Nov 30

Hello. Mark is hanging in there. He hasn't been out of bed except to use the restroom in the last week. We did not go to the Cancer Center for treatment today. He has decided to stop treatments. Hospice has been out and visited with us. They have gotten a more intense dose of pain medication from Dr. Farmer in an attempt to make Mark more comfortable so that he doesn't experience much pain. He hasn't eaten anything to mention in the last week either. He asked for some sushi for lunch and we were all impressed. Kathy and I went out in search of sushi today. Of course, Juliana Tokyos, Shoguns and Mandarin House were all closed. We drove to South College and tried Fuji and the sushi was really good there. We spread it all out across our bed and Kathy, Brent, Matt, Mark and I all had a sushi picnic this afternoon. It was kind of fun.

Mark has been progressively getting weaker and losing weight. He is having difficulty this afternoon holding his water glass up to drink which is new.

Mark hasn't gotten up and out of bed for most of the week. He can't tolerate much noise, light or motion. Calen came back last night and sat with his dad and they talked about baseball tryouts and just visited. After Calen went to bed, Mark told me he wanted to start talking with the kids tonight to start saying his goodbyes to them. He cried when he talked about Emily because he said that she wouldn't even remember him when she grew up. It just kills me to have to go through this. I don't want to say goodbye. I don't want the kids to have to say goodbye. I'd rather scream or punch something, but of course that doesn't change things. I know that God has a reason, but I feel selfish and want to keep Mark here with me.

Please continue to pray for Mark and all of those battling this illness. Pray for the Parker family who is going back to MD Anderson this week for another round of tests. As always, God bless!!!!!