The McCone's

A Holly Jolly Time....

2011-12-25T18:44:00.008-06:00

Well, I decided that since I've blogged maybe...ummmm.....3 or 4 times this year (maybe.... I honestly didn't even look), I should end the year with one last blog. What better to blog about than Christmas.

Christmas....it's the most wonderful time of the year...right? It sure is for one BIG reason....to celebrate Jesus' birthday. It's so important to make your children understand the reason for this special day. We try so hard to make our kids understand, and for the most part they do (Sydney especially does)....although the 4 year old still ask "is that all?" as we are opening gifts...ughhh He is still learning, but he will get it.

How about a little Christmas decor'....

The ole Christmas Tree

This is my favorite tree out of the 4 I put up. This is a small tree from Old Milo Tree Farms. This is the first real tree I've ever had and I love it! I think I will make this a tradition for our sunroom.

The mantel.....nothing real special....a bunch of stuff

Yes, I know....our kids get way too much (this is just Santa), but Dave Ramsey would be happy to know that I save up all year for Christmas and pay all in cash. This is the one time I splurge. I love Christmas. The best part of this picture is the TV scene...bahahaha....my favorite!!!

Here's a close up of the best scene where the wife is snickering in the background...OMG....so funny!! Will always be a classic. My mom gets me the newest "A Christmas Story" hallmark ornaments every year, so I have a pretty nice collection, but I forgot to take a picture.

Rabbit food for Thumper. Yes, Sydney also got a new bow she can hunt with.

Carson and Alan.

Sydney decked out in her new stuff and bike. Loving the hat.

Carson and his new bike. Looks like he is about to go hunt something...camo head to toe.

And last but not least, we lost a very special family member Friday. Our lab Bealle went to doggy heaven Friday. She was 12 years old and we have raised her from birth. I boohooed over her body....it was so sad. Alan and his dad were just about to take her to the vet when I went to go check on her one more time and she was already gone. It was so hard to see her laying there just limp.....ughhhh....awful. Thank goodness Alan's dad was here. He and my dad dug a grave for her behind our house, so we can visit her anytime and she is close. We put flowers on her grave and we are going to hang one of the crosses that Alan makes on our fence. Any who.....it's not been the best Christmas weekend. We love you Bealle.

Well, I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and got every gift you asked for. Carson keeps saying "I guess I was on the nice list", so I hope you were all on the nice list too. It's been a long day/weekend and I'm pooped, but I wanted to do this last 2011 blog! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. O, we are headed to Houston in a week, so prayers are always welcomed.

Love,

Melissa

Busy Family...as always!

2011-09-15T11:29:00.003-05:00

Well, I continue to put my blog on the back burner. Dang Facebook!!! So I guess I have not updated all summer. Since my last update we have really not done that much. Our highlight of the summer was our beach vacation. Interesting in more ways than one. Now, we are back to school, extra activities and much much more! Sydney is doing competition cheer, gymnastics, Awana's, girl scouts (if we ever get any information)...seems like there is more, but that is sure enough!! Carson is just along for the ride. He does church on Wednesday and that's about the extent of his activities. Alan and I just started the Financial Peace University with our church by Dave Ramsey. There are no words as to how excited I am about his class. I am so ready to be debt free and make smarter choices about where our money goes and pay for everything in CASH!! I've got my cash flow statement ready and to be implemented for October!! Exciting stuff!! HA I'm such a nerd about all of this. The Dave Ramsey videos are funny, entertaining and full of Dave Ramsey knowledge about money. I laugh through the whole video....how would you think it was possible to have a sense of humor when it comes to money, but he keeps it very entertaining and captivating.

Since my last post also, Alan has hit his 3 year mark with Cancer. WOW, he has been living with this stuff for 3 years. That is absolutely amazing. We continue to give God all of our blessings for such a miracle and we also have some pretty awesome doctors to thank as well! This was my post on Facebook about Alan's 3 year mark:

"Dear Cancer,
It's been 3 years since our 1st date. During these three years, you have bruised, broken and ravaged my husbands body. You have made his appearance change many times. So much at times, that some didn't even recognize him. Basically, you have turned our world upside down. But, let me tell you what you haven't done and never will....stole our faith in the ultimate healer or broken our spirit. We will never stop fighting or believing. We know God has a plan for all of us!"

Amen!!

Also, I'd like to announce that Alan and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary Thursday, September 22nd!! WOW Actually, it will be 15 years together....WOW...ha!! Happy Anniversary Alan! I love you! Every year on our anniversay, I think of 9/11. I will never forget getting ready to go make the final food arrangment for our wedding when these crazy planes started hitting the towers. It was awful watching it and disbelief was everywhere. Alan and I had a candle lit during our wedding in honor and memory of the victims of 9/11. That was the least we could do.

Hopefully a new post is on the Horizon!

Just Life!

2011-06-13T09:06:00.003-05:00

As we are finally rounding up the busy months of April, May and soon June, I finally have a moment to do a blog update. I'm going to start this update with the beast....Cancer.

About 3 weeks ago Alan and I decided together that it was time to get off the Interferon and let him have his life back. This medicine had just completely taken over his life and the side effects were never slacking or getting any better. Even when he tried to take it every other day and off on the weekends, it just continued to to make Alan's mental and physical state deplete. We did discuss this with his Dr., but basically we just told him it was time to have some quality of life back. You can't fight cancer and be in the state of mind that Alan was daily. Alan really tried to fight through it...no one can say he didn't. Anyway, it was just BAD. Like we told his Dr., we will NEVER give up, but we also have to have a life...esp. when you have a young family...you just can't lay in the bed for 3+ days at a time...in the dark. Alan is still taking the Thalidomide, Nexavar and Metformin. I think the Thalidomide and Nexavar are really causing some sluggishness and extreme tiredness in Alan....beside the heat! O lord, the heat. It's been pretty hot in the south. Anyway, we are back in Houston the last week of June. Please pray that Alan's scans still look ok....esp. since he is off the interferon.

So, recently we have had Sydney's birthday, finishing up softball, end of the year school awards. Sydney had all A's and B's (she finished the year with an 89 in Literacy, yeah, I was a little upset about this...I'm trying to get over it...she is an all A student. Maybe next year, but we were still very proud of her), and she also received a very nice trophy for not missing one day all school year. For our family and as much as Alan and I are gone and everything else....that's pretty dang good!! I was shocked. I guess all of those mornings dragging her out of the bed paid off. She was WAY more excited about that award than the all A's and B's....I was pretty proud myself! ha Alan and I took the kids fishing last week and today is the first day of VBS! No rest for the weary!! Hopefully my next post will be pictures of all of these things.

We are headed to the beach the first week in August. I CAN'T WAIT!!! We have tried to plan a beach trip for the past two summers and well, life kept continuing to get in the way, but this is the summer....my kids are super pumped....and so is their mama...the condo is booked!!! Alan just wanted somewhere with a good view and big balcony. ha Hopefully we will all be happy.

Wishing you all a wonderful day and praying for all of our cancer friends and KCW!!! Thank you everyone for your continued support and friendship! We are blessed!
I'd like to ask for prayers for two special friends that just had babies....Leigh Carter and Robin Robinson. Creed Carter is doing very well...I got to hold him for a while last night..hehe and Eli Robinson is still at Baptist in the NICU, but doing well.
Also, continue to pray for our precious nephew Cannon. He is still at Children's, but making great strides daily. We are hoping they will be home the first part of July! We love you!!!

Houston Report...God continues to deliver miracles!

2011-05-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

Alan and I returned Wednesday evening from Houston. Went through all the normal motions....blood work and scans Monday, wait 4 hours Tuesday for Dr.....you know...same old same old!!
Alan had another very good report. Still no visible signs on cancer in the lungs. There is a small spot on the liver and in the abdomen, but it's all continuing to get smaller!! Praise the Lord!! Seriously, after dealing with all of the ups and downs we have for the past 2 1/2 years, we will gladly take all of this good news. The only downside to the appointment was Alan's thyroid is all out of wack. He has Hypothyroidism, which is due to his chemo. Dr. Amato put him on some meds to hopefully control this. Since we just found out about Alan's thyroid issues, we are hoping that some of Alan's pain, etc he has been having might be due to his thyroid, so hopefully this new med will bring some needed changes. He will do blood work in a month to check the levels and go from there. Poor Alan is continuing to deal with the awful side effects of his chemo drugs. Some days are ok...other days...well, they just suck (that's about as nice as I can say)! We will return to Houston in 8 weeks...going through all the motions again. Dr. Amato did say that at the next 8 week appointment, he may decrease one of the meds that is causing Alan's medically induced depression. That would be wonderful. He also said that at the end of summer, he is going to have Alan do a PET scan. He said if there are no "hot spots" showing up, then he is going to possibly start tapering Alan off of some of his chemo!! This is MAJOR!!! Holy cow...scary, but exciting too. Anyway, we won't count those chickens before they hatch, but it's something to push for and most definitely pray for!

Dr. Amato said that out of all of his kidney cancer patients, Alan has the best "quality of life" if you can believe that. Apart from the side effects, I would say that Alan does have a better quality of life right now than from where we were last year. He has responed so well since January to this last treatment. Dr. Amato, whom is also a professior, is even writing papers about Alan. I mean...that's pretty impressive I think!

Please continue to pray for our little nephew Cannon. He is still in the hospital but gaining weight and doing very well. Christian's blog is on my blog roll.

Thank you all for your continuous prayers!
Melissa

Carson's 4th Birthday

2011-04-23T13:57:00.017-05:00

First, lets note that I finally changed my banner. It's nothing fancy, but at least it's not Christmas! ha

Why this big blank space is here, I don't know....this post is on my last nerve!! Everything is spaced out all crazy...sorry!!!

Back on April 2nd (yes, that would be 3 weeks ago), we celebrated Carson's 4th birthday at Old Milo Tree Farm. He wanted a cowboy birthday party, so of course, mama game through. I'm sure the pictures will speak for themselves, but I think every kid enjoyed themselves. It was a GREAT place to host a birthday party. They also had a petting zoo, but I never made it over there for pictures. I love a party where I don't have to clean my house or clean up afterwards. In my book...that's the best kind of birthday party!

Once again, Beth came through with our birthday cake. So cute!!

"Circle C Ranch"

The birthday boy.

Cousin Ethan

Cousin Grant

What can I say....

2011-04-01T16:12:00.006-05:00

I am absolutely the worst blogger! I did so good for such a long time and now....blaahhh!! I keep waiting for life or something to slow down, but so far, we are still just as busy. See, I told you I would still have that Merry Christmas banner up!! I think actually what is keeping me blogging so much is facebook. It's so easy to update FB so I totally neglect my blog. Let start with our last Houston trip which was (hold on...it's been so long I have to check my calendar for the dates) o yeah...March 7th and 8th. Alan received an AWESOME report from our scans. The only visible sign of cancer was only in the liver. I mean, if that's not some answered prayers and a miracle, I don't know what is. I mean, we weren't just stable, we were NED is some areas. Yes, that's right NED...say it again...NED!!! After 2 1/2 years of fighting. We will be heading back to Houston the first part of May and praying for the same results!! We did have to tweak some of Alan's treatment b/c the side effects were just at a point of being unbearable, but praying that the tweak is ok and we don't have to find a different treatment. This is what's going on in our life for March, April and May...birthdays and ball games!! O Lord...help me get through these months!! I have a friend that has a senior in HS and a daughter that is 7 (like Sydney and just as active) and she seems to be a little more stressed, so I'm going say she is winning the "see who's stressed out the most" contest! Carson's birthday is this weekend...turning 4. We're having a cowboy birthday so this should be interesting. Maybe I'll post some pictures. Next weekend our relay team is hosting a softball tournament in honor of Alan. All proceeds will benefit our local Relay for Life. Can't wait for this. It's going to be a blast....and a very long day! ha My SIL has started a blog....trentandchristianmccone.blogspot.com....please be in prayer for them. Christian delivered their baby boy Cannon (our nephew..;-) about 10 weeks early last night. I don't feel it is my place to give all details, but just know that Christian and baby are doing good, but we all know they have a long way to go. We love them dearly and can't wait for the day Cannon gets to come home. Well, I'm sure there is alot more to talk about, but for now that's all I got. Thank you Lord for these beautiful days and thank you for giving Alan the strength and ability to enjoy them! Praying for many families on my mind today. Melissa

I'm so behind.....

2011-02-20T19:22:00.003-06:00

...with updating my blog!!! How many times can I say this. I have just not found the time this past month to do any updating, so I'm making myself sit here and do this. It's not that I don't want to, it's just....there is just not enough time it seems. Unfortunately things like cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house, washing clothes....washing KIDs for that matter. These things must take priority! And then all of the other things play a big part like family, work....that kind of stuff...;-) Maybe one day I'll change my header so it won't say "Merry Christmas" for the rest of the year...HA!!

Ok, so since my last update, Alan and I have been back to Houston....February 7th and 8th. Alan only had a CT of the abdomen b/c we were checking his liver. The liver met had shrunk some and everything else we could see with that scan was still stable. Praise the Lord...some good news!!! The bad news was two of the drugs Alan is on is causing him a medically induced depression. It really doesn't matter what he takes to treat the depression, it's not going to help. This was disappointing news b/c right now we really want to be able to enjoy what Alan's treatment is doing and instead the side effects from the meds are making it worse. He is also having EXTREMELY bad abdominal cramping (from another medicine) and basically just feeling like crap....everyday! The weather is finally getting nice.....the time to get outside and be with family, but Alan doesn't feel good and just wants to be in bed. It's like you can't win for losing.....so frustrating! Alan is tired of it. He NEVER complains, but lately, it's really getting to him. Seriously, if this was me that had cancer, I would be the worse patient!

Right now Alan is taking Interferon Injections daily, Nexavar, Thalidomide and Metformin....all to treat the cancer. All 4 of these drugs target the different areas that the cancer is at in his body. Honestly, can you imagine having to take all of these drugs daily....and this is just some of the meds Alan has to take. Alan is such a fighter. I know there are days he just wants "stop" everything, but he pushes on for his family b/c we really want him here with us.

Well, I guess that's about it. We are back in Houston March 7th and 8th for full scans. Praying everything continues to be stable or shrinking and this treatment continues to work. Praying for all of our kidney cancer friends and our cancer fighting friends. Having cancer in your face daily will really open your eyes up and you realize there are so many "non-important issues" people are complaining about and these people do not have a clue. I pray these people never have a "clue" b/c I would never ever want anyone to go through what we are, but people should understand that there is so much more going on in the world than.....well, anyway.....I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this. I'm sorry, I get on my soap box. I guess b/c this my outlet and I vent to the world.

Also this month, we've had snow in SE Arkansas, I've started a new job (still with the same company), Sydney got Star Student, our twin nephews turned 2, Sydney had Kiddie Kamp, and I forgot Carson's snack day at Wee School (go me)! So, needless to say...it's been a busy month and it's not over yet...HA!

God is Good...All the Time!
Praying for Miracles,
Melissa

Alan's Houston Update

2011-01-11T19:21:00.002-06:00

While I'm sitting in the hotel room doing nothing, I thought, this is the perfect time to update about our dr. appointment. Can you believe it....I'm actually updating the same day. It's a miracle!!!

All in all, it was a pretty good appointment! Dr. Amato was VERY pleased with Alan's progress from these past two months with his new combo treatment. He said it was "astounding" and he also said that is not a word he uses alot, lol. Pretty much all spots in Alan's lungs have either disappeared or shrunk, the spots in the abdomen and bones have shrunk tremendously and apparently there is a spot on Alan's right kidney that we knew nothing about, but it has shrunk as well. Let's talk about this right kidney briefly. I think Alan and I both know that Dr. Amato does not fully give us the full report each time...especially if things are bad. I know he sees us as a young couple and I honestly think Amato thinks we might not need to know everything and maybe we don't, but I like to know everything. That's just how I am. We have never been told about the tumor on the right kidney, but it was there and it was pretty big, but it's shrinking, so that's great. Dr. Amato did say that these results might be all we see with this treatment, but again, that's ok and that's good....stable is the word. Just understand that it is very rare for kidney cancer to just disappear at stage IV. I'm sure it can happen and possibly has, so that's why we are satisfied with stable.

Our only big concern coming from this appointment is Alan's liver. We have been monitoring a spot on Alan's liver for many months now. Well, instead of it shrinking like everything else, it is actually growing. We are scheduled to come back to Houston in 4 weeks for another CT to see how the liver looks. If the liver area has gotten bigger, then Alan will have a biopsy done and we will go from there. We might have to tweak Alan's meds some. You know, nothing can be simple.

But honestly, we feel really good about this appointment! Alan is feeling good so now we just pray that this medicine treatment is right for Alan and he is able to be stable on this for a long time.

2011 is starting off really good. We just pray that all of these good things continue and we pray for complete healing, but hey, with kidney cancer, we will take stable! Praying for all of our kidney cancer friends and all of our cancer fighting friends.
FYI....Ashley County Relay for Life - May 13, 2011 in Crossett this year!!!! YEAAAA
God is good...All the time!

Love and Prayers,
Melissa

I'm titleless!!

2011-01-02T20:18:00.015-06:00

Once again, it's been so long since I've blogged, I couldn't even come up with a title. I think this post is going to be collage of events from the past month or more....probably more. I think I'm going to include some house pictures.

First, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I think our family had an awesome Christmas, the kids especially, but health wise, it was just a great holiday. Alan is feeling really good right now and that makes this holiday season more special than anything! Here are a few pictures from Christmas.

Here are the cousins....Grant, Carson, Sydney and Ethan. These are our twin nephews. Let's just say this years Christmas at the McCone's was a little more....ummm....loud! This was the best picture I got. Ethan didn't want to slow down for the picture. We are expecting another nephew in May. Alan's brother and wife Christian are expecting their first. So exciting!!!

Special little girl to get such a nice gift. I guess she's been pretty good! (no, it's not a phone..ha)

Carson's new gator.

My parents house for Christmas. Good ole self timer button.

Just thought this was a good pictures of the kids. Wish I would have had it for the Christmas card. O well!

Let's move on to Alan. Alan has been doing sooooo good lately!! Feeling good...looking good...being able to enjoy what he loves most...hunting! There are really no words how wonderful it is to see him like this. These past two years have been so difficult and there were times we didn't know if he would ever walk again without that walker. Well, he is without that walker. That right there is an awesome Christmas gift. I guess Alan kind of looks like his old self again....the red hair is coming back and he has lost some weight. Finally getting some of that steroid weight off. I think that is also helping him get around better....less weight. With the help of the Lord I feel so strongly that 2011 is going to be a good year.

Alan's 8 point he recently killed. Somewhere in our new home this head will be perched on a wall. Along with the fish, other deer and bob cat! O goodie!!!

So, I've been promising some house pictures for about 3 months now, so here are a few. They are backwards, but I got frustrated with downloading these pictures, so I wasn't going to redo it. I'm sure you can figure it out...HA!!

Ok, so this is the finished product....kind of....minus the tile that still has to go on the hearth. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do.

Here is the middle of the project. We had a friend come in and float the drywall for us. Something Alan and I know nothing about. Jeff did the drywall and Alan and I did the texturing (which is the phase you see above). Yes, the insert is vented just like a fireplace. They run a pipe through the ceiling.

The insert is a pellet insert. It runs off of pellets that you buy at Atwood, Lowe's...stores like that. You just pour them in the top and walla.....start that baby up and you have a fire and heat....no wood chopping involved at all!! It's great. Even I can do it.

