Not a Good Week!

Sorry so long to update but I have been under the weather the last few days. Even had to go to the doctor myself and get a shot! You know I'm sick when I say"give me a shot"! I am feeling much better! We did go see the pulmanary doctor Monday and he did not think there was much to worry about except if it got worse. If it was getting worse instead of better then he would worry. He was going to look at his lastest chest x-ray and see if he saw anything we needed to go back and look at but have not heard from him at all! So I take that as not to worry! No news is good news, I hope! He did have to go into the BMT unit on Wednesday and Thursday and get fluids. Wednesday he got 2 liters and they did a skin biopsy from his back, he has a new rash. I have not been getting to close to him so I did not see that rash at all. Thursday he went back in and got 1 more liter of fluids. His blood pressure is staying VERY low due to dehydration they think. Dr. Vaughan told him the blood pressure thing is a puzzling thing to him and is trying to figure out why its doing weird things. He did mention meds could be doing it. But did not take him off anything. He is having trouble swallowing again and has red spots in his mouth so they are making him rinse his mouth out with a bacterial mouth wash and Tuesday he will get his esophogus stretched and while they are in there will do a biopsy of the esophogus to make sure the GVHD has NOT gotten in there! We are getting together with all his siblings and their children tonight and are going to enjoy just being able to be together and celebrate the birth of Jesus and what he means to us! Tomorrow we are going to Nashville to Neil and Lana's house(mansion)to be with all the Thrasher side of the family. We will take one of executive coaches and enjoy riding with our family up there and back! Just thankful to be able to celebrate together and count our MANY blessings! God has been good to us and he will continue to watch over us and keep us safe! We hope all of you are well and may God Bless Everyone of you for staying with us through our journey and continue to pray for our family! Merry Christmas to all! Alyce

Terry Goofed!

Well, I let Terry preview the post before I published it and he lost part of it. So what you see is what he goofed up, but oh well, it's "his Blog". So to continue, we saw Dr. Lopez today instead of Dr. Salzman. He is concerned about his liver counts(BUN#) He was jaundice after his transplant and his eyes were almost gold. That means his liver is not doing what its supposed to. He changed his immune suppression meds to once in the AM and once in the PM(25mg each). He wants to look at his liver counts again in a month to see if it is better. If it is not they will consider doing a liver biopsy(we have heard this from this doctor before) He is worried that because there might still a chance of GVHD in his eyes because they stay so dry and red that there is a chance it is in his liver. They will do another ultrasound on his leg where the blood clot was but did not say when. We will see the pulmonary doctor this Monday and he will hopefully tell us what is going on in his lungs and why he still has a cough. I will update again after that appointment. Please pray that the BUN levels go down and they do not have to biopsy it! We love you and God Bless You for hanging in here with us all this time! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

Doctor Visit Finally!

He has been going and getting his blood drawn every week to make the level of coumadin is where it needs to be, but today we were there from 8:45am to 3 pm waiting on Dr. Lopez. Although they did let us go eat lunch and come back, that was different! He has not seen a doctor since he was sick after the party

Pictures!!!

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. This is Karen writing for a change. I just could not help but tell you how thankful I am to each of you who have helped us get to this point by your words of encouragement and your prayers. I have been cooking all day with my little granddaughter, Morgan. I will have to admit that I had a couple of tearful moments as I was preparing homemade cranberry relish with my Mom's old grinder that I remember her using so many times for Thanksgiving as I was growing up. Tearful, because although she is still living, she cannot remember the many happy times that she always enjoyed with us. Tradition has always been to attend a big family reunion with Mom's siblings and all our cousins every Thanksgiving. This year will be very hard for several of us. For Kenny, because of the death of his Dad and Mom, Raymond and Lois Jones, also for Rick & Ron because of the death of their Mom, Margaret Rockhill; and to Butch, Terry and me because our dear Mom is in a nursing home. We are hopeful that someone will bring Uncle James (age 95)and Aunt Mary Lee Jones, and I know that Aunt Mildred Thompson Holder (age 87) will be there. The older generation is dwindling and I can't even name all of the younger generation. It is a bit scary to realize that my generation will soon be the OLDER generation, but such is life. Although we have our aches and pains, we have so very many blessings to be thankful to God for. Terry's remission is one of our biggest things that we are thankful for. I am going to try to attach a few pictures taken recently at his 50th birthday party. May God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving. Love and Hugs, Karen

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have SOOOO much to be thankful for! Every day is a blessing from God! This is the second Thanksgiving we have spent as a cancer survivor. We still have six months to go before the doctors will consider him cured! Just don't want any more leukemia cells hanging around! He is finally getting better from the virus and we are going to the BIG family reunion Thursday to see everyone we did not get to see last year. To all the family members we will see that still read this, Lidia told him not to be hugging and kissing everyone. If he relapses he could end up in the hospital. I know he is hard to keep from this as this family is a real hugging and kissing family! But for his sake, please hug him around his waist. Being so tall helps! We can't wait to see everyone! I started cooking tonight! I am making Aunt Lois's receipe of chicken and dressing out of the family cook book. We hope everyone has a save and happy Thanksgiving! God Bless You! Alyce

Had Too Much Fun!

Had too much fun and is now paying for it! That is what Dr. Salzman said! Around too many people at one time. He is now running a fever and it is a viral thing that has to run its course. Sorry so long posting! Just so much going on and not enough time to do it all! We spent Tuesday at the hospital trying to decide if he had pneumonia or not, but thank goodness it is not! So he will spend the rest of the week at home. Hopefully, it will be gone by this weekend. Just hard to get rid of something once he gets it! If you see him next week ask him if he is using his hand sanitizer and drinking water! He was dehydrated too and got a liter of fluids. Thank you to all of you for a great birthday, although all of you that read this was not there! The place was not big enough to invite everybody he knows! That will have to be back at a place like Workplay. And one day we will do that! When we know his, I mean Karen's, immune system can handle it! He had a great time and would not take nothing for it, as he told Dr. Salzman. They were so sweet to come, he REALLY wanted them there! I will update after we see the doc again. We love all of you! Alyce

Clot Is Still There and Terry's 50!

Terry went to the doctor this past Wednesday and they did an ultrasound on his leg and he still has the clot. It has dissolved somewhat but is still clearly there. He does not have alot of pain so that is a blessing! But he will be on the coumadin the rest of his life. He turned 50 this past Saturday and that is a blessing too! He is just so glad to still be here and I am SO thankful he is here too! Alot of people are! We celebrated with Kristina and John going to a quite dinner just the four of us and we reminisced about how and what we went through together and how thankful we were sitting there with each other! God is so good! He goes back on Wednesday just for blood work to make sure the coumadin is at the level they want it to be. No doctor visit! My mom had her arteriorgram and got a stent. They may have to go back and do another one if her blood pressure goes up and down like it has been doing. She is doing good though and hope that continues for a while! My Dad and brother are opting for a block with both their back problems. I told them if they have to have surgery I was making them share a room so they can gripe at each other and I wouldn't have to hear it! I just talked with Butch and he and Jackie had gone to see Ruth today and said she was doing good. Last Sunday he said wasn't so good! She has her good and bad days like we all do! I love her so much and wish so bad she was not going through this! Hug your family! God Bless All of You! Alyce

Cyclosporine Reduced Again!

We saw the doctor today, a little longer than we thought though. When we got up this morning he had blood in his urine. First time this has happened! They think this happened because of the coumadin. Of course, they got a specimen and sent it off to be tested and he had a really hard time with the new nurses they have training in the BMT unit. They got blood the first time, then had to give him an IV because of his blood pressure being so low(dehydrated) but the girl who tried to stick him blew the vein out. They called in the "Pros", nurses who have stuck him before, and they were able to get it in without a problem. We sat there for 4 hours and when the doctor came in she asks a bunch of questions and came to the conclusion that it is the coumadin and that if something starts growing would let us know. Then she orders 3 more blood tests and they have to stick him again! She thinks if it were a virus or bacterial he would have a fever, but he does not thank the Lord! She did take him off the cyclosporine 25 mg, so he will only take 50 mg in the mornings. We have go back Friday anyway. He goes Thursday for a pulmonary test only. He is REALLY missing working! The doctor told him next week to go to the office for half day and then skip a day so he will work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Or we will see how it goes! He tends to push himself too hard! My mom had tests done today and she has blockage in her kidneys so she is scheduled for an arteriorgram on Nov. 5, please keep her in your prayers. I don't need her sick too! My Dad is having back problems, just hope he does not end up in surgery! I will report after we go Friday. We are supposed to just get blood drawn and then we can leave unless something else creeps up. Just pray it does not! Thank you all for your prayers! Hug your loved ones! Hugs and kisses to you all! Alyce

Doctor's Are Optimistic!

