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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!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Change of Events...

So after 2 miserable days... they are admitting Todd tomorrow. What appeared for us to be heading on the right track quickly has taken a turn for the worse.

Yesterday he fell 2 times.. once while I was home and once while I was at work and today he has fallen. In addition he's having overall trouble. He can barely eat/swallow because of his mouth sores and they are worried about his nutrition levels. I've done my best to make healthy meals that he can eat but he is so limited. I went home today for lunch just to check on him and make him lunch. He's so pitiful. I worry about him at home, I worry about him falling and cracking his head open, I worry that he could have a seizure (not that he has but you never know)... you see the pattern, I am so wound tight right now.

After lunch, I called the nurses and we talked about the mouth sores. She asked me many more questions tho like... How cognitively alert is he, Is he hydrated, Is he getting enough nutrition, Is he too much for ME to handle right now (this one broke my heart), Is he in good spirits, etc... She said she would talk to Tiffany, the NP who I love... Tiffany called me back and told me that she wasn't sure and didn't want to scare me but I needed to "prepare for the worst" that the tumor has grown... So first thing in the morning he will have an MRI done and depending on how it comes back will depend on what they do. Needless to say, they aren't letting him go home until things look better.

Lots and lots of prayers needed... I have been so positive and strong but I'm close to a breakdown (not literally :) )

Until tomorrow....

The Clan

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Poor Ol Todd...

I really mean that... I think he has hit close to rock bottom. I know he's physically tired as well as mentally/emotionally!

Not a whole lot transpired over the past few days. We did add a few new members to our ship... PT (Physical Therapy) came by on Saturday to do an evaluation. From there we were told that PT, OT and Speech would each be coming to the home 2x per week for the next 6-8 weeks.

I had a hard time getting all the new medicine lined up but we are slowing getting it in... the new chemo should be delivered sometime next week. I just got the ritalin (which is NOT covered by insurance...better work) and I had to get more magic mouthwash, **remind me to come back to the mouth sores.

As far as Todd goes... he's nearly 99% bed/couch bound at this moment. He can't do any walking around unsupervised because he is definitely not good on his feet. PT has ordered him a walker with a seat for around the house (guess I will need to get crafty and decorate it for him in UT stuff) and I am picking up a wheelchair tomorrow for the visits to the dr and such. I now also have an emergency back up plan with neighbors and friends in case Todd slips or gets stuck while I am at work...I'm sure its not perfect however it will do for the time being. I have even debated working in 'shifts' and taking time off so that I can make sure he gets where he needs to be and can be settled for a few hours. I spent most of the morning making 'easy' grab foods for Todd so he won't starve while I'm gone. This way he won't use all his energy making something to eat.

I also picked up a shower/bath bench... it's pretty neat in the fact it goes over in the tub and over the side of it so he can sit on it outside of the tub and then slide into the tub (lol, make sense). We also installed a new shower head that has a long handle and cord so it makes it easier. Of course, he won't be doing this while no one is home!

I think that's the highlights... I don't see any lights yet at the end of the tunnel. In our 'ship' terms, we are floating in the big ocean with no motor and no signs of civilization. I know...eventually...we have to see an island, even if it's little. :)

A shout out to all the people who called to help AND helped this week and those who stopped by. I know Todd gets tired of looking at me all the time. :) For those who have put their name on the emergency list, you better be ready!!!

Keep us in your prayers...we truly need the extra prayers right now!!!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Plan for the Plan

We officially have a plan for the plan... Or a new plan anyways! I am so thankful that we got moving on this because had major mobility issues today. When I picked him up this morning, he told me that he fell getting dressed and it took him 15 mins to be able to be able to gain enough strength to move. In addition, he could barely walk to the car and he needed wheelchair while we were at the hospital. I'm not sure how he went from decent to horrible in such a short time!!!

(Most of this is what I wrote about in last nights post)

Anyways, they did a gazillion tests on him today. Tested for pneumonia and blood clots and they came back negative. They agreed he looked pretty bad and they pondered on what really was going on. Based on Dr. D's recommendation, they are stopping the CPT11 because of the diarrhea issues. They are stopping the steroids in hopes of everything coming back to 'normal.' The are adding a new chemo (which apparently is old and harder to find, will be a pill) and they are putting him on the ritalin. All this is to start asap. He will continue on Avastin and his next treatment is on Friday.