And, here is the beginning. Of course there is an interesting story to our pellet insert, but that happened back in October, so it's in the past and that's where we'll keep it! Nothing is ever simple.

We are off to Houston next weekend. We will leave on Sunday. Alan will have scans on Monday and we will see Dr. Amato on Tuesday. This will be Alan's first set of scans since he started his new treatments. It's been a little over two months since our last Houston trip. We should have already been back, but we had a little issue with getting Alan's Nexavar, but that's in the past too, so we will move on and not worry about that now. Anyway, please pray for our trip, Alan's scans our report. We know and we feel God all over our life. He is always in control.

Love and Prayers,
Melissa

Asking Hard Questions

2010-11-24T14:45:00.002-06:00

Recently a very sweet friend sent me this small little book entitled "What Cancer Cannot Do". I haven't even read all the way through it yet, but I wanted to share a little bit of it. I started in to the chapter about "Asking Hard Questions". If I said we have never asked the question "Why" about Alan's cancer, I would be a big fat liar! "Why did my husband have to get cancer", "Why does my husband have to suffer daily", "Why does my husband have to take all of this medicine daily", "Why do my children have to watch their daddy suffer"...SO....., with that said I'm going to quote what I just read in this book....
"There are no easy answers to such "Whys." What is comforting, though, is that God does not forbid us from asking. Job, David, and Jesus himself asked hard questions about suffering, and were not discouraged from doing so. We may even get glimpses of the answer to why we have cancer: Perhaps to give us time and the impetus to restore relationships with family, to shift our priorities in life, to help us appreciate each day, to see health as a gift, to reach out to others in need. But the greatest response to such questions is to turn our eyes away from ourselves and lift them to God."

It's Thanksgiving people....please give thanks for your health, family, friends. Never take anything for granted....we never know what tomorrow will bring.
I hope you all have a Wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful for my family and friends, but more than anything, I'm thankful for my God b/c without him, I'd be lost in this cancer journey and just every day life issues.
Much Love,
Melissa

Alan's New Treatment

2010-11-11T10:41:00.004-06:00

Ok, I'm so behind. I'm just not doing well with keeping up with anything these days and my blog has definitely been put on the back burner. Maybe once we are completely settled in our new house (probably after Christmas), I'll do better.

I just wanted to give a quick update about what Alan's new treatment will be. He will be on Interferon, Thalidomide and Nexavar. He actually started the Interferon injections this morning and will start the Thalidomide this evening. We are still waiting for the Nexavar to arrive.

Alan has not felt good at all the past three weeks or so....running fever daily and many other issues. He did go to the Dr. yesterday and we got a few answers. For now, I just ask you to pray that he gets over this before the side effects kick in from his new meds.

Maybe my next post will be pictures or something really fun!!! We have made a few changes with our house and some still in the works. Maybe I'll show pictures of those changes. I keep saying that don't I...HA!!

Love and Prayers,

Houston Report

2010-10-19T08:35:00.007-05:00

It's been a week since our last Houston trip. As always...sorry for taking so long to post. I still do not have my wireless hooked up at our new house (b/c I'm lazy and just have not called the phone company). I have looked up their phone # a couple of times and then start doing something else. O well....one day and I can get to work on the ole laptop again!!

Any who....our Dr. report was not what we were hoping for. The tumors in Alan's lungs have started increasing in size and there were also numerous new spots. So that means....our chemo combination is not working any more. The abdomen and other places are still stable, but not the lungs. Wednesday morning the hospital worked us in for Alan to have a biopsy of one of the spots in the lungs. I'm not going to go in to full detail, but lets just say it was more invasive than we were prepared for and apparently they hit an artery with the VERY large needle. Alan coughed up alot of blood afterwards. He told me later he was really beginning to hate that room. The room they did the biopsy with CT is also the room they did his Vertebroplasty in...neither one great experiences!! With this biopsy they will take it and do a Proteomics test which is where they work with the tissue and do basically different drug combinations or trials on the tissue and see what might work. This is the second time Alan has had this done on his tissue. And can I just add that insurance doesn't pay for this test. I'm not trying to have a poor pitiful me party, but dang....why would they not cover it??!! Why do I feel like insurance controls my life!!! Honestly, I don't even need to get on this subject!! Sorry...had a weak moment, lol.....we should hear something back in about 10 days from the Proteomics test and hopefully get Alan's new chemo started. Right now he is off all chemo so it will all get out of his system before he starts something new. PLEASE say a prayer for Alan. Mentally/Physically things are hard. We always try to keep a positive attitude, but you feel like you work soooo hard and then the blow!! Spiritually, we are great!! Yes, we questions this, but who wouldn't! We know God is in control though.

I guess that's about it! I do want to add this. Even though cancer is so bad, I have to say, it has brought some amazing people into our life. I have met people through my blog and facebook and it's always encouraging to read others stories and just to know you are not alone....esp. the ones that have a similar life to ours....young kids, disability, working full time, cancer....just trying to juggle it all. It's hard....maybe that's why I always look tired and my eyes are always red!! HA

Have a wonderful week!!

The Backyardigans

2010-10-11T10:40:00.004-05:00

I love having a backyard where my kids are trapped and can't run around in the street...that was until I looked in the backyard and saw THIS!! You know how "The Backyardigans" are always on an adventure on their TV show, well, I see my kids enjoying many adventures in their backyard...starting with this one. I can only imagine what they were shooting at. Yes...I had to put a stop to the adventure....but I took pictures first. I'm sorry, but a 3 year old and 7 year old on top of a plastic house with wooden sticks is not very safe. I still don't know how Carson got up there! I'm sure there was some help from the 7 year old.

This was when I broke up the party!

Sorry, still no pictures of the house. I'm not ready to post yet. But here is the backyard, lol. That blue storage thing in the background is two story. The kids have already designated the upstairs as the new playhouse.

We are in Houston...waiting on Alan to get finished with his scans...which is the only reason I had a second to stop and post. Anyway, praying for good news and I'll post our report soon...I hope!

Have a wonderful week!

Melissa

2 Years with "the C word"!!

2010-09-13T08:33:00.002-05:00

Wow...how lucky can you be....two post in two days. I said I wasn't going to post again for a while, but I forgot to add this to my last post. I started to just add it to the bottom of the previous post, but decided...it deserved it's own posting.

August 31, 2008, Alan was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer....or "the C word" as we like to call it. The word Cancer is just too hard to say sometimes...most times actually. There is no way I could go in to full detail about everything that has happened or changed in our life, but if you follow my blog, then you pretty much know close to everything. It's been a very interesting journey to say the least. Although cancer is the devil and has put my husbands body through more pain than I thought humanly possible at times, it has also brought some amazing changes spiritually to our life. We are all much closer to God because of this and you know what...It Feels Good!! No, It Feels Great!!! How many times have we said, we don't know why Alan was chosen for this, but he was. We just make the best of it and push on and continue to show Alan how loved he is and encourage him to never give up.
On an uplifting note....Alan is doing really great right now. He is getting around so much better and hardly having to use his walker. Of course in my opinion, he should use it more, but he just wants to feel normal...I don't blame him. The normal issues with Sutent....tiredness and feet sores, but for the most part, doing great and enjoying life!
Love and Prayers
Melissa

Just a little behind...

2010-09-12T16:55:00.009-05:00

So it's been around 7 weeks since my last post and I am SOOOOO sorry to keep my blog followers in the dark, but these last 7 weeks have been busy. We've had Baptisms, 1st days, birthday parties and another Houston trip. We've also bought a house!!! YIPPEE!!! This post is going to be a quick run through of those past 7 weeks and needless to say...August has been pretty good. Lets start with....

Sydney's Baptism!

Not only is this sweet girl my daughter...she is also my sister in Christ!! What a great day this was. Besides this being a wonderful day for Sydney that I hope she never forgets and I know I will never forget it....it will probably be a memorable day for Carson since he was literally behind the scene while Sydney was being baptised. Long story short...there was no teacher in his room yet, so he ended up being with Sydney and I in the back. I just prayed he didn't cannonball in the baptistery!!! HA

Sydney and Bro. Eric. This man is awesome!! We are so blessed to have him as our preacher.

See Carson. I was panicking.....ughhhh!

1st Days....

This pic is of Carson's 1st day of PreK 3 at Wee School. He is such a big boy and is learning so much.

Sydney's 1st day of 2nd grade. I don't know what the deal is with my kids but they do not want to give me the "pretty smiles" as I call them....everything's fake....ughhh!

Sydney and some of her friends in her class.

Birthday Party....

Yes Sireee....Alan McCone is 38!! I planned a birthday party for him the night before we left for Houston. This was his birthday weekend and even though I knew we would be tired traveling to Houston on that Sunday, I wanted us to have a fun night before we left and we did. We were able to celebrate with many of our friends and family. This party came complete with funny cards, great gifts, cake and an awesome band!! Thank you all who helped make this party such a success. Couldn't have done it without you.

Me and the birthday boy!

The birthday boy with his gift from the kids and I. He loves to bow hunt and can't pull back his regular bow anymore, and we love some deer meat and couldn't got without, of course, so by the look on his face, I think he will be able to put this to good use!! He was so surprised. Thanks Lee for helping me with this!

Houston Report...

Our last Houston trip was August 23rd. Alan got a really good report. The tumors in Alan's lungs have all pretty much decreased...not to where they were before he got off his chemo, but very close. This was wonderful news b/c this meant we did not have to change treatment and also that his chemo has worked pretty quick in those 4 short weeks. Praise the Lord....good news!! We will be heading back to Houston October 11 and 12.

House News....

Back in June we found the perfect house for our family. It was the size we wanted and in the neighborhood we wanted....the only catch was we had to wait for the owners to find a house in a different town since is was a FSBO. Since we loved the house so much, we were willing to wait. Well, they found a house. We closed this past Tuesday and should be getting the keys this coming Friday and then the painting will began and then the big move. We are all SOOOO excited and the kids talk about it daily. I'm sure my next post will be house pictures, etc. Speaking of the next post....who knows when that might be, so I'm already apologizing....the next few weeks are going to be busier than normal.

Wishing you all a wonderful day full of blessings!!

Woooo Pig Sooie!!

Melissa

Houston Vacation / Cancer Report

2010-07-27T20:23:00.019-05:00

Hummmm, that's an interesting Title....doesn't really seem to go together!

Ok, I'm breaking this post into two sections...the vacation part and the Dr. part! I'm going to start with the Vacation part b/c it was alot better than the Dr. part.

Our first stop on our whirlwind of a Vacation was the Downtown Aquarium. The pictures below pretty much speak for themself. This is a great place to take the family. They have a very nice Aquarium and a small amusement park with it. Really the perfect size for my young kiddos and easy for Alan to get around. My mom and I took the kids back to the Aquarium a couple nights after this to eat at the restaurant and do the rides again. They loved this place...and so did I!!

The family at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston.

OK, this might be one of 3 pictures ever taken of this octopus!! I was just a snapping away when Alan said "Melissa, read the sign." It said "No flash pictures of Octopus" Woops!!! But, it sure is a good picture....hehe!!

"I bet Nemo is in there somewhere."

We are all about some polka dots, so we loved these little guys!

Awwww....look at these pretty sparkling fish.....

.....or maybe NOT!!!

We all loved this turtle. He was pretty neat looking.

There are no words!!

This was pretty neat. It's not everyday you see a Seahorse or two....or however many are in there??!!

This is the small shark and stringray tank where you can pet them and get in this bubble and see inside the tank.

Sydney touching her first starfish.

Can you spot the Tiger?? This was a very pretty exhibit! This is just half of the Tiger's area.

The Shark Tunnel!!

This would be Carson's happy place....sitting on the blue train!

My mom and dad.

The Aquarium and Restaurant.

A very small part of Downtown Houston.

The next pictures are from the Kemah Boardwalk. This is about 30 minutes south of Houston on the Galveston Bay.

These pictures of my mom, Sydney and I are...well....HILARIOUS!!

Look at those faces, LOL. I was laughing at Sydney the whole time...Priceless!!

This is how Carson drives a boat. Can't wait for the real driving years!! Maybe he won't take after his dad!

These are the little boats they were driving with the HUGE stearing wheels.

This was my favorite purchase from our trip. It's just not complete without a big head picture! HA Ok, that's not the real name, but that's what I call it!

Here is part of the final project. I don't have a pic of the full version, but it is too cute. I didn't do a color pic, but I had him color in their eyes. Sydney said "OK, my face is NOT that fat!!" LOL He really got Carson almost perfect. Also, the artist looked like a young Jon Gosslin...just sayin!

OK, I'm sorry, but I cracked up when I looked over and saw the other guy drawing this baby. It was just funny. I hope the mama doesn't read my blog....ughhhh!! Sorry mama....couldn't resist. But even the mama had that look like "What tha??" Seriously, she did!

This is at the Aquarium at Kemah. They had a huge tank where you could feed the sting rays and pet them. It was so cool and there was some Huge rays in there.

Sydney and I riding the swings. This was a fun ride and not scary!! It was a great view of the Galveston Bay too.

Next....the Dr. Report!

Ok, I guess I will take this day by day and try to be short about it.

Monday Alan had scans. We had to get up EARLY to start bloodwork and then get to the scan area for his knee MRI and CT. Well, of course the MRI machine is not working, so we have to wait for his CT apt. time. The tech. came back later and said the MRI was working and that would be around 11:30...ughhhh....more sitting and waiting. After lunch, we were free and I think this is the day we hit the Aquarium first.

Tuesday started off early again. We had to see the Gastroenterologist that morning. After waiting 2 hours, he basically tells us nothing and we just set up Alan's EGD for Thursday...which we already knew anyway. After this apt., it was time to go wait at Amato's office for Alan's scan results. I think we got in his office around 1:30 and we left around 7:00....I'm not even lying. I think he saved us for last for this reason. Alan did not get the best report. As I stated in my previous post, Alan has been off his chemo for 6 weeks...trying to get his infarcts around his knee to clear up, well, his knee looks better and so do the blood clots that are in his lungs, but his lungs took a major beating by the cancer. His Dr. said "the cancer has exploded in your lungs!" If you look at Alan's CT of his chest, his lungs look like a snow shower of cancer. Now, everything in his abdomen and spine were stable. Amato says that since we have the issue with the lungs, Alan has to have a brain study (MRI).

Wednesday was supposed to be a day of fun with the kids and no Dr. visits, but that all changed. The earliest they could get us in for the MRI was 1:30....so there goes that day. After the MRI we were to go to Amato's office for the results. THANK THE LORD, the MRI came back fine. Nothing showing in the brain, so we will take that good news. I think this is the day my mom and I took the kids back to the Aquarium. Alan was just worn out, so he relaxed with my dad at the hotel.

Thursday was the EGD day. Another early morning. Alan had the EGD done that morning and then again back to Amato's we go to go over results. Alan's EGD came back fine. It did look like he might have had a tear which could have been the reason for all the throwing up, but it has corrected itself. Basically the reason for the blood loss and counts dropping was from the cancer going rampant in his lungs! Thursday we finished up everything just after lunch. Got us a bite to eat and headed to Kemah for the afternoon. It was a hard afternoon on Alan, but man he was a trooper to do Kemah after the week we had already had.

Friday, we headed home. We wanted to try and do the kids museum before we left Friday, but...we were all just ready to get home. What a vacation. I didn't get to sleep in once or even get in the pool...:-(....not much of a vacation, but the kids had fun and they did get to swim everyday!

The plan is for Alan to be on his normal chemos for 4 weeks. We will go back to Houston August 23rd for repeat scans. If the lungs do not look better, then we will have to switch chemo and start a new treatment. This also means that since Alan is back on his chemo, the infarcts will flare up again and possibly the clots.

I guess that's about it. I'm sorry, I try to make my post short, but it's hard!!

We will always believe that God's has chosen Alan for a reason. Even if Alan has to suffer like this for one person. Even if it was for the guy we were sitting by on a bench at the Boardwalk that asked us if we mind that he smoked his cigarette. We actually told him we did mind and then Alan told him why and pretty much gave him is testimony right there and they had a nice long talk. Even if it's for the random person that just happens across my blog. Yes, we live a hard, tiring, crazy life, but we just make the best at what we have been handed!

God is Good...All the Time!!

Love and Prayers,

Melissa

An Alan Update!

2010-07-15T09:51:00.003-05:00

I know, it's been too long since I have updated about Alan. Life is crazy...all I'm saying!!

Alan has been off his chemo now for 6 weeks. Did I mention before how nervous we were about this....well, we still are. We will be heading to Houston this Sunday. Alan will have scans Monday and see Dr's. Tuesday. If you remember the main reason they took him off his chemo was to see if it would help the pain from the possible bone infarcts around his right knee....well, the pain is still there, so that's no good!! I'm just going to say next week will be very interesting. Another reason it will be interesting is b/c we are bringing the kids with us and my parents are coming too. Looks like Houston is going to be our vacation spot for the summer. We had a beach trip planned to the gulf, but thank you BP for destroying God's creation of beautiful beaches. Please pray for all of the families affected by this disaster. It's so sad. Anywho, Houston bound Sunday and hopefully we will have a good trip and the kids will have fun with the things I've planned....museums, aquariums, movies, maybe a circus....anything with AC...haha!!

Two weeks ago Alan started throwing up. It got worse through the night...that's all I'm going to say. Thursday we got him on Zofran and that helped and of course he had no energy. Friday I let his Dr.'s in Houston know what's been going on, so they went back and looked at his last three weeks of blood work and noticed that his hemoglobin and hematocrit have been dropping. Basically, he needed blood. I started calling him Edward (for my Twilight fans, lol). I have to make light of a situation when I can...ok!! ;-) He was in the hospital from Friday til Sunday morning receiving 3 units of blood and fluids. He felt great when he left that hospital two weeks ago, but his recent blood work is showing his counts are dropping again and he is feeling sooooo tired.....can't keep his eyes open tired. He is going to our local Dr. today for blood work, so he might end up in the hospital again. I pray not!! His Dr.'s in Houston want him to have and EGD to see if he might have an internal bleed somewhere. He is scheduled for that in Houston next week...possibly Thursday.

When Alan's Dr. took him off his chemo 6 weeks ago and said "You are going to feel so good and have so much energy!!" Well, we are still waiting for that day. Alan has been sooooo sluggish this entire time.

Just say a prayer for us that all goes well next week. Alan will have is regular CT (chest, abdomen, pelvis) and he will also have another MRI of his knee.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and try to stay cool!!
Love and Prayers!

This one's for Sydney!!

2010-07-03T13:45:00.009-05:00

Poor Sydney....I have not posted much of anything about her lately. I've been saying since May I was going to do a post for her, so while I'm sitting here (in the hospital with Alan, that can be the next post, but I will say he is doing better....his counts were low, had to get some blood), I'm doing a Sydney post. These are just pictures from the past few months

Softball 2010

Diamond Divas. We had a good softball season. Most of our girls should still be playing t-ball, but we all decided to move them up and they did so good with the pitching machine. They tied for 1st place!!

1st Place Divas!!!

Birthday Time

Sydney turned 7 in May. I swear we celebrated her birthday for a week. Anyway, here are some of the birthday girls parties.

They do love each other!!

I think this is cake #3.

Cake #2. Ok, I got Sydney a cupcake cake to take to her school. Stupid me forgot to put the candles on the cake and have the kids sing before I started passing out cupcakes, so Sydney fixed the problem and came up with this (above). That girl....she's so funny!! We lit the candles and I was waiting for this cupcake to blow up. It was pretty funny!