We saw Dr. Salzman today and she is thinking that this should be going away soon, at least in the next 2 weeks. His blood is really thin ,even so that when I gave him his shot this morning he started bleeding, first time that has happened. So they have discontinued his levonox shots and cut his coumadin to 5 mg each night. Just hope that does the trick. I brought up going to see a vascular doctor and they had consulted with one and she said they would be doing the same thing. So we are going to give it 2 weeks and then if things are not better go to another plan. He is still in alot of pain though and they gave us a regimen on how to take the pain meds and it should help alot. He has gained weight which is a good sign, I guess laying around would not burn up many calories. We don't go back to the doctor until Tuesday and they will draw blood to get another level on his coumadin to make sure it stays where it needs to. I am trying to keep him busy to keep his mind off bad things and concentrate on the good! I went and saw my employee that had the wreck in July and she is still not out of the woods yet. She is at the Spain-Rehab but will be going back to the trauma unit because she has stopped eating and needs the feeding tube again. Please in your prayers include her. She(Kristy Jay) REALLY needs them. As usual you have been wonderful in hanging in here with us all this time! Hope to report really good news next week! He is looking forward to watching the Auburn game tonight, just hope they do well(HA!HA!) Those of you who know me know better! Roll Tide! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Alyce

No Good News to Report

Well, we went to the BMT unit on Saturday morning 3-4 hours after he got his levonox shot for them to draw a level on it. His pain is still about the same, not much change at all. Not a good sign! They had told me they would call me but I never got that call. So on Sunday morning I called the nurse and finally got her and she had spoke with Terry's doctor and they increased his coumadin and we are to go back this Thursday. Please pray the pain starts to go away, because he gonna go crazy in this house. He has spent so much time not being able to work and he is VERY upset about that! He worries about things too much even though Gil and Davis reassure him everything is ok, but he still worries. He had gotten out and started working with the salesmen so I hope that he can return to some kind of work soon! I will report more after we visit the doctor on Thursday. Love to everyone! Alyce

Not Much Better!

We went to the BMT unit and the doctor ordered another ultrasound on his leg and the clot is growing. They adjusted the amount of lovenox and we are going back this morning so we can get a level and they will know by this how much more to prescribe. He will be on coumadin the rest of his life just like Johnny. He is in ALOT of pain so they gave him stronger pain meds but he does not like the way they make him feel! So we will discuss this again today. I talked with Mildred(Terry's aunt) last night and she told me that Kelly(Rockhill)Lindsey is working at Cook Springs where Ruth is. That is awesome! A close relative checking on her makes us feel so GOOD! Way to go Kelly and bless your heart! That would be a hard job! When we go visit Ruth we leave feeling depressed and guilty, but she is in the best place! They take very good care of her and now we know Kelly is there it will be even better! Mildred has spent a few days with Gary and Dot(Thompson)and said she helped Micheal(Thompson)with the bees and only got stung on her neck. She also got on a horse and they took her picture! She said she really had a good time on the farm with them! Morgan's(Tara's daughter, Karen's granddaughter)surgery went well Rick told me, so that is good! No more problems with ear trouble! I will update you after we see the doctor today!I've got to go give T his shot! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

Home from The Hospital

We came home today with levonox shots and coumadin added to all the other meds he takes. The shots will be for 14 days, day and night, and I am not sure how long he will be on the coumadin. We will go back to the BMT unit on Friday to get checked out. Right now it hurts him to walk or be on his feet long. So working for a while is out, until the doctor says or until the pain goes away so he can stay on his feet without hurting. The main thing we were so worried about was it moving and something happening to him like it did Johnny. The doctor and nurses have assured us that is was OK to be at home he just has to rest and take it easy(they just don't know how hard that will be for me)! Kristina is at home so I will let her give him his shots. I will watch so if I have to I can! I just say a little prayer and hope God watches over him! Just wanted to update everyone and let them know we were home now! Thanks Brother Jerry for visiting him in the hospital. He enjoyed talking to you and by the way "Congratulations!" Thank you for all the phone calls and prayers. That is what is getting us through all this! We love all of you! Alyce

A Trip to the Hospital

Well, we have had a long day! He is back in the hospital with a big blood clot. It is about 2 to 3 inches long. It started in his calf and worked its way up his leg into his thigh. He also has little ones in his calf. So they gave him a lovanox shot and is supposed to give him another before he goes to sleep tonight. We will find out what the plan is tomorrow morning after Dr. Salzman talks to Dr. Vaughan. He is very cautious about this because of his Dad dying of a blood clot while in the hospital. He, Karen and we found out Kristina all have Factor 5 Liden and most likely this is what caused Johnny's death. It is in the genes, so any of you out there that somehow came from Johnny's family better get yourself tested or if you have a surgical procedure, let the doctor's know that there is a possibility you might have it. It is a very dangerous and serious thing! Please pray that this goes away soon and he can resume his daily schedule. He has really enjoyed being out and working with all the salesmen these past few weeks. I will update tomorrow after we learn exactly what they are going to do! Hug your family, it will make you feel better! It sure makes me feel better! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

A Good Report

We went to the BMT unit today for his check up and they did draw a pint of blood off him due to the hemoglobin count. It was fairly high. They gave him a testosterone shot and we talked about his cough and how it had not been bad at all the last two or three days. Hopefully whatever that was is gone! He will go back for a pulmonary test in December so hopefully everything will stay normal and the lung issue will disappear! They did not hear the "crackle" that they heard last time we were there. They are supposed to come pick up the oxygen tank and machine soon! We are not supposed to go back until Oct 15th. We are now on a three week schedule. They did not take him off any more immune suppression meds but mentioned giving him a flu shot and a tetna shot next time he comes in. It being the flu season he really needs to be careful! If you see him, ask him if is using his hand sanitizer! He has been slacking lately! We hope to go see Granny this weekend, it has been too long since we have been out to the nursing home. Karen told me Tara and Morgan went and she was doing really good. Terry will be 50 this November so we have alot to celebrate! Celebrating 25 years of marriage and him turning 50 was something we were not sure was going to happen. We talk about it all the time and we know God is leaving him here for a reason. We are SO thankful we are able to celebrate these turning points in our life! I will update soon! Hugs to all of you and God Bless You All! Alyce

Quick Update

Well, his chest x-ray was negative from last week, but he has a viral infection! Don't know if he over-did himself last week or what, fishing and then going to Elberta(did him a world of good to go to do both!)but he spent all day Wednesday in the BMT unit taking on lots of fluids! He was dehydrated, he doesn't drink enough,so they pumped fluids into him. They swabbed his throat and nose to do tests to see what was going on. The tests came back negative so they told him it was most likely a viral thing and to push fluids and I(and Kristina) am giving him Robitussin DM every 4-6 hours. He has coughed up alot so that leads me to believe the rattling sound the doctor heard was "something" but not big enough to see on the x-ray. So he stayed home and Kristina "nursed" him Thursday and Friday for me. God knows what he is doing because we needed her to stay close to home. He is taking care of us! He has had no fever, thank goodnes, or he would be in the hospital. So he is taking it easy and if you see him out next week, ask him if he has some water to drink. Tell him I put it on the blog! He is supposed to go to the pulmonary doctor this next week to see how his lungs are doing and to see if we still need the oxygen around. He has not been using it much at all! Please keep Rodney, Terry and Kristy in your prayers! Will update later this week! Love to all of you! Alyce

Test results are good!

I am sorry for not posting earlier! The test result from the chest x-ray was normal so that was good news! Although he went fishing Saturday and then went to the Elberta store Monday and Tuesday and when he got back he had a sore throat. So I called Lida at the BMT unit and she had him come in and they always do vital signs and he was dehydrated. They kept him and gave him 1 liter of fluids and then let him go home. John shuffled him back and forth to the hospital. We delivered lunch to him because he had not eaten much that morning! He also fell in Elberta at the store lot and hurt his leg and hands and is very sore from that! In other family news! Rodney is doing much better and hopefully will get to go home soon! Butch is still recovering from his kidney stone blasts! Karen said when she talked to him he sounded like he was still in pain. Keep them both in your prayers! Kristy, my employee that had the wreck, is doing better but still has to have another skin graph to close her mid-section up. She will be in a wheelchair for a while after she gets out! Pray for her full recovery, but it will be a long recovery! Will update again after we see the doctor on the 24th! Love to all of you! Alyce

Great News!