They discussed admitting him today in order to get 'things' in check... I didn't quite know what the reasons were however Todd was pretty stern about not being admitted. After speaking to Dr. Avery, they decided not to admit him and to continue to monitor him. They truly believe all of his 'issues' are the result of major side effects from the steroids. She stated they can see where atrophy has affected his leg muscles, therefore not allowing him to walk very well.

PT, OT and speech therapy are being called in via home health to help him. He will wean off the steroids over the next 2 weeks and HOPEFULLY, we will see a turn around soon. I am now waiting to hear back from the office on the arrangements all these therapists and the sooner the better!

So I think that's the highlights... It was another long day but we survived.

My dear friend, Sherri and her hubby have an appointment at Duke with Dr. D at 9 in the morning... extra prayers for them tonight. Although my close friends here are a GREAT ear, she is an ear dealing with the same issues and we can truly relate to 'life.'

Give me a few more days and I will update... I know you all know but we really do appreciate those people who care enough to call, write, text or email. Even the littlest thoughts/actions go noticed. This sure is a tough battle to endure alone and we are very thankful for those around us. I can't wait until the day comes where I can help someone else out!!!

The Clan...

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

New Plan...

So everyone knows by now that I love PLANS... Todd has a new plan. After an update with DUKE with ALL the things that are wrong with Todd, I received a call from Dr. D to review all the "issues." You ask, what are the issues???
  • Swollen like a balloon.. from steroids
  • Speech and Vision still not good. He still is not driving and he is extremely hard to understand.
  • Unstable balance
  • No energy
  • Shortness of breath
  • Almost 90% bed/couch bound
Most of this has been on going however things have dramatically taken a turn for the worse within the past 2 weeks. On the plus side, the diarrhea is GONE and his blood sugar is pretty much under control.

I decided to do an update with Duke and instead of hearing from the Nurse, Michelle, I received a call from Dr. D. She was extremely concerned about what I was telling her. This is where the new PLAN comes into effect. We spoke for a bit and then she/I spoke to the Knox Drs.

They are going to wean him off of the steroids and move to Ritalin (yes, the ADHD meds) to help improve energy. Before that can be done, they are going to scan/xray his chest for the following: pneumonia and lung blood clot (because of the shortness of breath.)

They are going to change from CPT-11 to another chemo. This one will be oral... Changing because of the chances of diarrhea again.

Order PT, OT and Speech Therapy. Dr. D said that there is NO reason why he is not up and going... he is having severe side effects from the steroids and almost completely immobile. They are afraid he is losing muscles... add another issue to the list. :)

So.. after rambling.. this makes sense to me, probably not you... They are changing things up. Bottom line, Dr. D said he should be up and moving way more than what he is doing. She stated that the Steroids have really taken a toll on him in addition to the chemo. By changing all this around he will probably be better with the blood sugar levels (come off insulin) as well so this change hopefully will be GREAT.

In the convo.. she stated that the tumors were shrinking and I paused.. I was told STABLE. She said that in order for them to say 'shrinking' it would have to of shrunk at least 50%. His tumor has shrunk approx 15-20%. WOOHOO... this was good news.

We go tomorrow for the scans and the xray's, then an appt with Oncology. Both Duke and Knox Dr's have been fabulous in answering all my questions and keeping me sane. I've said in many instances "if this was your husband, what would you do?" and I feel confident in the advice they give me.

We've had a very rough past 2 weeks... I am so thankful that a little light came through the tunnel today to show me hope. I said several prayers over the last few days asking for some relief for Todd... Its not fair for him to suffer this much.

I've had several awesome gifts come this week. I want to thank everyone for all that you do/done! Any texts to Todd are greatly appreciated because I know he's getting lonely at home.

I'm sure I will know more tomorrow... and will post again!

Continued prayers for us, Todd's mom and my new buddy Sherri (hubby with gbm)...

Then Clan

Friday, January 13, 2012

Fingers Crossed...

Another super long and draining day yesterday... I say for me too, lol, but really it was Todd who had a long day. :)

He was to only do blood work at Dr. Avery's office however we knew going into the appointment that they wanted to keep him for fluids. I met him there... Yes, he drove, and listened as the NP and nurses worked on the plan and discussed whats 'next.' Obviously the biggest concern was the diarrhea.

