Benefit for Uncle Bill

Some friends and co-workers of Uncle Bill and Aunt Cindy have organized a fund raiser to be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008. For those who don't know my Uncle Bill, he suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. ALS, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that attacks speech, motor function, swallowing, and breathing eventually overcoming the patient. It will be held at St. Mary's School in Metamora. Their address is 400 W. Chatham Street, Metamora, IL, 61548. For a map of the area click here. Please click here or on the picture for further detail (you can also click on the picture once the window is open to enlarge it.)

The Best Days Are The Days That Babies Are Born

Pictured above is Blake and Lisa Shamrock's newest addition to their family, Cadyn Alan Shamrock. Cadyn was born today and 1:36PM and he weighed 10 lbs. 2 oz! He joins big brother Tyler at home. He is the second grandchild for Aunt Kathy and Uncle Al. Congratulations, Blake and Lisa!

Speaking of Aunt Kathy, she is marching through chemotherapy like a pro. This cancer business is full of surprises, but she is taking this in stride. She had a rough week after the first treatment, but the second, a little over a week ago has barely phased her. She and Uncle Al spend the Easter Holiday in San Marcos with daughter, Beth Ann. Here's to half down, two more to go!

Mom continues to get along quite well. She started driving again last week, and has been walking around the neighborhood since about a week after her surgery. She even brings a dog along on her walks, although she still needs to wrap the leash around her waist to prevent any potential pulling. Radiation is scheduled to start in a couple of weeks, pending the approval of her oncologist. There is a slight chance that the oncologist will recommend a little more chemo, but based on her pathology results and speaking to the surgeon, we are optimistic that this will not be the case.

She is very excited that the weather is cooperating as she starts to get better. She is also thrilled to have her hair coming back in, just ask her. I like to tease her and tell her that it is coming in white, but truthfully it looks pretty dark. Below is a picture of her new hair. I know it doesn't look like much, but according to her it feels longer than it looks.

As always, thank you all for your support.

Homecoming

Mom made it home from the hospital on Wednesday. I apologize that I did not get a chance to update everyone sooner, but it has been a hectic end of the week. She has been resting comfortably here at home. She is in virtually no pain. This is not due to heavy dosages of pain medications either. She is not taking any pain medication, only an antibiotic. She says she feels fine, and is up and about the house at any given moment. Mom is still taking it easy with lifting, dressing, and cleaning, but is able to check her e-mail, feed herself, and talk on the phone. She could probably do a lot more if she wanted, but there is no need to thanks to many helpful neighbors, Jill and I, and a home health care nurse that will be dropping by the house a couple times a week. Even though she feels good, she still needs to limit her activity to allow proper healing and make sure the drains come out on time.

She is well on her way to her way to getting better. The sunshine that we have had the past couple of days sure doesn't hurt things either. Mom is eager to get out and walk the dogs again.

I will continue to keep everyone up-to-date on her progress. As always, that you all for your support.

Recovery Update

Mom is resting comfortably in her hospital room. She is in almost no pain, and has been out of bed and sitting in a chair for most of the day. She was also able to have cream of wheat and some toast for breakfast this morning. She is excited to order off the “real” lunch menu this afternoon. This will be quite a treat as she only had jello and juice all day yesterday.

Doctor Jalovec met with her this morning when she did her rounds. She explained to her, as she did to me yesterday, that the surgery went as well as it possibly could. In other words, occasionally they encounter things that they do not expect during the procedure. They sometimes find cancer in places they didn’t expect, are unable to get good margins, or may not be able to get all of the lymph nodes that they want. This was not the case with her procedure. Things went exactly as planned. We are awaiting pathology reports on the tissue that was removed.

She is scheduled to be released tomorrow, and is eager to get home and get active again as warm weather approaches. I will keep everyone updated with regards to her release and the recovery process. Thank you again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, and as always, thank you all for your support.

Surgery Update Three

March 3rd, 2:45PM

The surgery is complete, and according to the doctor, went as well as it possibly could. She was very pleased with Mom's procedure. She is on her way to her room right now from recovery. She is awake, alert, and aware at this point. Thank you for all of your prayers.

The pictures are from the squares on her quilt. The top one is from her good friend Chris Ashburn, who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer about a week ago. She was quite an inspiration to Mom. She came and sat with her during chemo, and coached her through her fight, all the while fighting her own battle. Seeing this square on her quilt was very hard for Mom.

The bottom square is from Nancy Brinker. Nancy was Susan G. Komen's sister, and is founder of the Komen Race for the Cure. She is now Chief of Protocol for the Bush White House. The Bakers jumped through some serious hoops to get that one signed. It literally went from the White House, to Budapest, back to the White House, and then here.

I can not explain the feelings that I could see in my Mom's face when she received the quilt. She was clearly overwhelmed. Thank you all again for all of your support.

Surgery Update Two

March 3rd, 1:30PM

Above is a picture from last night when Mom's friends gave her the signature quilt that Laurie Baker made for her. She absolutely loved it. It was so nice for her to have one more reminder right before her surgery of how many people are pulling for her.

I have had two updates since I last updated. The first update was at about 11:30AM when they let me know that the right side was finished. The right side was the easier side, as there was no cancer there. They have moved on to the left side, and will remove the lymph nodes on the left side as well. This will take a little longer.

The second update came during lunch when I was away. The nurse called down to let me know that everything was going great. She did not give me a time frame for finishing up, but I would guess that they will be done in the next 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I will keep everyone posted.

Surgery Update One

March 3rd, 10:15AM

Pictured above is Mom's idea of getting ready for he big surgery. Cathy F. came over and we took a bike ride into the country. We could not have asked for a nicer day before her surgery. It was much better than the rain that they were calling for!

They just paged me and let me know that Mom's procedure had started. They expect it to last four to five hours. She will then stay in recovery for an hour or two, finally arriving in her room tonight. We're guessing maybe around five or six tonight. Mom was in great spirits this morning, and is ready to get better as this warm weather starts to come.

I will keep everyone posted as we know more today. I plan to post at least two more updates as the day goes on. As always thank you for all for your support.