We are starting to come off the immune suppression meds again. That is great news! Just hope the GVHD stays away, to an extent! He got a testosterone shot and they drew a pint of blood off him again today. Weird thing though, he never gets dizzy or light-headed from it. I almost pass out when I give blood! The doctor did hear something in his chest or lungs and sent him for a chest-xray. Hopefully it will be nothing, I should hear from that tomorrow. Other than still having numbness and pain in his feet which he is taking meds for that too, he is doing ok! He is going to Macon Georgia tomorrow with one of his salesmen to see a customer. Please pray for Teresa's husband, Rodney, he had the procedure done today that will hopefully take care the problem he is having. The whole Barber family was there supporting him! We got there just in time to hear how everything went and it sounded good! So keep them in your prayers! Other news in the family! Tracy and Daniel Walter(Karen and Rick's daughter)are going to be parents again! Congrats you two! Keep Butch in your prayers too! He is having another(working on a world record) kidney stone blasted Friday. We are all very blessed to still be here and should not take it for granted! God is definitely watching over us! God Bless All of You! Alyce

Great 25th Anniversary Trip!

We had a great time in Gulf Shores! The most relaxed we have been in a long long long time! We ate, slept and ate again! I know he gained weight in the last five days! He says his clothes are tighter on him! So glad he is finally gaining again! We were supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow but they called and put it off until this Wednesday. The doctor he usually sees was not going to be there and we hate having to go over everything with one he has not seen in a while so as long as he is doing ok they said come on Wednesday. We are going to go over some things we have questions about and see about joining a support group with the Leukemia Society. I think we both need this and discussed it in depth while we were in Gulf Shores. We want to thank everyone at Roebuck COC for all the encouraging cards they have been sending over the last 3 weeks. They are very sweet and encouraging! I will update after our visit on Wednesday. Thanks to everyone for sticking with us! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Alyce

Trip to Eye Doctor

Terry went to the eye doctor on Friday and they told him that he DOES NOT have the ultra-rated GVHD but the mucus that is still building up in his eyes could be still a light case of GVHD. They put him back on the Restasis drops(cyclosporine)for a while. This causes major burning in his eyes for a while until he starts using his Optive drops that helps sooth his eyes. It also blurrs his vision for a period of time. Hopefully this will go away soon, but not anytime soon according to the eye doctor. It could be keeping any leukemia away also. So not really sure what to pray for, but a little GVHD is better than alot. Please pray for complete healing and getting rid of this at least by May 2009 when we will celebrate 2 years from transplant. Just wanted to let you know his progress. We're not supposed to go back to the doctor until August 29th, after we come back from the beach celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. And please pray for Kristy(an employee of mine)that is still at UAB in ICU and still having difficulties from the wreck she had back on July 28th. Check in with you later! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

Family News

We lost a loved one this past weekend. Margret Rockhill passed away and her funeral was today. We went to the doctor first this morning but told them we had to be out in time to go to a funeral. We barely made it! It was a wonderful celebration of her life, a VERY sweet lady, Terry's aunt. She is in a much better place! His hemoglobin was still up, so they took a pint of blood from him to reduce the iron deposits from the transfusions. We are trying a new medicine for his neuropathy pain and numbness. They gave him a testosterone shot and a shot that will help boost his red blood cells. He has to go back to the eye doctor to make sure there is still no GVHD in his eyes and we will start talking about coming off the immune suppression meds again. Pray that it is NOT GVHD, just allergies that are making his eyes so red and irritated. Karen and Rick are visiting Todd this week and Butch and Jackie just got back from the beach. Pete(Sherri's husband)will be on the Wheel of Fortune, I will let you know when to tune in! So much going on! John moved out of our home this past weekend, so pray God watches over him and will keep him safe! Kristina will be going back to Tuscaloosa this weekend to start back to school next week. PLEASE pray for her as she is going to be buried in nursing school books! I got a phone call from the real estate agent today and we are supposed to close on the house in Tarrant on Thursday. So many people had such a BIG hand in helping us through it! So congrats to all of you and you know who you are! We have met some really good christian people in the BMT unit and I asked the nurse today if she wondered why so many good people end up with these blood cancers. She said she never questions why, that God has a plan for everyone! They have some really GREAT people in the BMT unit! We love all of you and "Thank you" to everyone for coming so far with us! In May, we will celebrate his 2nd birthday and if God is willing he will be "Cured"! God Bless! Alyce

Today's Long Visit

Well, we got there at 8:55 am and did not leave until 2:45 pm! We were exhausted! They drew his blood and we waited there for the results until they got them back and decided his hemoglobin was too high. They drew a pint of blood from him so to reduce the iron deposits in his organs. This will also make him feel better, not so tired. We discussed coming to the BMT once a month, but Dr. Vaughan made the decision that was not a good idea because of the iron deposits causing problems if we waited that long. We did discuss a new routine though, him coming the afternoon before and they draw his blood and the bloodwork would be ready the next day and we would not have to wait all day for the results. I think they realized we were a little aggravated today. The nurse took forever to draw his blood. We talked about coming off the immune suppression meds again, but Dr. Vaughan said"not yet". Terry's eyes are still very red some days, but other days they are not! Don't know exactly why and today they were extremely red. He is feeling good overall just wears out fast especially in this heat! I have been telling him to stay out of it as much as possible but you know how men are! Stubborn, VERY stubborn! People tell him all the time they keep up on this blog, I only wish I remembered to do it more often! I am not the pro Karen was! We love you all and God Bless you! Alyce P.S. Please pray for an employee of mine! Kristy Jay, she was in an automobile accident and is in ICU at UAB!

Sorry So Long To Write!

I cannot believe it was June 25th since I have written you all! Terry saw a customer and good friend and he asked about it! I am not the writer Karen was! We went to the doctor today and they drew a pint of blood off him and gave him a testosterone shot and gave him a prescription for phosphorus. He is low on that electrolyte. His breathing is a questionable thing. Dr. Salzman made us walk around the whole unit 3 times to measure his oxygen level. But it was fine. We go back to the pulmonary doctor in September and we will ask questions then! We celebrated John's 20th birthday with all the family and now we really feel OLD! Kristina went to see Granny and she was doing REALLY good! Terry is feeling pretty good now that they got the extra iron out of him and boosted his testosterone level. So for the next two weeks hopefully he will have more energy! He has not had much at all lately and has had to use the oxygen several times after exerting himself too much! I asked about when we would start to taper back off the immune supression meds again and they said maybe at the next appt. we would discuss it! We go back on July 30th. We are planning a 25th wedding anniversary trip to Gulf Shores at the end of August. Just hope we get to go! Everyone pray for my sister-in-law(Kay Thrasher)she had a mini-stroke this morning and is in the hospital for tests to see what caused it! She just turned 45! She is improving rapidly! I apologize again for not keeping this up like I should! Love to you all! Alyce

No News Is Good News!

We went to the BMT unit today and we discussed what the pulmanary doctor had told him and they were satisfied with what he had said. They pretty much contribute the lung problem to GVHD, chemo after-effects and we don't think they really know what was in his lungs. He is using the advair inhaler now that has a steriod in it. They looked at his bloodwork and they gave me a copy of it. It was so good, they didn't even draw any blood from him today! He was relieved. They saw a place in his mouth they kind of questioned and told him to use the steroid mouthwash to see if it goes away. He is still having leg pain and his feet hurt in the afternoons, but other than that he is doing ok. He is still elated from catching so many fish this past weekend. When he went to the eye doctor, they told him there was no more GVHD in them and he put a tube in his left eye. He is going back next week to get the right eye done. That has relieved alot of his eye pain and dryness! God Bless Everyone of You for still hanging in here with us! Prayers are definitely working! God is listening! We love you all! Alyce