The wonderful Nurse Practitioner, Tiffany, always makes us feel so comfortable and loved. She jokes with Todd and his personality shines when he is at the office. They made a few jokes and then it was all business. I wasn't able to get the diarrhea injection medicine since it is only available via mail order and even that with overnight shipping will take up to 5 business days. Anywho, Tiffany worked on trying to find a rep in the area that had the injections however all were out of state at a conference.. Boo...

They scratched the injections and now they are focusing on the gastric antibiotic and the prescription Metamucil type of drink. They gave him 2 bags of fluids and something else, maybe potassium and 4 hours later, he was gone. They informed him that he will need to be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday if the diarrhea is not under control. 24 hours later, he's still had diarrhea however it has not been as frequent so fingers are crossed!!!

Today was infusion day and they scratched the chemo, CPT11 since its main side effect is diarrhea. He only had Avastin.... Due to inclement weather (really??) we closed today at 1. When I got home, he seemed pitiful and at this moment, he still does. I left him alone upstairs and every now and then I noticed he was sound asleep. We have a few 'must do's' over the weekend so I will get them done and find times for a nap!

Continued prayers for progress... Thanks all!

The Clan

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Waving the White Flags

I have given up for the day...The flags are being waved and I surrender, I surrender.

I might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed or it might be the fact that I felt consumed with diarrhea and blood sugar issues... Nothing I can blame Todd on though. He's a great sport who tackles all this head on. I am so proud of him!!!

Morning started off with of course, diarrhea by Todd and again more diarrhea. This started early in the am... We had an appt with the NP about adjusting his insulin. The NP added ANOTHER injection of insulin, one that lasts for 12 hours. Before I was out of the parking lot, I had already spoken to the Oncologist nurse regarding... guess what, diarrhea!

After several phone calls, she called back to give me the new plan. I was already on the verge of craziness today but then she started the conversation with... "I don't mean to scare you but." She went on to say that with Chemo patients they get very concerned with dehydration because in rare cases, patients have died. In addition, they think that he might possibly have a bowel infection since all the natural things he is doing aren't working. They would like for us (him) to collect a 'sample' and then they will know for sure...ewww.

She called in a prescription of an antibiotic for the just in case (one I've never heard of), they also are putting him on a 3x a day, round the clock injection, then some kind of Metamucil drink in prescription form. The antibiotic and injection are rotated, even through the night but the injection can't be near other doses of meds and 2 hours within steroids. I actually had a chart made to know when all medicines are dispensed.

Bottom line... He is now on 3 different injections. 1 given 2x per day, 2 given 3x's per day but not the same time.

Tomorrow is blood work day and in addition she said they would give him fluid and check him out. Friday is Chemo day. If I learn anything new, I will post again tomorrow.

Thanks for the quick vent... I decided I was DONE for the day but tomorrow is a new day with a new fight.

I had so many texts through out the day... I appreciate everyone!!! Just keep praying for us, thats all we need! Eventually things have to turn around!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

No more diarrhea please....

So... Todd is still battling diarrhea however it has seemed to settle down just a bit. I spoke the Oncologist nurse yesterday (I know they hate to hear from me) and they put him on a 'plan'... 'Plans???, I like Plans.' She explained to me that the lining of 'something' has thinned and therefore he can't keep anything in him. Since he has had SOOOO much diarrhea, he has lost all the good and the bad bacteria in his bowels. I was to find a probiotics that contained the most lactobacillus, get Activia and pick up Pedialyte. Also he needed to go on a very bland diet. So the yogurt idea was scary for me since he won't eat anything 'white and creamy' and the bland diet was scary since most bland diets contain carbs which turn into sugars. Sheesh.... Activia was actually a hit, he said he thought it tasted really good and well, we managed with an OK diet so far.

He has 2 more diarrhea pills left so if you neighbors see an SOS in our yard tonight it's because we've run out... :)

Blood sugar... we still have this issue going on. I actually texted the Nurse Practitioner his levels every 2 days. She made adjustments and then we watched it again... The levels are still a bit high (definitely not as high as the previous week but still high) and now we are going back to see her tomorrow to see 'whats next.'

Here goes my soapbox... I heard 2 different instances of "it's not fair" today and I really wanted to come back with Really... you want to talk about FAIR???

