Everlasting Love > Cancer

"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Isreal who summons you by name"... Isaiah 45 2-3

Daddy passed away on Sunday night, August 7, 2011. What a tremendous testiment of faith he was for all who knew him. His attitude toward fighting cancer could not be torn down, his faith in God, his Lord and Saviour could not be broken. His love for his family- immeasurable. What a legacy he leaves. Though we miss him more than words can say and our lives are forever changed, we know without a shadow of a doubt that he is in Heaven, no longer suffering. Our God never left us and never will. He gracefully took Daddy in such a peacful way and we are forever grateful. We cherish our family and friends who took this journey with us and loved us, prayed for us and are mourning with us. You may never know how much you have touched us, just please know that you have.


I have learned a lot these past three years..my faith has grown stronger and my walk with Jesus has sustained me. I have learned to TRUST in HIM and KNOW that HE is GOD. I am comforted by that. I have no regrets, only wishes that he was still here..not sick. I fully trust that God knows what is best and that there is a reason for everything. I may never know who was watching, who may have given their life to God because of Daddy... and that's okay. I just know that he went through this for a reason and God is good all the time. I am so so proud of my dad and will be all my days here on Earth. I thank God for showing me the power of HOPE. Reminding me that when any trouble comes my way, that HOPE is always available though HIM. I am at peace.


I leave you with these thoughts written by us about our Papa. I hope that you will treasure the memories and happy times that you have of our Papa and smile when you think of him. He always said he was "In It To Win It" and he did!!!


Much love,
Michelle


Written by Michelle:
I have spent the last 3 years of my life treasuring everything about my dad. Last Sunday when I woke I felt something different about the day. I prayed as I did daily about his healing and his comfort but on this particular day I prayed to God to do HIS will and what was best for my daddy. It was a hard prayer to say but one I finally truly wanted. On Sunday night as storms raged outside my daddy went to heaven. We felt pain like words cannot explain, but we knew that he was perfect now and there was no longer suffering. We awoke Monday morning to a rainbow over mom and dad's house..what a comfort! There are so many things I love about my dad. He was so funny! He taught me how to live, how to laugh and how to love. Most importantly he taught me how to love the Lord with all my heart and he lived by example not only for me but for my precious children and all those who knew him. He loved life and he loved my momma. I am so grateful for every single moment I had with him and I will treasure the memories forever. Every time my Patrick hits a golf ball, I will see Papa, his biggest fan.. and every time I look into Callie's sweet blue eyes there he will be, and every moment I spend with my husband there he will be as well, because God sent me Stephen to have a man like my daddy to spend my life with. He knew what I needed long before I needed it. I love you daddy and am proud to call myself your daughter.

Written by Shawn:
Last night at 11:30 I lost my best friend, my Hero, and most importantly my dad. After a 3 year battle with cancer it was finally good to see him at peace and in no pain. It was a special moment because just 45 minutes before he passed away, he took my hand and told me he loved me and to "take care of mom". Thank you to for all the prayers and well wishes over the past few years, and most of all, thanks for being a friend.

Smitty


written by Heather:

I will never forget kissing his beautiful bald head. I was so sad the day he went to get it shaved, but I loved it! Every time I went to visit him I couldn't keep my hands off his sweat bald head.


Papa hated our dogs. He just couldn't believe how we could just let them live in our house. Anytime we complained about them doing something in the house, vet bills, etc. ..he would tell us how to solve those problems, "Get RID of the dogs!"


If you grew up with me, you would know about daddy and his toothbrush. Oh my, it became my friends entertainment to come over because if daddy was home, he had a toothbrush in his mouth. Really, he watched TV, checked the mail, took out the trash and much more with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. It was so embarrassing, but definately funny.


He tried to pay me $100 every time we went to the beach to eat an oyster. Yuck! He loved those things, but I just couldn't do it. I might have to try next time just for him!

Written by Patton:
I will never forget the tickle fights and him popping my fingers. Papa would always push us in the pool and spray us with water guns."

Written by Smith:

I will always remember my fishing trips with Papa at the Country Club. He taught me how to fish".

Written by Stephen:
I met Ernie in October of 1996. He was President of Decatur Country Club. He hired me to be the golf professional there. I will never forget that phone call. I think he was as excited as I was. Little did he know he had hired his future son in law. Three years later he gave me the greatest gift of my life. He graciously allowed me to marry his daughter and become Patrick's father. Then Callie completed my perfect family.He helped me through bad times and laughed with me in good times. He was a great father, husband, and friend. Now he is playing where the grass is greener, the fairways are wider, the greens are smoother, and holes may even be bigger. I never told him his swing was not very good so he probably is not hitting it better but I bet Jesus will give him all the strokes he needs.I will miss my times with Papa but I am happy he is in HIS grip now.


Stephen


Written by David:

I would have to say that the legacy of man is seen best in the relationships that he forms on this side of Heaven. Using the relationship one has with His Father in Heaven as the example for loving one another and then sharing that with love and compassion with those around you. I think everyone can say Ernie fully cherished his relationships and loved others in the way that God intended. He loved his golfing buddies "The Bogey Boys", he loved his friends, he loved the members of his Sunday class, he loved his parents Nannie and Bud, he loved his "Sisters" Dot, Faye, and Shirley, he loved me and Stephen and Cheryl just like one of his own. He loved Michelle and Shawn and Heather unconditionally.no matter what! The grandkids.Patrick andCallie, Jordan, Sam, and Penny, Patton and Smith.boy did he love his grandkids. I don't know if anyone was a prouder PAPA. And then Pat.Wow, he loved her the way we all should love our wives. With the kind ofLove that is straight from God's word.a love that was patient and kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude, not insisting on his way, not irritable or resentful towards her, not rejoicing in her wrongdoing, but rejoicing in the Her. They bared all things together, believed in all things together, hoped in all things together, and certainly endured all things together. Above all this he loved his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and because of that I take comfort knowing he is with Him today. Thank you Ernie, Daddy, Papa for your love towards us all. Thank you for the legacy of love that you have left us with.I love you!

David W. Coon

Written by Patrick:

I am going to miss Papa so much! I loved how he had a funny remark about everything. I know that he loved his family more than anything. He always supported my golf and I am going to remember that forever. Every time I tee it up I am going to think about papa. My papais the best!

Written by Callie:

I think that papa is one of the best people to ever be on this earth!Now he's moved into heaven but I know he's perfect there. He always loved to joke with me all the time, every time I would get out of the pool he would ask me if the water was wet! When he was sick and he couldn't eat very much, he was in the car with me and he said "whenever I heal or move on to heaven, I want a big mountain dew and a double cheeseburger!" I know that's what he's doing now. I really miss him but I know he's in heaven watching us with a BIG smile on his face!

Written by Cheryl:

I will never forget at his first surgery I went with them to Birmingham and the nurse came in and asked if these were his three daughters and he told her Yes. I was so honored that he thought of me in that way!! (I am sure I cried)

Written by Penny:

I always kissed him on his boo boos. He took me to panera bread. He helped me build a snowman. I love him.

Written by Sam:

Papa always tried to pop my knuckles. He was the best tooth puller. I will miss him LOTS!

Written by Jordan:

Papa wasn't just a grandfather, he was a best friend. He cared more about his family than anything! I will forever cherish the good times we had together. I love him and miss him so much. I know that he is up in Heaven, cancer free and partying it up with Jesus! I can't wait to see him again one day! :)

Written by Nana:

Ernie and I were married on February 9, 1968. We were high school sweethearts and he has been the love of my life ever since. I have been with my best friend the majority of my life. He was the best companion anyone could ever have. We shared everything and experienced so many blessings in our life together. My happiness was his top priority. He never greeted me without a kiss-a memory I will hold forever. His children and his grandchildren were his pride and joy. Not a day went by that he didn't ask me what they were doing or where they were going. I will treasure the love he gave me for 45 years. I miss you and know that though we ache here on Earth, you are happy in Heaven.

Short and Sweet

Today went very well with the supportive care team. They spent two hours with mom, dad and I going over our concerns and how they could help us with them. We are looking forward to getting back home and starting with our new adjusted medicine regimen as well as some new coping methods we have learned. Being in a hotel away from your bed and home is not fun for a healthy person, so you can imagine the toll it has taken on dad. He is as ready as anybody to be back home so we will be on our way bright and early in the morning. Thank you for your prayers. They were certainly felt and appreciated. Everything has gone so smoothly and nerves have been kept at bay and smiles and laughs have been known to peek through by each of us every now and then. We will begin making the medicine adjustments as soon as we can get home and to the drug store tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing a happier, more active Papa in the next few weeks. We will know the plan for the spot radiation and next chemo try as soon as we can talk to the doctors back home and make sure they have received the orders from Dr. Tsao here at MD Anderson. Our flight leaves at 10:15 in the morning, so pray for another uneventful, smooth ride...especially for Papa.

Love you all!
Michelle

I'm Glad That's OVER!

