Garvan Gardens

Last weekend Sydney, myself and my mother-in-law made a trip to Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs to walk through their amazing light display. If you have never made this trip during Christmas time....you should. We picked the perfect night. It was not raining and it was not too cold. Sydney really enjoyed it. More than what I thought she would. Here are just some of the pictures we took.

Sydney loved all of the waterfalls. That's what she is looking at.

Our Little Singer

The McCone family was asked to do the Advent reading this past Sunday in Church and Mrs. Regina wanted Sydney to sing "Away in a Manger." Here is the video of her singing. Of course she did wonderful in our eyes. I'm so proud of her that she will get up in front of the whole church and sing. I had to do the reading and I got so nervous, I started shaking, lol. I'm not so great at speeches or being in front of a crowd. I hope Sydney continues to sing and not be nervous!(Please scroll to the bottom of my blog and pause the Christmas Music on the Playlist so you can hear Sydney sing. Just click on the pause button on the far left and then come back to the video and push play.)
Merry Christmas

Houston Update

Finally we were able to come home with good news! Alan's scans showed that one of the spots on Alan's lung had decreased in size by 40% and the other by 60%. Thank You God for answering our prayers!!! The best Christmas gift in the world was handed to us yesterday! Dr. Amato was very pleased with Alan's progress. He also still feels that the area by Alan's renal vein and the area on the outer abdominal wall are both just scar tissue. They have not really made any changes in size and if they were tumor then they should have decreased in size since the areas on Alan's lung decreased. That was more great news.

I have really never mentioned the stage of cancer that Alan has, but it was never really told to us either. After finding out that the cancer had metastasized to Alan's lung, he is considered a Stage 4. Yes, that is the highest level and a place you do not want to be at, but we are not looking at that number. We are just looking ahead and prepared to fight whatever comes our way.

While waiting for scans and Dr. appts, you always meet up with other patients of Dr. Amato's. Dr. Amato specializes in Renal Cell Cancer and Prostate Cancer, so all of his patients have something very much in common...the same cancer. While waiting for Alan's scans, we met some very interesting and informative people. One young lady (33) was from Chicago with RCC and there was another couple from St. Louis. This just shows you how wonderful this Dr. is that they would travel that far for him. Amanda, the lady from Chicago gave me a very neat website to check out:
http://www.imermanangels.org/
This is a great website for anyone dealing with cancer...any type of cancer.
There is also another website I found out about, but it is still in the works. All proceeds for this website will go to Dr. Amato's research and help to purchase supplies he might need.
http://www.southwestcancerassociation.org/
I'm sure I'll be posting when this website is up and running. I'm really excited about this. You guys know how I love to be involved and especially when it benefits my loved ones. I have been praying for the right foundation to donate to and it basically just fell in my lap. See how God works!

We also found out that the Houston Marathon will be going on when we go back for Alan's next appt. which is January 19. The Marathon is the 18th. Dr. Amato and some of his patients run this, so we might try and make it to cheer them on. Maybe one year Alan and I can participate...hehe. We'll see!!

Thanks again to all of our friends and family and most of all to our Lord. We love you all.
God is Great!

Off to Houston!

Alan and I will be heading to Houston Sunday. This will be Alan's first check up after his first round of Sutent. He will have blood work and scans done Monday morning and then we will meet with Dr. Amato after all of that to review the scans. We have prayed sooooo hard for good news this trip. We really do not know what to expect, but it would really be wonderful if the cancer had completely disappeared from Alan's lung. That would be the best Christmas gift anyone could give us! We hope to be finished up around lunch time and we are planning on coming home Monday also...unless something changes...HA! We just ask that you pray for us during our trip and on Monday for good news. Thank you again to everyone for your support and thoughtfulness. We could not get through all of this without our wonderful friends and family. We love you!

Southern and Sassy on Etsy.com

I wanted to show you guys my new ornaments I got for our family this year. I found these ladies, Susan and Casey, on Etsy. Their store, Southern and Sassy, is located on Etsy.com. I knew when I saw what they had to offer, they were definitely what I was looking for. I love anything hand painted and they worked with me on all of the designs and my colors. Here are the finished products and I could not be any happier! This was pretty much the only new items I added to my Christmas collection this year, but this was all I needed... our yearly ornaments. I recommend these ladies to anyone that is looking for something hand painted. Please check out their store. They do amazing work!
So, I guess consider this my first addition to the "Tour of Homes", lol. Come on girls...are ya'll going to play this game with me??? :-)

***Pictures really do not do these ornaments justice***

Tour of Homes...Blog Style!

