Happy Halloween!

Hope you didn't get too spooked today. Terry and Alyce went back to the hospital today for more tests. Today they determined that Terry has no sensation in most of his toes. He is also still having some bladder problems. He is scheduled to do more Neurological tests soon. These problems are probably caused as a result of the extreme Chemo and possibly the cyclosporin that he has been on for so long. Please pray that they can stop and reverse these problems. Speaking of problems, I am sorry I have been slack in writing the blog lately but I have had a few problems lately too. I am enclosing an email from my daughter, Traci, who has been a kindergarten teacher in Trussville for 10 years. She is taking off this year to spend time with my 2 precious grandsons, Seth age 4 and Grant age 2. Her email (written to her friends and copied to me) will explain a little of what is going on...............Hi everyone. I wanted to update you on what has been going on in my family life and ask for your prayers. My Dad, Rick Bradshaw, is having quadruple (at least..maybe more/less doctors say) bypass surgery Monday, November 5 at 9 AM. He went in for a regular physical and they noticed an abnormality in his stress test. He has had no symptoms. They did a heart cath on him Monday and found that of the 3 main arteries there was a 90% blockage in one and 80 % blockage in the other two. His doctors discussed his options, got second opinions and decided instead of stints to go ahead with the open heart surgery. This was not what we really wanted to hear. The doctor is releasing him to go home today. (Tues.) He was asked to do nothing more than lift the remote over the weekend. My parents were planning on taking the grandkids to Disney on Ice this Thursday. The doctor told him he could still go i f he feels up to it! (I guess he didn't think a 60 year old man would get too worked up over Nemo! Ha!) Needless to say, we need your prayers. This year has been full of trials for my family. We have had my uncle Terry's luekemia, mom's bone marrow transplant for my uncle, my grandmother's multiple hospital stays and finally in the nursing home, baby Chloe killed by a drunk driver, Kayla's murder, and now dad's surgery all since January. My mom has really been through it this year worrying about her brother's leukemia (which is in FULL REMISSION- praise God!), being my grandmother's primary caregiver, as well as trying to work full time. Please not only pray for my dad but for my mom as well. I know God is in control and he will bring us through this. Thank you all for being my support this year! Love you all! I'll keep you updated Monday! -Traci Walter............Please pray for my husband, Rick, and for all of our family. ...........Bible verse for the week---Rom. 8:28---For all things work together for good to those who love the Lord........Because I will be tied up so much taking care of Rick and trying to work when I can, Alyce has agreed to take over writing the blog for a while. She will do a good job because she lives with Terry every day. Our family is so blessed that Terry found and married such a wonderful woman. ...........She and I have decided that when we have time, we are going to have a nervous breakdown, or maybe run away to an exotic island. In the meantime, we take 1 day at a time and do whatever we have to do. God is good and will not forsake us. Remember, I love you all....and I'll be back!! Hugs and kisses, Karen

Bad Week

Terry had such a good week last week, but this has been a really bad week for him. He has not felt like working this week. He and Alyce went back to the BMTU at UAB today at 9am and did not leave until 3:45pm. He was dehydrated and his blood pressure was low. 82/58 and heart rate was 46. By the time they left it was 118/67 and his heart rate went to 108. They would not let him leave until they got it back down to 96. They go to the eye doctor on Friday to get his eyes checked. He is also still experiencing pain in his legs and feet. I've been praying for him to get better and back to a more normal life. I know it will happen but it just takes time. We had a discussion in our church family group last Sunday night about prayer. I strongly believe that if you do not have faith that God can deliver what you ask for then you might as well not pray. He might not give you what you ask for but if you don't believe that he COULD then why pray. Our prayers have asked God to put Terry into remission and God answered in the affirmative. Now let's pray that his health will get better and all pain subside to allow him to live a normal life again. One day at a time and he will get better. Mom has been in a lot of pain because they have debrided the dead tissue from the bed sore on her heal. The doctor did increase her pain medications and she is on an antibiotic. Her dementia continues to get worse. I was there Tuesday night and will go back tomorrow night. Love to you all, Karen

Kayla's Day

Today was Kayla's funeral at the Trussville Baptist Church. She was honored with a beautiful slide show of pictures of her life and the minister read from her "My Space" including some poems she had written. Just a few days ago, she was a 20 year old college student full of enthusiasm and laughter. She was "class clown" and "biggest flirt" and also Salutatorian of her class at Parkway Christian. She was majoring in Psychology and was doing volunteer work at the Crisis Center. She wanted to make a difference in people's lives. This is the story of what happened as it has been told to me: She had been at her cousin Danielle's house tutoring our 16 year old niece, Whitney. She left to go to a friend's 21st Birthday party. She took a girl home from the party and was headed back home when she got a call from a guy friend in Auburn. She had been taught to pull over when she talked on her cell phone for safety reasons. She pulled over and then told the guy on the phone that she thought a couple of guys were following her. She pulled off and later pulled over again into the Glen Iris Elem. School parking lot. After talking a few minutes, she said " Oh my goodness, they are everywhere." The guy told her to get out of there and lay the phone down. He then heard 2 loud noises. One must have been the gunshot that came through the passenger window of her BMW Convertible and the other the crash into a street sign and metal railings that were knocked down at the crime scene. There was not an answer when the boy called her name, so he hung up and called her brother. Her brother called 911 and by the time he drove to the area where he thought she would be, the police were already on the scene. She felt no pain because she died immediately. Kayla, not only in your life, but in your death, you HAVE made a difference and we already miss you. Danielle was able to get a grave site touching baby Chloe's for Kayla to be laid to rest. Although her body was buried there today, she is already in heaven holding Chloe and playing with her. I can just imagine them laughing and having a great time. Danielle was holding up very well and takes comfort that her baby will not be lonely now that her best friend has gone to take care of her. Please pray for strength and comfort for all Kayla's family and friends. Also, pray that her killer/s will be captured soon. I just had to talk with both of my daughter's today and tell them that I love them. Life is short sometimes. Don't waste it. I went back to work after the funeral and then up to Cook Springs to see Mom. Little Buddy, the soft stuffed puppy that I gave her a couple of months ago had been MIA for a few days, but had showed back up. He was so clean that I think he must have gotten lost in a blanket and thrown in the wash. I talked with Alyce tonight and she said Terry has been working 4 to 5 hours a day for the past 3 days. She has also gone to work and the Thrasher Bus Company is about to move to a new location. They had been to a family birthday party tonight at Kobei's on 280. Terry was still feeling good and still hungry when he got home. It makes me get emotional and thankful just to think of him feeling good for a change. We know the power of prayer and will be eternally grateful to you who have been so faithful to lift up our names to our heavenly Father.