It's not FAIR for my 11 year old to have a full comprehension of Cancer.
It's not FAIR for my 11 year old to watch his father go from being active to practically housebound.
It's not FAIR for our friends 10 year old son to bury his step-father right before the holidays due to pancreatic cancer.
It's not FAIR for our friends 10 year old son to watch his mothers pain in the loss of her husband. (Bridget Gibson)
It's not FAIR for our friends 3 year old daughter to hear that daddy can't play because his head hurts so bad because he has stage 4 brain cancer.
It's not FAIR for our friends 3 year old daughter has a daily visual of her daddy's scar from his surgery that takes up most of his head. (Sheri Slusser)

OK... This is whats not FAIR. The kids have no choice in the matter but have learned to adapt and go with the flow. With strong parents they will be strong kids who can overcome any adversity in life! So make sure to pray extra for our sweet little babies!!!

Off my soapbox... A quick shout out to a friend who brought a card and gift down last night. We appreciate everything!!! I am told daily how much support we have and we truly are a very lucky family!!!





Sunday, January 8, 2012

Pretty Miserable past few days :(

The title sums it all up... Todd has had a pretty miserable past few days. I feel so helpless to him. There is nothing I can do. :(

Thursday we met with his Primary Care Physician, Nurse Practitioner about diabetes training. Yes, something else to worry about! She put him on a sliding scale of insulin. For those of you who don't know what that means, I will tell ya. He is to prick his finger before every meal and depending on what his blood sugar is will depend on how much insulin he gives himself. He has a nifty pen type thing that has insulin in it and he has a scale that tells him how many units to inject depending on his blood sugar number. It's really interesting... We will follow up with the NP on Monday to make sure the levels are doing better and then from there we will go back in 2 weeks. Levels so far have been better. They are more in the 200's vs 400's... baby steps, baby steps! She said it could take approx. 1 week for him to feel better as the levels come back to 'normal.'

Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been HORRIFIC bouts of diarrhea. Again, not just your run of the mill, my belly aches diarrhea, but the most horrific belly girgling, rumbling, sit on the toilet for a nice long time! It started on Friday night and went on for a good portion of the night=no sleep for anyone. He had a few episodes early Saturday morning but was good most of the afternoon. As soon as 4pm hit, he was back at it again and again and again.. This went on until appox. 3am. He said he didn't fall asleep until close to 4am! He woke up good on Sunday am and I thought he was out of the woods HOWEVER tonight at about 5:30, it reared its ugly head again! Let's see how long this lasts tonight... Yes, he has prescription diarrhea medicine and it's not helping!

I will call in the morning to see if anything can be done for him. We've been trying so hard to keep him hydrated but with all the diarrhea, it's getting tough! He says he feels really bad. I think he ventured out of bed long enough to eat dinner. He's been off and on sleeping all day. Needless to say, it's been a low keyed weekend.

Monday will start a new week and a new round of Dr visits. Thursday is blood work and Friday is infusions.

I will post more when I know more... Ty finally goes back to school tomorrow so it will be awfully quiet in the Bloomfield house!

Thanks all!!!

The Clan

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Just a post...

Thought I would swing in to just say hello and not give any Ho-hum news...

The week has been relativity quiet compared to last week. Like normal the MASSIVE diarrhea reared its ugly head yesterday (Tuesday.) No surprise, Todd was prepared for it and dealt with it like a champ. He said he didn't feel great yesterday however WHO WOULD when you have to run to the toilet every few hours, LOL!!!

Ya know... Todd has dealt with all of this like a champ. I know I don't tell him but he is a CHAMP to us! He has been dealt a crappy hand and he continues to truck along. He never complains about feeling so crappy, he just goes on his way! The girls at the center always love on him and I saw first hand why. He's so nice and cooperative with them.. sometimes being stabbed 10 times because they can't find a vein. He just says 'I'm good, doesn't hurt, do what you have to do." Where the little old grouchy lady next to him is acting like a pain in the rump! Anywho.. my shout out to my dear ole hubby who Tyler and I love. We will take him gimpy and buddha (he calls himself this because of his bloated belly and shaved head) all day long!

I had to chuckle a bit tonight because Todd really wanted hamburgers this week. He can't do the buns (carbs=sugars) so we opted for lettuce wraps-ish... I made mine all pretty and we had the following conversation:

Kim: Look how good this looks
Todd: I can't see it.
(Ponder for a sec)
Kim: What??
Todd: Haven't really been able to see while I was cooking
Kim: All in my head... seriously, you've cooked and you can't see. :)

All and all we had dinner which tasted really good and he didn't give up because of his limitations, just glad he wasn't trying to drive! :)

Tomorrow we go meet with the Diabetic specialist to 'learn' about high blood sugar. Should be interesting. 'They' are going to decide if the pill will do the trick or if he needs to go on a sliding scale of insulin. I have no knowledge of diabetes/insulin so this appointment should be very informative.