Regan (Sydney says this is her boyfriend.... WHAT???...I get tickled listening to her talk about boys...Alan thinks different...haha), and her very good friend Laney. Laney's birthday is just the day before Sydney's. You will see their party below.

This year Sydney celebrated her 7th birthday with her very good friend Laney. They shared a Build A Bear party and the kids had such a good time!!

Heading to Build A Bear!!

Two happy Birthday girls.

Silly, Silly

After Build A Bear, we headed to The Japanese Steakhouse. The kids loved it and were very entertained. It was fun...and yummy!!

The kids side.

The adult side...waiting for some grub!! yum yum

I loved Laney's expression. I think that fire was pretty impressive.

Cake #1!

Our crazy girl!! Wouldn't have her any other way.

Sydney got a rabbit for her birthday....among many other things. This is the penthouse her Papaw built for it. It's a pretty sweet house.

This is Thumper. She does kind of look like Thumper from Bambi, so....

Awwwww......

End of the School Year!

This is Sydney's teacher Mrs. Smith on the last day of school. We love her and will greatly miss her next year.

Here is my girl with her all A's award...along with two of her very good friends, Julia and Laney.

Well, I guess that has Sydney caught up. She is a sweet, smart and crazy little girl.

We love you stinker!!!

Back from Houston

2010-06-10T20:48:00.003-05:00

As always, our crazy life continues!! I really want to make this short b/c we just got home from our 7 hour trip and I'm tired, but I really feel like I need to update.

Before we left for Houston, Alan had an MRI at our local hospital of his right knee. He has been hurting for about a month in this area. The report was possible mets in three areas around the knee or bone infarcts. Because of Alan's cancer, we felt like it was probably cancer. Our Dr.s in Houston had already viewed Alan's MRI before we arrived, so we were anxious about what their results would be.

Arrived in Houston Sunday, had scans Monday and saw Dr.s Tuesday. They confirmed Tuesday that it was cancer in the tibia and femur, but everything else in Alan's abdomen and chest were stable. That was weird to me that it would spread to the knee when everything else was stable, but whatever....we were waiting for the next step. The next step was going to be radiation to the knee. They set us up with the same Radiation Oncologist that did Alan's back last July. We saw Dr. Tae on Wednesday. After waiting, waiting and waiting a little longer, Dr. Tae did NOT think it was cancer but the bone infarcts. After consulting with 3 other radiologist, they also say bone infarcts. You're asking..."What's a bone infarct?" Basically it's when the bone does not get enough blood to that part of the bone and it dies. It looks basically the same as a tumor (apparently). So, back to Dr. Amato we go.

Amato was not completely satisfied with the bone infarct idea, but he went with it. He said without a biopsy, there was no way to be 100% sure, but hopefully it was the bone infarct. So, bone infarct...cancer...whatever it is....it is very painful for Alan. We finally get his back doing better and now this!! CAN WE JUST GET A BREAK?!!

The Plan:
Alan is going to be off all of his chemos for 4 weeks. This will be 6 less pills for him a day. Dr. Amato is thinking that if it's the bone infarcts, then it is probably caused from the chemo (there is a reason for this....too long to get in to that). Anyway, since Alan's cancer has been stable for a while, Amato thinks these 4 weeks will be ok for Alan. We will go back to Houston in 4 weeks for a repeat MRI and regular scans. If Alan's pain in his knee gets better, then we know it's the bone infarcts and caused by the chemo. Alan will probably feel pretty good for the next few weeks....being off of his chemo. That will be a very nice change!!

Also, being off the chemo should help clear up Alan's blood clots in his lungs. The clots are still there and large. Amato was very concerned about these clots still being there.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support!! Our rollercoaster ride continues, but we are just holding on and letting God steer this ride for us. "It might be a crazy life...but it's our life"....hahaha...I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! We watched Kate plus 8 last night. Ok, I'm delirious.

Relay For Life 2010

2010-05-16T21:47:00.017-05:00

May could possibly be the busiest month of the year for our family. It might even be busier than December! We have birthdays, relay for life, teacher appreciation, end of the year events and softball. There are probably other events I'm forgetting, but these are standing out in my mind. We've already had Sydney's birthday party and hopefully I'll be a good mother and post those in the next post, but right now I want to talk about Relay For Life.

I can't even begin to tell how special this event is for our family. Last year was my first year to join the Relay For Life committee. This year I took on the same role on the committee but we also had our first team for Alan...."McCone's Marchers". Our team was comprised of many family members and wonderful friends that dedicated their time and energy to our team...O and many of them dedicated sleep deprivation and stayed at relay until the early morning hours. Our team sold BBQ and Roast Beef Sandwich plates, "Hope, Strength, Prayer" wristbands and we also did face painting. We had a couple of pre fundraisers as well. All in all....it was a wonderful night and I hope that McCone's Marchers march every year at Relay and help raise money to find a cure for the diease that continues to take our friends and family away too soon. But, God is still Good...All the time!!

Thank you team members!!!! We couldn't and wouldn't have had the success without you and the help from our one and only God!! He made this all possible!

Alan stayed at relay until around 1am. He was a TROOPER!!! I know he was tired, but he was enjoying being around friends and seeing so many people. It was great. A quick Alan update. Alan's pain control is getting better and better. He is now able to sleep in the bed. It's wonderful!! He does have to use the walker, but that's ok...as long as the pain is better managed....baby steps. This past week has been better for him and we give God all the glory for that!! Alan told me he had a few people come up to him at relay and they told him how inspiring he is to them. Just hearing people say that, makes the pain and suffering worth every minute. I promise you...it does!

Ok, on to the pictures. I have so many more pictures and it was sooooo hard to pick which pictures to post. Some I even stole from friends on facebook b/c theirs were better...hehe.

I love this picture of Alan. Getting ready for the survivor lap. Alan did his in the golf cart.

This is Jeff Woods and Baker Coulter getting the survivor lap started. Jeff and Alan are good friends. If you follow my blog then you have read about Jeff. Baker is our pharmacist...so we see him on a regular basis. haha

Getting our tent prepared.

Gary, Sarah, Susan and Me!!

Nena, Mason, Christian and Amber preparing our BBQ and Roast Beef sandwiches. My dad did all of the cooking and it was wonderful...of course!!

"Hope, Strength, Prayer" wristbands we sold in honor of Alan.

Here is the McCone's Marchers tent!

Alan, Michael and Gary

My dad.

Gary and Patty Higginbotham, Gigi (my mom) and Nena (Alan's mom)

Papaw, Carson and Aunt Kara

The Burfords. Brady (purple survivor shirt) is one of Sydney's friends. This little man is a trooper and inspiration to so many.

Trent and Alan

Kayla...aka "KK" and Travis. I don't know what we would do without our KK.

Trent and Christian.

Joanna and her paint brush. She was one of our face painters and a long time friend.

This is Holly. She and her family drove up from South Louisiana to help with Alan's team. She approached me months ago about getting a team together for Alan and I'm so thankful the got the ball rolling.

Anita and my mom.

Our nephews...Grant and Ethan. Look at that curly hair...yes, it was hot!!

Amber cutting the cake.

Sydney and guitar!!

Silly little boy!

Carson just thought he was going to blow out that luminary....I don't think so mister!!

Sydney painting Alan's face.

Disney On Ice

2010-05-02T21:22:00.009-05:00

Sorry, it's been a while since I've posted. Just been a little busy.

Last weekend my sister in law and I took the kids to Disney On Ice. The kids loved it....the adults were just ready for all of the rotating toys and swords to be tucked away in a safe place and not in my face or the face of the poor person sitting next to us...HA!! I also got a chance to play with my new birthday gift from my hubby! More pictures to come from the birthday gift.

I took alot more pictures. Just ask the guy sitting next to me. I'm sure he was thinking "Man, I wish this women would get that flash out of my face, haha"!! Here are a few.

The rotating toys!!

Houston Update!

2010-04-14T12:11:00.010-05:00

Where do I even begin. This is not really part of our Houston trip, but Alan has had one steroid injection and one epidural steroid injection. To keep this part short...neither have helped. Alan's pain continues to dominate.

Houston....well, I guess we are kind of back in the valley. Alan had scans Monday. As soon as he was through with his scans, he came out and said the radiologist tech was calling Amato b/c they found some blood clots in Alan's lungs. We were not scheduled to see Amato until Tuesday, but he wanted to see us asap and look at scans and blood clots. After a brief wait at Amato's, they send us back to radiology to have ultrasounds done of Alan's leg. They found another clot in Alan upper left leg. Back to Amato's we go....waiting, waiting, and waiting. All of this back and forth is so hard on Alan, but we did have a wheel chair for the later part of the day. Once we finally got to look at the scans, Amato told Alan that he now holds the world record for the most blood clots in lungs. Looking at Alan's scans was unbelievable. Honestly, Amato has never seen this many clots in a set of lungs. He honestly had a blood clot, large and small, blocking or semi-blocking every vessel in both lungs. It went from being 2-3 clots in his lungs to being full of them. They decided to put him on Lovenox which is a shot he will take twice a day for 1-2 weeks and then he will start coumadin. Besides this being a life threatening situation, we also learned that Alan will not be able to have any type of back surgery due to the lung issue and clots. We are not sure if he will be able to have more injections either. This was a bummer b/c we were all hoping for some type of pain relief besides what Alan is doing now that obviously is not really working. Today, Wednesday, Alan is having a filter inserted in his Vena Cava (actually as I type this). Hopefully this will prevent any of these clots from going to his heart b/c we all know what that means. We have been at the hospital since 7:30am....another long day. Alan is still back in surgery. The clots could be caused from the cancer or from not being very mobile.

Alan's cancer seems to be stable...no growth, no shrinkage. I guess our biggest surprise was we learned that Alan's cancer has spread to his liver. Alan and I have never been point blank told it was in his liver. Amato swore he had talked about this before to us, but no...he hasn't. I think we would remember!! Regardless, the liver is stable as well. At this point I guess it doesn't matter b/c it's stable and that's good. After going through this last year and a half, nothing is really a surprise.

I guess that is about it....I think that is enough. Alan will continue taking his long list of meds. We will be staying tonight in Houston, unexpected, and coming home tomorrow. It's been another long day.

Last night our daughter read us "The Billy Goats Gruff" over the phone before went went to bed. It was so sweet and she did an amazing job. Our kids lift our spirits daily. They are such a blessing to us.

Thank you all for you your prayers. We know they are heard and we will continue to pray for our friends fighting this awful disease. We love you all!!

Ashley County Relay For Life
Hamburg
May 14th

Easter In Arkansas

2010-04-07T08:59:00.003-05:00

Easter in Arkansas this year meant if you walked outside or touched anything you would literally turn yellow/green with pollen. The pollen this year has been so bad. Sunday when we hunted Easter eggs, our legs were yellow....everything....YELLOW and GREEN. OK, enough about pollen. Here are a few Easter pictures of the kids.

Sydney was "patiently" waiting for Carson to return to hunt eggs.

See how green everything is. OK, my friends know I'm a ridiculous Twilight fan. When my SIL was taking these pictures I said "Ooooo, it looks like Forks, WA in the background, LOL!! (She too is just as much a Twlighter as I am, so naturally she knew exactly what I was talking about). I'm such a nerd, but I can't help it!! Back to the kids, I actually do like the background, plus these pictures were taken at Alan's parents house, so that is special to make these memories there.

Look at all the love!! HA They were tired of pictures and ready to find some eggs!!

Hopefully I will post Friday about Alan. I'm waiting to see how his epidural steroid injection goes Thursday. He had a steroid shot last Thursday and it didn't do anything. Just pray for him...pray for pain relief and healing. We will be heading back to Houston Sunday.

What an awesome God we serve. Jesus, you sacrificed your life for all of ours. How could we ever repay you except to follow and serve under your word the best we can. That doesn't seem like enough.

Love you all!!

Carson's 3rd Birthday

2010-04-04T22:08:00.007-05:00

Well, we fit alot in in a long weekend. I'm going to start with Carson's 3rd birthday. There is a story behind this party, but lets just skip all of that and say we had a great "Lightening McQueen" birthday and Carson loved every minute of it. The weather plays a major part in my story. HA Easter pictures will come in another post. Thank you Jesus for sacrificing your life for all of ours. We had a fun Easter weekend praising God and being with family. I will also be doing an Alan update soon. Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend praising our savior! Scroll down to my music and listen to Chris Tomlin's..."I Will Rise"....love that song!!

The Birthday boy!! Carson, you are so sweet and precious to us. We love you! I was trying to beat the rain, but the wind...omg....the wind. It was a crazy day, but the kids had fun playing at the park.

Thank you Beth for Carson's wonderful cake.

Joanna doing her talented work on my serving dishes. I made Bacon and Tomato dip for the adults...yum, yum...it was so good. Well, really the kids ate it just as much as the adults.

Hunting Easter eggs at the party.

The family picture. Sydney was holding the topper from Carson's cake on her head. That girl...she is so silly!!

Trying to get up those three fingers.

Gigi, Pops and the kids.

Me and my man.

KK and Carson. This is Carson's babysitter/second family. They are all wonderful to us. I'm not sure what kind of expression he has on his face. Sorry Kayla...we tried really hard for that good smile.

So, we had a full weekend and Carson opened presents, Friday, Saturday and Sunday...wheww....I'm tired!!

Kite Day at Church

2010-03-17T21:39:00.004-05:00

So, lets go a different direction and not talk about that C word a little while.

This past Sunday was kite day at church and the kids flew kites after church. Thank you Lord for the perfect weather for flying kites! The kids had so much fun and I think the adults enjoyed it also. It's been a long time since I've flown a kite. I enjoyed it so much and I enjoyed doing this with the kids. Precious moments!

This is Carson in the red hood.

Surgery Update....2!!

2010-03-12T22:04:00.002-06:00

WOW....what a day. Alan did not have the back surgery. Yes, I know....you're thinking...."What is going on!!!" Believe me....I have felt that way for the past two days. I'm going to try and make this quick. When they got Alan to preop, the surgeon comes in and basically says he has mixed feelings with this surgery for Alan right now after looking at the MRI again. You could see it all over his face he was just not sure what the right direction was. He said that he was not sure Alan would get much relief from this surgery right now. He said if Alan was a little worse off....if the tumor was compressing against the spinal column more, then he would do it. He wants to save this surgery for when there is no other option, but we are going to pray that Alan never gets to that point. I tell you what, to anyone that is dealing with something similar to Alan and you are in more pain than what I see my husband in daily, I feel for you more than you could possibly know. Pain....it's a powerful word. The next plan.....Alan is going to start steroid injections to his L2 and L3 at a pain clinic closer to home. Yeaaaa, something close to home. We are headed home Saturday and I'm sooooo ready to see my kids and I know Alan is too. It's so hard to be away and after going through these past two days of chaos, it's even harder. When we left the hospital today....around 5pm, I told Alan and his dad, I just want to put these past two days behind us and act like they never happened.

We know without a doubt that God has a plan for Alan. No one could ever tell me different. We have had many tough days, but man, Alan is the strongest person I know. We pray for strength....ALOT...and God grants it to us.....always when we need it most.

To all of our friends and family, we can't even thank you enough for always caring and for your concerns for our whole family and your support. You have NO IDEA how good it feels to have such a wonderful support system.

OK, so much for making this short. I'm sorry....it got a little long! I'm going to bed. I get to sleep in in the morning...wooohoooo!!!

Our God is an awesome God!

Surgery Update

2010-03-12T09:27:00.002-06:00

Well, the last 24 hours have been...ummm....busy with many changes taking place. After waiting for 4 hours for Alan to go back to surgery yesterday, they decided not to do the Vertebroplasty. They already had him asleep and on the table, but after looking at the CT they did right before procedure, the surgeon decided this was not the right decision. He came out and told Alan's dad and I that the tumor in Alan's vertebrae had grown significantly from the scans in February and that the Vertebroplasty would not help. Of course we were VERY upset with this news and couldn't understand how it had grown that much in two weeks, but I guess it could happen. The tumor in Alan's back has been stable, where other areas have shrunk. Anyway, Dr. Amato wanted us to come see him at his office once Alan woke up from the surgery.

So, we go to Amato's office and they say NO, the tumor has not grown. OK, so that was good news, but why did the surgeon say it had and they said it had not. Who is right!!! Anyway, Amato wants Alan to have an MRI of the lumbar and thoracic areas and then be admitted to hospital for a major back surgery on Friday....today!! Alan did very will with this MRI. They doped him up pretty well, so I think he slept through this one.

Dr. Rex Marco will be Alan's Oncologist Orthopedic Surgeon. He only works on cancer patients from what we understand. I think we are in pretty good hands from what others have said about this surgeon. Alan stayed in hospital last night. Still this morning, we did not know what time Alan's surgery would be, so Alan's dad and I have been at the hospital since 6:30 this morning. I guess we found out around 8 or so that his surgery has been scheduled for 10:30, but the Dr. made it pretty clear that it would probably be later than that since we are kind of a work in....GREAT!!

Alan's surgery will be 3-5 hours long. They will be putting rods and screws in his back to help stabalize the vertebrae and get pressure off of the spinal column and nerve root. Will have to remove some bone and some other things I don't understand. PRAYING this will help with pain. This is a completely different surgery compared to the Vertebroplasty....very invasive. As first Amato's office said they wanted to try and scrape away the tumor from the vertebrae, but after talking to the surgeon this morning, he said they will only mess with the tumor if they can get to it and it will not cause more damage. Obviously we will not know everything until after surgery. Alan will probably be in hospital 3-4 days....just depends on how he is recovering.

I guess that is it for now. I'm sure I have left out some details. These past two days have been very tiring, but we just keep praying for healing and strength. It's gong to be a long weekend, but I had my Starbucks this morning and I'm doing a little better, Alan is resting with some good IV pain meds and thank goodness Alan's dad is with us. Thank you in advance for your prayers and kid words!!
God is sooooo good....All the time!!!

Back to Houston....tomorrow!!

2010-03-09T18:05:00.002-06:00

Vertebroplasty is back on!! I guess sometimes all good things must come to an end. Since we have been back from Houston, Alan's pain has returned. This past week and a half has been tough on him and us watching him deal with all of this pain again. He had those 3 weeks where the pain was minimum, but it's back and showing it's ugly face!! Talking with his Dr. last week, they want Alan to go ahead with the Vertebroplasty. It has been scheduled for this Thursday. We are leaving for Houston tomorrow morning and will be at the hospital I'm sure most of the day Thursday. The Vertebroplasty in December, Alan had to stay overnight for pain control, so we will just see how he does and pray the pain after the surgery is not as bad. I'm still dreading everything about this surgery, but trying to keep a positive attitude and just praying this helps with Alan's back and leg pain.
As always, we just ask for your prayers for Alan and our travels. Alan's dad will be traveling with us this time.
God is good...All the time!!

Blessings All Around!!

2010-02-25T12:37:00.003-06:00

We received very good news from Houston. Alan's treatment is continuing to work and still "chipping" away at his tumors. On Alan's scans, it appeared that most of the smaller tumors in Alan's lungs are gone. Now, we can't be 100% sure about this, but we will know for sure when he does scans again in 7 weeks. There are still the larger spots in both lungs, but you could see a distinctive change in size from these scans and the ones from January. The tumor in Alan's abdominal area was the best change. The tumor appears to be dying. It is becoming a solid dark mass, so this was wonderful news. I think the Dr. said it is about 35 x 36 mm in size. The tumor in Alan's vertebrae appears to be stable. Dr. Amato pointed out there is no new growth anywhere either. So, I think I've gone over the main areas...lungs, vertebrae, abdomen. I'm going to try and get Alan's scans pulled up and post sometime soon. Alan will continue the same treatment...Sutent, Cytoxan and Metformin. They are increasing his Metformin from 500mg to 1000mg daily. Maybe this diabetic medicine is the magic trick to renal cell. Right now it's working for us...thank you Lord!!

