Back from Houston

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

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

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!

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

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

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!!