A Great Thanksgiving

Every year is special, but this year was SOOOOO special! We had a great day! Karen and Rick "Thank you for opening up your house for all of us!" Everyone was there in our immediate family! We took a group picture on Rick and Karen's front steps and hopefully soon I can get that on here! Ruth did real good, better than expected. She had her moments, but doesn't everyone! Thanks to Butch and Micheal for getting her there. Rick is recovering really well! He looked great! He said he had not eaten that much in a long time. I think we all ate too much, but it was so good we could not help ourselves! Terry ate everything on his plate and helped me finish my desert! He weighs more today than I have ever seen him. I can almost call him fat, for Terry anyway! We will go to the BMT unit on Wednesday and see the doctor and hopefully he will let him come down on the immune suppression meds again! We are slowly coming off of them! We are so thankful that God has put his hands on this family and blessed us! We hope all the family will forgive us for not coming and hope next year everyone will be well and it will be even a greater reunion. We heard Matt was there, we love you Matt and are so greatful to God for taking care of you! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Kiss and hug your loved ones, you never know what tomorrow may bring! Love you all! Alyce

A Thanksgiving to remember

All went well in the doctor's office this week. Not going to have to have surgery! All the doctor's seem to think when he does come off the immune suppression meds in January, this will go away in time. We were supposed to go to a surprise party for David Hill,"Happy Birthday David!!" last night but he just wasn't up to it. We spent 6 hours waiting to see two doctors and were exhausted. He came home and got his feet up so the swelling would go down, they were SO swollen! He has gained 5 lbs in 2 weeks! He weighs the most I have ever seen since I have known him. We all will celebrate Thanksgiving this week and we have SO much to be thankful for!!! This last year has been a hard one but one that I am so grateful to God and to all of you for being with us through it all! Everything matters so much more now to the four of us! HE has opened our eyes! Rick is feeling so much better! I talked with him on Thursday night and he said every day was getting better and better! We will not be going to our family reunion this year, to all of the family we are sorry! Due to Terry, Rick's surgery and trying to get Ruth to Karen's is going to be enough on all of us!We will miss you! My Dad is having back surgery this Tuesday also! So much going on! I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving and don't eat too much, save some room for Christmas goodies! Love to all of you! Alyce

A Week of Doctor's Visits

We will be at UAB most of the week this week. We saw the urologists Friday and are going to have to make some decisions that we really did not think we would have to face at this point in our life! But its better than facing luekemia! We see the urologists again on Monday, then on Wednesday we see the BMT doctor(a regular visit)and on Friday we see the neurologists to talk about the nerve problems he is having in his feet and legs. He is numb in the last three toes on each foot and they hurt and burn when he is on them for a long time. They did some tests last week to have at the neurologist when we see him. Hopefully he can explain some of the things that are going on! Hopefully when he gets off the immune suppression meds in January this will all go away! We celebrated his 49th birthday this past Thursday, thank you to SCS employees for the beautiful cake! It was good! He was very surprised! I just thank God for letting him be here to celebrate it! Rick is at home now and is doing pretty good. Still some back pain and can't get comfortable. You men out there don't get offended when I say this, but men are babies when it comes to pain! Good thing God made women for birthing babies!!! Karen is patiently taking care of him and God is giving her the patience she needs! I know this too! God is giving me patience too! We love all of you for hanging in here with us and soon hope to say Terry is cured. We will have another bone marrow test on Dec. 4th to see! Prayer is still needed!!!! God is good and has blessed us through this whole thing! God Bless All of You! Alyce

Rick's surgery a success!

Rick came through the surgery with flying colors! Five by-passes he had done. He will be around for a long time since they cleaned him out so good! He looked so good when we saw him in intensive care yesterday. He has some severe back pain so he is a little uncomfortable right now. I understand he had a few visitors today so I am sure he's tired. A few more days and he will be better! We know how time can heal, but its the waiting that kills you! Butch and Jackie went to see Ruth on Sunday afternoon and they said she was doing good. We are going to Karen's for Thanksgiving and plan on getting Ruth there to be with everyone. Todd and his famly are coming from Idaho for 9 days and will be here for Thanksgiving so everyone will be together again! It will be fun and we have SOOOOOOOO much to be thankful for! Terry is not drinking enough water so I have to stay on him. If you see him ask him if he has had any water lately! He will know I put you up to it, but he doesn't read this so he won't know I told you! HA!HA!His feet hurt when has been on them for a long period of time, we hope this goes away in time. But overall he is doing very well for someone that has been through what he went through! God is watching over us and has blessed us so much! Thanks for hanging in there with us! God Bless You! Alyce

Alyce takes over

Hey everyone! I am taking this over for a short time while Karen is taking care of Rick. She needs the rest, don't you think? She has really been through alot in the last year and now the love of her life is the one who needs our prayers. Believe me I know the feeling! God's gonna take take good care of him, he's not through with Rick yet. He has alot more of God's work to do yet on this earth, I know this by knowing Rick personally. We all had lunch together today after church. It was great being together with all of them! Terry is doing good. We don't have to go to the doctor until Friday, we see the urologist and hopefully get some good results. He has worked most days, it does him good to get out and see all his employees and customers. I just rely on God to put a sheild around him and protect him from all the flu and other stuff that is out there and could put him in the hospital. So if you see him coming and you are sick, please tell him and wave at him instead. I will keep you posted on Rick and Granny. I can't promise the good job that Karen has done since last January. She is a MUCH better writer than I. Everyone pray for our family and especially Rick as he faces this surgery! God Bless You! Alyce

Couldn't Resist

A friend sent me a poem set to music that was just what I needed today. I think it is a God thing. There is a song we sing sometimes "My Jesus Knows Just What I Need" and it is true. I'd like to share the poem with you. This is the web address: http://llerrah.com:80/dreams.htm It's 8:30pm and I'm still at work trying to get my desk in order so I can be off during Rick's surgery. Love, Karen