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The journey of my family's struggle with a Brain Tumor. Cancer Sucks but the days continue so we must continue on as well... with a fight!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The scan results are in....

drumroll please.....

All is stable-no additional flair to scan, no new growth. This came from both Duke and Knox Drs. Of course we were hoping for more/better news but this by all means is enough to be happy with. I say this because I am sure someone, somewhere received different news. So we are thankful for what we were/are given, we will continue along til the next scan-November.

With all that being said, Todd had a few days off Temodar since he was waiting on it to come in the mail and now since he has started back, he's been feeling icky. The good news is that we don't have a lot to do this weekend and we can take it easy!

Today is our FAVORITE Saturday in September... UT vs. Florida. I think for this area it's considered a holiday. GO VOLS!!!

I will check back within a few days/weeks!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Knoxville Scan Reading today

LOL.. Sounds like Todd is going to a Psychic today. His scan was on Tuesday and apparently he missed a Dr's appt yesterday, even though he went for bloodwork. Anywho, he goes today at 10 to the Knoxville dr. I really don't see them going into too much detail (because they never do) but we will see. I would love a nice surprise to this beautiful Friday morning!(Also shooting an email to Duke to see what they say since they look at the scan in detail)

Prayers, wishes or anything you can give us would be great today! I will post when I know something.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

I think I start each post off by saying "I will start where I left off" LOL.. but really I dont know where I left off. As most of you know, I am all over the place on any given day so when I actually sit down and collect my thoughts, I find a giant pile of rubble.

Todd had a scan done today at St. Mary's and he will overnight it on to Duke in hopes of hearing 'something' by the end of the week (Duke looks at all the nuks and cranies.) The Knox Dr's will call soon and typically give us the same song and dance-all is stable. If you can still read until the end.. I will give an update on Todd.

Since school has started we have been going 100 miles a minutes. I was always worried that Todd would get bored during the day but he actually stays busy for most of the day (except from 11-1, when he watches old re-runs of Las Vegas.) Ty is in Boy Scouts, Baseball and takes guitar lessons so Todd juggles that in the afternoons as well as having dinner ready every night and cleaning/doing laundry. I can't tell you how much I LOVE having clean clothes each week!!! (We were never the best laundry doers and NO, we didn't wear dirty clothes, we just washed what was needed and most of it stayed clean on the laundry room floor.) We also now have a guest friendly home...well, for the most part. The hoarder in me can't find a place for all those 'extra' things. :)

Not sure how I got off on the tangent above but I will focus again... Nothing excites us more than the University of Tennessee football season starting. I absolutely love the football fall Saturdays where you can wear jeans, t's and flip flops, roll the windows down in the car, see UT car flags and sing Rocky Top. This to me is truely fall in East Tennessee! Over Labor Day weekend, UT had its first home game AND it was Labor Day weekend. We had a busy busy weekend planned. We opted not to go to the game and we had our dear friends, the Rupekas, over to watch the game. (Doesn't really sound too excititng huh?) On Sunday, we invited Greg, Ashley and Mason out to my moms to do an end of the year lake day. Come to find out... it was Ashley's first time ever on the lake. Here are some pics of the day. We had a blast scooting around on the lake and watching the boys tube. Mason was an old pro and you would have never of known he's never been on the water before.

Greg and my new sister in law-Ashley. How long can I call her new?


Me and the little 'Bloomfield boys'

Ashley and Mason.. you have to know that Ashley was scared to death and they did the 'granny' ride.

Greg and Mason

Pops 'teaching' Mason how to be a captain. :) I can't tell you how many pics of Pops an Tyler I have doing the same thing.. I love it!!!


Here are a few pics of my favorite people!!! Mom, Todd and Tyler....







Tyler and G-Mom



I loved the fact that we all got to spend the day together doing something that I love to do...



Now for the reality of the weekend... We came home and Todd crashed. We ran from Friday to Sunday and it was just too much for him. I had neighborhood fellowship on Sunday night and he couldn't come out and enjoy it because he felt nauseous, weak and tired. :( I was thankful that it poured down rain on Memorial Day because it gave us time as a family to unwind and relax. I need to realize that we are not the same family that we use to be but we can still have fun, just at a slower rate.

***So I'm not sure who knows of our baby steps and who doesn't but within the last few weeks Todd has had some improvement. He is definitely not moving mountains but he is making strides in the right direction. I know I mentioned his toes wiggling... a few weeks later he noticed that he had some movement from his eyebrow (hasn't had any movement in years) and just recently he has been able to use his hand to put deoderant on (previously been using the spray stuff, yuck.) We get pretty excited about the small things in life. I'm hoping that we get some super duper news after this scan HOWEVER I know NOT to get our hopes up!***

This month marks 9 months that Todd has been on Temodar. I would like to say 'time flies when your having fun' however this isn't the case. I wish for my family to be back to normal but I have accepted the fact that this is normal. I don't really see an end is sight as it has taken 9mos for these small changes to occur. I see a long Temodar future at the Bloomfield house!

A special shout out for extra prayers for Todd's mom.. As most of you know, she has had her own battle with cancer for it seems like gazillion years. Just recently she was told that her tumor markers have increased. They stopped her current chemo and they are reformulating a 'plan.' I know she is at her wits end because she has been through so many 'plans.' As we all know... we are not in control of our 'plan' and its hard when we aren't in control!

We are doing just fine and trucking along! We just started the process of Social Security and boy does it stink! I am learnig about saving and realizing the difference between wants and needs. Changes will be ahappening within the next few months and I just need to go with the flow. I know all will work out.. (yes, I keep telling myself that)

So thanks for everyone's prayers, well wishes, support, cards and so on... I will update as soon as I hear about the scan!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Pics from last post

Hey all...


Just a quick follow up to last months post and some pictures to add. I will do another post with updates on life. :)



Me and Ty in Cherokee, NC

Family picture at the lookout stop of Clingmans Dome... in the fall this is one of the most beautiful spots in the world!

Todd's bracelet says BELIEVE... He got this in a package from our Florida buddies-Steve, Christy and Heather. This was Heather's (10yo) gift to Todd.


Todd and Tyler in Cherokee, NC



It's official WE ARE PARENTS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOLER and this is why the picture looks do bad! (Kids this age, with a sassy attitude, dont like thier picture taken on the first day of school)



August 15, 2011, off to 6th Grade at Gresham Middle School


Yes, I fought with him to tame the crazy hair however I have to pick and choose my battles these days!


Right after school started, we received a call from a friend asking if Ty wanted to play baseball. At first he said NO... but a few minutes later he changed his mind (which was a shock because he's been asked for a few months now to play.) We joined a fun loving team-the Sox. I definitely don't think Ty is going to be a career baseball player. My ultimate goal for the season is to learn, have a good time and make friends. This team is very family oriented. Last Saturday we had a family picnic at the park. Afterwards, we played a parents vs kids game where YES, the parents whooped the kids!


This was one of those bitter sweet days... Todd was not able to join us in playing. I know he would have had fun playing but I took over and made the family proud. I even used Todd's glove from the good ol' days. The coach knows of Todds limitations and made him the official photographer, typically my role. :) Todd had 2 cameras and was snapping all sorts of shots. It was kinda funny and I was glad he was involved in the game. As the season is just starting, you will be sick of seeing baseball pictures!


Happy Fall Ball Ya'll!!!


All and all summer went by too fast and we are slowly approaching fall (my favorite season.) Tyler is involved in guitar, baseball and scouts along with trying to be a normal 11 year old.