I've had many neighbors chime about wanting to be put on our Emergency On Call list. I think over the weekend I will post all the numbers on the fridge for the 'just in case' we happen to have an emergency. I know Todd is a hermit and feels comfortable with only a few but you never know when those few aren't around. Thanks to everyone who has offered!!!

Thats it... half way short and sweet!!! I will give a brief update after our appointment tomorrow.

Love and Hugs,

The Clan!



Monday, January 2, 2012

Deductible will be made in January...


Our insurance deductible will be made by January... we had a visit to the ER today. Todd's blood sugar levels were pretty high all weekend, upper 300's. They told us not to call over the weekend unless they were over 400. I held out until today. I spoke to the on-call dr who advised us to go straight to the ER.

I rushed Tyler to a friends and we were off to the ER. Once there they started him on a saline bag and took blood samples to measure his levels. While there, his BS level was 420. Yikes...

The main concerns were the blood sugar levels and dehydration. Even though he has been hydrating very well, the pancreas works hard to remove all fluids from the blood when the levels get so high. (I think thats right anyways) And top off the diarrhea, he gets dehydrated very easy.

Todd said he knew his levels were high because instead of the double vision, his vision was a complete blur... Scary, I know. Within 2 hours, his vision was doing better and his bs levels had dropped to 280-still high for the normal person. They watched him for a bit and then sent us home with an insulin pill prescription. We spent the afternoon there and all is better, for the time being. He is to follow up with Dr. Avery tomorrow.

I appreciated everyone who texted and offered to help. Since I've used many of my neighbors, I used a friend of Ty's. He was excited to play with a new group of friends for the day!

I'm sure my crazy week ain't over... (thought ain't was appropriate, lol) I go back to work tomorrow and I will put a neighbor on call in case of an emergency. Wish us luck! Todd told me today that while I dread going back to work, it will probably be easier than staying at home. :)

Thanks all..

The Clan

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2 Weeks of complete craziness... We've struggled and had lots of fun!

I haven't posted in over 2 weeks so you better sit tight for a lot of mumble jumble... I will go over the highlights of my 2 weeks at home and then at the end I will give you the Readers Digest version of the happenings of Todd.

The first week was A LOT of running around to get ready for Christmas... I am not really sure what I did though. As always Todd moves slow so sometimes he joined me for the car ride and sometimes he stayed at home.

We went to Todd's moms house for Christmas Eve.. Below are a few pictures of night. Notice, I didn't win the sweat pant battle. :) Sometimes you have to pick and choose your battles though.



Todd, Greg, Bonnie and Ted (Savannah the dog)

All of us... Lets see. Me, Todd and Tyler (11), Bonnie and Ted, Greg, Ashley (in the back) and Cameron (15) and Mason (8) in the front.

We had a nice night visiting and celebrating Christmas Eve with the Bloomfields. Bonnie (Todd's mom had a rough week leading up to Christmas-her counts were really low and after Christmas we learned she had Bronchitis. She probably over did it too much by having Christmas at her house however I know she enjoyed having everyone together.

We were suppose to go visit with my dad over the holidays however Todd definitely couldn't of made the trip. He gets car sick if we go over 30 minutes due to his vision. In addition, he's had horrible bouts of diarrhea (will talk more of Todd at the end.)

What we were doing on Christmas was all up in the air since I knew we couldn't push Todd too much. My mom had made a Christmas meal and we were either going to go to her house for a bit or I was going to meet her to swap out Christmas and food. Todd woke up Christmas morning and said his vision was a 'bit' better and he had a 'bit' more energy and he would like to try and go to my moms for Christmas day. We went and were there for no more than 2 hours but it was nice to visit, eat and of course... open presents. Below are some pics from the day.


My mom and Ty... I love this pic!