Thank you for prayers. The scans and the day has gone smooth as ever. It is very obvious that our prayers are being heard. My first concern is to get him feeling better and manage some of these symptoms and that is the first thing Dr. Tsao went over. She said there is a Supportive Care team here at MD Anderson who will see us tomorrow to teach us a lot of "tricks in their bag" on how to make him feel better and just get healthier so to speak. I pray they have a lot of tricks, because we need them! Results are that the chemo treatments he completed the past 3 months did not suppress the cancer. On the scans it appears they have grown in measurement since we were here in April. The spot on his vertebrae seems to have grown a small amount. She wants him to talk to our radiologists about getting those 'spot treated' by radiation. I point blank asked her, "Is it worth it?" and she said "Most definitely!, it will ease some of his pain. " I was encouraged by that. She also recommends that he stay on the zometo treatments to help keep if from spreading more in the bones and to protect the bone around the area it has spread to already. Finally, she wants to try another type of milder chemotherapy that is generally tolerated well. Dad chirped in that he didn't want to try any more chemo if it wasn't worth it and she looked at him with total understanding and said, "I understand, but you won't know until you try. We can try it and if you don't like it or see results then we will stop." So that is the plan. We are going to take a little break from all treatment, see about spot radiating the neck, and try the new chemo in about 3 or 4 weeks. I really hope that tomorrow brings great comfort with new ways to treat his annoying symptoms. That would be a huge blessing in itself! Much love to all of you for praying. Please continue to do so and THANK YOU!!!!

One final note, these doctors here are something else. They are very well respected and seem kind of "high and mighty" if you know what I mean. Well, this precious lady, Dr. Anne Tsao, came in one last time to explain the results and her plan to mom and dad and she did so with such compassion and tenderness. It is amazing how that can work for those of us on this side of the news. She is amazing. Very smart and to the point, but patting dad's knee and loving on him the whole time! When we got up to leave he told her thank you and she reached over to give him a big hug and as she did, she kissed him on the cheek. She told him to hang in there that he was very loved by his family and then she did the same to mom. Sweetest, kindest gesture I have ever seen from a doctor. Now if that is not answered prayer, I don't know what is! God was in that very room.

Dr. Tsao normally request scans after two treatments of any new chemo drug and a re evaluation appointment. Seeing how hard it is on dad to travel she told us that she normally does not do this for patients but that for him she would offer her expertise and recommendations over the phone to Dr. Becdach/Martha based on scans from home. That is great news since he needs to feel a lot better to take on this kind of traveling. We are blessed yet once again.

Safe Travels

Just a quick post to let you all know that we arrived safely in Houston this afternoon. I asked so many to pray for an uneventful traveling experience to get dad here. It went very smoothly. The airport security with all the meds, etc. went just fine. The flight was timely and smooth (he tried to sleep most of the way, but those seats are just not conducive for a good nap). The town car driver kept the air on full blast to ease the 110 degrees outside here in Houston and we made it to the hotel safe and sound! Thank you for your prayers. Dad is worn out (as are we) and we are all headed to bed to rest for a big day tomorrow. We ask your prayers for the scans at 6 am in the morning and the appointments that follow. Specifically pray for miraculous healing, for the facial paralysis to lift and the mucous/choking problem to be solved. Tomorrow is in God's hands.

Love to all!
Michelle

Hope Is Greater Than CANCER

As we prepare for our next trip to MD Anderson, we would like to thank you all for your prayers and support. The tshirt sales have been amazing and the Medical Fund continues to support the needs that may arise. We are so grateful for all of you! WE pray for healing and comfort for our Papa. Please join us as we PRAY BIG!

Heather made a video entitled "HOPE is GREATER than Cancer" To view...click here and may it warm your heart.

Love,
The Ernest Smith Family

Hanging In there..

Dad spent the last week recovering from the chemo treatment and as of today, it seems that poison has lessened its grip and he is feeling a little better. The Bells Palsy symptoms are still there but appear to be a little better, at least I think so. Last Saturday we took a little field trip to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing. It turned out to be "croup/strider" type thing. Since the drainage from his sinuses and lack of mucous on the left side cause him to choke and he has to really work to get it up, his bronchial areas tend to spasm and make it hard to get air. They gave him a super duper breathing treatment and an oxygen test and he was breathing fine so we came back home. He has breathing treatments at home now 3 or 4 times a day and an old fashioned vaporizer next to his chair. Things seem to be a little better there too. Since dad has been slacking on doing his exercises and Coach Mom is not having much luck inspiring him, Dr. Prickett had Home Health Care send a Physical Therapist out to get him going. He worked yesterday for about 30 minutes and did a great job! The more he gets up and expends energy the more energy he will have. You know what they say..."a body in motion stays in motion" so let's get movin Papa! We found out that along with the Physical Therapist visits, they will send a nurse out two or three times a week to bring mom supplies and check on dad to make sure he's doing fine..they will check bp, temperature, weight, breathing, etc. I am so excited about this.

This week he should feel pretty decent. We are asking for prayers to prepare his body for the trip to Houston next Sunday. Traveling isn't fun for a normal, healthy body so imagine the toll it takes on Dad to get to airports, go through all the screening, wait, wait, wait and then endure the flight. The Houston airport and 45 minute ride to MD Anderson is no picnic either! We pray for him to feel well on Sunday and a safe, non eventful trip to Houston. We will be arriving on Sunday afternoon (the 24th) and his scans are scheduled for 6 am on Monday (the 25th). Please pray for the scans to be read and available for restaging by the time we see Dr. Tsao later in the morning. THIS is a lot to ask and will be a big rush job for them at the hospital. Our doctor is only in clinic on Mondays and if she didn't have the reports I don't know what we would do. There is no way he could stand to stay out there in a hotel room for a whole week! I pray that God takes it all and makes it work for the best. Right now, we have a flight home on Wednesday, the 27th. That leaves Tuesday and most of the day on Wednesday should Dr. Tsao require any other tests or visits.

Of course, I will keep you posted!
Thank you!
Michelle

Awesome Sale of Tshirts!

Thank you all so much for buying our first two rounds of tshirts. We are all out delivering today and the response has been wonderful. Our friends are amazing! Here is a picture of the front and back (modeled by Patrick!). We are placing another order next week so let us know if you didn't get one and you want one. They are 10.00, checks made payable to Michelle Puryear/Medical Fund.

Dad had his 4th treatment yesterday. He did well and feels about the same as he has felt for the past couple of weeks. Please continue to pray for the Bell's Palsy symptoms to lift and for the reflux to be under control and of course healing. We have moved our Houston trip to July 25. Most of his appointments will be that day as well as the scans so start lifting up the trip, the doctors and the answers they will have. Immediate prayer request: JUST TO FEEL BETTER!

Again, contact any one of us if you want to order a tshirt! Thank you!

After My Last Post....

The last posts was in the depths of us feeling weary and tired and WOW does God speak to you when you listen. For the next several days, many verses came my way telling me to "look up" and give all my worries to HIM. He will NEVER leave us and comfort us no matter what. Isn't that awesome? Then I went to church Sunday morning and we were singing Everlasting God! I LOVE that song. It really lifted me up! Sing it with me....:)

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God

The everlasting God

You do not faint

You won't grow weary

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God

The everlasting God

You do not faint

You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak

You comfort those in need

You lift us up on wings like eagles

The message was amazing and one of those that speaks to me. I just love it when that happens! Barry Thompson reminded me to fill my mind to fulfill my life! (From Philippians 4.) I am to celebrate God (always), add value to other people, GIVE GOD MY CONCERNS AND WORRIES and experience God's wholeness. I am responsible for my attitude. I am to fill my mind with good things, think about good things and practice good things. Barry said these words, "life is what happens to you, attitude is what you choose to do with what happens to you" . AMAZING! God chooses what we go through, we choose how we go through it! Dad sure gets the prize for "attitude"! He has taught us all so much through all of this.

Thank you God for speaking to us and reminding us that you are the EVERLASTING GOD!

We met with Dr. Bechach yesterday (after giving all our concerns and worries to God!) :) and the CT scan was a little confusing to understand since Decatur General was trying to compare it to the PET/CT/MRI report from MD Anderson in April. Basically, we found that there was nothing we didn't already know about and that the tumor on the neck had shrunk in size. The one above the collar bone didn't even show up. Woo Hoo! There is still a lot of stuff going on so since he has already done treatment number 3, both Dr. Tsao from MD and Dr. Bechdach here agree that he should do treatment number 4 as scheduled (July 7) instead of postponing it a week and going to MD for scans on July 11. So, Dr. Becdach wanted to go the hospital and see the scans himself instead of just the report, and if he doesn't call us back by Wednesday or Thursday we are going with that plan. That means I will call MD Anderson and move everything forward by 2 weeks. We have already purchased the plane tickets (thanks to the Medical Fund!) and have the hotel reservations so all I need to do is change the appointment. At MD Anderson, they will do it all for me with one phone call. It is great! I will let you all know the confirmed dates of our visit back.