Vertebroplasty....didn't happen. I can't say I'm real upset about this either. I was dreading every single moment of this surgery. Basically the reason they don't want to do anything yet is b/c they want to start weaning Alan off of the steroid first. If his pain comes back like before, then they will know that they need to try and do the Vertebroplasty again. The surgeon is hesitant about doing the surgery again b/c of the major risk involved with Alan's spine and tumor. He used the work "catastrophe". He does not want to get too much cement in there that bone fragments start to break off and rub against each other, and he does not want to push the tumor in to the spine or push things where more damage than good would be done. It's very risky. We sure do not want to make things worse, but we also don't want Alan to be in pain forever, but he can't live on these steroids forever either. They make him a little "moody" too...;-). haha

So, it was really a good appointment. We got to enjoy a few movies while we were in Houston. That was nice. The last time we got to watch a movie together was last summer when Alan was having his radiation in Houston.

Blessings All Around.....to Mrs. Wanda Garner for getting a good report with her CT. To Jeff Woods....heard from Lisa earlier...Jeff's cancer is stable and the Dr. felt very good about his checkup. To Alan for reaching a milestone. We've been climbing this mountain for a while, but we have reached a high peak. Praying no valleys in the future! We will enjoy this good news for a while.
God is good...All the time!!

PS....I had to change my comment settings. Someone went through and left inappropriate comments on most of my post. If you would like to leave a comment, you just have to log in and then I just have to approve it. Sorry....it only takes one to ruin things for everyone!!

Vertebroplasty...Round 2!

2010-02-18T10:08:00.010-06:00

Well, we are off again next week to Houston. We will leave Sunday. Scans will be Monday and then we will meet with the Dr.s Tuesday. We found out a couple of weeks ago that Alan will be having the Vertebroplasty again. They can't inject more cement into the areas they did last time. They have fixed it the best they can. This time, the surgeon is going to put cement on the sides of the vertebrae for hopefully better stability. Looking at the picture below, you can pretty much see why Alan is in so much pain and does not have the best support in his lower back.

The picture above is what a normal spine should look like.

With Alan's consent, I have put this picture of his CT spine on here. The arrow is pointing to the areas where the cancer has eaten the bone away. This scan is after the first Vertebroplasty in December. The arrow is pointing to the vertebrae that is pretty much flat like a pancake. The surgeon was not able to help it much. The other one, right above it, is the other vertebrae the surgeon injected cement in also. Looking at the vertebrae above these, you can see what his should look like. Imagine looking at these scans before the Vertebroplasty and how you would feel seeing these vertebrae full of holes and chunks missing. Not a pleasant sight and makes you cringe. You can also see how his spine is now curved. It also appears his whole pelvic area is shifted.

OK, so I've probably given a little more descriptive detail than you really wanted to know, but I'm a detailed person and I want to know everything. I just thought it might help to show a picture so our readers can have a better understanding.

We should find out Tuesday when Alan's Vertebroplasty will be. It should be either Wednesday or Thursday of next week, so we will be in Houston all week. My dad is going to fly down Tuesday or Wednesday to be with us. PLEASE, PLEASE pray for Alan....and me. The last Vertebroplasty was not a pleasant experience for any of us. I pray Alan's scans show shrinkage with his tumors and I pray this procedure helps Alan so much that he is able to get off some of this pain meds!! Lots of prayers and always prayers for strength and healing!! Please say a prayer for my dad and Steve as they fly down to Houston. I'm a little nervous even though I trust Steve, but....I'm just sayin!! Also for Jeff and Lisa. They will be in Houston next week also. One big Crossett party.....I WISH!!!

Real quick, I want everyone to know that Alan is doing much better just within the last 3 weeks. He is able to get around without his walker and walking stick. We did have to increase his pain meds and he is on a steroid right now, but whatever...he is walking and playing with the kids. What a great gift from God!!

"For I am the Lord, who heals you."

Exodus 15:26

My parents are 60!!

2010-02-14T17:39:00.006-06:00

This year, my parents are both celebrating their 60th birthdays. My dad's birthday is January 23 and my mom's birthday is February 14th...today actually. Last night Alan and I hosted a surprise birthday for them at the local Mexican restaurant. They really had no idea. It was so funny to see their expression when they walked in to a room full of their closest friends. Happy 60th Birthday gigi and pops....remember, you are no longer mom and dad!! haha We love you both dearly! Thanks for all you do for us too!

Joanna made this tile for my parents. I'm showing it b/c it looks so good. It is also sitting beside the cake, that I'm not posting pictures of, LOL. It was kind of a "gag" cake. It was funny and my parents loved it!

"SURPRISE!!!"

"Did you know about this?"

Alan and I did our "prom pose", LOL. That's why I'm laughing in the picture. He always has to do the prom pose whenever we have a photo moment. It's just funny to us.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Valentine's Day!! XOXO

Bye Bye House!

2010-01-29T09:26:00.008-06:00

Well, we are officially out of our house. We finished up everything this past weekend except for some large belongings in the back of the property. The ground is too wet to get to right now and with the way things are looking, it will be while before we can get back there to get them....ughhhh, rain, go away!! So, this post is dedicated to our house. It was a great house full of many memories, but we will start fresh in a different house, with new memories. Right now we are staying with Alan's parents. There is just not alot for sale at the moment and we do not just want to jump in to something. I have to say, the extra help has been pretty nice. I could not have better in-laws. I'm very blessed!! I thought I would include a few pictures in memory of our old house, =) .

I have a picture of the front of the house, but I'm guessing it is on my other computer, which at the moment is packed away.

I would like to say that we sold our house to a wonderful, loving, Godly family that have been through some difficult times themselves. Their house burned down last year and they have been renting for a while now. They are so excited about their new house and we are excited for them as well!

Syd's Room. We like pink, haha.

Carson's Room

Alan's room.

"Each day is a new beginning. Call it a clean slate, a fresh start, or simply a new dawn."

Alan's Report

2010-01-08T08:51:00.002-06:00

Get ready.....it's long!!
Sorry I'm just getting to post. We got home late Wednesday night and I've just not had time yet. Anywhooo....

The trip going down was hard on Alan. We stopped many times just to get out and stretch. We arrived in Houston a little later than normal, but at least we missed the heavy traffic. Fine with me!!

Monday morning, Alan was supposed to be scheduled for a CT, Brain MRI and Bone Scan. Amato added the brain and bone just to have some new scans to look at. Alan did well with the CT on Monday. We were not able to get the bone and mri done until Tuesday morning. Someone dropped the ball and never scheduled them with the CT. So anyway, Alan did well with the bone scan, but could not complete the mri. It was just too hard on him and it made him very anxious. So anyway, they tried to reschedule it, but Amato said after looking at his bone scan, he was not too worried about the mri, so we just skipped it all together. We got to the hospital at 9am to start scans Tuesday and did not finish up until 1:30. From there we go and wait at Amato's office and we finally left there at 6:30pm. YES, it was a very long day and it's very hard on Alan.

Alan's appointment with Amato went very well for the most part. Alan's cancer appears to be stable and some areas are shrinking. That was really great news. Amato said this is the first time he has seen Alan that he actually felt good about the report. It seems like Alan's two combined chemos are continuing to work. Since everything is stable, Alan will start taking a diabetic med called Metformin. Basically they will be putting Alan in a diabetic state and he will have to check his sugar levels 2-3 times a day...yes, this is the finger prick. I'm nervous about him taking the meds b/c he has to eat no later than 30 minutes after he takes his meds. If he doesn't then his blood sugar could bottom out and could lead to something bad. With him having a hard time getting around, it just makes me nervous. Anyway, if you are a diabetic or know someone that takes diabetic meds, then I'm sure you understand my concern. Amato has about 50 patients taking this drug also. He says it's showing great things with Renal Cell patients. He has also put Alan on this med. b/c of the pathway Alan's main tumor took. It's supposed to help. We'll see and pray it does. That new spot in Alan's lung is shrinking, well, actually, there were two new spots, but they only talked to us about the larger one the last time we were there. Anyway, they are both tumor related, but they are both shrinking. I feel like these spots have been there for a while, but if you remember me talking about the time that Alan's lungs had all of that inflammation in them....his first scans after he started taking these new chemos together, I think these spots were just hidden behind all of that inflammation and they couldn't see them. Just my theory!! You know I'm a Dr. now....I feel like it sometimes.

Alan continues to be in constant pain. It seems like it's worse. It's not better...that's for sure. He still has to use the walker to get around or his stick. He is still on alot of pain meds, but they are just not helping enough. Looking at Alan's scans after the Vertebroplasty, I think the Dr.s were hoping for better results. The lower vertebrae is flat like a pancake. There was just not much they could do for it. This is the main reason Alan's continues to have pain right around his tailbone. The vertebra right above this one looks better. They were able to fill it with more cement to help make it more stable. Alan's poor spine looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He just does not have enough stability at the bottom to keep it up right. It just hurts to look at it. We go back to Houston in about 6 weeks. While we are there, we will be meeting with the surgeon to talk about Alan's back. He said he might can put some cement on the sides of the vertebrae for a little more support. We will pray that he can and that it helps!! All of the hip and leg pain that Alan has is all nerve related from the tumor being in the nerves in his back. We also talked to Amato about putting the rod in Alan's back....long story, but this will be the very last resort.

Lets see....what else. We have to be out of our house by the 28th. We are going to stay with Alan's parents until we find a house. Remember that "exciting thing" I was talking about in my last post, well, it's not going to happen. We were talking about building a house...something that would work well for Alan and everyone right now, but as we all know the economy is bad and so is the housing market. It's just not a smart time to build, so it is what it is and that is fine. I said from the beginning that if it was not meant to be then no big deal. I feel very strongly that everything happens for a reason. We don't sweat the small stuff!! I know everyone thought we were crazy for wanting to build, but we were kind of excited about focusing our stress in a different direction. So anyway, we will continue to look for a house in town.

Please just pray for Alan's pain to get under control and healing. These are very hard days for him and hard days for us to watch him in this pain. He is amazingly strong. I don't know if I could be as strong as he is. Say a pray for Blayton Craig and pray they receive good news. Pray for Jeff and hope he is feeling better.

Thank you all for everything!!! There is no way I could express how much our family/friends/community means to us. Ya'll have listened to me vent, read my long post and given in so many ways. I truly mean it when I say Thank You!!

Christmas Time

2009-12-31T19:03:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures of our Christmas. We all had a wonderful Christmas. Of course our kids got way too much stuff. We have not celebrated Christmas with Alan's family yet. The majority of them had the stomach bug during Christmas....very bad case!! So, everyone is better and we will have Christmas with them tomorrow. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a wonderful year in 2010!

Sydney sitting in the live Nativity Scene at our church. She really does look like a little angel there.

Here is Carson practicing with one of his new toy guns. I think he got 4 new guns. No one is safe in our house.

And this is what he was practicing on!! We have deer daily that come to our backyard. That will be one thing I will miss so much at our house is watching the deer.

Here we are at Gigi and Pops house Christmas day.

Carson got a new bike and he did so good riding it at only 2 years old.

Sydney still loves to play with her Little Petshop.

So, that's really all of the Christmas I'm going to post. Of course I had alot more pictures, but I've got to go get some boxes packed. We have to be out of our house by the 28th.

We head back to Houston Sunday. Alan will have scans Monday and we will meet with his Dr. Tuesday to go over everything. Please say a prayer for us. I feel very nervous.

Alan's Vertebroplasty and alot of other stuff!!

2009-12-20T18:20:00.003-06:00

First, I am so sorry I have not updated in a while. It's just been a little busy around this house. I don't think I ever let everyone know when Alan's surgery was. It was finally scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15th in Houston, so obviously that means he has already had the Vertebroplasty. I'd like to say it went pretty well, but.... We had to be at the hospital at 7am. After many many hours of waiting, Alan was finally taken back a little after 12pm. They took him back around 10 from the preop room, so we thought he was going straight to surgery....WRONG!! They finally came and got me about an hour later and said they were waiting on a different type of needle for the surgery. They had told Alan that b/c one (they were working on the L2 and L3) of the vertebrae was almost completely collapsed, they were not sure how much they would be able to help it. This was disappointing news, but we just prayed they would be able to do the best they could. After they took Alan back he was in surgery about 2 hours. Basically, they numb his back, but Alan was awake. Then they start HAMMERING long rods with these large needles in his vertebrae....4 of them. After the first wack...Alan came up off the table...he felt it. They gave him more meds. After the third time of doing this...they finally just knocked him out. Lets just say that was the start of a rough experience. They inject cement through the needles into the vertebrae. I guess we will see on Alan's next scans just how much it helped. After the surgery, Alan was hurting pretty bad. When he got to his recovery room, the pain was worse. They told him he had to lay on his back for 6 hours. Alan has not laid flat on his back in almost 3 months, so this was going to be hard and he was in so much pain. The nurse was pumping him with pain meds, but it was just not doing the trick. Finally, he got enough for some relief and was able to rest...until that wore off. About three hours later the Dr. came in to check on him and told Alan he could move around in the bed...no walking yet. I don't think Alan quit moving for the next hour just trying to find a comfortable position. Finally, after the full 6 hours, Alan was able to get up and try and walk with his walker. He did pretty well, but couldn't do much. Alan's mom and I left the hospital around 9pm to go get some rest and Alan's dad stayed the night with him in the hospital. He had to have his pain better managed before he could leave. Apparently alot of people just walk right out of the hospital after having this procedure, but of course, not us. Poor Alan, I don't think he ever has a text book experience.

Cookie (Alan's mom) and I picked the guys up from the hospital about 9am and back to the hotel we went. Alan took it easy most of the day and then we came home Thursday. He made the ride home pretty well. We stopped a few times to walk around and that helped.

Yes, Alan is still dealing with alot of pain...mostly in both hips and legs. He had trouble with these areas before, but right now it is pretty bad. He is still using his walker and his walking stick to get around, but trying to be Super Man and not use them. I don't blame him...I know he is tired of it, but he has to use them and I have to remind him that sometimes. Alan did try and sleep in the bed a couple of nights, but he is just not to that point yet, so he will continue to sleep in the lift chair and recliner.

The month of December has been very busy and overwhelming to us. I know in one post I mentioned we had our house for sale...well, we sold it. It happened very quick, but we are glad and excited about what is hopefully in our future. Did I just use the word excited...I think I did. Finally, I can say we are excited about something. We are just praying everything works out the way God intends for it to. We sold our house to a wonderful family and I could not be more happy about it. I prayed for a family to buy this house that would enjoy it as much as we have. So, for the rest of the month, we will be celebrating Jesus Birthday, packing up a house and praying for Alan to feel better. We will probably have to be out of our house the middle of January.

The weekend before we left for Houston, Sydney had a solo at church for the Children's Live Nativity Play. She sang "Away in a Manger" and did sooo good. Man, I can't believe how she can just get up there at 6 years old and do that. I'm so proud of her and she is a wonderful child. Carson, well, he is just busy and going through the terrible twos I think. Lets just say he is a little whinny, but we still love him too, lol. Actually, he can be the most loving little boy at time and then....well, there's the other side!!

Let me apologize in advance, but the McCone's will not be sending out Christmas cards this year. I have not been able to get anything together and I wish I did, but I just don't have the time. Maybe something in the spring with a new address, ;-).

We will be back in Houston January 4th for Alan's regular set of scans. I'm very nervous about this visit. Praying that new mass in Alan's lung turns out to be nothing. If it is still there, they will go in from the side and take a biopsy.

Merry Christmas to your family from ours and I hope you all have a Wonderful New Year with many blessings!! We love you all dearly and always we thank you for your prayers, friendship and love!

Home from Houston...for a little while!

2009-12-02T22:00:00.003-06:00

We are back from our whirlwind Houston trip!! In 3 days we have gone from a major low, to Alan being put to sleep expectantly, to a high. These past 3 days have been tiring and stressful.

Alan was a trooper for the whole trip. He did pretty well traveling and sat up the whole time. Of course we stopped for him to stretch. Once we finally found our hotel we were staying at (new hotel this time), we crashed so we could leave our hotel about 7:30am the next morning. If the lady that took my reservations reads my blog....your directions were not good! Even the GPS couldn't find this place. Anyway, we do our normal blood work, wait, scans, wait forever, go to Amato's office...wait even longer. Once we finally got in...2 1/2 hours later....I'm not kidding...they had good news and bad news. The good news was Alan's inflammation had cleared up...the bad news, there was a new very large mass in Alan's upper left lung. Of course we were not expecting this. You try to prepare yourself for bad news, but you don't really expect or want to hear it. THEN...after they tell us this, then they come back and say, "Well, it might be a collapsed lung or mucus build up." Apparently there is no way for them to tell 100% without doing a biopsy. So, next two Dr.s and two nurses are on the phone getting Alan set up for Tuesday to have a scope put down his esophagus to check for any obstruction. He did great during the scope. He did have to be put to sleep for this and could not take his normal pains meds. I know he was hurting, but once again, handled everything like a trooper. Apparently they were thinking that is might be blocking his breathing. I'm not exactly sure why they thought it might be, but they did the scope and it came back clear. I guess they were thinking that if it was tumor, then it might have spread to that area and they could get a biopsy from it. When we go back in 6 weeks, Alan will have scans again. If the same mass shows up in his lungs, then they will go in from the side and do a biopsy and see what we are dealing with. In the end, Dr. Amato really thinks it is mucus, but we still need to be sure. All I know is it was large and scary!

Pretty much nothing has changed in Alan's lungs as for the smaller tumor spots. They are the same from what I understand. Please remember, we had so much thrown at us in 10 minutes, that I don't think we even went over the whole scan. They were so concerned about this new mass and Alan's back. Speaking of...

Alan's back:
Alan's vertebrae is still deteriorating from the tumor. He has lost about 1 inch due to deterioration. I don't even know how he is still walking. He is such a fighter. It's amazing. Next week, we will be back in Houston and they are going to do surgery on Alan's back. They are going to go in with a needle and fill in his deteriorated vertebrae with cement. I have no idea what all this in tells, but I do know it is called a Vertebroplasty. I have not had a chance to do my research yet. Obviously, the tumor in Alan's back has not changed. We are praying this surgery will help with Alan's pain or at least let him walk around without the walker or his stick.

The other spot...yes that spot in his abdominal. Unfortunately, that spot has increased in size. I could tell Dr. Amato was concerned about the change. It was a pretty significant change.

So, I guess basically, we will be back in Houston next week for a few days for Alan's surgery. Then we will go back to Houston January 4th for our normal visit. If things are worse, then Alan will have to take a different direction with his chemo. Of course, we just ask for prayers and strength to get through this next month. I still can't believe we are dealing with this over a year later. I've said this before, but I don't really see a light at the end of the tunnel in the near future. Alan says I look at our situation as "the glass half empty", I don't really think that, I'm just the realistic one and I'm a planner....and this cancer is messing with my plans. To my followers...be on guard....cancer is real and it's scares the you know what out of me daily....yes daily...I mean that when I say that. It's a sick feeling to watch the person you love deal with this, but have the most amazing attitude. Also, I just want to say how amazing our kids are. Sydney loves her daddy so much and is always so worried about him and would do anything for him. She is a sweetheart. Carson is only 2, but he cares and loves his daddy so much. Anyway, I've typed enough and I've probably left out a few things.