Great Fishing for Terry

We went to the pulmanary doctor on Thursday and he gave us pretty much the same story the other doctors had given us. He did determine that he may need oxygen only when he over-excerts himself. So we still have it at the house! He does not think that a blood clot or anything bad is in his lungs, which is a good thing!! He prescibed him a different inhaler(one with a steroid in it) to help him breathe when he is not at home. We came home and left for Lake Guntersville for the weekend and he caught so many fish he couldn't stop fishing! He would go out early and then come in and take a nap. Then in the afternoon he would fish again and they were really biting! This was my Thrasher reunion that we did not get to go to last year and it was a GREAT reunion! Everyone was so glad to see him! He is the fishing machine to alot of them and they love to see him catch them. All the little ones were fascinated that he was catching so many fish! Of course, I stayed on him about washing his hands and using the sanitizer. I just said a little prayer and asked for his protection! His thumb was so torn up by those fish and he hasn't experienced that in a while(for all you fishermen out there!) We go for his regular visit the Wednesday and I will update after that! Hopefully no new news, he is REALLY tired of going to SOOOOO many different doctors! We love all of you! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

Happy Father's Day

This year is SOOOOO much better than the last year on this day! He was in such a state of mind and did not really care what day it was, I think he slept most of it. But this year we went to church and out to eat afterwards and spent most of the afternoon with our children! You don't appreciate time until you think you won't have it anymore! We went to the doctor and not much to report except they drew a pint of blood off of him, he had too much iron and that makes him feel bad! Deposits of iron get into his organs, liver for instance and makes them go crazy! So they pulled some of the blood off. All of the blood transfusions he had is what caused this, 17 of them! This will have to be done periodically. He has definitely come off the steroid high he was on! He is feeling like he used to somewhat. Not bad, just not as good as when you are on steroids! He goes to the eye doctor tomorrow to see if he still has the GVHD in his eyes, only this doctor can tell. He goes to the pulmonary doctor Thursday to see what was going on in his lungs and see if he still needs to have home oxygen. Sometimes when he excerts himself he has to use it to get his breathing under control. We hope all you Dads out there had a GREAT Father's Day and we love all of you for hangin' in here with us! Hugs and Kisses! Alyce

He's Gaining Weight, Finally!

We went to get his esophogus stretched Thursday and he had gained 3 pounds! It's not alot, but a start back to where he will soon weigh "his" weight! Hopefully that was the last time we have to do that unless he starts having problems again. He is eating alot more and eating faster than he was so hopefully he will put on even more weight! He will weigh again at the BMT unit Wednesday, we go for a regular appointment that day. So maybe by then 3 more pounds. John is back to work(thank goodness)now, his knee is still healing though, he still limps. Kristina left this morning for the beach for a few days so life is a little more "normal" these days. Terry has been working on some songs he has written(one with John while they were stuck at the house together) and has taken up alot of his time lately(poor Clipper). He wants to record a CD and let others hear what he has done. He asked Dr. Vaughan's permission to take the cover in the BMT unit and he said yes, so soon maybe you will soon be able to hear it! If you go to Borderline's myspace, you will hear Jeff Phillips singing one of them. He is a perfectionist, so it might be a while! We heard Thursday the basebell coach for UA maybe going home this weekend. He is in Terry's old room and we told him that was a sign of good luck! I will report after we see the doctor's on Wednesday! Take care and God Bless You! Alyce

HE'S ALL FEMALE!

That is what they told us yesterday! His donor % is all Karen! That is what the doctors and we wanted! His immune system is still weak so if you are sick, please stay a good distance from him if you see him out! He got his esophogus stretched and is doing that again next Thursday. He is doing much better eating, but has not gained a whole lot of weight! But he was always tall and skinny, one of the things that attracted me to him! All the nurses hugged my neck and said they were sorry! They could tell the steroids are making him act differently! His nurse told me to get him out, she was tired of listening to him! So if he seems REALLY hyper, he IS! He is slowly coming off of them, so hopefully he will be acting more like himself soon! He wants to celebrate with everyone but wants to be able to sing and he said next year when they tell him he is CURED, we are going to have a BIG party! He will turn 50 this November, so we will have to celebrate that's for sure! Again, thank all of you for hanging in here with us this last year and a half, its been long but then short too! We love all of you! Hugs and kisses! Terry and Alyce

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY!

Well, it has been 1 year ago today we watched Karen's blood cells be entered into Terry's body! So far she has done a GREAT job staying there! Not that she has anything to do with it except letting them put all those tubes and wires and shots into her body to prepare her for all that! WHEW! What a BRAVE woman! We love you and Rick both! We will know exactly that percentages everything is on Wednesday. We go to get his esophogus stretched again and then to the BMT unit for regular blood work. They hopefully will tell us how much is Karen's immune system and the % of donor cells are seen! That is VERY important! All we DO know is NO leukemia! We have had a GREAT week last week. We rode on a bus to see the Eagles in Atlanta and Friday night went to see Sheryl Crow here in B'ham. The tickets were donated by the Leukemia Society and Gil, Terry's business partner, bought them and we had a great time! Thank you Gil(Denise), Davis(Jennifer-missed you!) and Rick(Kristy)! Sunday, we went to church of course, Jerry a great lesson, and then to Barber's Track where my brother was racing his BMW. He talked Terry into riding with a professional driver and he did over 140 miles per hour at one time! He LOVED it!Could not stop talking about it! We(I) am very tired! So I will post again after we see the doctor on Wednesday! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Thanks for hanging in here with us and I apologize for not posting sooner, haven't had time as you can tell! Thank our Good Lord and Savior for all his blessings! Alyce

Great News!

We got wonderful news this afternoon. We went to the GI doctor and he got his esophogus stretched to where the doc said he should notice alot of difference. He ate a bacon cheeseburger and some strawberries and cream for lunch(I got food in the food court at the hospital). He was then wheel-chaired over to the BMT unit and when we went in Dr. Vaughan, the big cheese, looked up at Terry and said "I looked at your bone marrow and it's puny but there is no leukemia!" We literally fell on him and said "Praise the Lord!" I felt like a brick house had been lifted off of me! Of course we asked about the puny part. He said it just hasn't stirred up like they would like it to but that was ok. Getting that kind of news just made our week!!! God is good and has more work for Terry to do here on earth! John is recovering and I take him to the doctor tomorrow. God bless everyone of you who have spent the last year praying for us, your work has been rewarded! Hugs and kisses to all! Alyce

Everyone's At Home Now

Yes, I am exhausted! I do not think I ever got this tired through the whole year last year! I'm chalking it up to old age! John had his surgery yesterday early and he was and is still pretty much out of it. They released Terry around 2 pm yesterday and we went and got John from my Dad's and Barbara's and all came home. Kristina had driven in after her last test in Tuscaloosa. She is home for the summer thank goodness. I need her help! They sent oxygen home with us and of course Terry being the stubborn person he is will not keep it on. They will stretch his esophogus again on Monday and then will go to the BMT unit for his oxygen to be measured. He will go to a pulmanary doctor sometime this week and in the mean time I have to take John to the doctor at 1pm on Tuesday to take the staples out. They have prescibed Lovibox shots to be given to John because of the Factor-5 lyden that Terry, Karen and Kristina have. This can cause blood clots, Johnny most likely had it and that is why he is not here with us today! I want to apologize to Jerry Jenkins, our preacher, he followed us around all day yesterday and never found us. Everywhere he went we had just left! I am sorry for that Jerry! We love everyone of you and keep praying for Terry in that his bone marrow test will come back negative! Hugs to everyone! Alyce

TERRY HOSPITILIZED

Hi Everyone, this is Karen. I told Alyce I would do the Blog for her because she is at the hospital with Terry. Yesterday they were at UAB from 9am and got home about 5:15pm. The doctor called them and said they needed to come back to the hospital to check Terry in because a test they had done on him showed his oxygen level was dangerously low. He was at risk for a stroke or heart attack. They checked him in about 7:45pm. Earlier his white cell count was elevated to 14,000 (normal 4,00 to 11,000) and they had done several blood tests and the Bone Marrow test and a CT thinking he may have some pneumonia. He was on oxygen overnight and when Alyce got to the BMTU this morning, he was gone for more pulmonary tests. They just got through doing a V.Q. test on him where he breathes in a substance that makes your insides glow so they can see everything better. They now think he has a possible blood clot in his lung. They are about to do another special CT test to confirm. Please pray that the results from the Bone Marrow test and blood tests will be good and that this possible blood clot can be dissolved. Most of you do not know that our Dad died of a blood clot so this is Very serious and scary to all of us. John is supposed to have knee surgery tomorrow at St. Vincent's East. Please pray for him and his speedy recovery. I will try to keep you updated. Love to all, Karen

The Yearly Tests Are Here!