Speaking of the Medical Fund, I want to personally thank all of you for your deposits. I wish I could thank you individually, but I don't know who you are! So, THANK YOU! Your continued support means more than you will ever know. He has tried to work a little bit but hasn't worked out so well lately. Mom has become the new "secretary" and we are helping her to try and finish up any open jobs he has going on. Again, on behalf of my entire family..THANK YOU!

Join me as we prayer fervently for Papa. Pray for a miracle to stop this cancer in its tracks! Pray for Papa to feel better! We can pray for HEALING...as I pray I try to visualize him being well and whole again.. With God, all things are possible!

Love to all,

Michelle

Strength for the Weary and Power for the Weak

Since the last post, dad got his third round of the new chemotherapy drug prescribed by Dr. Tsao at MD Anderson. He did pretty good through the weekend but by Sunday evening it really hit him hard again. He has just been sooo sick. Please pray that he starts to feel better soon. Pray for mom to have the strength to keep smiling and taking care of him as she always does. It is just so sad and hard on all of us to see him feel so bad. On Sunday we all got to spend the afternoon in his HOT NON-AIR CONDITIONED house for Father's Day! Yes, as soon as we arrived for our visit, the AC went out. Now I'm talking HOT when you pile all of us in that den sitting around trying to talk to dad and give him presents. We were all pretending it wasn't hot until we just couldn't take it anymore and screamed out.."ok, its HOT in here!" Never fear, Stephen to the rescue. He knows one of the NICEST air conditioning men I have ever met!! He lives on our street and takes lessons from Stephen. His name is Brett Mayfield. Give him a call if you ever need anything for your AC system. He was on the golf course but finished right up and headed straight to mom and dad's on Father's Day and within 30 minutes had them fixed right up. No cost to them. I am so thankful for him. They were cooled off quickly with no worries about that. He did get all the left over pound cake mom made to go with our ice cream. I am sure he was most grateful as it was yummy!





Now, back to Dad. We noticed the left side of his face wasn't quite right and have since decided he has symptoms similar to Bell's Palsy. We hope and pray that it is unrelated to the cancer and just a side effect of treatment or some really weird coincidence. Dr. Becdach and Dr. Prickett both agree that a CT scan is needed to see exactly why that is happening. Today is Wednesday and it is much better and shows improvement so that is good news.





I contacted MD Anderson on Monday to let them know that we started treatment number 3 and would have that one done before our trip on July 11 for scans and restaging. Dr. Tsao had originally prescribed two treatments at 3-4 week intervals starting two weeks after we got home in April. Well, we started right away (two weeks early because we noticed some aggravated areas on the neck) and we did them at 3 week intervals instead of 4. That left us with too much time without treatment before our scheduled visit on July 11 so we decided to go ahead and do another treatment before going out there. When she got the message, she replied to us that if we noticed that he was responding to go ahead and scan here and do treatment number 4 then visit her for restaging before treatment number 5. Well, now this Bell's Palsy thing has come up so we are going to do a CT scan on Friday for that and it will also tell us if and how well the cancer is responding to the chemo. That being said, we are going to keep the appointment as scheduled for July 11 until we see anything that may or may not change that from the CT scan. We do have the scans taken in April at MD so Dr. Becdach can compare them for these purposes after Friday.

Although we sometimes grow weary and tired from fighting this cancer. We know that our God never does and he will see us through, we pray without ceasing. Papa is "in it to win it" and so is HE!!!!!

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. HE will not grow tired or weary and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives STRENGTH to the weary and increases the power of the WEAK."

Isaiah 40:28-29

New Port is In!

Dad went for his surgery today around 2pm and was back in his room by 2:50. Dr. Walker said things went fine and he is resting well. It is time to come home though. They have been in that room for 9 days by tomorrow! Ick! Pray that he will get the "ok" to go home in the morning!

Michelle

HOME Planned for Tuesday

Just to let you know, Dad's port (the source of the blood infection) was removed on Tuesday. They had hoped to put in a new port of Friday and send him home this morning. However, after taking another culture on Thursday, it began to grow the bacteria again and by 3:00 am Friday morning they cancelled the surgery. He is now on more antibiotics and the surgery is planned for Monday with a trip home planned for Tuesday morning.

He feels really good and looks good too. Next chemo (#3) is scheduled for this coming Thursday. I will let you know if that changes. Hopefully, we will get the new port in and be ready to go. Dr. Becdach informed us that he could do the next round through an IV if he needed to, so that is good to know. I will be calling MD Anderson on Monday and try to get word to Dr. Tsao about everything that has taken place.

Michelle

Update

Sorry for the long delay in posting! Anybody who is or ever has been a mother of a child in school at any age KNOWS that the month of MAY is...well, just a blur. We have our summer kicked off already and have already been to Atlanta, Anniston, Birmingham and Huntsville for golf tournaments. We are scheduled this week for Tuscaloosa, the following week for Franklin, TN and the following week for Dothan. It sure is hot, but sure is fun. Please pray for our safe travels.

Most of you know by now that Dad had to take another adventure to Decatur General. He was admitted in the wee hours of the morning on Monday for what turned out to be another blood infection caused by the port. This time the port has been removed! He is on several different antibiotics waiting for the culture to grow and determine the exact antibody needed to fight the particular bacteria. As of now, we have been told he will be there until at least Friday when they hope to be able to put a new port in. He is scheduled for another round of chemo starting next Wednesday and we pray for all of this to fall right in to place in time for that to happen.

Other than being in the hospital, he feels pretty good once they got that port out. He is sitting up in the bed, working on his computer and emailing customers. That's Papa!

He seemed to tolerate the chemo well this past time and all the doctors like the way the cancer is looking based on visual observations. We are still on go to visit MD Anderson again after this next round on July 11. Please be in prayer for this as well as keep praying that this chemo regimen will shrink the cancer and stop it from growing! So far it is looking good!


I'll keep you posted!
Michelle

HOME

Just a quick update to let you know that Dad is home. He came home Friday mid day and is doing well. Mom is playing nurse and is very keeping very busy! He is still on an IV antibiotic regimen at home to work on clearing up the blood infection. Hopefully, the meds will do their job and he will be able to stay on track and start the next chemo treatment. It is planned to start THIS Thursday, but we won't know for sure until right before then. He meets with Dr. Becdach on Wednesday morning and we will surely have it figured out by then. The doctors at MD Anderson told us that the chemo was to be done every 3 weeks but every 4 weeks was common as well, depending on how the patient recovers from it. So, we have another week to play with if we need too. I hope not though. That cancer needs to be attacked!

The Fundraiser Yardsale was a HUGE success!! Thank you all for the donations and items to sale. It is so amazing to see how friends come out to support one another. It is our job to carry each other's burdens and I can see God working in such an amazing way!

Some of Dad's friends contacted me about setting up a fund to help defray some of the medical expenses until Dad is able to work again. The fund has been set up at Bank Independent. The following letter was mailed out and should contain all information you might need. Again, thank you so much for all of your support, prayers and love. ~Michelle



May 17, 2011


Hello all,

This is a short letter from friends of Ernie Smith to let you know of an opportunity to help him in his fight against cancer. As you know, Ernie has been in a prolonged fight against Stage IV oral cancer. Cancer does not fight fairly, and it has taken a toll not only on his health, but his ability to continue working as a self employed businessman.

Ernie’s family, friends and business associates are banding together to lend support. Expenses for chemotherapy/radiation and ongoing medical expenses continue to mount. There are opportunities for new courses of treatments at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston, TX, but travel and participation costs are high. The effects of his treatment have left him unable to work, so there is no new income coming in.

That’s where you and I can help!

We are working to take the burden off of Ernie so that he can focus on getting better, instead of medical bills. Numerous people have asked for a way to provide monetary donations. An account has been set up at Bank Independent, “The Crossings” branch (The Target Shopping Center branch). Donations can be made in cash or check to “Michelle Puryear/Medical Fund”. Michelle will use the funds to pay for necessities and medical expenses until Ernie is able to work again.

Thank you in advance for your support. For more information, please visit the family website at http://thesmiths-michelle.blogspot.com

Sincerely,
Friends of Ernie Smith

Update

Dad is still in the hospital at Decatur General. Many things are going well, but they are keeping him a little longer to evaluate some problems and perhaps a blood infection. Please pray. He is looking great as far as nutrition goes. They have pumped him full of proteins and fats and hydrated him well. He is having some swallowing issues which they are working on. They took a blood culture last week and this morning it appears to show something growing so they have called in a disease control specialist, not sure who that is yet but I will find out. I am praying that it is not a staff infection. Now we don't know if the antibiotics they have been giving him for nearly a week are even the ones he needed. I will be calling MD Anderson here shortly to see if I can get our doctors there in on all of this. That is why we spent 8 days out there so they need to be aware of all this. As you know by now, since he "feels" a little better he is not happy to be in the hospital. However, we are keeping him there until we have a plan.