I'm off to bed. Going to say a special for our friends the Wood's. Jeff and Lisa are in Houston today. Jeff had scans today and will meet with his Dr. tomorrow. Praying for good news for them!! Of course, praying for all of our cancer fighting friends and always Alan!
We love you all!!
Melissa

Houston Bound

2009-11-28T20:15:00.002-06:00

Well, it's that time again. We are heading for Houston tomorrow morning. I can't believe it's been 2 months! When I look back at these past two months and everything that has gone on, it's a little overwhelming and I think "How did we get through that day!" We've had some difficult days that are behind us now, and I know there are probably more in the future, but we will not think about that and continue to take this journey day by day and at times, hour by hour. My mom is going with us this time. This will be her first trip with us to Houston. We are staying in a different hotel than normal. I had to find a room with a recliner that Alan could sleep in, but it all worked out.

Alan continues to deal with constant pain in his back, hip, leg, knee. Some days are better than others and the pain is not all of the time and then of course you have the bad days. I have people ask me daily, "How is Alan doing?"....I tell them about that day, but let them know that if they ask me tomorrow, it will probably be a different answer. Alan still has to sleep in the lift chair at night. I don't even remember the last time he slept in the bed. Unfortunately, the bed is pretty much the enemy right now. Hopefully one day he will be back beside me where he should be. He is still getting around with the walker, although, if you see him around town, he is using a walking stick. He is driving some and even doing some hunting when he feels like it. His deer camp buddies have been so good to him and help him any way they can. We really do have some great friends. It brings tears to my eyes when I think about our friends and how great they are to us.

Also, we are selling our house. We live a little out of town and have 11 acres of land that we just can't continue to keep up with. There are other reasons we are selling beside what I have already mentioned, but I just ask for your prayers for right decisions with this matter. Alan loves being out of town, but in the back of his mind, he knows what we really need to do.

I could probably type a novel with this post about everything going on, but right now, I just ask for your prayers for our travels and Alan's report. Lord, I just ask that you give us the strength to get through these next few days.

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

Sydney's 1st Deer!

2009-11-27T19:35:00.006-06:00

Sydney has officially killed her first deer...and not only that, it was a 4 point!! She put the bullet in the right spot at 60 yards! She did everything herself! The best part about all of this was Alan was with her. That was a gift from God. Alan has been trying to do some hunting when he can and take Sydney so she could kill her first deer. Well, Wednesday....it all paid off and she has her first kill and her first blood face smear, LOL...see picture below. Lets just say, she was not happy about the blood part. We just told her it was tradition, but that didn't mean much to a six year old little girl. She was sooooo excited and of course told everyone she could about her deer. It was a great day! A HUGE Thank You to Michael E. for being there to help!!! Just for the record, they were hunting from Alan's ground blind. That thing has come in handy this year since Alan can't get in the box stands.

Alan said he might not ever be able to get up, but he was getting down on the ground to take this picture. With a little help from Michael, he made it up! :-)

It should have been a 6 point, but it was missing a few antlers.

Here comes the blood. She didn't know what was about to happen!

And there went the smile.

She's not very happy, but took a picture with her daddy anyway.

Trent, Alan and Michael.

I'm planning on doing an Alan update tomorrow. I know I have not posted lately, but this has been a crazy month. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have not had our family get together yet. We are having our Thanksgiving tomorrow with Alan's family.

Chili Benefit

2009-11-09T18:58:00.004-06:00

This post is dedicated to everyone that donated, volunteered, ordered chili and did anything they could to help towards this benefit!!!

Many of mine and Alan's close friends put together a chili benefit for Alan. It was AMAZING and God has put some amazing friends in our lives. I wish I could thank each person individually, but I would end up forgetting someone. Please just know if you helped in any way, we appreciate it....more than we could ever put into words!! We love you all so very much and thank you!!

Here are just a few snap shots I got that day. They had carry out, delivery or dine in. Fortunately, Alan has been doing better these last couple of weeks, so he was able to come and eat chili and personally thank the ones that were there. I know I didn't get pictures of everyone, but I promise, we know you were there:-) There are a few people I do not have pictures of that I know helped alot and that is Paula, Leigh and Debbie. I know there were some husbands helping too!

Shawna (green shirt) and Sarah in the red. These are two of my very good friends. We have all been good friends since elementary school. I know they worked hard and were covered in chili! HA

Kayla and Patty Higginbotham, Tina Carter

These are some of the ones that decided to Dine In.

Alan, Gary and Trent.

Some of the hard workers...Jane Johnson, Dru and Heather Burford, Jackie Sivils, Melinda Harris, Jenny Lynn Strebeck, Shawna Hawkins. There were many others in the kitchen, but these are the ones I just happen to get.

At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
Ephesians 5:20

Halloween 09

2009-11-05T19:05:00.007-06:00

Once again I'm about a week behind with my post. There are just not enough hours in a day.

Sydney at her "Pumpkin Party" at school.

Carson and Lanee

Jessie, Autumn and Lanee. This is part of Carson's second family. I never got a picture of Carson and Kayla...:-(...Sorry KK!!

Carson is a train conductor and Sydney is "The Flash" superhero....the girl version! She is all about the superhero's.

The boys...Carson, Landon, Grant. The girls...Sydney, Lainey, Julia. We all just happen to be at my parents house at the same time. Cute group picture.

And last but not least, our adorable nephews. This is Grant...

and here is Ethan. We were all together for Halloween and it was wonderful.

We partied in the USA with....

2009-10-29T21:12:00.008-05:00

...Miley Cyrus in Little Rock this past weekend!!!! And not only that, we managed to become a VIP instead of sitting in our nosebleed/section 208!! Ok, well, we were not really VIP, but it sure felt like it. We ended up in the Coke suite with a friends in-laws. It was amazing...from the food to the free drinks, to the awesome seating for the girls. There is no way we could thank the James family for everything they did for us. We will never be able to take these girls to another concert in regular seating. Spoiled Rotten...all of us!! :-) It was wonderful in so many ways.

Lainey Taunton, Anna Claire Strebeck, Jenna Cate Roberts, Alia Jones, Laney Bolin, Sydney

The one time in Sydney's life she doesn't wear pink and everyone else does. I thought that was funny. We always like to keep it different! haha

The moms...eating the free food!! haha

Me and my girl.

Gary and Renae James with the girls. Thank you James Family for a wonderful night!!

The whole group. The picture is not very clear. Sorry.

Check out the video. Be sure to pause the music below on the playlist! Sorry about the blur at the end. Sydney was looking for her "flashlight"!

After our wonderful weekend, we came home to find out that one of our dogs had been run over. We have tried everything to prevent this from happening. Thankfully Alan's dad was here with him when it happened, so Rusty had to take care of it. We told Sydney he ran away.

Alan's parents stayed with him and Carson at our house so Sydney and I could enjoy our girl weekend. We also celebrated Alia and Anna Claire's birthday at Party Time Pizza. This place was great. It's like Chucky Cheese X's 10.

Pumpkin Patch in Grady!

2009-10-17T21:10:00.008-05:00

Last weekend the kids and I went to Hardin Farms in Grady, AR. This is a really neat place with alot of activities for the kids. Basically, you kind of play at the farm for a while and then hop on board the hay ride to the pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkins. We went with a group of our friends and we had a great time. Alan did not get to join us for this trip...:-( I know the kids and I wished so much for him to be with us, but it just didn't work out. I don't know how we got so lucky that it actually did not rain this day. Thank you Lord for allowing our kids to enjoy this day outside and not cooped up in a house! We all came prepared with our rain boots on, but thankfully the farm was not too muddy. Thank you also to my friends for helping with my two kids. They were always wanting to go in opposite directions. Now for pictures!

Carson's FAVORITE toy at the Farm.

Swinging on the large Oak trees.

Sydney, Anna Claire, Alia, Laney, Anna Kate

Me, Jenny Lynn Strebeck, Stormy Jones, Ashley Bolin & Amber Pope...hehe

The goats on the roof.

Carson thought this nasty hog was pretty neat.

Carson playing on the hay bales.

Sydney milking the cow. It was wooden, but it had pretend utters in that "area" so you could give it a try, lol.

On the hay ride to the patch.

Carson and Sydney in the pumpkin patch. Sydney had her fake smiles on for sure this day.

Laney Bolin, Anna Kate Pope, Alia Jones, Anna Claire Strebeck and Sydney

"I Will Rise"

2009-10-12T09:39:00.003-05:00

This morning I was doing a little "blog searching"...catching up on some of my friends blogs. I feel like lately I have been so wrapped up in our battle, that I have not had time to give to others. Anyway, I came up on this post with Chris Tomlin's "I Will Rise". I love this song, so I wanted to share this video with my followers. Sometimes words you need to hear just pop up, but that is God working in your life and leading you. I hope you enjoy this.

Be sure to scroll to the bottom and pause my playlist first!!

Houston Update!

2009-10-06T20:25:00.003-05:00

We are home!!! Thank you Lord!! First let me start out by saying Alan's report was pretty good, well actually, it was great considering what I thought we were going to hear. I'm going to break this post into sections. I think it will be easier to follow. Before I get started, I just want to thank our wonderful friends, family and community for your prayers and love. Thank you all for everything you have done and are doing for us.

Traveling South
Our trip south was not good. It rained pretty much the whole way. Just when we thought we were out of it, the bottom would fall out again. At times it was hard to see the car in front of you. Alan was able to sleep most of the trip down. I felt like his personal ambulance service. He had a pretty comfy bed in the back, but it was still a rough ride for him. We made it to Houston, called in dinner, ate, went to bed!!

Alan's Scans
Alan had an MRI and CT done Monday. It was a long day of waiting, but again, he handled it like a trooper. I think the MRI was pretty hard on him. We finished up with the scans, grabbed a bite to eat from the near deli and Alan went back to the car to lay down. His dad stayed with him, while his mom and I went and waited in the Dr. office for his appointment. Nothing is close at this place. You have to park in the parking garage, and then walk pretty far to get to Amato's office. Everything is inside and all of the buildings are attached, but it's all very spaced out. Anyway, when it was Alan's turn, we called him and his dad for them to come up. It worked out pretty good b/c Alan was able to rest. I think we waited another 45 minutes in the exam room before we actually saw Amato. Very long wait!! ughhhh

The Report
First I want to start with there is no new cancer! That was a major blessing!! I was expecting some pretty bad news because of how this last month has been. I can't even explain the relief I felt, but still on guard. That's just me. Many of the spots in Alan's lungs have decreased in size, so that was also very good news. The bad part about Alan's lungs is that they are full of inflammation and look pretty bad. Dr. Amato says this is from his chemo, so he will be off his chemo for 2 weeks starting today. Hopefully this will clear them up. The inflammation is also the reason for the low grade fever and shortness of breath Alan has been dealing with.

Alan's Back
The tumor in Alan's back has not changed any. Yes, we wanted something, but that something is that at least it didn't grow. The tumor has just taken over so much of the bone and of course, that is the reason for all of Alan's pain and for him not being able to walk. Although, he is getting around pretty good with the walker still. Dr. Amato talked to us about Alan having back surgery sometime during the beginning of next year. I guess the plan is to wait and see how much the tumor in his back is going to change and then they, Dr. Amato and the Neurosurgeon, will go in and put a rod in Alan's back for support and pain relief. The bone is a weight bearing bone that the cancer is in. For now, the pain meds are just going to have to be the relief. Dr. Doshi, another oncologist we see in Amato's office, changed up Alan's pain meds again, and let me tell you, he is doing so much better. He rode home most of the way today in the front seat. What a major change from our trip down. Update...I think Alan wishes he would not have ridden up front so long yesterday. He said this morning it felt like someone beat him all over his body!! Ughhh

Alan's parents went with us this time and what a big help they were and it was just nice to have some family with us. I was also glad they were able to meet Dr. Amato and his staff.

I guess for now that is it. If I think of something later, I'll add it in another post. We go back to Houston November 30th for the same process...minus the MRI...I hope for Alan's sake. It was pretty bad. I get on my soapbox usually at the end of my post, so I won't this time...mainly I'm just really tired, but...God is Great and always believe in prayer and the power that it has. Look at us...our family...everything we are experiencing and going through right now. It's for a reason, and that reason might be to bring someone reading this very blog closer to God. If it's just for that one person or many, so be it. Well, so much for not getting on my soapbox.

We love you all and thank you for everything!! I'm going to bed!! I wonder how many words I spelled wrong or left out!! HA I'm sure my "special friend" I work with will let me know tomorrow, hehe. I'm not naming names, but she knows who she is.

Heading to Houston

2009-10-03T22:34:00.002-05:00

Well, the weekend has finally arrived that we head back to Houston. I can't say I'm real excited about it. I wish my outlook was a bit more positive, but I'm just a little nervous. I'm nervous about our trip and I'm nervous about Alan's appointment Monday.

I'm sure everyone is anxious to know how we are getting to Houston, so here is the plan:
We have put a mattress in the back of my mom's Expedition. We did a trial run last week to see if Alan could get in the vehicle. He used a step ladder and did pretty good getting in. Then we took a short drive just down the road. He said he could feel every bump, but he said it seemed ok. I know it's not going to be the most comfortable ride for him, but it's the best we could come up with. We did have the option of some family friends flying us down in their plane, but Alan will have to be in a seat, buckled in, during take off and landing. I'm just not sure if he could do all of that. We also wanted a vehicle in Houston that we knew he would be able to travel in, so all in all, my mom's vehicle just seemed the smarter route. Alan's parents will also be traveling with us, but they will be in their car. We can't all travel together since we have the mattress taking up the full back part of my moms. We also need extra room b/c we will have to bring the walker and a wheel chair. So, anyway, that's the plan.

Alan's scans start Monday morning at 9:15. He will have an MRI of his lumbar spine first and then around 10:45 he will have his normal CT. After that I'm sure we will grab a bite to eat close and then go and wait to see Dr. Amato. You never know what time you are going to be called back, so it's just a long day of waiting. I have no idea how Alan is going to be able to handle all of this waiting and having to sit up for so long. This is going to be a long, tough day. Our plan is to head back home Tuesday, unless plans change when we get there.

I'm sure I've forgotten some details, but it's 11:oopm and I'm still not completely packed and by no means ready to go. I feel like I've been in slow motion all day. Maybe because I wanted to be because I'm trying to drag this day out as long as possible. I say it so often, and I'm saying it again....please just pray. Pray for our travels, Alan's pain, Alan's scan results, strength, comfort, healing!! There is no possible way I can stress to you how important my next statement is, but you NEVER know what tomorrow holds for you...NEVER, so I hope you have God in your life!!! If he was not in mine and Alan's I can't even imagine how our life would be right now. I lean on him alot and I know he has a plan....a plan that I'm not allowed to see the future of. Don't you know I have prayed to see the future, but that's not how it work. I struggle with this, but have peace with it too.

Also, please remember in your prayers our good friends Jeff and Lisa Woods. They will be in Houston also this week and Jeff will be getting new scans to see how his new chemo is working. Also remember Blayton Craig. After 7 months of fighting Leukemia, this family is finally all together and home. What a wonderful feeling. Blayton seems to being doing very well. Cancer is everywhere and it is literally a nightmare. For those of you that have never been impacted by this, I pray you never will be. For those of you that have been, I pray for your strength to get through the numbing and uncertain days. As my grandmother would say..."It's the pits!!"

Love and Prayers to you all!!

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18

Quilts and Kiddie Kamp!

2009-09-27T14:45:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-09-23T10:32:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-18T20:15:00.004-05:00

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

2009-09-16T08:45:00.005-05:00

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???

2009-09-09T08:32:00.002-05:00

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!!"

1 Year Ago Today!

2009-08-30T18:40:00.006-05:00

I've sat here for about 5 minutes now trying to figure out how I want to start this post, so here it goes.

One year ago today, not to the date, but to the day... Alan was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer. Many of you have followed us this past year so you are familiar with our story. I guess I just feel the need to recap this weekend a year ago.

Alan was put in the Crossett hospital by Dr. Malloy on Friday, August 29, 2008. He ran many different test on Alan through the weekend trying to figure out why he was so anemic and having other issues. We thought the main problem were stomach ulcers (Alan had 8), but obviously, that was not the problem. I was actually at home getting ready for Alan to get out of the hospital on that Sunday. All he wanted was some potato soup, so I was getting that prepared and then planning on getting him from the hospital. He called me from the hospital and said Dr. Malloy needed to talk to us. Of course I said "Why?" He told me he didn't know (which Alan already knew) but I needed to get up there. We live maybe 4 miles from the hospital. I remember taking my time b/c what could be so important that he needed to talk to both of us....I mean, it's stomach ulcers...right?! A sick feeling went through my body, but I made it up there to find Alan with a blank look and Dr. Malloy sitting there waiting to tell me the worst news of our life...so far. Basically, it went something like this "Alan has a large tumor on his left kidney. This is called Renal Cell Carcinoma or Kidney Cancer." I'm not sure what all else he said, but I remember he drew us a picture and after that the tears were flowing. He told us a little more and then he wanted us to call our parents and have them come to the hospital so he could talk to all of us. He left for a little while to give us some time. I remember laying in the bed with Alan and just crying and holding hands. What else could we do. We were confused, scared and of course still trying to take this news in. I had to pull it together to call my parents and Alan's parents. I didn't want them to get upset on the way to the hospital, but I'm sure they could hear it in my voice. Each grandparent just happen to have one of our kids, so it worked out for them to go to their "second family", the Higginbotham's. They came to the hospital, Dr. Malloy was already there waiting with us and then he told them the news. We were already crying again. **A quick note** We live in a small town anyway... where you know everyone, but Dr. Malloy is like family to us. His daughter Christian is married to Alan's brother Trent, so it was just hard for everyone. We had our moment of sadness/weakness in the hospital and right after Dr. Malloy got through talking to everyone, Bro. Eric and Bro. David walked in to visit with us and they had no idea what news we were just told. God knew we needed them at that moment. These are two wonderful Christian men that are great family friends also. Bro. Eric is our preacher. So, what's next , well, we pack up and head home. Dr. Malloy sets us up with a Urologist in Little Rock and the rest is history....or on my blog..:-).

I remember after we got home some of our friends calling to see if we were home b/c they knew Alan was supposed to get out of the hospital Sunday anyway. They'd say, "I guess you guys are home", and my response in tears, "Yeah, we're home."...in an extremely sad voice. I remember specifically talking to Kami and Paula that night. Those were two extremely hard phone calls. I really didn't even want to tell people because I honestly wasn't even sure what to tell them. I also remember the hurricane hitting a couple of days later and us loosing electricity. Now, that's a real mood killer to be sitting in the dark. I think Carson also got a bad stomach virus about this time too. Not a good week.

Last year this specific weekend was Labor Day Weekend. The whole McCone family was together that Monday. After the news we had just been handed Sunday, we needed family. I know we also did a family picture. I'm sure we all looked sad in our eyes, but we tried to put on a smile. Well, this weekend we all got together again. Christian just got a very nice new camera, so we tried to get some family pictures done. I've posted a few below. So, between the rain and humidity (notice the frizzy hair!!), we got some pretty good shots.

I know this was a long post, but I just want to post this in honor of Alan and everything he has endured this past year. He has been through alot, but he has always kept a smile on his face. I just please ask that you continue to pray for our family and that one day we will be rid of this cancer! Please remember other families in need to prayer.

I love the look on Sydney's face. It was so sweet.

Carson...what can I say. He's all boy!

Hair Bows!!