We found out Friday that they will do the bone marrow test this Wednesday and also will test the donor(Karen's) cells, last time he was tested they were are 100%, and they will see where his immune system really is at this time! Makes me a little nervous but trust that God is watching over him! This week has been a little rough, we had the procedure done on Wednesday and I had to take John to the doctor before I took T to the doctor then Lois's funeral was Thursday. It was very sweet! And then trying to work on top of all that! Butch and Jackie's dog Ginger died, they had had her for 12 years. Karen told me that the social worker had called her before she came to the funeral and Ruth was having a good day! So glad to hear that! Pray that his donor cells are still at 100% and the leukemia is still gone! The GVHD hopefully has killed any that might have been still there!Will update after we see the doctor on Wednesday. Love to you all! Alyce

Surgery A Success!

Well, we got home around 4:30 this afternoon and he did very well! We will have to go back on the 12th of May for them to perform it again. They could not biopsy anything and they will put a bigger tube down his throat then. This doctor puts out those BIG words that I cannot understand so I called Kristina to interpret it for me. They could not put the bigger tube in so they stretched it as far as they could for right now. He had some of those really good drugs though. He didn't think they had done the surgery when I got back there to him. He is asleep on the couch right now, snoozing away! John hurt his knee last night and I had to carry him to the doctor early this morning and hopefully what Dr. Darnell did will work! He was the first doctor to discover T's high white blood cell count and sent us to Dr. Yeilding. I am going to fix some soup for him for dinner and see how he does then a vanilla milkshake! That ought to put a least a pound on him! Gil, at SCS, is doing a fund raiser for the Leukemia Society, so go to www.manoftheyearlls.com to donate in Terry's behalf or you can go the Service Construction Supply's website and it will tell you how to donate! We are suppose to go to a dinner next Thursday for this event and Terry is really looking forward to it! Gil has really put forth alot of effort for this cause! Last year's benefit raised over $22,000.00 so if you can help, please do! Wouldn't it be great if they could find a sure cure for leukemia! The LLS supports all of the families that are struck with this disease. They have a person at the BMT unit that is dedicated to nothing but helping people through this society. They offered all kinds of services to us and were a great help in showing us how to get the help we needed! We hope one day to be peers to others that are going through what we have been through and to minister to them. God has been our constant strength through it all and others need to know he is there for them too! I will update soon! Hugs to you all! Alyce

Quick Update

As most of the family knows now Aunt Lois passed away Monday morning. She is up there with Uncle Raymond now, where she wants to be acccording to Kenny. I know he will miss her as will everyone. The viewing is at Roebuck Chapel on Wednesday night and the funeral is on Thursday at 11 am. She will be missed! We love you Kenny! We will go in the morning to Kirkland Clinic for them to stretch T's esophogus. They will also biopsy what is in his throat to see if it is the GVHD for sure. I talked with Lidia today and she gave us the great news that his chest x-ray they did yesterday was clear! The bloodwork is not back yet, they will watch it grow in the cultures for a few days. She also said he should gave gotten blood taken out of him last week while we were there. His iron is high again and that is most likely why he is not been feeling good lately. So they will do that next Wednesday. We learned of the assistant baseball coach, B.J. Green, will go in next Tuesday for his transplant. He has a blog, it is www.bjgreensol.com. I was reading it tonight and he is going to go through exactly what T. did. Makes us re-live all of that! I let him know we were here for him if he needs us! I will update tomorrow after we get home! Hug your loved ones! Love to you all! Alyce

Getting Ready for 1st year Anniversary(Birthday)

Well, we are approaching the 1 year from transplant and they said they will begin the tests soon to determine how his body and blood are withstanding everything. He is having surgery Wednesday to stretch his esophogus and they will biopsy whatever is in his throat to try to determine exactly what it is. He has lost 4 more pounds and it is hard for him to eat much at all! Hopefully this will take care of it and he can get back to enjoying food again! I sure hope so! They are drawing more blood tomorrow because they saw something they think is fungus in his bloodwork from Tuesday. Sharon, the NP, said it could have been a mistake on the lab part, so pray real hard it is only a mistake in the lab! If it is not he will be going in for treatment. Rick Rockhill has gone home and sounded so much better when we talked to him Thursday night! He lost his best friend, Paul Davis, this last week. Ron was with him and that brotherly love was evident!!! Lois turned 90 years young this past week, I did not know this until Karen called and told me,so "HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY LOIS"! I talked to Butch and he sounded good but tired! He is overdoing, of course, and is still having chest pains! I am sorry I have not posted anything since Tuesday, but our internet service went out. Just got it back today! Keep Terry in your prayers and I will update after the surgery on Wednesday! Love to you all! Alyce

Getting Stretched!

Well, we finally got an answer to all our questions today! He will be getting the procedure where they go down into the esophogus and stretch it. He has a stricter(medical term)half-way down his esophogus and Dr. Ashraf said he thinks its GVHD, but would not know unless a biopsy is done. So they will do that while they are doing the procedure on him. They will set up the appointment and let us know when to be there. He has lost 4 more pounds because of not being able to swallow food good. He is mainly sticking to a liquid diet, which includes Ensure Plus at least twice a day. He will be relieved when this is over and he can eat better food and not take so long to eat(Gil and Davis)! They are talking about putting him on a LIGHT steroid after they do the procedure to try to get the GVHD disease under better control. Hopefully not a long term thing! This will make his appetite increase so he liked that idea but can cause muscle weakness, he DID NOT like that! They are also going to start setting up his 1 year tests from the bone marrow transplant!!! YEAH! I am looking forward to that because I know God has a plan for him to stick around for a while! We met the assistant baseball coach for the Alabama baseball team today, B.J Green. He has leukemia and is going in soon for his bone marrow transplant. We tried to encourage him and told him if he needed to talk, Terry is the only one that can relate to what he is going through! We gave them our #s and wished him the best and told him to look to God for his strength to get through this! We have been keeping up with him through Kristina(his girlfriend is in her nursing class) and also he has a blogspot too! Connie(works @ SCS)introduced us to him, she is friends with B.J.'s mom. They also know the Christmas's(Jan & Shannon) and B.J. played baseball with Chad Langston, he was our ring barer in mine and T's wedding! It is a small world! More news on the family! We talked to Kenny and Lois is doing about the same. She is in a private room now and giving him things to do for her. Terry talked to Rick Rockhill and they had to cut him open to take out his gallbladder. He still has a fever because of the infection that was in his body, but hope that will go away soon! He called late last night and told us that Paul Davis(some of you might remember his music)had a heart attack yesterday, on his 60th birthday! Pray that he comes through this ok! Butch(Terry's brother) is doing OK and has decided to retire! Yeah, no more stress! And Karen will soon this summer retire too! We got a few more years and children to finish putting through College before we can consider that! Keep the prayers coming especially as we get closer to the bone marrow test! It should be within the next month! We love all of you for hanging in here with us through this long journey! Hugs and kisses to you all! Alyce

Family News

I talked to Kenny tonight and he said they may move Lois to a private room as soon as tomorrow. It all depends on how she is doing in the morning. He said they sat her up for three hours today and she was not fond of that at all. She needs encouragement to go on! Send her a card if you can! She is at Trinity Hospital in SCIU right now, but that could change soon! I also talked to Jackie this afternoon and she said Butch was feeling OK but not good. He is supposed to go to the doctor in a week or so. He just does not need to overdue it! He was with Micheal today helping him pick out a new truck! Some new news that I do not know how many of the family knows this, but Rick Rockhill is in the hospital in Nashville. They removed his gall bladder yesterday. He said he was feeling really bad and they scoped him and discovered that his gall bladder was infected and could have released deadly bile into his body that could kill him. He was groggy this afternoon when I talked with him so I will leave him alone for a day and let him rest. We go to the doctor on Tuesday. We did not go this week. First to the gastrointerologists then to the BMT unit. Terry is fishing today and Friday in Eufala, the AGC tournament, and was real tired when I talked with him earlier. But caught some fish so he was happy!I will update as I find new things going on. Love to all of you! Alyce

New News

I wanted everyone to know that Butch went home today. They are going to try to let a medication treat him and see how he does on it. He is feeling good according to Jackie tonight and is taking it easy for a while. He will go back to the doctor in two weeks. I spoke with Kenny(Cuz) tonight also and he said that there is a slight possibility Lois may move into a private room this week. He had gotten her to eat solid food for dinner, first in a while, so he was feeling good about it. Say a little prayer for them and God Bless all of you! Terry now has his own email address! IT is tdavidson1108@aol.com! Send him something! He is excited about having his own email and he can even use the computer by himself now! Take and care and hug your loved ones! Alyce