Asking for BIG prayers,
Michelle

Resting Well...Finally

Well, the new chemo wasn't just "tough" as many had warned. It was just plain HORRIBLE! Last Thursday he spent the entire day getting infused with the new meds. He seemed well for the next few days as they had stocked him up on fluids and anti-nausea medicines. While at home for the weekend he rested and waited. Well, by Wednesday the nasty monster began to show its face. He had been in several times for fluids and finally on Friday Dr. Becdach decided to admit him to the hospital after a day of fighting that just plain wore him out. He has been at Decatur General since yesterday afternoon and is doing MUCH better!!! They have his stomach calmed down, he is walking the hall with the physical therapists, he is receiving breathing treatments every 6 hours, he is well hydrated and receiving antibiotics and nausea meds (if needed) through his IV. The bed is comfortable (believe that if you will..because it sits up) and he is resting well. We (doctors and family) have decided to keep him admitted through the weekend to continue these treatments and hopefully he will walk out of there Monday morning feeling somewhat renewed! I am just now getting around to blogging this information, but it has been good because he has gotten lots of good sleep since nobody knew he was there! Ha!

Funny thing is that the last time he was admitted to the hospital I was furious at the treatment he received. I felt like he was worse there than he was before he got there. They ran this test, and that test, and let me just tell you that I almost have my medical degree (Ha!) and so many of those test were just plain crazy! I'm sorry but I get so annoyed when our regular doctors are not there and it seems that medical person that comes in the room wants us to go over the complete history AGAIN and then they always want to know if "you have any open wounds" or "have you had any surgeries in the past two years"! Are you serious? Needless to say, if they didn't let him out of there, Shawn and I had plans to bust him out. All that to say that when they mentioned "hospital" yesterday my eyebrows went up and Dr. Becdach assured me it would be better.

It has been wonderful! NO extra quizzes, no unnecessary tests, no meds except what we approved from our list at MD Anderson and great, caring nurses! He is feeling so much better just 24 hours after being admitted!! He is on the Women and Children's floor (ha!) in an awesome suite! They must put the sweetest nurses on that floor for a reason. So I have no complaints this time. Mom is staying up there with him because they have plenty of room and one of those little cot/beds that the daddy's sleep in!! :)

He should be home Sunday or more likely Monday morning! Keep praying for him. He is a fighter! In fact, the word "fighter" doesn't even do him justice.

Love ya'll!

New Chemo

Honestly, with a trip to the beach for a week, straight to board a plane for MD Anderson, and then the storms with no power and no school....I am just now coming up for air and realizing exactly what day it is! I am a creature of habit and getting me way off my routine has been rough. I hope this post finds you all well and safe from the storms. I still can't believe the destruction and loss of lives we had last Wednesday afternoon. For those of you who have friends and family directly hit by the storms, I pray for you. One of my close friends lost her sister in law in Hueytown right outside of Birmingham. Her brother is still in ICU. When you see the destruction on TV, it breaks your heart..when you know someone..it crumbles your heart. Although I feel like complaining about my day today..(Stephen is at camp with Callie and left some very important medicine here and didn't pack a jacket so I was off to drive 45 minutes to meet him half way only to discover a FLAT tire on my car...my dad is starting a rough chemo regimen at 8:15, and my good friend mentioned above sent me a message that her mom has passed away!)...but I will choose to praise God for the beautiful day, for taking good care of my Dad, for giving my mom the strength to take care of his needs daily, for wrapping my aunt in His arms at the hospital, for my awesome children, for my amazing husband, for sparing us in the storms, for my health, for good friends and the amazingly blessed life I live! Thank you God and I pray boldly for those hurting, sick and sad today, may they look to HIM for peace, comfort and guidance.

Now, for the update...during the week off from treatments it was anything but a time to rest and gain strength. His feeding tube became dislodged over the weekend and because of the power situation he had to go the emergency room and get a temporary fix to hold until Monday. It held about 20 minutes after they got home. He had to return to the ER and they put another tube in only to return home and it began to leak after the first feeding. Finally, Monday morning he was able to get his doctor to FIX it and so far so good. Meanwhile, an infection has set in on one of the cancer spots so he was unable to start the chemo on Tuesday because he needed to do two days of antibiotic infusions at the CCI. He is on his way now to meet with the doctor to give him the okay to go ahead and start the regimen this morning. WE HAVE BEEN WARNED! This is a tough regimen! Please pray that he tolerates it as well as he can and that the nausea and vomiting are kept at a minimum. It is a 6 hour infusion and will be given once every 4 weeks. We are planning on two treatments before we return to MD Anderson on July 11. Let's pray we see some results and some relief!

Love to all of you! I will be in touch.
Michelle

We Have a Plan!!

Just a quick note..I will post details later. We just left Dr. Tsao's office and we have a plan! Based on the test, there is NO CANCER spread anywhere else in the body. The spot on the vertebra in his middle back is NOT CANCER (most like arthritis type situation caused by age!) The spot on the C3 (back of neck) does show some cancer activity like we suspected, but HAS NOT invaded the spinal cord and seems stable. She is not going to treat that unless it starts to grow or cause problems. So excited. He will start a new chemo regimen, one that he has not had before, when we get home. She said he needed a "time out" to get the other out of his body and could start this in two weeks. No more weekly Erbitux, just the new chemo which will be given once every 4 weeks! We will return to Houston in 10 weeks for follow up scans and another appointment with Dr. Tsao.

We are meeting with the pain management medical oncologist at 3 and then will be on a plane back to Alabama tonight. Thanks for your prayers. Love to all!

Be back in touch soon!
Michelle

Friday

Well, one of our 3 days with no appointments has come and gone. It was a pretty good day. We hung out this morning, I had a Vente Starbucks coffee and then hit the laundry room with mom. We decided to pass the time away in the workout room while dad "people watched" in the beautiful lobby of the Rotary House!

If you don't know what complete boredom will do to you... well ,I will tell you! It makes you go to the Zoo! Yes, the Zoo. We were so completely out of our minds desperate to find something to do that we piled on the shuttle and went to the ZOO!!! :0

I have to admit while it was lovely to be outside strolling in the beautiful weather, it was quite odd to be visiting the Zoo without a companion under the age of 5! :) We did have a nice afternoon and laughed at the lazy lions and crazy monkeys. We tried a Root beer float, but nah, not very good at the Zoo.

As we were leaving the Zoo around 5 pm I got a call from the hospital on my cell phone and turns out they had been looking for us all day! (The nurse assigned to trying to reach us had been calling mom and dad's house phone!) Anyway, she told me that they had wanted Dad to come in and see the GI doctor today because the PET scan revealed his tube was not in correctly and they worried he would experience some awful side effects over the weekend if it wasn't fixed! Can you believe it? Of all things, the tube is not in correctly. What does that mean? I have no idea, but since he isn't experiencing any "symptoms", they decided to wait until Monday to discuss it at our appointment. We are to go the patient film library and pick up a copy of the PET on Monday to take home to Dr. Short as soon as we land in Alabama and get him to fix it if he makes it that long without any problems. Please pray that is the case. So far, so good.

Other than that, we haven't heard anything today except some reports on line that tell what the doctors saw from their initial exams. All things they have told us already, so nothing new.

Tomorrow is golf day on TV, so that should be nice. We hope to get dad "out " for dinner tomorrow night. So far, he is on board with that.

My aunt came through her surgery and appears to be doing as expected. She will be in ICU for a few days so continue to lift her up in your prayers. Keep praying for our appointment on Monday at 10:20! Set your watches and alarms to remind you! We will need your prayers not only for results, but for peace, low anxiety and calmness as we accept what we are told and make our plans to move forward.

Thank you! Happy Easter! If you see my sweet, adorable husband out and about or one of my precious children...please give them a hug (or a high five!) from me! Love to all!

Michelle

Thursday

Thanks for the prayers about scan day. It was dreaded, but actually turned out just fine. Dad of course would have rather been anywhere else in the world, but handled two MRIs and a PET/CT all within 7 hours pretty well. Mom and I left him in the PET/CT to go to the main building to pick up some of his medical supplies and grab a bite to eat. We took his phone and glasses with us so he wouldn't have to keep up with them. The tech told us it would be at least 2 hours so we took our time and decided to head back about 2:30 thinking we would relax and read our books in the waiting room for a while. Well, we got off the elevator and the poor thing was just sitting there hungry and tired waiting on us! It was just pitiful! We had his phone so he couldn't call us. We felt so bad, but he forgave us. Ha!

The doctors were supposed to meet tonight as they apparently do every Thursday to present new patients. I am praying that some positive, good things come out of that meeting!!! Please pray with me. All in all today was a pretty good day. The food here at the hotel and out and about in Houston as far as the shuttle will take us is absolutely wonderful.

We are still trying to shuffle the schedule around and get in with the Pain Management Team and/or the Speech Pathologist tomorrow because otherwise we have no appointments on Friday. We will stay through the weekend and wait for the appointment with dad's assigned oncologist, Dr. Tsao, on Monday morning.

It may be a long weekend, but we will survive. We pray for some good news on Monday morning that there is something they know to try that we haven't already heard at home. We pray that the logistics of whatever treatment they recommend will be workable and fall in to place. I especially pray that there is a plan to simply make him feel better and to regain some strength. I have given it all to God and feel good about it. It will all work out and be just fine.

