March 31-Chemo

Hello to everyone. Mark has had a rough day. He's been pretty sick and still throwing up a lot, but it doesn't seem as bad as last time. He's just extremely miserable. He didn't make it in to teach today. He will get unhooked from the chemo tomorrow around 1:00 pm, so hopefully he will start feeling better quickly after that. It makes you feel so helpless watching him suffer and not being able to help.

Thanks so much Jason and Frank for getting our boys to and from practice tonight. That was a life saver. We really appreciate the help more than you know.

The kids are doing well. They hate seeing their dad sick like this and seem to be sad during the chemo times, which is understandable. Emily told Mark on Monday before he went in for chemo, "I hope they give you the right medicine this time". She is very sweet.

Keep Mark in your prayers. We certainly had an answered one Monday when the CEA came back lower. God bless!!!

March 30-Chemo

Good news today. Mark's CEA number came down to 16. We were glad to get that news this morning. It had been steadily climbing without the leukovorin and now that Mark is back on the medicine and not reacting to it, the number has fallen. It was so good to hear. We hope that with continued use, the number continues to fall. His previous CEA number was 22.

Mark got the infusion today without any complication. He is totally wiped out and has slept since we've been home from the infusion center which is probably a good thing. The last round started this way and once he woke up, he vomited nonstop until he got unhooked Wednesday afternoon. I hope that doesn't happen this time. We will see.

Both the boys' baseball tournaments got cancelled last weekend and we got some much needed rest. Calen and I mowed and did yard work yesterday and today and we're both exhausted. We have so many bees this year. I'm not sure why, but they can be really intimidating!!!!

As always, thanks for all the support. Keep Mark in your thoughts and prayers. God bless!!!!!

March 23

Hello. Mark is back to doing well again. Sorry for the delay in updates. He didn't start feeling well until today really. He got unhooked Wednesday and that was a rough day. Thursday was rough, but he started eating and drinking a little and felt like he would start rebounding. We had talked about taking the kids somewhere Friday and Saturday for Spring Break since we hadn't done anything for them and just went to Europe, so we were talking Nashville or Atlanta for Six Flags or the aquarium or something. However, I get a call Thursday at work from Mark asking if I was up for DisneyWorld. (Yes, we briefly discussed it a month or so ago, but decided it would be too much of a trip in too short a time frame especially with Mark just coming off chemo). I guess he wasn't listening to that part.

Mark had gotten online and looked up hotels and booked one and decided we would drive through the night when I got off Thursday night and spend all day Friday and Saturday in the parks and drive home Sunday. It was fun, but exhausting. I got home from work around 7pm since I was trying to finish up all of the stuff left over from the week I had taken off for Europe. We packed and left here around 1am. I drove through Gainsville and almost to Ocala when Mark took over the driving. He got us to DisneyWorld. It was a brutal trip for both of us. He was feeling awful from the chemo still and somehow made it all day and I was living on one hour sleep and made it, too. The kids had a blast. We were glad to see the hotel room that night and crashed hard. We went full force Saturday as well. Mark did a little better, but was still pretty beat. He said when we got home last night he felt like someone had beaten him up. He rebounded well, because he was up and at work today and said he felt good. It's amazing what a good night's sleep in your own bed will do.

We are praying that this next CEA is LOW, LOW, LOW!!!! (or at least lower than the last several).

The kids are missing their grandparents who stayed with them while we were in Europe. The talk nonstop about granny and granddad. They are looking forward to you guys coming again in a few weeks.

God bless!!!!

March 18-Chemo

Hello. Mark has not had a good round of chemo. He has been very sick and constantly throwing up throughout the three days. It was nice that he slept most of the first day, or I'm afraid he would have been constantly throwing up then as well. He got unhooked from the infusion this afternoon, so we are hoping the effects start wearing off soon. He has thrown up several times just since I've been home from work. He hasn't kept anything down and is getting dehydrated. He just feels miserable and I feel helpless in that I can't do a thing for him.

The good news is that the leukovorin was successful this time. Hopefully this nausea and vomiting won't be a new thing he has to deal with. The pills haven't worked at all. Maybe they came come up with something better for him next round. We will definitely talk to them about it.

We didn't do a CEA number this time, but will get it next time. Please pray that it comes back lower. It is so awful to see Mark going through all of this torment and I don't know that we can stand any bad news after having him put up with this. It is just not any fun!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the support. God bless!!!!!

March 16-Chemo

Mark had his chemo infusion today. He did well and yes, he had the leukovorin. He did well through it with no reaction. They gave him a lot of premedications to avoid reaction and they made him very tired. He slept through the infusion and is still sleeping tonight. He was stumbling out of the infusion center and I thought he might fall. He was very sedated. I was so happy to know that he didn't react to this new leukovorin and we may now be on a good journey again.

We thoroughly enjoyed the final part of our Europe trip. Mark began feeling great and was able to hold his own by the end. He enjoyed Vienna. We went to a Mozart and Strauss concert in Mozart's old apartment which they're turned into a concert hall. It was very charming and the music was great. Mark LOVED it and I am not being silly this time. It was not like the opera experience at all. He really does like classical music. We took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed ourselves.