Family News

We have other family members in the hospital now. Butch(Terry's)brother is in UAB because of trouble with his heart. He had chest pains during the times we were getting Ruth's house ready to sell but when we saw him last Sunday at the nursing home he said they had gone away. Thursday he started having them again with shortness of breath so he went to the emergency room at UAB. His doctor from Carraway is now at UAB. They are looking at his previous records on his open heart at Carraway and comparing them to the arteriorgram(can't spell) they did yesterday. Send him a card to let him know we are praying for him. He is in W652 in the Wallace Tower at UAB. I went to see Aunt Lois yesterday and she didn't even know I was there. She was sleeping but seemed restless because of the way she was moving around while I was there. She is in SCIU at Trinity Hospital. Pray for her to come out of this OK! Terry is fishing today so he is a happy man! I am just praying he does what he is supposed to(not touch the fish)That is hard for him as most of you know! The bacteria from the water and fish can make him very sick! Those were doctor's orders! We go back to the doctor this Wednesday so I will update on everybody then and hopefully Butch and Lois will be much better! God Bless you and Hugs to everyone! Alyce

Waiting Again

Sorry I have not posted anything lately! Jan Christmas called to ask me how his barium swallow test went and reminded me I had not updated the blog. So, he did not pass it totally. They gave him the barium to drink and they would watch him swallow and video it going down his throat. They found a place down in his esophagus going into his wind pipes to his lungs that had a place that was restricted. They gave him a tablet to swallow and it got stuck. They gave him a glass of water to disolve it and it finally went down. We will see the gastrointerologists(can't spell) on April 22nd. He is going fishing Saturday with Kyle(an employee) and this week he will fish the AGC tournament with Mike. He is excited! I called his "other wife", his nurse at the BMT unit to make sure it was OK. He just has to drink alot of water and stay covered up from the sun. We learned of Aunt Lois being in the hospital in ICU today. Karen had sent me an email but I had not looked at it since Monday. Kenny had called Terry today to give him an update. She is not doing well, so say a little prayer for her to come out of this ok. We hope Danny Files is doing good, we have not heard. And Matt, we have not heard how he is doing either. If anyone has information about any of the family, please email me at alyced680@aol.com and give me an update! Again, I am sorry that I have not updated lately, so busy working now! That eight months off is taking a while to get back into the swing of things! Hugs and kisses to all of you! Alyce

Good News and Bad News Again!

We had a little more on our plate to discuss with the docs today. He has lost more weight and his throat has a spot on it. He chose to divulge this to Lidia(BMT NP)today. Has not said a word to me about it! They looked at it very closely and of course had to discuss it. They came to a conclusion it could be the GVHD in his throat. He will have an x-ray done tomorrow where you swallow barium and they take pictures as it goes down his throat into his esophagus and it will tell them if his throat is closing up due to GVHD or something else is happening. His taste buds are terrible too. Nothing is good to him and he doesn't want much when he does eat. Dr. Ashrof thinks this is because the GVHD is making his taste buds not taste anything. We will know more after tomorrows test. His iron was high again and they drew a pint of blood off of him again today. Such a waste to watch them throw it away! They said that too much iron is bad for his liver and pancreas and can make him feel very bad. So hope them drawing it out will make him feel better. He also got a testostrone shot. He will be treating the GVHD by swishing a steroid mouth wash down in his throat 4 times a day. They did let us get his prescription filled for the megase, this makes him hungry so he will want to eat more. So get ready Gil and Davis, he may eat both of yours at lunch! Thank you Gil for taking care of us today! I will update after we get the results from the test he is having tomorrow! Love to all of you! Alyce

Estate Sale at Ruth's(Granny's)

We wanted all of the family to know we are having an estate sale this weekend at Ruth's house.(5371 Heritage Lane Irondale, AL 35201) We all have gotten everything we wanted and what Ruth wanted us to have out of the house. Karen will be there Friday afternoon(after 1 pm) if any family members want to come before the sale starts on Saturday(9am-3pm) and Sunday (1pm-3pm). You should call Karen though if you want to come by on Friday (951-4055.) There is a very nice lady named Ms. Nance that will be moving in it soon. She loved the colors Ruth had used and I think this is a blessing in disquise. Ruth weighed 91 pounds Monday when Karen went up there to help her eat her dinner. She said she was in good spirits and very talkative and ate pretty good for her. We love her so much and hate to see her this way! Please do not discuss this with Ruth if you go to see her! It will only upset her and she would be very confused! We love all of you! Alyce

ESTATE SALE

Hi Everyone, this is Karen. I just wanted to let you know that God is still working in our lives. About 4 weeks ago, I got a call from one of Mom's neighbors asking if we were going to sell her house. She said she had a friend whose Mom was looking for something in this area. I had not really wanted to think about that because I was just not sure I could handle it. Everything was still exactly as Mom had left it when she got so sick last May. I was still paying all the utilities, etc. I guess still hoping that she would get better and could come home. Unfortunately, she has continued to decline. Her dementia is getting worse and she has not walked in 8 or 9 months. She only weighs 91 pounds and has to be fed and everything done for her. The people at the Village at Cook Springs are very good to her. Anyways, my brothers and I decided that with the housing market as slow as it is we should at least show it to this lady. We hid stuff in drawers and underbeds and in boxes and got it cleaned up and looking pretty. I showed it to her the next week and the next week she made an offer. We have a contract and it should close about the middle of April. We are getting a very good price and I just feel God sent this lady to me. The very same week, Rick aired up the tires in Mom's old car and drove it down to a body shop nearby to see if they had some part that was missing on the car. Three days later, we received a phone call from a man interested in buying the car. He heard about it at the body shop. We have sold a house and a car without even trying. Now if that is not God you will never convince me otherwise. Meanwhile, we have spent 3 of the last 4weekends going through a lifetime of our Mother's memories. We have all taken things that we wanted and are selling the rest. A couple from my church are doing an Estate Sale for us this coming weekend. We have 5 or 6 rooms full of furniture, pictures, lamps, dishes, what-nots, clothes, tools and antique items. We will all be there some time to help work and we hope to see you ALL there. It will be 9am to 3pm on Saturday 3/29/08 and 1pm to 3pm on Sunday 3/30/08. The address is 5371 Heritage Lane, Irondale, AL 35210. My home ph# 205-951-3917 and cell # 205-249-7524. It is just off Hwy 78 East, near the I-20, Old Leeds Road exit. Follow the signs and PLEASE COME. Thank you for your continued moral support and prayers for Terry and Mom. Love, Karen

Promises! Promises!

He got out of the fluid IV today by promising Lidia(his NP)that he would drink lots of fluids, so next time you see him ask him if he's drinking!!! His heart rate was so high and pressure still low! I am surprised he got out of it, he's slick when he wants to be(with Lidia anyway) His liver counts were still about the same but still higher than they want so to take the iron deposits out of his body they took a pint of blood OUT of him. Yes, I said out of him. The nurse that did it had Kristina(she went with us today)help her open the BIG tubes that they used to pull his blood out of the IV. For some reason I got sick to my stomach watching it! Seen SO much and THAT made me sick! He got a little light headed so I got him some juice to drink. They think having so many blood transfusions(18 total)and Karen's stem cells has made his iron go higher than usual. His hemocrit was 13.8, it is not supposed to be over 10, so from now on they will take blood from him when it gets that high. When Dr. Vaughan was explaining it all I was thinking I was SO glad Kristina was in there to hear all this so she could explain it to us! The three of us went to The Fish Market to eat afterwards and he ate pretty good. He did gain 3/10's of a pound since last week. Dr. Vaughan asked us questions about his weight before leukemia and we told him he is a little under his normal weight and he thought that he is OK with it as long as he doesn't continue losing weight. I am now making him drink Ensure in the morning and at night. He is feeling good overall though! I don't think he even knew that his heart was beating so fast. We don't go back until April 1st, so hopefully nothing will happen until then. Love to all of you keeping up with us and kiss your loved ones daily! God Bless! Alyce and Terry

Liver Problems Again!