Sometimes, I walk through these halls with a lump in my throat. Not only because of why I am here or because I miss my family terribly, but for all the other people here!! I honestly am shocked at the number of sick people here at this "cancer center". There are buses and shuttles and more employees than I can even begin to count. All because of this horrible disease called cancer. It looks like Disney World, but its NOT Disney World, that is for sure. Please pray for these people. There are a lot of scared, stressed, hurting people. I see a lot of Bibles around here too and that is such a blessing to me. God calls on His people to TRUST in Him and not to be afraid and I see such evidence of that surrounding us here. It is awesome! Everyone smiles at each other with such compassion. Amazing.

Also, if you could add my Aunt Faye (Dad's sister) to your prayers. She had part of her colon removed recently and had some blockage that they could not repair. She is going in tomorrow for a surgery to remove then entire colon. She loves her baby brother and has prayed without ceasing for him and she needs us to lift her up, flooding the gates of Heaven with prayers for her. Thank you!

Michelle

Wednesday Update

I can't believe it is 10:00 and I am just now getting around to updating the blog! Today we got a call about 9:40 that we had an appointment with the surgeon at 10:00! Well, needless to say, we threw ourselves together and got to the hospital as quick as we could. We soon found out that patience is indeed necessary here as we waited nearly 4 hours to see the doctor! I don't know how sitting around can drain you that much, but it certainly does. We were all just worn out by the end of the day.

We saw Dr. Myers and he was very nice, effecient and informative. He like the other doctors just wanted to lay eyes on him, go over his history (again without notes and very impressive!) and ask a few questions. Also, like the other doctors, he couldn't really answer many of our questions because he hasn't had his scans done yet and until they see the most recent ones, they do not like to give any opinions. He did recommend that dad see a speech pathologist to help with talking and swallowing better. He also suggested that we meet with the pain managemnet team to go over all of his medications to make sure that he needs to be on all that he is on and how to best manage his pain while not completely knocking him out. I am especially excited about this. I just think there has to be some way to manage the many side effects and radiation treatments without feeling so sluggish. Dad really wants to feel some strength coming back. He is tired of being tired! Although Dr. Myers stated that any type of surgery is not likely, he would not rule it out until the team of doctors and surgeons meet to discuss his case after the scans. He made it clear that from a medical standpoint it is very unlikely that they can "cure" him from this cancer, but that they are here to meet, put their heads together and see what they can do to keep the cancer from spreading and halt it. Also, to do what they know to do to increase his weight, energy level and general well being at the same time. I would be very pleased if that is the solution they present to us on Monday. Whatever they decide in their best medical opinions, we will be grateful and know that God is in control! I still believe that God can heal dad and he can be one of the medical examples they talk about for a long time here! Wouldn't that be awesome?

We were able to move from the Hampton Inn to the Rotary House today and it is like a dream! The entire hotel operated by Marriott caters to cancer patients and I can't say enough nice things about the place. Dad has a recliner, plenty of blankets, room service any time of day with any food he desires..(like Eggs Benedict at 8pm!), several full service resteraunts, shuttles to all the clinics and a direct walkover to the main building where the Head and Neck center is located. It is great. There are kiosk throughout the building where you can print your doctor appointment schedule at any time and check for any changes and/or updates. They had a glorious praise choir singing in the atrium today with songs like "Oh Happy Day, You Are My Sunshine and Lean on Me." The whole place was clapping and singing before it was all over. Just amazing. On a great note for me..My FaceTime actually worked on the wifi here (it didn't at the Hampton) and I got to see Stephen and my babies while talking to them tonight. It was the best!!!

Tomorrow is scan day. LIFT him up!

Love,

Michelle

Catching Our Breath

For those of you waiting on this post, I am so sorry. It took us a while to get here, get settled in and then the first appointment was here before I knew it. Once I finally got around to blogging, I couldn't get my computer on and it took Stephen and I all night last night and about two hours this morning to finally get it up and going. Nothing like speaker phone computer training from your husband for hours! Fun..Ha!


We arrived Sunday evening around 9 pm and were greeted by a personal driver at the airport arranged by MD Anderson. It was really nice and he even had a new Ipad2 that I got to play with on the 30 minute ride to the hotel! Our first appointment was at with the business office at the hospital Monday morning. That went just fine and then we were off to meet Dr. Tsao. She and her staff were wonderful and explained the whole process to us. She went over everything she knew about dad's case (without notes I might add!) She started with the original tumor diagnosis in 2008 all the way up to the last treatment of chemo just last week. She had several questions about things, but otherwise didn't miss a beat and that was very impressive. She explained to us that in order for she and the team of doctors to make any diagnosis or treatment options he must see several doctors and have several tests run. The appointments are to be made by the scheduler and the plan is for them to be done before Thursday because the team of doctors will meet Thursday night. She indicated that she didn't think there could be any more radiation to the neck, but possibly may need some to the spinal areas in question. Most likely surgery would not be an option either, but she wanted both the radiologist and a surgeon involved. I am very happy that we will be seen by them all and they will offer their opinions to one another and review the scans together before presenting the plan to us. It is so nice to know that there is a team working together. It is even more impressive how every doctor comes in to see us knowing his case and we don't have to repeat ourselves over and over.

She then set us up to see a nutritionist. (Dr. Tsao was concerned he was so "skinny") She reviewed the supplement schedule that mom has been following and agreed it is plenty for him and he should gain weight on that regimen. He was instructed to eat by mouth as he wants to and to try and drink more water.

We then met with a wound care specialist. She looked over dad's neck and told mom she was doing a good job taking care of it. She gave us a few tips and said that the surgeon may have some other tips for us once he saw it.

Next, we were sent for initial bloodwork and then we were done for the day..All of us went straight to a much needed nap!!

Our schedule has not worked well for us so far, but they nice people here are working on that for us. The original schedule has us doing nothing today or Wednesday. They did a little switching around and we had an appointment with the radiologist, Dr. Gunn today at 1:30. He was very nice and like Dr. Tsao knew dad's whole case without notes! He went over the extreme risks of radiating the neck area again because of the jugular vein possibly bleeding out. (we have been told that before) He did say that he had not received the full picture records from UAB and when he did he would be able to give us a more precise opinion. He too went over the spot on the vertebrae and asked dad several questions about pain and examined his neck and spine. In his opinion (before having seen the pictures/scans from UAB) he said there is a SLIGHT chance of more radiation and that if the MRI shows the spinal area to be stable and not causing any problems he might leave it alone for now or until it shows any change. Again, this is all just speculation until the current scans are up and the team has met. He was VERY nice and genuine. Did you know that doctors wear cowboy boots in Texas? :0

We are scheduled to see the ENT surgeon tomorrow sometime. They haven't called us with the appointment yet, we just know that it is Wednesday. His MRI and CT/PET are scheduled for Thursday. That will be a long, hard day so please pray for that! Now for the frustrating part. The original phone call we got from MDA told us to plan on 3-5 days for new patient consultation. Well it turns out that at least in the Head and Neck department it is always 7 days minimum because the doctors are only in the clinic on Monday. Which means that by Thursday afternoon we will have seen all the doctors on the team and had all the tests/scans done that are requested. The team will meet Thursday evening and our appointment for all the results and plan of action is the following Monday at 10 am! This is not sitting well with any of us (especially dad!) because that is a lot of time away from home just waiting and not getting anything done. I have a call in to the patient advocate who has been assigned to us to help try and work something out. Please pray that all of it falls in to place as it should.

I think that is all. Most everyone here is so nice and so helpful. The shuttle gets us to and from the hospital promptly as well as to Kroger and nearby restaurants for dinner. And YES everything is BIG in Texas because our dinners have been more than filling with lots of leftovers to bring back to the room.

So, we will catch our breath tomorrow with only the one ENT appointment and prepare for scan day on Thursday. We know that you are all praying for us and we are so grateful. I'm still praying BIG and I still want to "knock their socks off" with how he comes through this! He is really weak and really tired so pray for endurance and strength as well.

Love to all,
Michelle

MD Anderson!!

First of all, my apologies for not updating in a while. We spent the better half of last week with lots of school activities, golf tournaments and packing for the beach. Stephen, Patrick, Callie and I are enjoying a relaxing week in Seaside, Florida and for some reason my laptop just wouldn't hop out of the bag and turn itself on! Ha!

On a serious note, I wanted to let everyone know that we are going to MD Anderson! Dad, Mom and I will fly to Houston Sunday, April 17. Dad's first appt. is Monday, April 18 at 8:30 am. We were told to plan on 5-7 days. While this is a very scary endeavor, we are excited, ready and willing. We boldly ask to be covered in your prayers!!!!!

I will be posting daily to keep you all informed. Until then....

-pray for safe travels to Houston

-pray for Stephen as he takes on the "mom role" for up to a week!

-pray for the doctors and medical staff that will be involved in Dad's case. We are praying BIG for a plan that gets rid of this cancer!

