Some bumps along the way ~ a quick update

Its Sunday morning and I wanted to give everyone a quick update on some recent changes. Yesterday Pop was admitted into Florida Hospital Lake Placid. He had a fever and chills. The Drs. at Moffitt warned us that it was quite common between day 7 and 14 that some chemo patients could experience a sudden drop in their white blood cell count. It is identifiable by fever. Yesterday was day 9 so it seems Pop fell into that common range. Whats crazy is Pop was feeling good yesterday morning and even went to the restaurant for breakfast. Sometime in the afternoon he got shaky and began to run a fever. Sonya took him in as the Dr. at Moffit instructed us too. His white cell count fell to a dangerously low .5 and his fever was a little over 102. They admitted him into the hospital in reverse isolation (meaning we are supposed to wear gloves and masks and limit visitors) to protect him from any infection or disease. They put him on IV's and some IV antibiotics and are going to run another set of labs this am to see where his white cell count is today. We are hoping it rebounds on it's own. Just a little bump in the road aa Pops Moffitt care team told us this may happen. It's kinda scarey but when they let you know it may be coming it does calm some anxiety. Will update you later today on anything as we find out. Keep the prayers coming for a higher white cell count and Pops comfort in an uncomfortable place and situation. Also special prayers for our patience as caregivers as we can be a bit impatient when it comes to Pops care. Hospitals are pretty common to us and we don't usually cut the folks much slack if we don't feel Pop is getting proper care. I'm afraid we have been spoiled by the folks at Moffitt in Tampa. They are the best.
I know ..... I know....... the folks at the hospital are people too...and Love God;Love people has been my motto. When it comes to Pop it much easier to abide by that "Love people" command if they are taking proper care of him*L*

Take care
LG;LP
TW

Just some thoughts

Here it is late Wednesday night or I guess early Thursday morning and I'm a bit restless. Praise team practice was short tonight but the reflection and prayer time afterwards took a bit longer. It was good to cry out to God and confess we didn't know what all He was calling us too nor how to accomplish it. I can't help to think that Loving Him and loving people would be at the top of His list. I guess the main reason I'm restless though is that Pop is going for his second round of infusions in just a few hours. I visited with Pop tonight for an hour or so. Yesterday was tough. Nausea ...... no.... the way he described it .... sounded like he was just plain sick. Told him I thought it was from the meds killing the cancer, he joked he thought it was the meds killing him. He felt pretty good and he was in a good mood, teasing and picking at me, but his comment stunned me and has made me a bit restless. I know the trick with this cancer treatment is to poison and kill the cancer without killing the patient and it seems the doctors walk a fine line sometimes in acheiving this. I guess I'm restless because until now I haven't been concerned with the treatment killing the body. My prayers have been that the treatment is killing the cancer but isn't killing Pop's spirit. That his hope, determination and fight doesn't die. Don't get me wrong.....I didn't see any of that happening in our visit tonight. Pop seemed determined as always and his mood was good. He did have to let me in on some of the side effects he was feeling from the chemo although he wasn't complaining about them. It was encouraging to see him upbeat.
I know this post is not "in the norm" as my post go, but it is just some thoughts I have been wrestling with. I have tried to chose my prayers very carefully these days as I firmly believe God hears everyone of them and responds. So I think I will keep on praying that the treatment kills the cancer and not Pops spirit. Not just for Pop's sake but for Gods glory.
As I close for the evening I have to give a big Thank You to Mr. Buddy as he is going with Pop to Moffitt this go round. I hope Pop feels well and they have a chance to visit, tell stories, and brag on their grandchildren. The things they do best.*L* Have fun guys!

Love God;Love People
TW

Bing! Bing! Bing! Round two!

First of all I have to apologize that we haven't kept you all up on the going on's with Pop and his treatment. Emotionally, physically, and mentally I think the Weaver clan needed a couple weeks to recover and regroup. After Pop finished his 35 radiation treatments on New Years Eve, he began his two week "rest" phase. I think the caregivers also took a rest period, a time away so to speak. The restaurant has been super busy so Shannon and Sonya hasn't had much of a rest during this "rest phase" but we count that as part of the blessings. The opportunity to serve our friends and family in the "eatin" business is in our blood and just what we do. Part of that genetic material passed on by Pop and Reba.
Toni reported on our first trip back to Moffitt in the middle of the rest phase for the day for tests and a Dr. visit. We discussed his progress some and went over a tentative agenda for his next set of treatments. All went well but it was a long busy day and Pop was tired at the end.