We toured Sigmund Freud's house which was quite interesting. It was a nice museum. I did the Albertina Art museum with Linda while the guys were in meetings one day and enjoyed the paintings. It was such a great trip.

Excuse my spelling. I already got called out on it once earlier in the week. Sorry!!!! I apologize if I am not the best. I usually am rushed to type anything and don't always proof if you can tell.

Please keep Mark in your thoughts and prayers. He has a tough week ahead with this chemo round. He got the leukovorin which always makes the chemo more potent and the new agent seems to make him a little sicker than the oxaliplatin did, so we will see. God bless!!!

March 11 (I think)

Hello to all. We are enjoying our trip in Europe. We made it to Bratislava yesterday evening. It is much more modernized than I thought. The hotel is nice and new. We will get to explore the city more today with a walking tour and some various other outings. Budapest was nice. Ask Mark about the Opera. I enjoyed it.

He is feeling much better now and is able to enjoy the trip. We found a neat Irish Pub after dinner last night and had a good time.

We miss the kids. The trip is half way through. We have a couple of days here and then on to Vienna, Austria.

Continue to pray for Mark. God bless!!!

March 10

Hello from Budapest, Hungary. It is beautiful here and we are having a great time. Mark was deathly ill on the trip over here and I literally did not think he would make the plane rides. He looked green and was feeling awful. I wanted to just cancel the trip, but he wanted to go. He was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sick!!!!!!! It was awful. When we finally arrived, we got here at 3 am our time which was 10 am their time. We didn't sleep any and had a full day planned with tours etc so that we could sleep that night and help get used to their time and stop the jet lag. It was brutal the first day. Of course Mark went straight to bed and slept the first day and didn't get to enjoy the city until day number 2. He is now much better and starting to enjoy himself. He is rehydrating and getting back to himself. It was certainly hard to sleep. The food is different, but good. We've tried the Hungarian beers and wines and went to the Turkish Bath houses. That was interesting, but fun. We've done a lot of shopping. They have 2 beautiful cathedrals and we toured them.

We leave Budapest today and travel to Slovachia and stay in Brataslava for the next several days before we travel to Austria and stay in Vienna. So far the trip has been a lot of fun.

Take care and pray for Mark's healing. He has a hard time keeping up with the tours and group. He gets short of breath walking up the stairs and just trying to keep with everyone is hard. He is very deconditioned. God bless!!!

Mar 4

Hello to all. Mark is doing much better. He has been having some tummy trouble the last few nights and we are hoping that he doesn't have issues on the plane ride tomorrow. We leave in the morning for Europe. It has certainly been a hectic week getting everything done and ready. We didn't even start packing until tonight and aren't finished yet. It will be a late night. Hopefully we'll get some sleep on the plane. I've been coughing and feeling a little puny myself this week. I finally broke down and got a steroid shot in my office this week so I could keep going and started some antibiotics. We should be a lot of fun to travel with. haha

We are looking forward to the trip. We have opera tickets for Budapest, but I'm not sure which opera we're seeing. I plan to take a lot of pictures.

Mark's parents have been here all week and I'm not sure we would have made it without them. We've had forgotten lunch boxes, dentist appointments and all sorts of excitement. I hope they're not standing at the door with their bags packed ready to leave when we get back. They will be busy with both of the boys' practice and game schedules and Emily is just plain busy.

Mark will be due for chemo when we return. Thanks to all of you for the continued prayers. Pray that we have safe travel and that this next CEA marker is good. Mark will be getting the new drug next time and we pray that he will not react this time. He is on medications now to help prevent that. Pray, pray, pray. God bless!!!!

Mar 1-Colton's birthday

Hello to all. Mark is feeling better. He rebounded and has been doing much better and we are thankful for that. He feels a little tired, but for the most part is doing his usual stuff. He is practicing baseball and coaching.

Colton's baseball team was scheduled for their first tourament this weekend, but it got rained and snowed out, so they cancelled it. We quickly planned a last minute birthday party for Colton and let him invite a few friends to go to Columbus Saturday night for the hockey game. We took 2 cars. Mark's parents made it into town and went with us. We all had a good time and the Cottonmouths won the game. The boys had a sleepover and we were up late. They woke to snow and we couldn't keep them inside. They were running in and out all morning and I ended up steam cleaning the carpet this afternoon. It was a mess, but worth it.

This will be a busy week for us. Mark has to finish grading projects and teaches on Tuesday and Thursday. I will work all week and we will leave for our trip on Friday. Mark's parents will take over getting the kids to school, practices and all of their activities, so they will be extremely busy while we are gone.

Last week during Mark's infusion they did another cancer marker to see what his level was before staring the new regimen (the one he got last time). It was a little higher again at 22. Please pray that the new regimen that Mark started will help treat the cancer and get the marker back to normal. Pray for all of our cancer buddies out there fighting the fight. God bless!!!!