-pray for Dad's business...it is very hard to keep up the business when you are sick and fighting cancer...even harder when you are in Houston!

-thank God for giving us this opportunity!

Michelle

Doctor Visit Update

Round 2 of Chemo is in the second week of a three week rotation and the side effects and symptoms are at their worst. Dad has had a really tough weekend but seems to be a little better today and we hope as the week goes on he will continue to feel better. We talked to Dr. Becdach about the symptoms he is having and as usual he does everything he can to change up meds or add this or that to help Dad be more comfortable. Although the neck cancer is still there according to the eye, it appears to be halted and not growing so that is good and what we expected to see. We know that with this type of cancer and chemo treatment it will most likely eventually come back so our question is ...what is the next step? More chemo? Same regimen? Different regimen? So many questions, so we have finally decided to commit and make the trip to MD Anderson in Texas. Dr. Hardacre had mentioned it to us before this round of chemo started and we discussed it with Dr. Bechach today. He was completely on board. He is going to start the process tomorrow and it should take about two weeks to get it organized and appointments set up. They will have to decide if it will be before another round of chemo or after the 3rd round. I will post as soon as I know more details, I promise! Please be in prayer for this....the planning, the travel, for Dad to feel well enough for the traveling, the doctors there, the insight they can give us and most of all for a plan that gives hope and excitement to help renew this fight! "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner." 1 Peter 4:12-13 (msg) "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 NKJV

Chemo #2 Round 2

Dad had an extra week off last week to give him one more week of recovery before starting back on the chemo treatment today. Of course he was starting to feel a little better and eat a little more just in time to start the next round! We are certainly praying around here that this time goes a little smoother than last time. Pray that the fluids will help him to keep his blood pressure up and that he tolerates the chemo well, all while it is doing its work. Our goal here is to make those cancer cells sick and kill off as many as we can before determining what the next fighting step will be. He is getting the same meds as last time although I think they backed off just a little on the dosage because it hit him so hard last time. They added two new drugs to the scene today as well. He is now getting XGEVA and Carboplatin. If I am not mistaken, the XGEVA is much like the Zometo he was on before and helps to prevent further damage to the bone when it is evident that primary solid tumors have metastasized to the bone. It helps to prevent any "skeletal event" such as breaks, pain and/or spread. It is new and just recently FDA approved so we will see how that goes. The carboplatin is an antibody (chemotherapy) that, like the others, works to kill cancer cells but is most efficient when the cancer cells are are "sick". I pray that these two new meds are worth it and we see great results! His pain seems to be a little less severe which would indicate that the cancer area is not growing as much and pressing on the jaw bone/tooth area. Also, by looking at the site, you can tell that it is still there, but not growing, so that is good. Please keep Dad and Mom in your prayers as I know you do. This is a marathon battle, but they are hanging in there! Pray that this round of chemo does what it needs to do, but that he can handle it much easier than last time! They did mention the words "round 3" in the appointment...I will keep you posted! Love, Michelle

Update

Dear Friends,

It is Thursday and wow has it been a long week. Dad has gone Tuesday, Wednesday and today to get IV Fluids from the CCI. Good news..today when he went his blood pressure was PERFECT! That will help him feel better just in itself. He is just so weak and having a hard time eating to get any energy! (Thank you for the meals brought to mom and dad because I am sure mom runs out of "ideas" to tempt him with and having things they don't normally have inspires him to "taste" it!) You are all so wonderful. I just wanted to check in and let you know that he is doing a little better and simply "pushing through" this chemo treatment. I believe he is scheduled to get fluids again tomorrow and that should get him through the weekend without any problems.

So today I am praying with a hopeful heart. Hopeful that he will feel better, gain strength and get back to his old self! I know without a shadow of a doubt that I personally cannot fix this situation. Oh how I wish I could! But what I can and must do is give it all to God. When I do, I find that the simple joys of everyday life reveal themselves to me and for this I am so grateful! Won't you join me? Our God is so good and promises to never leave us. He promises that when we run into life's most massive difficulties that we bounce off of them right in to his everlasting arms and TRUST. When we do this, we can find joy even in the middle of major problems! I am soooooo glad for that!

Praying hard for complete healing. Praying for you, your families, the friendships and support you give to my parents..THANK YOU!

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
2 Corinthians 5:7

He's Going HOME!

Dad is being discharged this evening and is on his way home! After all the crazy test they ran all weekend, it was agreed on by all docs that he was severely dehydrated (and still is a little) and the blood pressure dropping low is most likely a result from that. (Hence, the black out/fall!) He is to go home and then report to the CCI in the morning to see Dr. Becdach and get fluids. I believe it is in the plan to "schedule" fluid treatments while he is on chemo instead of "waiting until we need it"! :)

I will be in touch!
Michelle

Just to Update

Wanted to quickly post to inform those of you who may not have heard... Dad has been admitted to Decatur General Hospital until most likely Monday morning sometime. He had a rough end to the first week of chemo, it really did hit him hard. He was very tired, weak and just not feeling well on Friday. Early Saturday morning (around 2 am) he had gotten up and felt really dizzy. He tried to catch himself as he felt himself falling to the right, but didn't reach the door frame in time. He took a fall and landed on a table/box by the door and cut a pretty big gash in the back of his head! Poor Daddy! Mom called an ambulance to help her and they took him to the ER where he got stitched up. His blood pressure was very low so they ended up keeping him for that along with observation because of the head injury. He is having a tough time with the blood pressure and pain management so he is still there today and most likely will spend the night tonight. They are running different test to try and figure out exactly what the low bp is a result of so they can do something about it. It could be from the chemo, the meds, dehydration...several things. I am glad he is there while he feels this bad so that he can have constant care with fluids, etc. Hopefully tomorrow morning we will get some answers and get him home to rest more comfortably. Thank you for your prayers, I just wanted to let you all know what was going on. I will post when we have a plan as to how long he will be there and what they are going to do about the blood pressure problem.

Love,
Michelle

Chemotherapy Again

My apologies for taking so long to update the blog today. It has been a long day and I am just getting a chance to sit down at my computer. This morning we met with Dr. Becdach again and he confirmed that all three doctors agree that chemotherapy is the way to go at this moment. Apparently, Dr. Spencer told him, based on the photographs and PET scan, she would not be able to do any more radiation at this time. So, as they all said last week, we are going to try to shrink the existing cancer and slow down any new growth with the chemo and then re-evaluate the situation after two rounds. (That will be one week on the pump, two weeks off, then one week on followed by two weeks off in addition to the Monday infusions of Erbitux) Needless to say, nobody around here had an exciting day at all. While we are so glad that the PET scan did not show the cancer to be spreading in to any other organs, we are just saddened for Dad to have to go through all of this....especially the chemo! He is feeling pretty rough trying to manage the extreme pain in his jaw area caused by the bad teeth and the tumor area. Now to add the side effects of chemo is just a bummer. He is tough and will get through it. Please pray now for all of this. The MRI came back and still showed that suspicious "spot" on the neck vertebrae area and also a SMALL spot further down on the back. Again, there is no concrete evidence that this is cancer, just suspicious. Not sure what the verdict will be about going after those. Still many questions to be answered. If Dr. Spencer thinks they are worthy of being treated, it is possible they may do radiation on them just to be sure and this can be done while on chemotherapy. It would be extremely rare for these spots to be caused by the same squamous cell carcinoma causing all the trouble in the left neck, as the cells would have had to travel through the entire lymphatic system through the body and then back up to the neck and spine area to set up camp. It seems that the other major organs wouldn't have been left out of that trip and so far they are clean, so we will pray hard about that and look forward to finding out that it is nothing to worry about.

Dad feels really strongly that the teeth are causing him great pain although the doctors say that it is caused from both the teeth AND the tumor around the jaw bone, etc. He told Dr. Bechdach that he KNOWS without a shadow of a doubt that certain pain is caused by the tooth. He knows his body so Dr. Bechach said if he wanted to have the teeth taken out to go ahead and do so. It does come with some risks and also causes him to have to come off the Zometo, a chemo type drug that helps stop cancer in the bone and the spread of cancer in the bone if that is what those spots turned out to be. Decisions, decisions. We have a call in to Dr. Holmes to give us his opinion and help us to decide what to do there. Again, through prayer, we will know what to do.

Join me as we give it all to God. He will take care of this whole situation. Pray for tolerable side effects from the chemo, clear decisions to be made, the tooth pain, healing...EVERYTHING!

Take care and love on mom and dad!
Thanks from the bottom of my heart,
Michelle

RESULTS of PET

Great news! The cancer has NOT spread anywhere else in the body!!!!! For this we are so thankful and give praise to our Savior! Thank you prayer warriors. What a relief it is to know that after 2 1/2 years it is still contained in the head and neck. I pray every day, expectantly, that ultimately the cancer will be gone from his body and today I am uplifted with even more HOPE! Yippee!!!