The 3 of us

Well, the Christmas weekend came to a SCREECHING halt as Monday hit and Todd woke up with pain so bad in his joints (knees) that he could barely walk. I called the On-call dr who advised me to give him ADVIL... I was like seriously, he can't walk and he's almost in tears! Advil it is... The pain came and went, mostly came and Todd spent most of the day on the couch. Tuesday... I was ready to conquer the world and get everything back in order from the holiday and preparing food for when I went back to work. By lunchtime on Tuesday, he still was in bad pain that I called Dr. Avery who advised us to come to the office ASAP. We spent the next 4 1/2 hours at the office. They poked and prodded him and were very puzzled as to why he was having this bad of pain. They gave him a bag of morphine and fluids and sent us home. Like clockwork, Tuesday evening was a delightful bout of massive diarrhea...MASSIVE and not for the faint of heart! Wednesday, bright and early he had a scan and he took the rest of the day in bed because he was so tired from being up all night with the above! Thursday, a regular visit with Dr. Avery to hear about the scan. We opted for the scan to be done a bit early so we could get it in before the end of the year. Typically they don't do them that soon but we were lucky. We only received the results from the Knox Dr's who don't go into full details however they told us that there is way less enhancing of the new tumors (which means there is not as much new, fast growing cells) and it appears the chemo is 'working'. They are going to continue on the same path and we will do another scan in 8 weeks. Good news and baby steps for sure... After the visit, I received a call that Todd's levels were 'off'... something that showed dehydration (gee, wonder why, he's had diarrhea for days) and blood sugar levels were SKY high and we need to do something about it... They asked Todd to go back in but we convinced them to hold out until the morning when he was scheduled for his infusions. Friday, Happy Birthday to Me and Todd was dropped off at the infusion center. They gave him a bag of insulin, extra saline (he said he felt like he was floating away) and then the CPT-11 and Avastin. Because of the bloating and diarrhea, they scaled back a bit on the CPT-11 in hopes it won't tear up his digestive track. Only time will tell, typically Tuesday is the magic day. We will see....

Ok so you see that this week we were either at the hospital or the dr's office every day but Monday. I spoke to the nurse on Friday afternoon and she said that if Todd's sugar levels were above 400 at any time during the weekend, we needed to go to the hospital. Normal person is about 100, for him they would like to see under 200 bc of steroids. Him and I have fought hard to maintain healthy levels all weekend so we wouldn't have to make another trip to hospital.. as we speak, they are anywhere from 250-325 so I will have to call tomorrow, Monday, to see what the next plan of action is.

Whew are you tired yet... Saturday was NYE and Ty had a basketball game. Todd said he felt well enough to go and he even requested to go to our favorite wing place which is definitely out of our way!!! In addition, the new tradition is to go to Amy's (long time friend) then go bowling... home before 10. Todd agreed to meet at the bowling alley but didn't feel like 'hanging' out at Amy's. I told him he didn't have to go but he wanted to... we were there for 2 hours and he was a sport watching us bowl and have a good time. Afterwards, we snuggled in bed to watch the ball drop.


Love this kid...


Holidays are the only time I can get a picture of the 3 of us... Todd says he looks like Buddha however Buddha or not, he's ours!



I call these 2 my Rocks or maybe I should say Bookends, lol... Amy and April. April is off the wall and busy like me (Sorry April) and Amy has been around for 20 years this summer. She is my rational, level headed advisor... LOL. Not sure everyone who knows that would say that about her, right??? Sandy???

For fun one day, I will have to post pics of all the people who we really rely on during our crazy times!

This year has been so hard to deal with... I've learned a lot about myself and others. Some people wrap their arms around illness and some have other ways to deal. I see myself in this as well... I am not a good 'dealer' with other peoples 'heavy' stuff but you can betcha that I am very aware of this and will work so much harder on being a better friend and family member to those 'struggling' with 'something.'

So with that said... Bring on 2012... Let's see what it has to offer the Bloomfield family. One thing is for sure, I will not lose the fight for my family and I will not let CANCER bring us down, I will appreciate those around me better AND I will not allow myself to become consumed with people who bring me down.

Continued prayers for MIL, Bonnie as she fights her cancer battle and my new friend Sheri as her and her family struggle with hubby's brain tumor.

Pray we don't spend another week visiting dr's this week and pray that he will do well all alone at home when I go back to work on Tuesday.

It you made it to the end... Thanks as always. I appreciate all the prayers and well wishes that have come through over the last few weeks. We've seen incredible generosity and we are humbled by it!

Thanks again.. Hugs...

The Clan