2009-08-27T19:24:00.007-05:00

Many of you know I make and sell hair bows. I've been doing this for about 5 years now. I've had alot of new orders lately, so I just wanted to share some new bows. Many of these are M2M (made to match) in case you were wondering about the color combos. I've got the Maroon and White to support our local Eagles and other "Spirit" colored bows too....Lions, Razorbacks, etc.

If you are ever interested in my hair bows or would like more information, please email me at:

mmccone@windstream.net.

Birthday & Houston Update!!

2009-08-26T19:28:00.005-05:00

First, let me start off by saying Happy Birthday to Alan. Saturday was his birthday, but we actually celebrated his birthday Friday night. I never had a chance to do a post about this b/c we were trying to get packed up. I want to say Thank You to everyone that wished Alan a Happy Birthday and also to a wonderful group of our friends that showed up Friday night at our house with a BIG Surprise and a BIG cookie cake for Alan. They came to wish us a safe trip and a prayer before we left. Amber has pictures on her blog from the surprise.

OK, the Houston Update. Where do I start. Monday was pretty much a wait ALL day long event. I think we finally saw Dr. Amato around 3 or after. Can't remember. Anyway, after comparing Alan's new scans from his previous (7/13), nothing had changed. This does not sound like great news, but it was not bad news either. Alan has not been on any chemo in over a month and nothing had spread! We were not able to see any change from the radiation treatment. It might still be a little early to tell....that's what we are praying anyway. After looking at the scans, Dr. Amato started talking to us about what his plan was for Alan's new chemo. He said after looking at his pathology, that it was best to get back on the Sutent and combine it with another chemo pill called Cytoxan. These two chemo's have never been combined, so basically Alan is a Guinea pig and kind of on his own trial. Because Alan is young and for the most part healthy, Dr. Amato wants to see how he reacts to these combined meds. He said if Alan handles it well, then he will start some of his other patients on this combo. Now, both of these drugs are FDA approved, but have just never been tested before together. When Dr. Amato was talking to us about the combo, he used alot of scary words that I'm not even going to talk about, but lets just say we are taking a huge risk. He said we can risk trying this combo, or risk the cancer. Alan started his new cocktail Tuesday (yesterday). We were sitting in the parking lot of Rabideaux's in Iowa, LA and said a prayer. So far he is doing ok. The side effects to the Sutent did not really kick in until about the 3rd or 4th week. Last time he was on the Sutent, he took it for 4 weeks and then off 2. This time it will be a complete 6 week cycle, but the dose is just a little lower. The Cytoxan will be 6 weeks also. We will monitor his blood pressure daily and he will send in his blood work weekly to Dr. Amato. Like I said, there was alot more involved to this appointment, but it's just too much to go in to. I actually brought a voice recorder to this appointment and I'm glad I did. Dr. Amato is also taking Alan off of the steroid, so hopefully he will not look so...hummm....puffy, lol. He has put on a few pounds since being on the steroid, so I'm glad he is getting off of it!

After our appointment Monday, we met some new friends in Houston....Kaylynn and Phil Carpenter. Kaylynn stumbled across my blog searching for Dr. Amato. Her husband has been a patient of Dr. Amato's for the past 5 years...I think I'm right on that. Anyway, we met them for dinner and had a wonderful visit. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with them again. Phil had an appointment with Dr. Amato Tuesday and he showed to be stable. He has a spot on his shoulder and had the same radiation treatment in April that Alan just had. It's nice to have someone to compare notes with.

We will go back to Houston October 5th and see if the new treatment is working. Alan will have scans and everything again.

So, the run down....Alan still has a few larger spots along with some smaller spots in both lungs. He still has the tumors in his vertebrae and spinal canal. Dr. Amato also brought up that same spot I said we were never going to mention again, but he did...that spot close to the renal vein. He said it did change in size a little and he can't help but go back to it each time to check it, so who knows what it is, but he checks it anyway.

We really feel that your prayers are working, so of course we just ask that you continue them. Please say special prayers that Alan's back pain goes away or at least lets up. Alan is on disability right now and it seems he will be for a while. This is hard for him on many levels. He misses his job and he misses his great friends he works with. I know he misses interacting with adult people, besides myself...:-), on a day to day basis. He is keeping busy with the cooking though. haha
We love you all and Thank You!!
God is good...All the time!!

1st Grade Here We Come!!

2009-08-20T21:04:00.003-05:00

Sydney had her first day of 1st grade Wednesday. Thank goodness it was a great day and actually no tears were even shed. The only time I about lost it was when Sydney told me the night before that she did not need me to walk her in because she is 6 years old and 6 year olds do not need to be walked in. I told her "TOO BAD!!" I did walk her in today just to make sure she knew which hall to turn down and the correct room. She did a great job, so I guess tomorrow I'll let her go in by herself. That's going to be hard for me!! I'm sure she will show everyone her "Twinkle Toes" as she walks in. Her favorite new shoes, LOL!! Sydney's teacher is Mrs. Smith. Sydney really likes her and I'm very excited about Sydney's class. She has alot of friends in there with her.

Sydney and Mason

Sydney and Laney

Carson had to get in the picture too.

Our 6 year old 1st Grader!!

Houston, Monday the 24th

2009-08-17T21:23:00.002-05:00

As of today, that is the date for Alan's appointment with Dr. Amato. They finally called today!! Alan talked to them and she said they had his pathology done. We don't really know what that means. Does it mean, they have a treatment together, does it mean they can't figure it out...what exactly does that mean!! I guess we will find out Monday. We will start that morning out like most in Houston...blood work early, scans and then wait to see Dr. Amato. I have had a headache all day and my stomach has been in knots. I have seriously felt like I was getting the flu all day and when Alan told me they called...the feelings just got worse. I know my "symptoms" are all stress related, but I'm so ready to get Monday over with. We will also be seeing Dr. Tae either Monday or Tuesday. By that time it will have been one month since Alan's last radiation treatment. This will be when we see the full results from the radiation. Another big moment. I can't believe it's already been a month.

At the moment, Alan's back is still in constant pain. He mentioned the other day that his hip bone was hurting some. Of course we look at each other and can't help but think the worse. If you have seen Alan lately, then you might notice his face looking a little fuller. He has been on a steroid for about a month now, so he looks like he is lifting weights and bulking up, lol....he's not, it's just the steroid. The steroid is to help with the inflammation of the tumors in his back.

Lord, I just pray that you give us the strength to get through these days coming up and I pray that your plan is to heal Alan and ease the pain in his back. I ask these things because we know you are a mighty God, but we also know that you hold our plan and whatever your will is, we will follow the path with our heads up.

Please remember to pray for the ones in need of prayer. I have so many that come to my mind at this very moment.

Love and Prayers!
Melissa

High Delta Safari Park

2009-08-16T20:52:00.007-05:00

Before school starts (Wednesday...ughhh), we wanted to do one more fun day with the kids, so my parents, Alan, I and the kids, loaded up and headed south to Delhi. We started with the High Delta Safari Park. It was pretty neat, but I'm sure to the 2 and 6 year old it was REALLY neat!! These are definitely not animals you see everyday. They have a pretty neat gift shop too. You can ride on the zebra painted wagon, but we chose to "keep it cool" and ride through the park in the Expedition. After about and hour or so at the park we headed to Poverty Point State Park. Sydney swam a little bit at the beach and we had a picnic...it was hot and no wind. We didn't stay long...:-) Then we went to check out the cabins that are literally over the water that you can rent. It was really neat and looks like a fun place to come and stay a few nights...not too far from home. On to the pictures!

I think I remember a sign that said "Do not feed the animals from your hands" hummm!!

This Elk followed us for a while. It was weird watching it run. Just something you don't see everyday. It was pretty funny when we realized that it was running to its "hang out"....see picture below.

I guess this is where the Elk hang out! LOL

Texas Longhorns...we think!

Here are some of the cabins at Poverty Point!

OK, I took a picture of this extremely large house with beautiful grounds. It is located just across from the entrance of Poverty Point...YOU CAN'T MISS IT!! But, apparently anyone that lives in Delhi has never seen this house b/c we asked two people about it and they said "What big white house?" Interesting!! Anyway, if you know who's house this is, then leave a comment! LOL

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had the pleasure of listening to The Sullivan's give their daughter Hannah's testimony at First Baptist Church this morning! It was a wonderful day and I thank the Lord everyday to have him in my heart!

Love and Prayers!

Melissa

Boom Boom Pow!

2009-08-15T21:27:00.008-05:00

The other night the kids were "picking up" the living room and Sydney had her music playing on her IDog. Alan had downloaded her the Kids Bop version of "Boom Boom Pow", so as they are picking up... Carson is dancing (his favorite thing) and Sydney is practicing her flip. This is what I caught on video. I actually edited this video which I had NO IDEA I could do on my computer but figured it out. There were some parts I didn't want the world to look at, so I was pretty proud of myself! Anyway, this was funny. You know how you think your kids are the funniest of them all, well....
Please excuse my country voice!! LOL I can't stand to hear myself on video!!

(Scroll to the bottom to pause my music player before starting video)

We visited the High Delta Safari Park today in Delhi, LA. That was interesting and I have pictures I hope to post soon.

A quick update about Alan, we still have not heard about his new treatment. We were extremely disappointed Friday when we had not heard anything by the end of the week. Let's just say that we have alot of questions and our main one being, "Why is it taking so long!" As soon as we hear something, I will post on my blog. We will just continue to pray and we thank everyone of you from our heart that continues to pray for Alan!

Melissa

Family Fun!

2009-08-08T12:01:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our little oasis in the woods! We have fought and fought with this pool all summer long. We drained it twice, the pump blew up and they do not have a pump anywhere between here and Houston (we checked), so I finally gave in and ordered one. I just didn't want to pay the shipping, but I had too if we wanted a clean/clear pool. So, finally we are able to enjoy it a little before school starts. These pictures are from last weekend. It's good for Alan to get in the pool to help relieve some of the back pain. Sydney has been wanting to go to the beach all summer long and that was just not going to happen this summer for many reasons. A little while ago I was outside...working on the pool...and Sydney said "we can pretend that we are at the beach and the pool is the ocean and our pee gravel can be the sand." I thought that was sweet that she would settle for our little intex pool as the beach. Then she said "and daddy can bring his 4-wheeler and ride those girls around!" I was like "WHAT!!!" It was funny. Alan got a kick out of that!

Different Note:

Still have not heard from the Dr. office on our next appt. I was praying we would hear something Friday, but nothing. I was disappointed. It's in Gods hands and we know that. Please continue to pray for Alan. His back is hurting him pretty bad these last 4 days. We are concerned, but again, it's in Gods hands.

A Prayer for an Arkansas Family!

2009-08-06T16:38:00.002-05:00

I just ask that you be in prayer for the Fields Family. Their son, Ben T. Fields, went to be with Jesus yesterday. He has been suffering from Menkes Disease since he was born. Apparently this is a disease where your body does not absorb copper. It's so rare that he is the only child that has ever been diagnosed with it in the state or Arkansas. If you would like to read his story, you can link to his caringbridge site through The Sullivan's Blog....Caringbride - Mr. Ben. What a super, strong little boy and family. My heart goes out to them.
Melissa

Monday Appointment Postponed!

2009-08-03T15:24:00.002-05:00

I forgot to update my blog about this, but we are still in Crossett. We found out last Friday that Alan's appt. for the 3rd was canceled. They are still working with his tumor block and getting his new treatment ready, so they told us to hold off until maybe later this week or hopefully early next week. Just waiting to hear from the Dr. office. We are very much ready to get him started on his new meds, but we were also glad to be able to be home a few extra days. It was great to be home this weekend and catch up on some house stuff and be with the kids. Alan is on disability right now, so he is not working and gets to enjoy alot of fun times with the kids. Disability has it's good points and bad points...:-). Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Thank you to our prayer warriors and also a BIG thank you to the ones that have brought us meals. That is such a blessing in sooooo many ways. I hope I can return the favor one day, but hopefully not for the same reason we are dealing with!!
Love and Prayers to you all!!
Melissa

The Last Treatment!

2009-07-27T17:46:00.002-05:00

Alan had his last radiation treatment today! Everything went great and the Dr. was very pleased when Alan told him he could tell the pain has let up in his back. Dr. Tae told Alan that is a good sign that the radiation is working and hopefully we will not have to do surgery. The surgery is just so risky, so we are praying that it does not come to that.

We will still come back to Houston next Sunday and Alan will have scans Monday and our normal Dr. Amato visit. Dr. Tae did say today that we might not be able to see the full change of the tumor from the scans on Monday, but when Alan has his next scans (about a month from the 3rd), we should have a good indication of how much it has changed. We will see Dr. Tae then also. Still not sure what to expect on the 3rd. We are hoping that Alan will start his new chemo treatment then. I'm calling it his own personal "cocktail". It will be a mixture of chemo drugs just for Alan.

We will be heading home tomorrow. My dad joined us on this trip, so he and I are sharing the driving. We are going to meet up with Jeff and Lisa Woods this evening for dinner. Jeff is down here meeting a Dr. at MD Anderson. We are praying they find out something for Jeff's tumors. I know they are a little overwhelmed in the big city.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update and just ask that you continue to pray for Alan. We are both ready to be home with our kids and get Sydney ready to start 1st grade...WOW!!! Anyway, that's a whole other post.
Love and Prayers to you all!
Melissa

We Are HOME!!

2009-07-24T19:58:00.003-05:00

Ok, I'm not really going to be long with this, but I just wanted to let everyone know we made it home safe and it was a wonderful reunion with your kids and family! It's such a weird feeling coming home when you've been gone for so long. It's been two weeks, but it feels like so much longer than that. Sydney looked like she had grown a foot, Carson is saying so many new words, and Jet (the puppy) grew a foot....really, I think this dog grew like two feet. He's huge! Anyway, we will really only be home around 43 hours before we have to go right back. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Please just continue to pray for Alan. I don't even know what else to say or ask for except for prayers. Prayers for healing, travel and strength!
Love,
Melissa

Wednesday's Treatment

2009-07-22T17:01:00.002-05:00

I don't have much to report today. Alan seems to be feeling ok today. Yesterday, he kind of had that "floaty" feeling from the treatment Monday, so we'll see how he feels tomorrow. We will be heading home Friday after his Friday morning treatment, so this will probably be my last update for a few days. We will be heading back to Houston either Sunday afternoon or early Monday to get to Houston for the 3:00 appointment Monday on the 27th. Looks like we will be coming back home Tuesday. I found out this morning that Alan will have to be back in Houston August 3rd for his scans and etc. So, I guess we will see what the radiation has done. I've had people tell me you won't be able to see much results for a month or so and some have said the tumor(s) were larger, but that is normal, so we don't know what to expect! Anyway, hope you all have a great week and wonderful weekend. Sydney has already informed us that after church Sunday we are eating at Johnny's Pizza! Fine with me. I'm ready for some Johnny's. Thank you all again for everything...the love, the prayers, the friendship....it's wonderful. We couldn't ask for a better support group.

Love,
Melissa

Monday's Treatment

2009-07-20T16:03:00.002-05:00

I'm drawing a blank on what to title my post...Houston, Houston Update, Treatment # whatever....so today is Monday's Treatment!

Actually, I'm going to go back to this past Saturday. Alan and I headed to Katy, TX to check out the Bass Pro Shop and the VERY LARGE outlet mall....shopping heaven! It's about 20 minutes west of Houston. The trip there was crazy. I ended up on the toll road (thanks to the GPS) and was freaking out about it, but after a $1.50 later, we made it. (Later I found out I didn't have to take the toll road) We got to the mall and Alan started feeling a little light headed and just not so great. We ended up getting a bite to eat, thinking that would help, but he still did not feel too well. We headed back to the Bass Pro Shop and walked around a little and of course picked the kids up something and came back home. It could have been the radiation or he might have been having a little anxiety from everything going on. Anyway, we came home and just took it easy the rest of the day. Sunday, he felt much better and we went to the movies and watched "The Proposal"...great/funny movie. It was good to laugh.

Monday....Neither Alan or I slept very well last night. I think we were just worried about today. We were excited that our preacher, Bro. Eric, was going to be here with us for the day though. He came over from Lake Charles and got here in time to go with us to the appt. We were at the Dr. today for about 2 hours. Alan got his treatment and then we had to meet with the Radiologist Oncologist and then the Neurosurgeon. Alan has a team of about 6 people...Radiologist Oncologist, Neurosurgeon, Physicist, Radiation Therapist and the nurse. After talking to the neurosurgeon, we learned that the tumor is in Alan's spinal canal. He is saying that it appears to not be in the spine. Apparently the spinal canal is at the base of the spine and that is where the tumor is and attached to the 2 or 3 vertebrae and pressing against the spine. Apparently it is also in some nerves. This would be so much easier to explain if I had pictures or was extremely knowledgeable in this area, but I'm not....so, just go with me here. The neurosurgeon also talked about Alan having surgery if the radiation does not do what we need it to do. He said the surgery is very hard....alot of bleeding, the possibility of not getting all of the tumor b/c of location and it is a very hard recovery, so we will continue to pray that the radiation gets it. I am not 100% sure about this, but the Dr. today said that since Alan is getting the high dose, then we should be able to see results about a week after treatment.

I guess that is it at the moment. We are trying to stay positive, it's hard at times, but we know we serve an amazing God and there is a reason for all of this. We know there is....we'll figure it out. We love you all and I'll update as things change or we find out new information. Please just continue to send us your prayers and please say extra prayers for Alan and just give him the strength to get through this....emotional strength, physical strength. I pray that Alan will soon have some relief from his back pain and will once again feel normal.

We Love You All and thank you for everything!
Melissa

1 Treatment Down!

2009-07-17T17:20:00.002-05:00

Alan had his first radiation treatment today. We left the hospital around 1:30. Everything seemed to go well, so we will just continue to pray that this shrinks the tumors and gives Alan some kind of relief from the pain in his back too. Alan is doing well and feeling as well as he normally does. We have taken it pretty easy this afternoon. We went to the grocery store and got a few groceries so we don't have to eat out all of the time. It is so nice to be able to stay at a house especially while having to be down here so long. It is a wonderful blessing! I'm not sure what our plans are for the weekend. Maybe we will catch a movie or visit the Bass Pro Shop. I'm sure that will make Alan happy...:-). There is plenty to do, it's just getting there. Houston is the 4th largest city, so I'm pretty proud of myself for getting us around. Thank goodness for the GPS too!!

Update on my mom....it is not staph, so it is the spider bite. Obviously I have not seen it in a week, but the update is it's not looking too pretty. The good news is that it is not staph, so she will be able to be around the kids more. Sydney has been at her summer babysitters most of the week and Carson has been at Wee School, so my parents and Alan's get a break here and there.

We just continue to pray for Alan's healing and hopefully we are on the right path with the radiation. A good friend, Felicia Toler, left this on my facebook page today and I loved this verse, so I want to share it with all of you:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." James 1: 2-4, 12

Alan has been so strong through all of this. Yes, it's hard...some times are harder than others and people tell Alan all of the time that they do not think they could be as strong as he has been. Alan tells them, that yes, you would be...look at your children....your family. You will put up a strong fight so you can see your children and be with them. Only God knows your plan. Regardless of what it is, we will still put up the fight and we will preserver.

Thank You All!
Love,
Melissa

Finally...A Plan!