So, here is where things are. Some of you may know that last week I have started the ball rolling to go to MD Anderson. I have felt led to do that for some time although it is a lot harder said than done. There is a business to run, a home to take care of and many other details that would have to be dealt with to have treatment there. Last week while waiting for the results of a PET scan and physically watching a spot on his neck increase in intensity I just felt like something else has to be done. We can't just sit her and watch these things happen while we wait on this doctor or that doctor to call and then decide what to do. Things need to be done YESTERDAY! So that very day, I made some calls and then gave it all to GOD. I trust that what needs to be done will fall perfectly in to place whether it is here, Birmingham or MD Anderson.

Dr. Holmes called Dad to check on his teeth/pain. He had the results and they talked about them briefly agreeing that the radical surgery idea is not out of the question, but should probably be put on hold while we use more chemo and/or radiation to get the area back under control. Dr. Bechach talked on the phone with Dr. Holmes this morning while we were there and they conversed with Dr. Spencer through email!! (Now we are talking...all 3 doctors discussing this together to make decisions on what to do next!!!) We have not gotten final word from Dr. Spencer (the UAB radiologist) as to whether or not she wants to go back in with more radiation or if that is even an option. All doctors are in agreement that the chemo worked the last time in that it shrunk the tumors and got the spread under control. We are well aware that chemo will not cure this cancer, but getting it smaller and under control would increase our success chances with more radiation and/or the radical surgery later on. That is the treatment plan that I feel they are all leaning to.

Mom and I just left Dad there to get his regular Erbitux infusion today. If chemo is the decision plan we go with, they would like to start it next Monday along with putting him back on Zometo for that pesty little spot on the vertebra that doesn't go away. One of the doctors isn't worried or concerned about that spot based on its behavior, while another wants to order an MRI to look at it from another point of view. We will go along with the MRI to be on the safe side.

As for the teeth and the pain, we still have no solution for that right now. Surgery to remove the teeth simply is not an option at this point. We've got to attack the cancer first and foremost and both chemo and radiation therapy would make surgery to remove teeth impossible. So for now he will continue to try different pain management regimens to see what works.

Thank you praying friends! Lets offer our Praise to God for answered prayers. Continue to pray for his complete healing..praying BIG! Pray for the doctors to talk and come together with a clear plan that works! I'm still so excited about one day "knocking their socks off" with the good news that the cancer is gone!

While listening to one of the doctors explain to us about how chemo won't cure this cancer, radiation can kill it, surgery is a risky chance...might work, might not, I spoke up and said, "and there is always a miracle". He stopped talking, nodded his head and said, "this is true". Let us never forget the Great Physician! He is always my number one option!!

Love,
Michelle

Short and Sweet!

I will try to make this short and sweet because there are sweet little children waiting for a party and lots of chocolate to be eaten! We met with Dr. Becdach this morning to get the PET scan ordered so some decisions can be made. The PET scan is this WEDNESDAY at 11:30 in Huntsville. PLEASE pray for this scan. We want to know that there is no cancer anywhere else in the body so we can give this stuff in his neck one more punch!!!! The doctor also ordered a bone scan for Friday morning to check that ever so nagging suspicious spot on the vertebra. Hopefully, Dr. Holmes will get the results as we have requested and get in touch with Dad as soon as he sees them and converses with Dr. Spencer. Otherwise, we will get the results from Dr. Becdech early Monday morning next week. There are so many things to consider at this point and talking to all the different doctors with their "different" points of view is about to drive me nuts! (I'm smiling..ha!) Please pray for a CLEAR, DECISIVE plan! Thanks to all!

Happy Valentines Day!

PET SCAN

Wednesday, Feb. 16

11:30

Visit to Bham

Sorry to keep you all waiting so long. In the last post I had mentioned that Dr. Holmes wanted to talk to Dr. Spencer and get up to date and then see what he could possibly do to help with the tooth situation and the cancer that is left. He called on Monday and said that he had not talked with Dr. Spencer yet but wanted to work dad in Thursday (today). So that was the plan. During the week we had some issues with eating and the feeding tube, but I am pretty sure it has been taken care of with a visit yesterday to Dr. Short. (It seems that the pain patch he was given two weeks ago has caused his stomach to have some problems, but hopefully that is all working good now.)

Our appointment with Dr. Holmes was late today. Basically, we know that cancer is still there on the neck. We aren't sure if the area was directly hit by the radiation or not, we assume it was. So the first thing Dr. Holmes did was take a picture of it and send it by email to Dr. Spencer. She wanted to see it before commenting on the next step... if and when more radiation could be done. Dr. Holmes explained lots of medical jumbo as to what is happening in the neck area and how going in and cutting out the "spots" will not work very well at this point because the cancers just keep popping up right outside the areas that have been treated. He then examined his two teeth in the back on the left side that have been causing so much pain and agreed that they are bad and in trouble. The teeth do need to come out, but healing is an issue at this point and if more radiation can be given, then taking them out would not be wise right now.

He did give us some new and very interesting options! First, he wants to talk to Dr. Spencer and see if any more radiation can be given at all in that area. If it can, he offered an option of removing some good "healthy" skin from somewhere else and placing it over the area to be radiated, acting as a conductor for the radiation to be more effective. (Trust me, it was a lot more elaborate when he explained it, but for simple conversation..I am going with this!)

When Dad asked about cutting the lastest "spot" out he offered the following. He said he would not sit there and tell us there were no more options because there are! (answered prayer!) He said that he could actually go in and cut out the ulcerated area along with the other two areas of concern and then take a healthy flap of skin from his chest and FLIP it over to grow and cover the wound! Can you believe it? Again, he went in to a lot of detail, but the bottom line is since his cancers keep coming back in the same general area and have not traveled past the clavicle bone, this may be a workable option for him! Dig it out and replace it with new vessels an capillaries from totally healthy skin. I'm amazed. There is a huge chance that it would work and a huge chance that two weeks afterwards he could find another spot..that's the downside. I say lets give it a try! If more radiation is not an option..why not? I'm telling you this man knows his head and neck cancer stuff. Whoa!

So here is where we are....Dr. Holmes is going to email the pictures to Dr. Spencer (radiologist/UAB) and they will converse through email about what to do. Meanwhile, Dad sees Dr. Bechach (chemo doctor) here on Monday for a check up and we need to request a PET scan because Dr. Holmes would of course need to know that the rest of the body is clear before performing either one of the surgeries. We were due one soon anyway, we just need to step it up. As for the teeth, he said "if we do the surgery, I may want to go ahead and get those teeth out. If we don't do the surgery, I may want to get those teeth out." Apparently, the teeth need to come out! Ha! It may take all through next week before we know anything concrete. I promise I will let you know as soon as we do!

I will end tonight with this thought:

I follow another blog written by the husband of a 37 year old mother of 2, who had a stroke at the beginning of January. His faith is unbelievable and she is slowly but surely coming out of a coma and beginning to improve. He wrote this on his blog last night and I'm going to leave it for all of us to think about, inserting "Dad" where he wrote "Joanne". It is a powerful thought.

Written by Toben Heim:

"Last Sunday at church our pastor said, 'When we pray, we should pray BIG', so let's pray BIG tonight! Let's pray for nothing less than Dad's complete healing and restoration. That may be a scary prayer because we are putting it all on the line, but I believe that God loves nothing more than blowing peoples socks off as He reveals HIS glory! See you later socks!"

Thank you Toben...pray BIG!
Love,
Michelle

Biopsy Result

It seems that the cancer is there in that spot. Dr. Willis called Dad this evening with the results. It showed that the area had squamous cells but "it has not invaded the muscle or the blood vessels". I am going to assume this is good news about those cells. Since the CT scan showed "dying cancer cells" in nodes on left neck, we are left with the question, "Are these new or are they dying?" Hmmmm... Dr. Willis conversed with Dr. Holmes and brought him up to date on everything since April of last year. He (Dr. Holmes) is going to call Dr. Spencer (radiologist) at UAB and talk to her himself to see exactly what areas she treated. He wants to know the specifics about the radiation treatment before he decides anything about what to do with the bad teeth and/or the spot that is still left after radiation. Dr. Holmes said he would call Dad when he has talked with Dr. Spencer. It could be as late as Monday before he gets her, so I will post AS SOON as we here anything!