Do not know what is really causing the liver problems but they wanted me to look through the journal book we have kept since Terry was diagnosed and see how many blood transfusions he has had since the beginning in Carraway. The enzymes are back up a little and they are watching it closely. He had had 8 in UAB during the transplant. His blood pressure was low so they kept him all day to give fluids and then they took it after giving him a liter of fluids and it did not come up as much as they had hoped, but they made him promise he would drink alot of fluids and let us go about 3 pm. He is also very low on his vitamin D and gave us a presciption for him to take for the next 12 weeks. He asked if he could go fishing and get out in the sun, but we know what that answer was "NO NO NO!" The sun could cause more GVHD on his skin. He has also lost almost 7 pounds in two weeks. So due to the lack of appetite I will be making him milkshakes and drinking ensure again! I will have to measure the intake of food for three days before we go back and report how much food he is eating. Dr. Salzman seems to think maybe he has a slite case of GVHD in his esophagus and could be making it where it is hard to swallow his food. As you can tell there are alot of maybe's in his case. I think they see so many different people react to the different situations they are in and try to come up with answers and are really not sure, they just suggest what they think! Only God knows! I just can't help but think that God has a plan for us and it is SO much bigger than we ever know! We are in a different world now where people are so sick and some are not sure they will even make it through a transplant. We met a man that is 24 years old and has been battling CML(Chronic Leukemia) since he was 22. It has now turned into acute like Terry's. His sister is also a perfect match so we gave him encouragement today to have faith in God and do what the doctors said and excercise alot before the transplant. He seemed very strong! I hated to bring all this "wonderful" news to all of you, but all of you are our strength and we believe God is going to pull us through this! We love you! Alyce and Terry

GVHD Still There!

Well, did not get the news we wanted today but it could have been worse so we will deal with it! The (GVHD)graft vs host disease is still there but Dr. Parker said it had gotten better. He is leaving it up to the BMT doctors to decide exactly what to do about it. He suggested steroids by mouth and or go up on the cyclosporine(immune suppression med). His eyes are still dry and so is his mouth so when you see him you will see a bottle of water in his hand too! He said "Although it is a pain in the butt, it is better than having leukemia!" Amen to that! We have one more weekend to go through Ruth's house and try to decide where everything needs to go. Then an estate sale will be the next weekend and then we will have to move everything out! The new owner will take possession soon! Keep Terry in your prayers! We love all of you! Alyce and Terry

Moving On

Well, so many things are happening in our family! Karen had a lady decide she wants to buy Ruth's house and so we are having to get everything sorted and out within 3 more weeks. We spent all of this weekend seperating and pulling out everything so we can have a estate sale. We went to church at Heritage Place and it was so great to hear Rick preach and see everyone we have not seen in so long! Especially Dr. Sutton! He was SO great when all of this started with Terry and helped us understand what was going on in his body! Afterwards we went with Tara and Morgan to Milos and then to see Granny! She was in the dining room and Kristina sat down and helped feed her! She wanted all us to eat her food too! She was so funny! Then we took her outside to be in the beautiful sunshine! She seemed to like it alot! Then we went to her house and met everyone else and began cleaning out drawers while the others loaded up furniture to take to Karen's. We dare not tell Granny what is going on, first she wouldn't understand it and if she did, she would kill us! This will help with future bills for her in the nursing home! So if you go see her,please do not bring it up! My brother and his family has bought a new home and is moving in next weekend! But all of my family is leaving for L.A. to be gone all this week! I'll have it all by myself! We were supposed to go to the eye doctor Friday, but they called that morning and said he had the flu. So we did not go so Terry would not be exposed to it and we are supposed to go this Wednesday. But I will make sure the doctor is well before we go! His eyes are still dry and so is his mouth. We will know more after we see the eye doctor. He will be the one to say whether or not he still has the graft vs host disease! The BMT doctor seemed to think it was better! I will update more after Wednesday's appt. Thanks for hanging in here with us! Its been a long journey, but we are looking forward to May 26th(Terry's 2nd birthday)1 year from his transplant! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Alyce

Great News!

We got good news today! His liver enzyme counts were near normal today so the doctors and us were relieved that what they thought 2 weeks ago is not true! And they do not have to extensive tests on his liver! His counts, white cell, red cell and platelets were good! So we discussed what to ask the eye doctor Friday when we see him. His eyes are still VERY dry and so is his mouth. Dr. Salzman said he might have that the rest of his life and that it was a side effect of the graft vs host disease. We will find out for sure if the disease is still in his eyes on Friday. We do not have to go back to the BMT unit until March 12th. We are so relieved! He will stay on the same dosage of cyclosporine until we go back on the 12th and of course stay on the same regimen the eye doctor prescribed until he says to come off them. God and time is on our side! As they said today he is not a year out from his transplant and he has progressed so fast! We know others that are going through some hard times with the same thing we went through so we say a little prayer each night for them. God bless you all too! Alyce

Better News

We went to the BMT unit today and they drew blood and told us that everything pretty much looked the same so they let us go early for a change. He had gotten a different bottle and started taking what was in it. It was the wrong medicine! It was something he had taken back in 2004 for his tri-glycerides. He thought it was the penicillian, they looked alot alike! So when we go back next Wednesday hopefully they will have the right reading then on his liver. We went to the funeral home this evening for a 26 year old man that had lymphnoma. He had a bone marrow transplant(his brother was his donor)in Houston at MD Anderson(a great hospital) He did have some complications along the way that prevented him from being free of going back and forth to Houston alot. He passed away and left a beautiful wife and two-year old daughter behind. It really got to me seeing the pictures of him and the slide show they had on a big screen showing his life from a child until a few weeks ago. There was so many people there and I told his wife that I had put myself in her shoes so many times. She was very brave and was standing right by him in the casket. I can't even begin to tell you the thoughts that were going through my head! Terry was very brave and strong even though I know what was going through his mind too! We are so blessed to have been able to come this far without major complications! Lidia(the NP at the BMT unit) told him he needs to be very careful in coming in contact with people and wash his hands very often! So if you see him and you are sick, please tell him! It could save his life! Bless you all for staying with us and I will update next week after we see the doctor! Love to you all! Alyce

Good News

We went back to the BMT unit yesterday and they gave us the good news that they do not have to do a liver biopsy. Terry was very relieved!!! It is enlarged but not to a point where they need to look in it! Dr. Lopez said he thinks it most likely GVHD and the tests for mono, hepatitis, and some other test I cannot spell, were negative. WE both looked up towards the ceiling and said "Thank you LORD"! We know he is watching over us! They changed how he is going to take his cyclosporine, once in the morning and once at night. The enzymes in the liver came down too, so that was a big other reason the doctor decided not to do a biopsy. We have prayed every day for the enzymes to be down. His CBC was good, all the numbers white cell, red cell and platelets were a little low but were OK with the doctor. He is actually fishing with Mike Pitts today, first chance with the weather to go, and he was really excited! Hope he catches some! We go back on Wednesday and they will draw more blood to see what the liver enzymes are doing. Hope everyone had a great Valentines, ours was so special this year especially since last year was so different. John had to step up for Terry last year and he did a GREAT job! He really had a soft spot this year and went with us to eat dinner. That is different for John! But you would have to live with him to know it! Both our kids have been great through all this and have brought us even closer! Hugs your loved ones every chance you get! God Bless You for hanging in here with us! Love to all! Alyce

Problems We Never Saw Coming

We spent all day at UAB yesterday! We went back to the doctor yesterday instead of Thursday because I called the nurse to ask her about having the GVHD(graft vs host disease) in his sinus cavity and she told me to bring him in. He was not happy with me but its not the first time and I am sure it won't be the last! Although after the day was over he did thank me for taking care of him! He tells me he loves me and he wouldn't know what he would do without me all the time. I just tell him that is why God put me here! His liver enzymes are still high(not sure how many liver enzymes we have)and they are doing an ultrasound on his liver, gall bladder and pancreas today. They also took more blood to do other certain kinds of tests on his liver. The doctor should have the results of the blood tests and the ultrasound and we will go back Friday for those. They told him yesterday if they did not get the results they want from the ultrasound and blood tests, they will have to biopsy his liver to see what is going on. Of course he asked what does that involve and he said they put a catheder in your neck and run it down that way. He suspects GVHD or a virus in his liver but has to make sure. He just wants to know what it is to be able to treat it correctly. He is a research doctor and is very thorough! I can tell Terry is very scared. I just keep telling to keep the faith and we are reading our bible every night to boost us! Our church gave out a calendar to follow and we have been doing it! We saw the neurologists yesterday too! She examined him and told him what he already knew, she called him the expert! The cyclosporine could be the reason so many nerves have been affected and the chemo he took over the past year also could have done the damage. He will most likely have this the rest of his life but she assured him after 6 months of being off the cyclosporine he could see a difference.I will update after our visit on Friday! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so hug your loved ones and tell them you love them! Time is precious! Hugs and kisses to all of you! Alyce

First Time For Everything!

