August 27

Hello everyone. Good news to share. Mark had both of his urology tests this week and he passed both with flying colors. He will not need any more follow ups unless he develops problems. YEAH!!! One less thing to worry about. We were glad to get the news.

We are still waiting to hear from Pittsburgh on Mark's tests from last week. Yes it is another mail saga. We decided to use the Post Office Express Mail service since UPS messed up severely the last 2 times we've used them (despite charging an obscene amount of money and not delivering as promised overnight or even that WEEK!!!!). We felt like a change needed to be made, so we thought we'd try the good old postal service. I sent the package Friday and specified that I DID NOT want the package delivered Saturday as there would be no one there in the office to receive the mail, but wanted it delivered MONDAY. They wrote it on the receipt and took my money with a smile and stamped my package. Of course, I get a notice that they could not deliver the package Saturday because there wasn't anyone there for delivery (DUH!!!!!) and that Dr. Bartlett's office will now have to pick up the package from the post office or they will send it back to me after 5 days. I tried to get them to redeliver the package since they clearly messed up, but they'll hear nothing of it. Lesson learned!!!! I guess we'll have to try good old FedEx next time. Surely there is someone out there who can deliver with competence. So far we are 3 for 3 with not getting records there. It is very frustrating!!!!!! I don't know when they'll get the records. I guess eventually they'll wind up in the right place.

We've been very busy. Mark is enjoying being back in the classroom and back to work. He goes to watch the end of Calen's football practice every day as well and enjoys that. Colton will start football practices this week and Emily is still doing her ballet and tumbling classes. Of course this will be the first big football weekend for both Auburn and Oklahoma. We will be tailgating for the Auburn game. Unfortunately Oklahoma will not be on television (they are playing Chatanooga-doesn't sound like much of a game, but it would still be nice to get to see our crimson and cream play their season opener).

Thanks again to everyone who continues to pray and support us. We have come so far and couldn't have done it without all the love and support and the many prayers that are offered up each day. God bless!!!!

August 20

Hello everyone. Mark had his test this morning. We did not get the great news we were hoping for. He still has the fistula or leak from the colon. It has gotten a little smaller since the last study. They also found another fistula since the last study which was very tiny. I am not sure why he would have formed another one. This is common in people who have had radiation to their tissues, but he has not. I don't know if it is a side effect of the intraperitoneal chemotherapy. It can also be pretty toxic. Anyway, it hasn't totally healed as we had hoped and the chances of reversal soon have gone out the window. That is okay. We would rather be safe than do something to jeopardize Mark's health at this time.

We will send the films off to Pittsburgh again and wait on their opinion as to our next step. We may end up proceding with chemo before the reversal after all. Not sure yet if this is what they'll say, I am only speculating.

Mark's mother had her colonoscopy today. It was normal and we were all glad to hear that. His dad's test will be next week and then the whole family will have been tested.

Keep praying for healing and strength. It has done wonders for Mark this far and we have seen a miracle. God bless you all!!!

August 19

Hello to all. It has been a busy week so far. Mark's first day back in the classroom was today. It was exciting for us all. Emily wished him well "in school" on her way out this morning. It was cute. I have a tradition where I take everyone's picture as they are leaving home the first day of school every year. I keep all of them. I threatened Mark today that I was going to take his picture on his first day of school. He just rolled his eyes at me and then took a long time getting dressed so that I had to leave before he did. I think it was on purpose. Oh well....we were all excited anyway that Mark was back in the classroom today. He said it felt good.

Tomorrow is the big test day with the gastrograffin enema. We have been saying a lot of prayers that there is no leak present so we can get the ileostomy reversed. Mark is really looking forward to getting things back to normal in that regard. Mark's mother, Kathy, is also having her colonoscopy tomorrow. Hopefully that will be good news as well.

I was looking at pictures today that we took of Mark the day after surgery in Pittsburgh. It is amazing to see how swollen he looks. The description of Jabba the Hut was pretty accurate. Now that he is better, I may have to figure out how to post those pictures on the site for everyone to get chuckle out of. He was so swollen. WOW!!!!!

Thanks again for the continued support. God bless!!!

August 17

Hello everyone. We had a nice and relaxing weekend. We finished painting the back porch ceiling. It looks really good and we moved all the patio furniture back onto the patio. I'm sure the neighbors are all happy now. haha

Mark's next test will be Wednesday morning. This will be the one that determines whether or not the area of the colon is healed and "leak proof" so that we can go back to Pittsburgh and reverse the ileostomy. We will pray very hard this week that there are no leaks there. We will then have to wait on word from Pittsburgh and hopefully all things will be a go for surgery, but I am going to just take it one step at a time. Mark was also scheduled for a urology test that same morning, so I think he will have to reschedule that one.

Mark's first day back in the classroom teaching will be Tuesday. He is excited. It has been a while since he last taught and this is a big and welcomed change for him. We have been looking forward to the day he could get back to teaching and it is now just ahead.