Love,
Michelle

Update

Dad had an appointment with Dr. Willis in Madison this morning to look at his tooth/jaw and give his opinion on whether or not he thought the pain was from decaying teeth or the decaying jaw (side effect of Zometo). If you remember, Dr. Willis is the oral surgeon who finally made the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma over two years ago. When Dr. Becdach wanted an opinion of a dental specialist, we decided we would call him to let him have a look. He gathered as much background information from the past two years as he could and then examined the teeth. He definitely agreed that the teeth are in trouble. He also said that the doses of antibiotics he has been on lately have helped the teeth from being in worse shape than they are. Radiation can help to kill cancer, but it also takes its toll on good things like YOUR TEETH! He did some xrays to look at the bone and decided that everything looked ok there, but that the teeth needed to be tended to. That being said, he wanted to contact Dr. Holmes (our original surgeon in Birmingham). He wanted to bring him up to date on what was going on and see if he could see Dad pretty soon. There is no question that the two teeth need to come out (and some other minor dental procedures) and he thought that Dr. Holmes should be the one to do it because he has done all the other work. We agree. Having said that, he took a look at the spot on his neck that has been our concern over the past couple of weeks. It is obvious to the eye, as I have said, that something is going on there. He agreed with all the doctors that it could be scar tissue and/or hardening tissue, but based on what he has seen before it looked like cancer was still hanging out there. Since it has been nearly 12 weeks since radiation, he was rightfully concerned. Remember, HE is the one that actually (FINALLY) diagnosed the original area!! As I said in the last post, the only way to know would be to biopsy it. He offered to do that for Dad today so we would all just KNOW what we are dealing with. Turns out to be a great idea, because if we are sent to see Dr. Holmes in Bham, the first thing he is going to want to know is what we are dealing with so having the biopsy already done will speed the decision process up. We just need to know what step is next. In the last CT scan (3 weeks ago) it showed dying cancer in that area, and no new spots. However, it appears to be changing in an odd way so no one knows what is going on. The biopsy will tell us, so pray for that biopsy.

So, both doctors (Willis and Holmes) were busy with scheduled surgeries today and as far as I know at this point have not been able to communicate with each other yet. Dr. Willis will call in a few days with the biopsy results and then we will decide what step is next. We don't know if it will be the teeth and other dental issues, or dealing with the spot on his neck. We will just pray about it.

On another note, I think his reflux is acting up a bit. The feedings and some food are not sitting well at some times so please add that to your prayers. Tonight I pray for each of you, for your thoughtfulness, for your prayers for my Dad, for your families, for your loved ones who are sick and/or facing difficult times, for those I don't know who are fighting cancer! I also send praise for the wonderful things that God has done and will do!

I will keep you posted!
Michelle

Some Good News, Some Relief and Some "Still Don't Know"

We all met with Dr. Becdach this morning before Dad's regularly scheduled Erbitux infusion. Good news in that he did get the rest of the scan from UAB and it didn't show any new growths and showed the cancer in the nodes on his neck as "dying cancer cells". At this point, it is obvious that something is still going on in that area, but the question is whether or not there is still cancer trying to come back after the radiation or is the skin having a hard time healing having been through radiation two times. Both are possibilities. We pray that the skin is having a hard time healing. We can manage that! Please be in prayer that God is healing and the cancer is gone. I remember being told so many times that the skin may never heal after the second round of radiation..there was mention of open wounds, skin grafts, etc. I am praying expectantly for that outcome! The only way to know for sure right now would be to biopsy it, and again we would be faced with the fact that healing is so hard to do right now because of the radiation. So they opted to wait another couple of weeks before doing that. I did ask about the spot on the C3 vertebra and he said the scan mentioned nothing about it, but the MRI would tell us more. His opinion was that the area had radiation and was probably GONE! PRAISE!!!!!

So that is the good news so to speak..the relief is that he prescribed a patch for Dad to wear that gives him around the clock, 24 hour pain meds for the ear/tooth/jaw area. He has been trying to take pain medicine and Tylenol every 4 hours to stay ahead of the pain and this will be much easier as well as better for him for the time being.

That leads me to the "Still Don't Know" part...For a while Dad has been complaining of an ear ache and all doctor's have checked out his ear and found no infection. Dr. Spencer said that the ear drum is very dry from the radiation and that would cause him some pain. There is also a lot of scar tissue around there which has been through radiation twice that can cause discomfort. He has a lot of sinus issues related to the original surgery which also causes discomfort around that ear. Additionally, the one tooth he has left on the top of the left side has been aching and really hurting. Dad thinks it has abscessed and is really causing all this pain. Both doctors looked at the tooth and agreed it could be trouble. To take it out is a problem within itself because of the state of "healing" he is in at this point and that the bone is very weak from the original surgery and the Zometo he has been taking. He has been having monthly infusions of Zometo since they discovered the suspicious spot on his vertebra. It is supposed to help reverse or slow down any cancer trying to move to the bone. All good EXCEPT we now have found out that a major side effect of the Zometo could be the deterioration of the jaw bone. This very well could be the source of the pain and swelling on the left side of his face. So that is now the big question.....IS IT THE TOOTH CAUSING THE PAIN OR THE JAW BONE?

To find out, we are going to visit Dr. Willis (the oral surgeon in Madison who FINALLY correctly diagnosed Dad two years ago) and let him look at it to give his opinion on whether or not he thinks it is the tooth or the jaw bone. Dr. Becdach also put a stop to the Zometo infusions until we know for sure. We will talk all of this information over with Dr. Becdach in two weeks and go from there. I feel like an MRI will be scheduled at that visit as well.

So, thank you for your continued prayers. Pray specifically for the spot to heal on his neck, for the upcoming MRI to be clear and evident of no new cancers and for the outcome of this tooth/jaw issue.

Love to all!
Michelle

Just to let you know.....

Dad met with Dr. Bechach this morning and everything is pretty much the same. The scan results that we received from UAB was a report of the head. It was good and didn't predict any new problems areas at all. However, there was no report specifically related to the neck or the spinal area of concern that were in the radiation treatments. Dr. Becdach will continue to try and get through to Dr. Spencer and the Kirkland Clinic to see if there are other reports which he did not receive. If there were, he would like to get them and compare them to the past Ct scans he already has on file. Regardless, even if the reports indicated suspicious spots there would be no new treatment we could do at this point because it is too soon after the radiation. So, the plan is to wait and watch. I pray that we are waiting and watching the healing! He will go back in two weeks to see Dr. Becdach and I suspect we will have a plan as to when the full body PET/CT scan will be to give us all the answers. In the meantime continue to pray with us for complete healing and no signs of cancer!!!! I also ask that you pray for his ear ache and tooth ache on the left side where all the "business" has been. Having gone through two treatments sessions of radiation does have its cons and unfortunately the ear drum being dry and fluid building up around it is one of them and of course the one tooth they left from the original surgery has seen its last days! Poor thing!

Thank you all! We love you!
Michelle

Results! Well, Sort of... :)

Dad went to CCI this morning for his Erbitux infusion which he missed on Monday. He asked the nurse to see if the report came in. She said she didn't see it but then later returned with a copy of the fax from Dr. Spencer and handed it to DAD to READ!!! Well, Dr. Smith, (aka Dad) sent us this text...."got a copy of the fax. looks good. haven't gone back yet".

I don't know how many of you non-medical personnel have tried to read a CT, PET or biopsy report, but it sure will take you back to high school, if not college, biology 101! You can't understand anything! Ha! He did manage to find the words "bone something or another..normal, brain something or another normal, swelling in left sinus cavity". That is all Dr. Ernest Smith could decipher. However, we do know the cancer spots are still there because it has only been 8 weeks since treatment, so that is to be expected. It is obvious from looking at them that there is some healing going on. Praise God! The question was whether or not the radiation is working and hopefully no new spots. So, he said he would try to find Tina the head nurse back in the infusion area to read it to him and see if he could get in to see the doctor today. She did and Dr. Smith then sent us this text, " Tina read it. said it looks good to her. can't see doctor until Monday".

So, we really don't have an official report and will have to wait for Monday for that. Just wanted to let all of you know and tell you to keep those prayers and praises going!

As I was about to send out this blog post, Mom called me and said that Dr. Becdach did come in and glance at the report. He is prescribing him a z-pack antibiotic to help clear up the sinus problem. He seemed very positive, but wanted to call the Kirkland Clinic and make sure they sent him the whole report because it only read, CT OF THE HEAD, and he expected it to read CT OF HEAD/NECK. So we will see. Surely, they covered the neck area in the scan as that is the whole reason he is there anyway!

Have a great weekend! Thank you for your prayers and concerns! We love you all!
I will be in touch on Monday.

Michelle

Update

Whew! That was a LONG day! After the somewhat treacherous driving to Birmingham, we made it and got the CT scan about an hour late. Then several hours of waiting only to find out they wouldn't be able to get us the results today! Dr. Spencer is going to have them sent directly to Dr. Becdach late this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. Dad goes for a treatment in the morning because he missed the one on Monday because of the weather. Maybe he will be able to get a nurse to track down those results.



Honestly, I feel really good about the appointment. Dr. Spencer came in and saw how the spot had healed and substantially gotten smaller she said, "Well, it was definitely worth doing!" That was big coming from her! She thought he looked great and was very pleased. In fact, she said that Dr. Becdach would be "the leader" now and decide what he wanted to do. You can tell that there is still some cancer left in the spot on the collar bone, but again it has gotten SOOOO much smaller! All that is excellent news. She looked at his ear which keeps giving him a lot of pain. She said that the ear drum has been damaged from all the radiation and is very dry. Really the only thing to do is treat it with Tylenol and maybe some moisturizing treatments.



So all in all, it was a positive day. Other than the fact that we went through a day of agony waiting for the results only to come home without them. Boo hoo. Well, keep the prayers going and hopefully we will get the good results we are hoping for from the CT tomorrow or Monday morning at the latest!



Matthew 9:29 "because of your faith, it will happen". NLT