Ok, this thought came to me today when I was listening to my Christmas music and just thinking about Christmas and how everyone loves to decorate for Christmas. I'm inviting anyone that would like to be a part of the "Tour of Homes...Blog Style" to post your favorite Christmas decoration(s) from your home on your blog. I always love to see what others are doing with their decorations and I think this would be a fun way to see. If you would like to participate but do not have a blog, you are more than welcome to post your pictures on my blog. All you have to do is email me your pictures (mmccone@alltel.net). Please do not think of this as being conceited or showing off. I just think this is a fun way to see how others decorate, or how others incorporate special Christmas traditions. Think of it as our own "Christmas Special" on HGTV, lol. So, here is the run down:

1. Take pictures of your favorite Christmas decoration or tradition.
2. Leave a comment under this post letting others know you are participating so they can check out your blog.
3. Post your pictures and a description. If you want to share your secrets, we would love to hear them!
4. If you want to label your post as "Tour of Homes", that is fine or whatever you want.
5. Please post by December 25th.

Thanks you guys. I think this will be fun. This is for anyone that views this blog or just happens to come across it.

My Music

I love music and I love to sing. I'm sure you can tell that when you visit my blog and I always have music playing...;-) I have added a few Christmas jingles to my playlist that I hope you enjoy. I have also added a song by Josh Groban titled "Thankful". I love this song! We all have so much to be thankful for. This time of the year it really hits home just how blessed my family is and how thankful I am to have the things that I do and the wonderful family and friends I do. Please remember the families that are not as fortunate and pray for them and maybe even give to them this Holiday season. I will also ask you to continue to pray for my family and for Alan's healing.
Love and Prayers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Game On!

Well, it's true, Alan has had a pretty crummy past few months (to put it nicely), but his hunting skills are still working great. These are his "prizes" from the past two weeks...two 8 points and a bobcat. Alan is doing pretty good. He is about to start his third week of Sutent. He is feeling some side effects that just started these past few days. Each day it seems to be something different. We prayed so hard that he would not have to deal with this, but maybe this means it is doing what we need it to do. Kind of like being pregnant and being sick, they say the sicker you are the healthier your baby is...the old wives tale. Of course, I had to throw a few of Sydney and Carson in there too. Carson is just getting over Strep with the rash. Yes, I know...is he ever well. I think he was completely well for 4 days a week ago, but he is doing better. It's just that time of the year when my kids just seem to stay sick. Sydney is doing great though!

And no, Alan did not lift these deer by himself. My dad was there for one deer and Mr. Steve Shields was there for the other. He is still not able to lift much weight.

30 lb. cat

29 lb. kid!

Houston's Medical Center

Here are a few pictures I took of the Medical Center. This area is made up of 13 hospitals, 2 specialty institutions, 2 medical schools, 4 nursing schools and a few other health care related career areas. This places is on 1100 acres. It's huge. It looks like a downtown area in a large city, but as you can see, it's not downtown. There is a picture below of downtown Houston as well. The only areas we did not get to see was MD Anderson. It is not directly on the main street that most of the hospitals are located on, but we will defiantly check it out when we go back in December. I'll take a picture, lol. All of these pictures were taken inside, so there might be a little glare. Of course, these pictures do not do this place justice. There are still buildings behind these, but this is just the main street that I could get pictures from.

This is the sky walk that connects Memorial Hermann Hospital to MH Plaza. This is where I took most of these pictures.

I took this picture standing in the sky walk. Every building you see here is either a hospital or something I mentioned above. That very last building you see at the end in the middle is Texas Children's. It was huge!! I know it doesn't look like it in the pictures, but believe me...it was huge. You can see all of the cranes on top of the buildings. This place is still growing.

Another picture taken from the sky walk. Most of these buildings are related to Methodist.

This is a side view of Memorial Hermann. I never did get a front view...very pretty though. This is also a very large hospital. We saw alot of air traffic coming to this hospital during our waiting.

This is downtown Houston. I took this picture from the 16th floor of Hermann Plaza while waiting for Alan to have scans done. This is a really neat city, but we just didn't get to check out any of the "attraction areas." By the time we had a day of walking waiting, scans, waiting, Dr. appt, waiting...waiting some more, we were worn out and just wanted to grab something to eat and crash.

Houston Update

We got back from Houston around 8pm last night. These past three days have been long and tiring, but we survived. We met an amazing man...Dr. Amato. He has been working with RCC patients since the 80's. He has been and still is involved in many trials and production of different drugs for RCC. He is a great guy and very much down to earth. He spent alot of time talking to Alan and I. We are extremely happy that he will be handling Alan's plan. Probably for at least the next year or so Alan will be in the care of Dr. Amato. Alan will be in Houston for appts. every 5-6 weeks for the first 6 months. Each one of these appts. will include scans and blood work.

