houston. If things do not improve, then we see no way for him to make the trip. Not even by plane. We have had some other suggestion thrown our way that we are going to consider as far as traveling. It's all just one day at a time and sometimes one hour at a time!

Thank you for your prayers and love!

"fear not, for I am with you;be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you,I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
—Isaiah 41:10

A Stomach Bug???

I know I have not posted lately, but last week was not a good week at the McCone household so there has just been no time. Alan started feeling sick last Tuesday evening and stayed sick...throwing up, etc., until Saturday. Like I said, it was not a good week. We were not 100% sure if it was a stomach bug or his chemo. How do you tell??? He takes his chemo daily, so we are just not sure. He finally started feeling human again Saturday evening and was able to enjoy some "real" cooking Sunday. My dad cooked ribs Sunday and they were WONDERFUL!!! If Alan would have missed that, he would have been not a happy camper.

Alan continues to have the back trouble, so just please pray for him. It has gotten to the point where the back issues are making his day to day activities harder. I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is for him to not be able to do things with the kids. It's devastating actually. I just ask that you pray for our family. I do not say this to be ugly, but until you have lived the life of cancer, you can never fully understand what families deal with on a day to day basis. Selfishly, I never did and I will admit that to anyone. Unfortunately, now I do. It's very hard and very stressful. Just pray for our family and any family dealing with that C word.

Back to the stomach bug, if it was a stomach bug, Lord, please do not let me or the kids get it. It hit Alan HARD!!!

Side Note***Sydney is doing great in school!!! No notes...yet!! WooHoo
Carson continues to get smarter and smarter every day!

"Our God is an Awesome God!!"