2009-07-16T21:18:00.002-05:00

Alan finally got the call today around 3pm from the therapist that will be giving him his radiation. I guess around 1:00 today I started making phone calls trying to see if they had Alan's plan mapped out yet and this person told me to call that person and that person told me to call this person. It was crazy. One person told us it can take up to a week to get a plan worked up and that really upset us. Our Dr. and our nurse both told us Alan would have his first treatment this week, so we were both confused after that conversation, I mean, we want them to take as long as they need to, but when you are told by the Dr. you will start "this week", then that is the plan....right!! Anyway, I finally got in touch with Dr. Tae's nurse and about an hour later, we are scheduled. I really think they were still just working on the plan. Anyway, here is the schedule:
1st treatment, tomorrow at 11:30 am
2nd treatment, Monday @ 11 am
3rd treatment, Wednesday @ 11 am
4th treatment, Friday @ 8am
5th treatment, Monday @ 3pm

We will be in Houston through the weekend and all next week. We kicked around the idea of the kids coming, but we think it might be best if they just stay in AR. We plan to come home next Friday after Alan's treatment and will be home for the weekend and then will probably get up early Monday morning and drive down for his treatment. We are not sure how many days we will be here that last week. I'm sure Alan will have more scans and we will see Dr. Amato again.

Please, just pray, pray, pray that this works!!! It's just really hard right now. Is this a BAD dream, b/c I'm ready to wake up please! Our faith is still strong, but regardless, it's just hard. I'm not going to lie, Alan has had a tough time dealing with this news. I try to be strong for him and if you know me well, then you know I'm hard headed and not the most emotional person and I will have my moment of weakness, but right now, I want to and need to be strong for Alan. I can do that. It's in my blood!! ;-)

I want to mention a wonderful person by the name of Hannah Sullivan. This sweet child lost her battle with brain cancer not too long ago. I was and still am so inspired by her story. She was a blessing in so many ways. I can't imagine being so young and going through what she went through and still having the most amazing faith in God. Her mom Jill left a comment on my last post and I recommend that if you get a chance, check our her blog (www.thesullivanfour.blogspot.com). I have not had a chance to look at it yet (next on my list), but I'm sure it's wonderful and inspiring. They are a great family, although I've never met them, I can just tell. Wait, I take that back, Hannah's father was my Vice Principal when I was in High School. It's so strange how paths can cross again. Please remember this family in your prayers as well.

Anyway, God Bless and we love and thank you all for everything. Just lots of prayers.
I'll update hopefully tomorrow on the first treatment.
Love,
Melissa

Still Waiting!

2009-07-16T10:00:00.003-05:00

We are still waiting to hear when Alan is going to start his Radiation treatment. We never heard from the Dr. yesterday and I have already put a call in this morning. Hopefully we can get this going today. If Alan does start today and does not have treatment again until next Monday, we are probably going to come home for the weekend. We have also talked about the kids and family coming down here to stay, so that is still up in the air. There are so many things to do in Houston and the beach is just down the road, although I'm not sure how it looks since last years hurricanes. Anyway, so many things still up in the air. Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on our waiting game.

Also, a few other things:
Alan's Oncologist is with Memorial Hermann (located in the Medical Center), his Radiology Oncologist is with Methodist which is just across the street from MH. I know many people think we are at MD Anderson and I completely understand the thinking in that since MD is what you think of when you think Houston. Actually, our Dr. was at MD many years ago, but now he is the Director for the Memorial Hermann Oncology Department....yes, he's the man! They are building a new Oncology Dept. as we speak and it is huge! Can't wait to find my way around there.

One thing I forgot to mention and this is a little scary, but unbelievable at the same time. Alan's Rad. Oncologist told us the other day that if this was 6 years ago, then they would have told Alan to go home that there would be nothing else for them to do. I can't believe that....just 6 years ago. That's crazy to me. Thank goodness for good research and good Drs.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Love and Prayers!
Melissa

Houston Update!!

2009-07-15T11:09:00.003-05:00

I know many of you already know the difficult situation we have been faced with and many of you are waiting to hear, so here is the new situation.

Monday, Alan had his scans in Houston. Many of you know that Alan has been in a great deal of pain with his back for about 3 months now. I have mentioned it many times in my post, but Monday we found the exact cause of the problem. Alan has a tumor growing into two vertebrae and the cancer is eating away the bone in his vertebrae. The tumor/cancer area is about the size of a 50 cent piece...very large. It was like you could see the teeth marks where the cancer was literally eating away the bone. It was awful to witness and see this. Comparing Alan last scans from about two months ago, you really would have never guessed the cancer was growing in this area. Dr. Amato said he would had called it a shadow and checked it again in the next scans, which obviously he did and that's what he found. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. The tumor is pushing into Alan's spine and if this is not taken care of ASAP, he could loose all bodily function in the lower part of his body. Extremely hard words to hear. The areas in Alan's lungs have not changed at all, which was ok with Dr. Amato b/c that would be another big issue we would be facing besides the places on the spine. As soon as we gave Amato the word, this is the plan:

Alan is going to start Sterotactic Radiation hopefully today or tomorrow in Houston. He will have 5 treatments directly to these cancer spots. This is a very precise radiation and very high dose. At this moment, we are waiting to hear if he will start the treatment today or tomorrow. We were at the Dr. office from 1-5 yesterday afternoon, very long day....thanks to insurance mostly...ughhhh! Anyway, Alan has been fitted for his brace, so we are just waiting to see when he starts. We should be in Houston around 10 or so days. Thankfully, my aunt has a very good friend that lives in Houston in a very nice house and we are staying with her. She lives only about 5 minutes or so from the Medical Center. Mrs. Joan's husband died many years ago from fighting cancer, so she has been in our shoes and has graciously opened her house to us.

A little info about the radiation, Dr. Tae will be Alan's Radiology Oncologist. He is pretty much the pioneer with this type of treatment. They have been doing it for about 5 years and have treated over 400 patients with an 85% success rate, so that was good to hear and he was very nice. He works very closly with Dr. Amato. Dr. Amato called him personally when we told him we would be doing the treatment in Houston. We have all heard that radiation does not do anything for Kidney Cancer and that might still be true somewhat, but with this type of radiation, they are finding different results with RCC. Again, this is why we are in Houston b/c we want the best, although it is EXTREMELY hard to be away from our wonderful and supportive family and friends. We are really missing our kids at the moment. Depending on Alan's schedule, we might try and make it home for the weekend. Just depends on how he is feeling too.

At the moment, Alan is not on any chemo. Obviously, the Afinitor did not work along with the Sutent. After the radiation, Alan will get back with Dr. Amato, and Amato will be doing some experimenting with Alan's tumor block. He will be combining different meds. to hopefully see what will react to Alan's tumor and get rid of this freakin cancer!!

I know I have jumped around on this post, but I'm just typing as things are coming to my mind. I didn't take very good notes this time in my little pink notebook, but I was in shock and just trying to take everything in. I told my mom I had a bad feeling about this trip and I was right. Has not been a good trip. They best part was I had to get some new clothes b/c we only packed enough for 2 nights, lol! Luckily, staying at Ms. Joan's, we can wash clothes!

I can't thank everyone enough for your prayers, calls, texts. I've had so many comments on facebook and hopefully I will update my status next. We LOVE you all dearly and I will update as I can. I'm using Ms. Joan's laptop. Thanks again for everything and also a quick update on my mom and dad. My dad is recovering well from his surgery and my mom...well, now they are thinking she might have staph infection instead of the spider bite. They won't find out until Friday.

Our new bible verse, John 11:4.

I'm sure I've forgotten some info, and I'll post again later!

Love and Prayers,
Melissa

Houston and Prayers!

2009-07-11T15:47:00.002-05:00

So, July 13th is fast approaching. This will be Alan's first scans in about two months. I can't believe it's been that long. We are very anxious about this trip and praying that we see/hear grand results with the Afinitor. We are also praying for good results with his Pulmonary Function Test and his cholesterol test. He will also have these test done Monday after his scans. All I can say is this is a big day and PLEASE remember us in your prayers!! Alan is still dealing with many side effects the main ones being fatigue and the mouth sores. He is also still having MAJOR issues with his back. It's like when it rains it pours! I think mentally, we are exhausted from always worrying about something else hurting and why is that "certain spot" hurting or why didn't the Sutent work, is the Afinitor going to work, and so on, and so on! And then when you think about it, August 31st will be a year since we started this and that makes it even harder to think about everything. I remember that day so vividly. Why can't Alan be the one to just take the meds and that's it. Scan here and there and everything is clear. I'm praying and waiting for that day. I know I shouldn't ask "why", but it am....sue me. It's in Gods hands...I know that and that is why I have some type of peace with this.

I have a few other prayer request:

#1 My Dad!
My dad will be having a spot cut off his shoulder Monday. Yes, it is Melanoma. This is not the first time that he has had to have this done, but it's still skin cancer and scary!
#2 My Mom!
This week while my mom was helping my granddad clean up around his shop, she was bit by a brown recluse spider. I know...not good. Anyway, luckily she got to the Dr. pretty quick about it and he got her on some pretty strong meds. She has to keep her arm in a sling and not do much activity. As far as we know, my grandad was not bit.
#3 Jeff Woods
Jeff has been battling a certain type of brain tumor for about 10 years now. After many ups and downs with this battle, the tumors are now showing up in his liver. Jeff and Lisa will be traveling to MD Anderson in Houston to meet a new Dr. and hopefully give Jeff some other options to make these nasty tumors go away for good! Too bad we can't get appointment times together and all travel together! Jeff and Alan have been friends for a long time. We pray they find the right answer!

I know there are many others out there that need prayers, so just pray for anyone that comes to your mind, but at this moment, these are the ones that have come to mine! We will be getting back late Monday and hopefully I'll update my blog Tuesday with our news! If you're in my address book, be looking for the usual text, :-)!!
Love and prayers to you all!

"Tee Tee In The Potty"

2009-07-07T09:02:00.005-05:00

That is the song we sing when we start the....dun, dun, dun...dreaded days of potty training! Yes, it has begun. Carson is potty training. He has been ready for a while, but I'M the one that has been putting it off. I just wasn't ready, but it's time. So, we started Sunday and I think he peed in the potty like 5 times in one hour, lol. He loved it when we all danced in a circle and sang "Tee Tee In The Potty!" and of course he got two smarties after each time. Sydney was like "How many times do we have to sing this song!" I said, "as many as it takes!" So of course we let him run around the house without a diaper. During that time, he peed on the Wack A Mole game, on his couch in his room and on the rug in the living room. I thought to myself, "O yeah, now I remember why I hate potty training so much!" Yesterday when I got home from work, we stripped him down and let him go. He did tee tee in the potty once and then did a #2 on the blanket in living room. I was thinking.."Come On!!, you've got to be kidding me!!" Alan cleaned that up and I cleaned Carson up and it was time for a bath...for the kid and the blanket, lol. He tee tee'd one more time before bed. He likes to stand up...it's very interesting..:-)! So anyway, wish us luck and if you have any suggestion for potty training a little boy, PLEASE pass them on!!

BTW, the picture I posted with this is not what we are training him with. I just think these urinals are the funniest thing, but who knows, I might resort to this. Anyway, it was a good laugh.

An Alan Update

2009-06-30T11:46:00.002-05:00

I have not posted anything about Alan since our last Houston visit, so it's time. All in all, Alan is doing pretty well. He has completed a full month of the Afinitor. Side effects he has had are mouth sores, fatigue, body rash a few nose bleeds. As far as I can tell he has not had much trouble with nausea, but then again, he does not tell me everything. I mentioned before that he has to be on a strict diet...watching cholesterol and fats. At his last local check-up, his cholesterol was high and his triglyceride counts were out the roof....scary high. We were shocked with this b/c he has been doing VERY WELL with is diet. That just shows you how this medicine effects his body. We talked with his Dr. in Houston about this and they put him on Lipitor. I guess we will see when we go back to Houston July 13th how he is doing with the Lipitor. We freaked out over that one...it was bad. I know I am and I'm sure Alan is (without showing much emotion about it) getting anxious about our next Houston trip to see if the Afinitor is working. Please say a few extra prayers for Alan that day.
This past weekend we were working outside, early, trying to avoid some of the heat and Alan just got too hot and just about passed out....heat exhaustion. Cold shower and cold water helped, but that was an eye opener too. His body has been through alot over this past year and the heat just zapped him...quick! You know, sometimes I have to remind him he is on chemo...."CHEMO"...yes, very bad drug and it does bad things to your body put hopefully good things at the same time. Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update and hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!! Love and Prayers to all!

Camping at Maumelle State Park

2009-06-17T19:18:00.006-05:00

So, the McCone family did a long weekend camping trip this past weekend. We stayed at Maumelle State Park which is actually about 5 miles outside of Little Rock and right on the Arkansas river. It was really pretty and a great camp ground. We stayed with Alan's parents in their new camper Friday night through Sunday night. Trent and Christian joined us and Kara, Michael and the babies joined us also. No, we did not all sleep in the camper. I'm sure you were thinking that.haha It was crazy at times, but it was nice to be with everyone.

Lets start with the camp ground area.

The neighborhood geese.

The AR river....O, and my kids!!

The river was right across from the camper. We were also just down from the Yacht Club so we got to watch alot of the large boats coming in and out. I picked out a few...big dreams!!

Speaking of Yachts, here are some tied up in the river by the only sandbar we saw. This picture was taken at the Pinnacle Mountain Visitor Center....about 3 miles from the camp ground. See the tractor at the bottom. Of course, Carson spotted that first!

Here is our "friendly" snapping turtle we found at the Visitor Center.

I'm not sure what this is, but it was pretty and blue. I'm sure it's rock at bottom. This is about as close to ocean colored water I will get to this year. This was also at the Visitor Center.

We did the Little Rock Zoo. It was hot and in my opinion, over priced. Did I mention is was hot. I'm not doing alot of zoo pictures. Sorry, lol!!

Hot kid #1!!

Hot kid #2!!

Alan and the kids on the carousal.

We ran in to Sydney's teacher, Mrs. Goodwin, and her daughter and husband at the zoo. They felt the same way we did...hot and tired!

Lets end the post with 4 adorable kids/babies. This is Grant.

And here is Ethan and Papaw!

Welcome to Mario World!

2009-06-10T17:11:00.007-05:00

We finally had Sydney's birthday party! She wanted a Mario Brother's Theme. I know, how funny for a little girl, but her love is her Nintendo DS, so that is where this party idea came from. We had a great time and I hope the guest did too.

Sydney's invitation.

Sydney's Mario cake with a DS on top. I was so happy with her cake. Exactly what we wanted!

"Princess Peach" came to the party too!

I recommend a water slide for any birthday. The kids loved it. I rented this one here...Grinns And Giggles. They are in Hamburg and very reasonably priced and nice people. I did go down the slide...once. There is a picture of this, but not viewable on this blog...:-)!! Alan went a couple of times too. It really was fun...but cold!

Watch out people!! This is serious!

And there we have Sydney's Mario Birthday!

Alan Update

2009-06-09T16:27:00.002-05:00

Alan has been on the Afinitor for about a week and a half now. The side effects have started to kick in such as fatigue, a few nose bleeds, a rash on different areas of his body and the major one at the moment are mouth sores. The mouth sores are pretty bad...you know, to the point that you don't even feel like eating. We had Dr. Malloy call him in a mouth wash and he thinks it has helped some. He is on this new diet, and has already lost some weight. He does not need to loose alot of weight, but b/t the diet and mouth sores, he has not been eating as much.

His back and leg are still bothering him quite a bit. So b/t having cancer and having to limp everywhere, he is not always my cheerful Alan. It's just hard and alot to deal with. I can tell when he does not feel good, although (like I told him), he can put on a good show, but I know different. His nurse in Houston and I emailed some yesterday and they were wanting to see Alan in Houston this week or next b/c of the mouth sores and a few other reasons, but we are going on our one and only family vacation this weekend (long weekend trip) and we are taking it!! Houston is just going to have to wait. I know that sounds weird, but we need this trip and the Dr. was ok with our decision. He said that if he gets worse next week, then he does want to see Alan sooner than the July 13th appointment.

So anyway, I guess that is about it. Thank you all for your support. Continue to pray for cancer patients...well, any patient for that matter. I don't know the statistics, but I can only imagine how many patients are diagnosed with some type of cancer daily. It's got to be overwhelming.

Sydney's Kindergarten Graduation

2009-06-07T13:32:00.005-05:00

Let's see, I'm about a week behind with this post. Sydney graduated from Kindergarten this year. WOW, what a year. I remember it being about a week after she started Kindergarten that we found out about Alan's cancer (sorry to throw that in there). That being said, she has had a tough year too with mommy and daddy being gone alot, but she did amazing dealing with it! She has grown so much this year. It's amazing what they learn in Kindergarten...I mean, she can read. I don't think we could read like they do when I was in Kindergarten. She made all A's. I'm so proud of all of her accomplishments.

We had her Birthday party yesterday and hopefully I'll post pictures soon. I mean, she's only been 6 for about a month now, but we were just now able to get her party taken care of. The kids had a blast!! Mario Brothers Theme, lol.

Update on Alan soon too. Side effects have kicked in...ughhh :-(!!!

We are just about to wrap up T-ball, so I'll have a post about that soon too. Man, I've got alot of posting to do. Now lets see if it all happens!!

End of school...Sydney and Mrs. Goodwin

We never got a family picture....great!!

Sydney and her friend Alia.

Sydney showing her graduation gift from Alan and I that Mrs. Amber made her. She loved it!!

Her class.

The girls...L-R Sydney, Alia, Anna Claire, Laney

back row...Jenna Cate, Julia, Chloe, Lainey

Alan's New Treatment!

2009-05-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

As of this morning, Alan has started his new chemo treatment. The medicine is called Afinitor, but it also goes by the name "RAD". It is a mTOR inhibitor, so they say it works a little different than the Sutent...different pathways to fight the cancer. Like I said previously, he will have to watch his diet mostly with the red meat, some dairy and apparently shellfish...no fried foods! He will also be doing the pulmonary function test monthly and cholesterol test monthly and sending in blood work weekly. We are still not sure about the side effects, some they mentioned were shortness of breath, fatigue, chemical pneumonia. I'm not sure about the hair loss. Really we just don't know, so it's a wait and see thing. It's pretty funny at the moment b/c his hair is coming back almost black. He never lost his hair, but it did turn white. His mustache and gote are coming back red, but the hair on his head looks to be black...weird. He has been off the Sutent for about 6 weeks now. So, here we go...the new chapter begins.

It's time for me to vent...I don't do this much b/c I have complete faith in our good Lord, but I'm tired of this. I'm tired of Alan being down, I'm tired of fighting with cancer for almost a year now, I'm tired of having to leave my kids to go to Houston (even though they are in the best hands and we are going to the best place), I'm sad that the Sutent didn't work. Do you know how it feels to think you are completely on the right path and then be told it's not working. You really just think in your heart it's working and that's it.. I'm tired of putting my guard down...that won't happen again. So obviously, I'm tired of alot of things and I'm sure I could go on, but I'm not...I think that's enough.

We love you all so much and even though I've vented to my blogging world, I'm going to get through this...we all are. You know, you just have to vent every once in a while. I have no idea who all reads this, but if you have been in my situation, then you know what I'm talking about. It's hard, no matter the circumstances...it's hard. Please Lord, heal Alan. We do not know your plans for him, but we pray it is complete healing.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and love. I also want to thank many dear friends and family friends for your support with the jewelry show. You know who you are and you know what I mean. You have no idea how much that meant to Alan and I!!