Monday Again

Today was a typical Monday. Busy, busy, busy! I had a shocking call this morning telling me that Kayla Fanaiea had been murdered. She was the 1st cousin and very best friend of our niece, Danielle. We got to know Kayla when we went to Pensacola just after the tragic accident that killed baby Chloe. She did not leave Danielle's side for a couple of weeks and still remained close almost daily. She and Danielle were waiting table sometime at Kayla's Dad's restaurant on Morris Avenue. She was so sweet and such a beautiful young lady and only 20 years old. We are grieved at her death but get comfort in knowing that she is now taking good care of Chloe for Danielle and Chris. Please pray for Danielle and Kayla's family. We hope the police will find her killer and prosecute him to the full extent of the law. The trial for Chloe will begin in November in Pensacola. Terry felt pretty good Saturday and watched football all day. They went to church Sunday and out to eat and he began to get tired. He also started experiencing some nausea. He went in to work a little while this morning but went home to rest after lunch. He just does not need to push himself too hard until his energy has returned and his pain subsides. Alyce talked with the nurse at UAB today and she said he needed to drink more liquids.

Good Saturday

When both teams win and you get to see 3 of your grandchildren, it is always a good day. Terry and Alyce were planning to stay close to home and watch the games at home. I had to get up at 5:30am to get ready and meet my daughter Tara and granddaughter Morgan at 7am. We went to Tuscaloosa to watch the parade. We had fun walking and looking at all the stuff the vendors were selling. We had walked about 8 blocks and were looking for a spot to stand to wait on the parade and I happened to see my older brother, Butch with wife Jackie and their daughter Sherri her husband Pete and kids Madison and Logan. We did not know they were even going and they did not know we would be there either. I also saw co-workers Jim and Carl and got to eat lunch with Carl's sweet family at his beautiful daughter's sorority house. I also ran into church friends and cousin Mike Spiller. We bought a few things and decided to head home where Rick had a houseful of relatives watching the game with him. My test from Friday turned out fine. However, my cholesteral level was 307. The doctor started me on Lipitor and a drug for the Neuropathy I am experiencing in my legs and feet. Terry goes back to the BMTU in 2 weeks.

Birthday Girl

Yesterday was Kristina's 22nd Birthday!! Terry and Alyce drove down to Tuscaloosa to be with her and take her out to eat. It seems like yesterday she was just a little baby. Prettiest baby you have ever seen and she is now a beautiful young woman. The best thing is, she is just as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside. Like Mom used to say, "pretty is as pretty does." Today they had to go back to UAB to the BMTU for a Spinal Tap. The MRI from last week showed that the nerve endings were swollen but the spinal fluid today was completely clear. That is good news but something has gotten his nerve endings swollen so they are going to send him to a Neurologist. The doctor decreased the cyclosporin again. When they wean him off of this, he will regain an immune system. I go for more testing at 8am tomorrow morning. Rick and I went up to see Mom tonight.

New Update

This is an update sent to me today from Alyce......We spent most of the day at the doctor Thursday. He had 2 MRI's-took 2 hours! They drew blood before we went for them and afterwards they decided to do a B-12 level and rheumatoid arthritis tests. They went through alot of scenarios of what might be causing the tingling and numbness in his toes and wrists and places on his arms. He even said maybe it was a form of the graph VS host disease. He said something about seeing a neurologists after they got the results back from the MRI's. He made Terry take his shoes and socks off and close his eyes and he moved his toes around to see if he could feel it and he could, so I guess that is a good sign. His feet are still swelling. We mostly just stayed around the house all weekend. We went to church and when we got home they were swollen so he stayed off of them most of the day.......This is from me:... I had tests Friday and had to go in fasting. They did Ultrasounds and a complete Cardiac stress workup. I was there from 8am to 5:15pm with only a pack of peanut butter crackers and a diet coke about 2pm. The doctor said they did find some abnormalities and I have to go to Radiology this Friday morning for more tests. They also did a rheumatoid arthritis blood test on me. This is really strange because I did not even know that Terry had gone to the doctor until today. I am also experiencing pain, tingling and burning in my feet but no swelling. I guess we really are twins now, but I have a good immune system and Terry is still waiting for his to develop better. .... I saw Mom on Saturday and again this afternoon to take her clean laundry. She was about the same. Please pray for Terry's tests to turn out good and also for mine on Friday. God bless you, Karen