Beach Break!

Well last week our kids got the whole week off from school for fall break, so we decided to take off for a day trip to the beach.  I know it may sound crazy to some folk, but Grace desperately wanted to see the ocean, so we took her.  I am happy to report that we had a wonderful trip and really enjoyed our time together as a family.  We did not see any attractions, but spent the day walking and playing on the beach and then the rest of the evening in the heated pool .  We kept with vacation tradition this time and ordered in pizza Friday night and then we were all so tired we crashed out before 10.  I wished we could have stayed an extra day, but we had our annual church fall festival on Saturday so we had to head back home. Before we left we stopped off at Mammy's kitchen for breakfast. The food was fantastic and to make it even better someone took care of paying for our meal, what a blessing.  We stopped off at a place called the Berry Patch for ice cream and a bathroom break about half way home and then we headed straight for our church.  It was so much fun seeing our church family and the kids really enjoyed the games.  I have to admit today I am just slap give out, but the weekend was wonderful.  Tomorrow we face heading back into the hospital for our daughter's 4th chemo treatment. My emotions are always mixed about it, on one hand I dread it and on the other I know it just puts us one step closer to beating this cancer. 

"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

A Break from our Battle: A day at the fair

First off I will give y'all just a little update: My daughter is doing very well in her battle against this cancer. She has just recently completed her third round of chemo, like the champ she is and is getting a few days off.  It seems that we have adjusted well to the new medication she is having to take and are hoping to be off of it in a few weeks.

We decided to take a break form everything and go out to our local fair today. It was so much fun spending time with the girls. We watched a magic show, a tractor pull and my favorite, the pig races.  We got to ride a few rides, but mostly we just ate. We got to eat nachos with cheese, ribbon fries, chocolate chili flavored ice cream and a Krispy Kreme burger. In case you wonder it is a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and pickles with two doughnuts as the buns. It was so good!!

We really enjoyed being able to go out and spend some time together and get away from everything for a while. You don't really think about how much time you spend going and doing when you have a sick child. It is always a doctor appointment, blood work or something on your mind. We can never really plan to go anywhere because you just don't know what is going to happen. Thank God for allowing us to have some much needed family time today! Now it is time to snuggle up with my babies and watch a little Star Trek before bed.

And the battle rages on!

Man oh man what a crazy last couple of weeks it has been for us, I will try to catch y'all up as best as I can.  Last Wednesday we went to the hospital for our daughters scans to get idea of how the cancer is doing.  We hadn't been home no time at all when they called and told us to come back. They had found a blood clot in one of her main arteries and she needed to get back as soon as possible.  Let me tell you hearing the words "blood clot" is almost as scary as hearing the word cancer.  I rushed around to get everything together and took off to the hospital.  We ended up with a two day stay and having to be on blood thinner, but everything seems to be going well.  We went back in this week for our regular chemo treatment (round #3) and was told by her oncologist she will not need any radiation. Oh my word, let me tell you, I was one happy mama.  All I could do was just praise  the Lord for that good news, but God wasn't done with us yet. The dr. then told us that after consulting with some other oncologists they had come to the conclusion that she was only going to need 4 rounds of chemo in total and we had already finished two. It was so good to hear that we may be done with these chemo treatments by Thanksgiving. Let me tell you it took a couple of seconds for that to sink in!!  God just kept blessing us yesterday and sending us positive and encouraging news.  As I sat here at the hospital writing this blog I can't  help but think about how much our lives have changed over the last couple of months.  I have decided to reflect back on that in a later blog, after she has beat her cancer, and I know she is going to beat it. God has been so good to us, not only in her healing, but also in how he has used our family, friends and church family to help us out during this time. I am so glad we have had them to support us. I am going to end on that note and stop to watch The Phantom of the Opera with my daughter. 

"That's my two cents worth, what's yours?"