Relay For Life 09

2009-05-27T15:28:00.005-05:00

Here are some of the pictures from Relay For Life. I just put everything on a slide show. I have intentions of putting this slide show on the relay website, but apparently I'm not smart enough to figure this out at the moment, but I do know how to add it to my blog, so here ya go. We had a great time and I know I've already mentioned this, but it was a very emotional night. I'm already excited about next year. I hope that Ashley County supported their relay well. I'm not sure how much money was raised at the moment. Anything helps with the fight against cancer.
Thank you to everyone that supports and helped with Relay For Life!

Sydney's Birthday with the family!

2009-05-25T20:33:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm a little late with this post, but I'm trying to keep everything in order on my blog. These are pictures from Sydney's Birthday with our family. We had a fun day celebrating her 6th Birthday.

I'm still going to put Relay pictures up too...hopefully in a few days.

We had a little birthday party for Sydney at her school with her classmates.

Here we are at Johnny's at Sydney's request.

Expression...Priceless. Yes, she got a Wii....well, really the whole family got a Wii!

"More Cake!"

Houston Update

2009-05-19T20:32:00.004-05:00

Alan scans pretty much showed what we expected...the two areas that still exists in his lungs have increased in size. One is about 1/2" and the other one is a little smaller that that. There are also a few new cancer spots in both lungs. I think we were prepared for this news since the Sutent was no longer working and he had been off of it for a month now. Since Alan's Kidney Cancer is still progressing in his lungs as I type this, we are not going to wait for the trial with the RAD and Nexavar. They have about 4 more weeks before this trial starts. Alan's Drs. feel that it is imperative to go ahead and start the RAD asap. RAD was FDA approved in March of this year. I know it has been involved in many trials and has shown good results. We pray it shows the same for Alan! RAD is a mTOR inhibitor. It works different than Sutent. Sutent and RAD work different pathways, so since the Sutent did not work, hopefully the RAD will be the correct pathway to kill Alan's cancer or if nothing else, at least control it. The Dr. said that if Alan handled Sutent well, then he should do ok with the RAD. Alan takes the RAD daily with no off days. I guess the Nexavar is the drug that has pretty bad side effects to it. From what I've read from other people on different forums, that seems to be the one that gets most people.

Alan will have to have Pulmonary Function Test done monthly. Apparently RAD has been known to cause Chemical Pneumonia. They said that less than 5% of patients get this, but Alan will still be tested monthly. If he does get it, then he will stop the meds until his lungs clear. He will also have to watch his cholesterol, so that means no fried foods and a healthier diet!! Bad for Alan!! He will still have blood work done weekly.

I mentioned in the previous post about some other issues we would be dealing with while in Houston. Alan has been having some MAJOR pain in his left thigh. He pretty much has been in pain for the past month and before and not getting any rest from this pain. I promise, he has tried just about every trick to ease the pain aside from taking major pain meds or cutting off his leg (yes, it has hurt that bad!) :-) We were very concerned that the cancer had spread to his bones, so we asked the Dr. to do a bone scan. We had it done and it was clear!! That was such a relief b/c we have been anxiously waiting to see the results of this scan. I can't even describe to you how much weight was lifted off of Alan and I when we saw the scan and it was clear. That was a major gift from God!! I didn't want to mention the bone scan before, b/c I wanted to be certain what we were dealing with before we had everyone so worried. Alan had a hip x-ray also while we were in Houston, but it came back looking fine also. We still do not know the exact cause of Alan's pain, but we will be figuring it out b/c it's unbearable at times.

We do not have to go back to Houston for 8 weeks. I'm glad and also nervous about this. There is really no sense in us going back in 4 weeks b/c they will not do another scan until 8 weeks. So, on July 13th we will know if the RAD is working...BIG DAY!!

Alan and I ended up staying in Shreveport last night. It was already 10pm when we were coming through and we were soooo tired, so we just stayed and drove in this morning. Those days of waiting for scans and Drs. all day is actually very tiring. At least I finally got to start Eclipse..;-)

Thank you so so so much for you prayers b/c I know they are working. We do serve an awesome God and we know that. Even though at times it's hard to keep going, we know that there is a reason that he has chosen to put Alan on this journey. We don't question it...there is no reason to. Please say extra prayers for anyone dealing with difficult times that you know of. They need your prayers. We love you all and thank you!!
Melissa

Houston Again!

2009-05-16T08:34:00.004-05:00

Hello to all. Yes, this is the Houston weekend. We will be leaving Sunday morning and as far as we know returning late Monday. This trip represents kind of new chapter for Alan's journey with cancer. He has had his 4 weeks off the Sutent, so probalby next week or the weekend, he will be starting his new chemo meds. We have some other issues we will be dealing with while in Houston, but I'm not going to go in to detail at the moment b/c we need factual information first. Sorry, I know this is making you wonder what is going on. Please just keep praying for Alan. These last four weeks have been tough waiting for this appt. on Monday and just knowing and not knowing what is ahead of us.

I've posted a couple of pictures from our Relay 4 Life last night. It was an emotional night for many people. Alan was asked to fire the gun to start the Survivor Race and he also got to carry the tourch. I was able to help with the relay committee this year and I hope that I am able to help every year after this. We had a great time last night. Penny Brown...you did a great job! I'll be posting more pictures of the relay when I get back next week and I'll also be posting on our relay website.

We Love You All!!

Melissa

Sydney is 6!

2009-05-13T14:30:00.003-05:00

Today, my sweet little girl is 6 years old. Wow how time flies. She is such an enjoyment to us. I can't tell you how many times we have people come up to us and say, "Guess what Sydney said or did" and "Where does she get all of that energy!" I wonder that myself. She always has that fun spirit no matter where we are...well, unless it is the dentist. Today, I took a cake to her class and we had a little birthday party for her. The kids sang to her and they were excited to take a break and eat some cake. Sydney has decided for her birthday meal, we are going to eat at Johnny's Pizza with the whole family. I know we will have a good time and she is going to open her gifts then from the family. I'll post pictures later of her birthday day. We are not having her party until June 6th. Too much stuff going on in May, so we pushed it back a little. We are having a Super Mario Birthday party this year. I know...but that's what she wanted!
Happy Birthday Sydney!!!

Meet Jet!

2009-05-12T21:17:00.003-05:00

So, yes, we have a new puppy. Remember Max?? Well, he left a few weeks ago to a new home. Apparently he is a "hog dog" now. Poor Max. The only problem with getting rid of Max was we had to get a new puppy and here he is. He arrived around 10:00 Sunday night. Happy Mother's Day to me!! HA He is a Catahoula which is what Alan has been wanting forever, so his wish is granted and it was FREE!! We think we have decided to name him Jet. Sydney wanted to name him Cupcake!! haha Check out those beautiful blue glass eyes!! We thought about naming him Blue. Just what we need....another Blue in the family! Both of the kids are very excited...mom, on the other hand, is probably not as excited. O well!

My New Car

2009-05-10T20:31:00.005-05:00

Wow, I'm really behind on my postings, but I want to start with a picture of the new family car. Alan and I decided that it was time to invest in something that got great gas mileage since we are making so many trips to Houston and apparently will be making many more. Poor Alan traded in his, pretty much, brand new Toyota Truck, so we could get the Camry. Alan is driving the 4-Runner for a while and I'm driving the new, white Camry. It's bittersweet, but it's just what we needed to do at the moment. I'm really enjoying this car. This is my first new car in 7 years, so yes, I'm very excited!

Let me also throw in there HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! What a wonderful, exhausting, emotional and fun job we mother's tackle daily. Our preacher showed us a wonderful video this morning in church. It touched every mom in the congregation. The tears were flowing, but the video was perfect. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my mother in law, a special Happy 1st Mother's Day to my sister in law Kara with her new twin sons and also to all of my great friends that are mothers! I love you all and thank you for everything!

Ok, here's my new car!

The Jungle Book meets Madagascar!

2009-04-26T21:47:00.007-05:00

So, Saturday the kids, Gigi (my mom) and I headed to Monroe to the Zoo. I have not been to this zoo since I was in kindergarten...so that was ?? years ago. When we finally FOUND the Zoo, we had a blast. I think we saw everything except the Bald Eagle. I have to say if you go, be sure and do the boat ride. It was pretty neat. The kids really enjoyed it. Now, after the zoo...when Carson had his 30 minute nap and we tried to go and eat lunch...that was not fun for us or the other people at the restaurant. HA Lets just say my mom and I had many looks at each other as Carson cried pretty much the rest of the day. But besides that, it was ok. Besides the weather being perfect for an outing, we were also getting out of the house was so Alan could sleep in peace. He is working graveyards. Here are a few pictures.

Alot of the pictures of the animals were taken from the boat.

Have you ever seen a Pelican up close? They are huge!

A Lemar.
Sydney got to feed the giraffe a ice cream cone.

Here is the Peacock that Sydney and Carson chased. I got that on Video. The peacock made a "great escape" to the bushes. This wasn't his first chase.

The King!

The Jaguar. Hummm, no Tiger. I guess Crossett should feel pretty lucky. Now if we can just get that Tiger in a nicer enclosure like these guys have.

I guess I never got a picture of the zebras. Well, I could have posted more pictures of lizards, snakes and bats, but I figured this was enough. Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather.

Houston Update...It's long!

2009-04-21T15:47:00.004-05:00

Soooo, lets start with the good news!
I found some really neat places to shop at in Houston. Alan didn't think it was as neat as I did though, haha! We met up with a friend of mine from High School that lives in the Houston area. I'm sure many of you remember Lindsey Milburn. She and her husband (Brian) and their beautiful daughter met us for lunch Sunday. We had a great visit and we hope to catch up with them again since we will be going back and forth to Houston so much...which brings me to...
The Bad News!
I'm just going to cut straight to it, the Sutent is not working and Alan's cancer is growing back in his lungs. The cancer spot in Alan's left lung has increased in size and there is a new cancer spot in the right lung. The Kidney Cancer has found a new path. I'm not going in to all the technical names and all that b/c it is very confusing. Basically, Alan is off of the Sutent and will start two new drugs in 4 weeks. The news chemo drugs are Nexavar and RAD. Nexavar has been around for a little while, but RAD is something new that our Doctor has actually produced. When Alan started seeing Dr. Amato, Amato had just started a new trial with the Nexavar and RAD with about 120 patients. All 120 patients responded well to the combo drug, but they all also had severe side effects such as complete hair loss, hand/mouth/feet blisters, fatigue...basically pretty physically sick. Feet sores so bad that the patients could not walk and I'm sure hand sores to where they can't hold things, etc, etc. Phase II of the trial is starting soon and Alan is very lucky to even be able to be a part of it. Since Alan has only been on the Sutent, then he will be able to be part of this trial. He will be about 1 of 60 nation wide that will be involved. He will have to be on a pretty strict diet. Unlike the Sutent, Alan will takes these two drugs daily. With the Sutent he would take it for 4 weeks and then off 2 weeks. That helped with the side effects to subside some before starting the 4 weeks of Sutent.

Dr. Amato seemed very disappointed with the news, of course. We were shocked and it defiantly felt like a major hit to the gut. Of course I turned red. We just got our guard down b/c Alan's appt. had been going so well and now this. It's just that never ending roller coaster ride. We just keep praising God for all that he has done for Alan. Unfortunately, these next 6 months are going to be very challenging. Alan might have to be off work again, but we will not know until he starts the new treatment.

Alan's next Houston appointment is May 18th. He will not be on any meds for the next 4 weeks. He has to completely cleanse himself of the Sutent before starting the new drugs. He will have scans. I'm already anxious about these scans b/c, like I already said, he will not be on any meds for the next 4 weeks, so I'm sure we will see an increase in the cancer spots when we go back. Maybe not and I pray we don't, but I'm not letting my guard down anymore.

We love you all soooo much and thank you for your continued prayers. I'm serious, we don't take anything for granted and we know prayer is powerful!
I Will Praise You In This Storm!! What a strong message in this song. That's why I keep it on the top of my playlist.
Melissa

Another Houston Trip

2009-04-17T20:50:00.004-05:00

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know this weekend we will be in Houston. Alan will have the same drill Monday....Get up early, blood work, scans, waiting, Dr. Amato visit (alot of waiting), but it's all worth it! This time we get to leave Saturday, so hopefully the trip will not be so tiring. We just ask that you continue to pray for Alan's healing. God has answered so many prayers for us.

I also want to ask you to pray for a family friend of ours. Their 2 month old son was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. My heart breaks for them. I don't know why, but I just feel like every time I turn around, somebody is being diagnosed. We don't question God's reasoning, but we just pray for that healing hand and we know there is a reason. Here is Blayton Craig's Caring Bridge Site:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/blaytoncraig

Blayton Craig

Easter 2009

2009-04-15T19:16:00.005-05:00

So, I'm a little late with the Easter pictures. Better late than never! We had many different Easter festivities this year, so I'm just going to do a little description under the pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. While we were enjoying our Easter Sunday school lesson, my car was getting hail damage...no biggie though. I was where I needed and wanted to be!

Easter Egg Hunt at Sydney's School. Look, I'm trying to take a "neat" picture like I'm a photographer or something, haha!

Sydney's Kindergarten class ready for the hunt and games.

Hunting eggs at Wee School.

Church Easter Celebration. The kids had a great time and our church put on a great party.

Two happy guys. Carson and Papaw got to ride in the front seat.

No matter where we are there seems to always be a dog and Sydney seems to always become best friends with it!

Thank goodness we got another tractor b/c I don't think we have enough!

Everyone got a new swimsuit!

See, they do love each other!

And...last but not least...The Family. Carson looks like such the "little man" in his Easter outfit. I loved the kids outfits. They were so bright and fun!

We have a 2 year old!

2009-04-05T13:12:00.010-05:00

This past Friday was Carson's 2nd birthday. Man how time flies...when you're having fun..right!?! LOL It just amazes me how different but similar Sydney and Carson are. He is definitely the "boy". He loves his trains, trucks and tractors ALOT!! His favorite word is "tractor". He will say that word 100 times in a day...no joke! Since our town has this "endless" construction going on, Carson knows where all of the tractors are parked around town and he gets pretty upset if you do not drive by them so he can see them. It cracks me up. His birthday party theme was "Tractors" of course. Here are a few...ok alot of pictures from his party Saturday. We had a great time and thank you to all of our friends and family for helping to make his party special. It was also a beautiful day to celebrate his special day.

One early gift Carson got for his birthday was his first hair cut. The first three pictures are a few more of the new hair cut. It's amazing how much it changed his appearance.

Please excuse the mess in the back..:-)

It's party time!

Carson's birthday invitation. It cracks me up that it looks like he is driving the tractor.

These were the party favors...blow up hammers with some candy.

I love this picture of Alan and Carson. They both have the same expression.

Of course I had to get one of Sydney in there. Our little girl turns 6 next month.

This electric screwdriver came with a toy we got Carson. He has already tried to take apart every toy he got for his birthday...I'm in trouble!!

He got this tractor from Nena and Papaw and LOVES IT!!

Gigi and Pops gave him this tractor and he LOVES IT TOO!!

This is my granddad..."Big George". He slept through alot of the gift opening, lol. I don't know how he did it with kids everywhere. It was his nap time apparently and he was not going to miss it.
Here is big George's gift to Carson.

This is Carson's gift from Kayla, Gary and Patty Higgingbotham. We consider them Carson's second family. Kayla is Carson's babysitter and they have all helped us out soooo much this last year and half. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Gary and Kayla with Carson.

Tractors, Tractors and more tractors.

The gangs all here...well most of them. We had a few that were sick.

Summer and Ryder
Gavin pulling Carson. I think they are about 8 days apart in age.

Sydney and Parker. Kami, I don't know if you ever saw this or not. Yeah, they went all over the yard!! Look at those beautiful hair bows (hehe)....and little girls!

Janet got a little stuck leaving our house, so Alan Trent and my dad had to give her a little push. Sorry Janet, I just happen to have my camera in hand, lol.

And finally the family picture. I know, Carson was not looking, but it was either that or a picture of him crying, so I opted for this one.

See, I told you it was long. I just want to say what a wonderful family I have and I am so blessed! We have two beautiful, healthy kids. Just a few fun facts about Carson:

Favorite Word - Tractor

Favorite Food - I'll say pretzels, noodles and anything sweet. He is not my eater.

Favorite Drink - Chocolate Milk ("Choc")

Favorite Movies - Any Thomas the Train movie

Favorite Toy - small trains or tractors he can carry

Favorite Person - Sydney...he loves her...most of the time anyway.

Happy Birthday Carson!!

Carson got a hair cut!

2009-04-02T09:22:00.003-05:00

Finally a post dedicated just to Carson. Carson got his first hair cut. I said before he turned 2 (which is tomorrow) he would get his hair cut. Yesterday was the big day and I have to say that Aunt Christian did a great job and Carson did a great job himself sitting in my lap and being still. These pictures are from my phone. Yes, I forgot to bring my camera. What an awful mother I am. I did get some more pictures when we got home, but now my home PC has a virus so I can't download my pictures yet. And let me just say how ticked I am about my computer. These hackers need to get a real job!! April fools on me...ughhh!! Here are a few pictures and I'm going to be adding birthday party pictures soon, or whenever I get my computer back. O, BTW...we all finally got over the flu and Alan never got it!

The before picture. Man that kids hair is crazy! Carson's hair is curly although you can't really tell in this picture and he has a double crown.

The After...Carson and Aunt Christian. We were going for kind of that middle/spiked look. I told Alan if he had glasses then he would kind of look like that kid in Jerry Maguire, haha! He didn't really want to smile...he was ready to go!!

My little man turns 2 tomorrow. That's cRaZy!! He looks like a little boy and not a baby anymore.

The Flu hit hard!

2009-03-24T13:19:00.002-05:00

Sydney started with it last week, then I got it and now I think Carson has it. This flu stuff is bad and hangs around for a while too. I hope none of you have had to deal with it and if you have then I feel your pain. Thankfully Alan has not come down with it yet (knock on wood). He does not need to get this (no spleen). Anyway, have not had time to post anything lately, but I do have some funny bowling pictures from last weekend I would like to share. We'll see if it happens. Anyway, everyone hang in there through the "sick" season and God Bless!
Melissa

Our 2008 Book

2009-03-15T14:14:00.004-05:00

I wanted to share our 2008 Photo Book with everyone. I finally got it finished up in January and got it in around the first part of February. I give these books as Christmas gifts to Alan's parents and my parents, but I was a little behind on getting it finished up this year...can't imagine why! They are awesome...I love creating them. This is a great item if you just don't have the time to scrapbook. I got alot of my templates from Smilebox and some I created myself. You can view the book via the link below. There are a few mistakes in my book, lol. I wonder if you can find them. Not that I want you to, but I'm sure a few of you will catch them quick! HA Enjoy

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0EauG7Vu1YsnPw

A Nephew Post

2009-03-11T22:11:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the boys. Some picture are from last Tuesday (March 3rd) when Alan went to visit and some are from Saturday (the 7th) when I was able to go and visit. It was so great to see them. Alan actually was able to hold Grant and I got to hold Ethan and feed him, and then he spit up...it was great. Brought back some great memories of our own! Ha The boys seem to be doing pretty well this week and you can catch up on them by visiting The Mixon's blog. Thank you for your prayers for these sweet little babies. We pray for strength for Kara and Michael. They are already amazing parents!

I didn't get alot of pictures while I was there, but I got a great video of Michael changing Grant's diaper. haha

Ok, I think this is Grant.

I know this is Ethan b/c he has the feeding tube going through his mouth.

Alan and Grant

The whole family

Me feeding Ethan his yucky vitamin/milk. He didn't like it and neither did it!

Poor Sydney is about to go crazy that she can't see them yet. Pretty soon she will have three little boys chasing her around and driving her crazy!