Well, we have been so lucky this far but there is a first time for everything! He does have the graft vs host disease in his eyes and I'm thinking it is in his sinus cavity too, so does Terry. He puts up a front but he did tell me this morning he was scared. We went to church and I put on our membership card to put him back on the prayer list. They worked before and they will work again! He is at Eddie's recording his song he wrote. I tried to talk him out of going but he said he wanted to get this song down and it might be his only chance. It is a tear jerker, he's only played it once for me and he said he had changed it around, so I am not sure how it goes now. We are putting cyclosporine drops in his eyes each morning and at night. He also has steroid drops he can use every 3 to 4 hours and then we put an ointment in them before we go to bed. They also increased his cyclosporine(immune suppression meds) by mouth to 50 mg per day instead of every other day. So we are going backwards instead of forward and he is depressed about it. I am going to talk to the doctor when we go Thursday(he is getting bloodwork done for the liver enzymes) about giving him the lowest dosage of depression meds until we can get back to the right direction. We talked about it before but they gave him the testostrone shot and he got better. So I do not know what they will do. Kristina came home(in her nursing uniform) this weekend, haven't seen her in two weeks, and that really helps him!!! Harlie(her dog) cheers him up too! She is starting her clinicals and seeing her in her uniform really makes us think WOW she is really doing this! We are SO proud she is who she is! I talked to Karen and Butch and Karen said she was going to give blood this week at a blood drive, but she might need to give Terry a booster so she decided against it. The doctor said if we were going to see this disease it would be on the taper of the cyclosporine, he was right! We see the neurologists Tuesday, for the numbness in feet, hands and arms and Thursday for more bloodwork. I will update you after these appointments! Please pray for his recovery, God is good! Hug you sweethearts this week, you never know what's around the corner! Love to all! Alyce

Trouble Again

Well we thought everything was ok, but we went to the BMT unit Wednesday and they drew blood and his liver enzymes were high. They took him off the Bactrim, an antibiotic he has been on since we left UAB in June. So they will draw blood next Thursday and see if it has come down. His eyes are not getting any better. He looks miserable especially by the end of the day and they really hurt him I can tell. Dr. Ashraf said that we would go ahead and come down 25mg next visit(20th) and see what happens. We have learned of so many people that are going through what Terry did. We spoke to one of them at the hospital Wednesday and two others are coming in soon! One is on the 9th floor getting chemo before he has the actual bone marrow transplant. Alan(my brother) has a friend at church that had throat cancer and got rid of it, but it has come back in his brain and I just got through reading his blogspot and it really got to me. So many things can happen so quickly! Don't take anything for granted and savor the moments you have, because they can be taken away so fast! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Alyce

Good News

Well he does not have the graft vs host disease in his eyes. The eye doctor said it could be the early signs, but the disease cannot be seen in his eyes yet. That is a relief! He did say that there was something irritating them though. He has had some congestion and was coughing some last night. No fever though. I gave him some medicine last night for that. He has never had his eyes checked so he got the full run yesterday. He has 20/20 vision and no signs of any of those eye diseases that I cannot spell. He just needs reading glasses and he uses those already. We went to see Ruth Thursday and she was in a very talkative mood. Micheal was there and had brought her flowers, we brought her roses and Karen brought flowers too. So her room was very cheerful on her birthday. We went to the lounge area where there was a piano. When John sees a piano he can't help but play it. He played her a song and then played "Happy Birthday" to her. She really seemed to enjoy it! Karen said that the nurses that heard it want him to come back and play again. Micheal and John really made her laugh, but we won't talk about that subject. When those two get together, watch out! I will keep you posted, hopefully on all good news, when we go back to the BMT unit. That is not until Feb. 13th, we see the neurologists on Feb 12th to talk about the numbness still in certain places on his arms and his toes. Thanks for hanging in there! God bless you and we love you all! Alyce

New Signs In His Eyes

We had a good weekend last weekend except when he told me his eyes were dry and itching. He looked like his eyes were hurting. We had gotten a new TV and stand for our den, thanks to Jeff, and we were watching it on Saturday night when he told me this. I tried to get him to go Sunday morning but he wouldn't so I called the nurse on Monday morning and he went in on Tuesday. They are sending him to an eye doctor on Friday that specializes with graft VS host disease this Friday. I had noticed his eyes were bloodshot over the weekend. The doctors just want to be sure this is not graft VS host disease, but if it is they will more than likely increase his dosage of immune suppression meds. They use steroids for this too but hopefully we are not to that point! We know of someone that has this disease in his eyes and are told he cannot hardly open his eyes at all without hurting. He is in Houston at MD Anderson Hospital. Terry is also going back to the Neurologists in February to see if they can tell him if the numbness in his feet and certain places on his arms and hands are due the kind of immune suppression meds he has been taking. They may change the kind and hopefully that will help! We have seen many people with the graft VS host disease and it is not a pretty sight. This is when the graft(Karen's stem cells) and the host(Terry) fight against each other in his body. Since we have been coming off the meds every two weeks, the doctors think that is why we are just now seeing this. Believe me when I tell you that this has been such a blessing not getting it. God has been watching over our family constantly in 2007. Ruth's 84th birthday is tomorrow and we hope to go to Cook Springs and see her tomorrow afternoon.After we see the eye doctor on Friday, I will update then. Hugs and kisses to you all! Alyce

Things Delayed A Bit

We went to the doctor today and they did the blood work on him and everything looks good, his counts that is. His throat has been sore and has had some stuffiness so he stayed at home Monday and Tuesday. We were thinking he was trying to come down with something so they swabbed his throat and tested him for strep, but nothing came back postitive thank goodness. Dr. Vaughan did not let him come off any more suppression meds though. He still has some funny stuff in the back of his throat. Like a rash, they think it still might be signs of the graft VS host disease but are not really sure so he thought it was best that he stay on the dosage he is on now. Only 50 mgs every other day. But Terry learned that they are treating arthuritis(?) with immune suppression meds, so he thinks that is why he has not had any arthuritis pain in a long time. He has lost about 4 pounds, fluid, from what we can tell. His feet are not swelling like they were and not hurting like they were either. That is a good sign! Overall he is feeling pretty good! A year ago today we were living day to day wondering what was next. He was in Carraway Hospital this time last year getting his first rounds of chemo and all of you were such a great support group! Thanks for hanging around a year later! We love you all! Alyce

Sorry so long to Write

I apologize for not getting back on this sooner! I am not doing the good job Karen did! When I see people out and they tell me they are keeping up on the blog, I feel really BAD! He is doing about the same, mouth wise that is! Not any worse or better. I saw a red place in the side of his mouth this morning, so I am sure they will see it Wednesday. He is actually at practice with David, Roger, Jeff and Eddie. First time this year! This is good for his lungs! The chemo really affected his lung capacity! His feet are SO much better and we are going to try to go to the boat show this year. I remember talking about it last year and saying he guessed he wouldn't get to go. I am trying to get him to get his boat ready for sale! This past week is the year anniversary of when we found out about it. Just so glad to be where we are right now, thanks to God up above and all your prayers! Karen is real sick, the flu she thinks, so keep her in your prayers! Granny is not doing so great! We went to see her and she was running a fever, but when I called about her today, they said she was much better today! Say a little prayer for her! We are both staying real busy working. He tends to over do it some days but then others he does just fine! We talked to cousin Rick yesterday and he was on his way to Pell City to see Gail and Ron. Gail's mom is not doing good! I hope Danny is doing better! So many family memebers in this family, its hard to keep up! I will report something after we see the doctor this Wednesday! Love to you all! Alyce

Good News and Bad News

We went to the doctor on Wednesday and got the go ahead of coming off the immune suppression meds 25mg more. So we hopefuly are not too far away from being off them totally. If he does not show any more signs of possible graft VS host disease that is. I look at his mouth every day to check it and so far so good! We got a call from Karen last night and the doctor had called her about Granny. She has lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks and they were wanting to know about a feeding tube. This is VERY hard for Karen, Butch and Terry, I know! Such decisions are something you do not want to face! I pray for her every day, for God to make her comfortable. So pray for them! We do not go back to the doctor until the 23rd unless there is a problem, and there won't be! I will keep you informed about Ruth, or Karen might want to take this back over. Either way, we will let you know what is going on! Love to you all! Alyce