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