The kids all did well this week. The boys both survived their first week of school and Calen his first week of after school football practice. Emily totally loved her ballet and tumbling classes. She learned to plia' with her heels together and feet out. She says her "feet don't like each other and have to make a triangle". I am sure that is how the instructor explained it because it is all she says over and over. She keeps practicing. It is cute.

God bless!!!!

August 15

Hello to all. Mark and I had a nice anniversary. It was our 15th wedding anniversary yesterday. Mark sent roses to me at work and then took me out for dinner last night. It was a good evening and I think we both enjoyed it. It was low key and relaxing. Mark's parents came in from New Orleans to get a few things they left behind and agreed to watch the kids for us, so it was perfect timing. We spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics and stayed up late watching the gymnastics. What can I say, we're nerds.

We are waiting to get Mark's next test date. Hopefully this will take place in the next week or two and we'll be doing surgery in September we hope. We will see how things play out. We've learned not to get too anxious about how quickly things move, as they don't always progress as quickly as we'd like. We just feel blessed that Mark continues to do so well and having this break from chemo has been good. I am a little anxious to get moving as I think too long of a break is not going to be a good thing. Yes, I am paranoid. I can't help myself.

Thanks again for the support, prayers and well wishes. God bless!!!

August 13

We have finally gotten word from Pittsburgh. Dr. Bartlett has looked at Mark's CT scans and was quite pleased with what he saw. They really didn't feel there was a fluid collection there at all. They were also glad to hear that Mark is doing so well. They want to plan another gastrograffin enema test before scheduling the reversal surgery just to make sure everything has healed up and there are no leaks present. We can schedule that whenever, so we will probably get moving on that test soon.

Mark also had an appointment to follow up with the urologist today and they want to do a couple of more tests as well. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction and we are pleased.

Tomorrow we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Time has certainly flown on that one. WOW!!!! It is exciting that we are in a place that we can enjoy spending time together. Things could have been very different for this one. Mark could have been on chemo or still recovering from surgery, so it really couldn't have worked out better for us. I know schedules still remain busy with the kids and school, homework, football practice, etc, but hopefully we'll be able to spend some quality time in the evening together after the kids are in bed.

Thanks to all of you for supporting us. God bless!!!

Aug 10

Still no news from Pittsburgh thus no updates on the blog. Sorry I've been a slacker this week. We found out Dr. Bartlett's PA Heather is on vacation and Mark's test has been sitting on Dr. Bartlett's desk not being looked at. She pretty much keeps him in line and on track and lets him know what to do, who to see, etc. It was a little frustrating for us when we found this out, but certainly explained a lot. Hopefully we hear something early this week.

The kids start school in the morning and both boys are excited about it. Colton is a 3rd grader and Calen a 7th grader on the Bobcats team at Drake. Emily is just thrilled that her ballet shoes came in and her first class is on Tuesday.

I will let you know when we hear from Pittsburgh. Mark looks great. He saw Dr. Farmer Friday and she was thrilled with the way he looked. His weight is up to 180 lbs. He is out walking 3 miles most days of the week. He still has some endurance issues, but they are quickly becoming a thing of the past. His neuropathy seems to be the only lingering thing that may not pass.

Thanks so much to all of you who have been so supportive of us through this. God bless!!!

Aug 4

Well, still no news. We found out today that the films we overnighted Thursday via UPS just arrived this morning at 10:30am. I guess UPS forgot what overnight meant. I think we will chose another company next time. This is twice now that they've messed up delivery. It does explain the lack of communication from Pittsburgh. They just received the films. We will hope that they had a chance to review them this evening and can get with us tomorrow on their thoughts and plans for Mark's next surgery. We will wait patiently for word and update when we know something.

Life is slowly getting back to normal for us. Mark and I have started back on our nightly walks and have progressed to almost our full 3 miles. His appetite is much better and he is going in to the office and focusing on work. His stamina still has a long way to go, but trust me this is huge progress. We feel very blessed and thankful for these last few weeks. It will really stink when Mark has to resume the chemo schedule and have the every other week of feeling like crap again. We will try to enjoy this while it lasts.

Continue to pray for healing and a cure. God bless!!!

Aug 3

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. We were hoping to have heard something from Pittsburgh on Mark's test on Friday, but as you can tell by the lack of update, we did not. Hopefully Monday will bring us the news we've been waiting on. It will at least let us know which way we are going. We were really hoping they would be able to do Mark's ileostomy reversal surgery before his semester started at Auburn. I don't know that it will be an option at this point, but we will see.

Mark is feeling better everyday. He had a little tummy ache over the weekend. I'm not sure if it was just a bug going around or what. We went out and walked in the neighborhood just shy of 3 miles tonight which was a killer with this humidity.

The kids have one more week before school starts and it will be good to get them back into a routine. Emily starts ballet and tumbling classes next week. We ordered her ballet shoes, so we are hoping they come in time for class.

Thanks again for all the support. God bless!!!