Another week passed as Pop rested, ate better, and even got "out with the boys" some. Nausea came and went but Pop was diligent with drinking his boost and eating as he could. His throat got increasingly sore and swallowing got more difficult but we chaulked it up to his body healing from the radiation.

Thursday the 21st would be when Pop began round two of the fight. Shannon took him over to Moffitt to get the tests results and begin his chemo treatments and continue his clinical trial treatments. These are both infusions meaning he will have to travel one day a week over to Moffitt for an IV. His clinical trial will be a weekly infusion and the chemo will be every third week continueing until the middle of March. This was another long day but was encouraging as Pop's CT scan showed the tumor had shrunk 16%. (We told ya God is good! Can I get a praise shout out!*S*) From my understanding, this was a little better than expected and the Dr. thought Pop was doing well with treatment. My thoughts were "what else would you expect...he's always been a pretty good Pop."

It is now Monday night and Thursday is coming up fast. I had the opportunity to visit with Pop today at lunch just he and I and he informed me that I had better update the blog. His friends told him they missed the frequent updates and the blessing we were sharing. I have to admit I have caught a little grief myself because we haven't kept the blog updated. My response is: Thank you for letting us know you care, that you keep up, and that you love Pop. That is so encouraging to us and to him. I could tell by the way he let me know today in his private way that it is our responsibility to love back by shareing with you. Its that Love God; Love people thing that he demonstrates. I don't think I have ever heard him actually say that phrase, but his actions have been much more than words could ever say.

Love God; Love people reminded me I bought Pop a book called "when God and cancer meet". I haven't given it to him yet as I have been reading it first. *L* I reccommend it. Something in it touched me and I have to share it. In the last chapter the author summed it up. She, like me, believe we are a complex creation consisting of mind, heart, and soul. Souls with a body. Scripture speaks on this in Dt 6:5 when it tells us "how" to love God. The author addresses this in addressing the needs of a cancer survivor (she never addresses a cancer patient as a victim but rather a victor ~ but thats another post).
She says:
The heart of a cancer survivor needs to find the right attitude.
The mind of a cancer survivor needs to find peace.
The soul of a cancer survivor needs to find hope.
Hope, Peace, Attitude, as in the attitude of Christ Jesus. Hmmmm, sound familiar? Sounds like God to me. Cause when God and cancer meet .....the outcome of the fight is already a given ......we win!

Love God; Love People!
TW

Moffitt for the Day

This morning Pop felt yucky, but around 10:45am he felt good enough to make the trip to Moffitt for tests. First, we headed to the pharmacy to drop off a Rx. Second, we headed to the lab and his blood was drawn pretty quickly. Third, it was time to meet with his case worker regarding how he was doing with the clinical trial. Fourth, we headed to the pulmonary function test department for another test. Pop said that he did better than the last time he had this test! Fifth, we visited the diagnostic imaging department for a CT scan of the chest. After these were all done we took a trip to the 4th floor for a glass of grape juice (Pop loves his grape juice) and then headed to the cafeteria for a bite to eat before we drove back home. Pop managed to eat a half a bowl of soup and a glass of fruit punch. Pop was really shaky during this time, but that finally decreased as time went on. On our way out at least Pop remembered that we still needed to pick up that Rx. Then it was time to hit the road and head back to Lake Placid.
Just a side note: We got to see one of the ladies (Diane)that stayed at the Hope Lodge during the time Pop stayed at the Hope Lodge, along with her caregiver and son. Please keep Diane in your prayers. She will be having surgery on 01/13/10. It was nice to see some familiar faces! Maybe next time we will have time to stop by the Hope Lodge for a visit.
Pop will return to Moffitt on Jan. 21st to start chemo and the experimental drug and also get the results from the tests. He needs to gain some weight before then since he is down to 172 lbs. Good bye for now! Toni and Terry