Let's start with the bad news.
While we were in Houston, Alan had actually 2 CT scans done. The first one was not done to Dr. Amato's liking (long story), so we did another one Wednesday morning. The second scan did confirm that there are two nodules in Alan's lower left lung where the cancer has spread. This is not lung cancer. It is the RCC that has spread to the lungs. It is not uncommon for it to spread to the lungs since it is a vascular cancer. It can also spread to the brain and this is why Alan will have MRI's of his brain too. We have questioned these areas from the beginning, but some of the Dr. in LR felt like it was probably nothing, but Dr. Amato says they have grown since the PET scan. This was a big blow. It was basically like hearing it all over again that Alan has cancer. These areas are small, but there are actually a total of 5 areas on the lungs that will have to be monitored. Two that are obvious, but the other 3 are about freckle size. We just take a deep breath and again keep praying.

The Good News!
The area on the outer left side of Alan's abdominal wall that was questionable, Dr. Amato feels pretty certain that is nothing to be concerned about. He does not see a mass in that area and thinks that it is just scar tissue and post op. The second area of concern was deep inside of Alan right around where the renal vien was (left side). This area had the appearance of tumor, but after looking at the scans we had done in Houston, Dr. Amato also felt like that was just inflammation or post op surgery tissue. He started to order a biopsy of this area, but it was just too risky. There is a blood vessel right beside it and if they hit it, then there is no was for them to make it stop bleeding. This questionable area also had staples all in it, so it is just hard to imagine that the surgeon put staples all in a tumor like that. These spots will still be monitored, but we feel alot better about these areas.

Dr. Amato showed Alan and I all of the scans, including the PET scan which we had not seen. Again, he was great and showed us everything and explained everything as we went through the scans. It defiantly helped to understand more after seeing them.

For Alan's treatment plan, he will start the Sutent Monday. Dr. Amato wants to start him on this first and if it does not do what it should, there are back up drugs. Surgery is also an option for the lungs, but we hope it does not come to that. There are side effects to the Sutent. Basically the same type of side effects that chemo would have. The drug works in cycles. Alan will take the pill daily for 4 weeks and then off for 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks off, hopefully Alan's side effects will diminish and he will be back up for the next round of pills. That is why they give patients the 2 weeks off. At the moment, Alan will be on this drug indefinitely.

I know there is more to type about, but I'm off work today to try and catch up around this house and just take a breath, but I'm also about to take Carson back to the Dr. This little man just can't seem to get well. I'm going to post some pictures later of the Medical Center in Houston. Have any of you ever been to this? It was crazy. I had to take pictures. Really an amazing place that is actually growing. Hopefully I'll post those tonight.

Just remember us in your prayers. I know everyone is. Just when we think things are looking up, then something else comes along. We'll get through this and Alan will live a healthy life again soon.

To Houston We Will Go!

Quick recap of last weeks....thought we were starting radiation Monday, but that changed, went to see Dr. Beck Thursday thinking we were starting Sutent, but that changed also.

When we went for our appt. with Dr. Beck, he told Alan that he wanted to send him to Houston to see Dr. Robert Amato. He specializes in RCC and apparently he is #1 in his field in the states. So of course, that is where we want to be. Dr. Beck basically told Alan that yes, he could start him on the Sutent and see how it does and if Alan was a lot older then that is exactly what he would do, but Dr. Beck wants Alan to see Dr. Amato and hopefully he can get a great plan made up for Alan. Dr. Beck can still treat Alan in Little Rock after we get a plan, but he just would rather Dr. Amato get Alan's plan together. Dr. Amato does many interesting test and trials with RCC patients. Can you imagine the look on mine and Alan's face when he said Houston. We just weren't expecting that one. Again, we will go wherever we have to, but it was just another one of those unexpected moments in the crazy roller coaster ride. Dr. Beck said that Dr. Amato might want to do a biopsy of the questionable areas in Alan. Alan's Drs. in LR have not really wanted to do that because of the risk, but Dr. Amato might do it. We just don't have any idea what to expect. All we do know is that we have an appt. at 1:00 in Houston on Monday. Can you believe we got in that quick. No, we are not going to MD Anderson. We will be going to Memorial Herman Hospital. This is the hospital that Dr. Amato is associated with. We will leave tomorrow to head to Houston. The nurse said to plan to stay for 3 days, so I'm planning for 5..:-). Please remember us during our travels and remember our family and our kids. Sydney is really being strong thru all of this and has pretty much just come to terms with our situation.