October Update

Nothing too new and exciting for the month of October. We stayed so busy with Tyler this month that I feel the month as FLOWN by... I'm in complete amazement that this week is November. It seems that as soon as Halloween hits, we are looking at Thanksgiving and sure enough Christmas is smacking us in the face.

It's sad because I seem to dread the hoopla of all the planning but I love spending the time with the family and off work. I *think* I even asked if we had to put a Christmas tree up this year and that is not like me at all... I definitely don't go all out but I do like to have a tree up and few decorations. With Todd being home, maybe I can get him to help with the tree more. HINT HINT... This is the first real year that Santa has been exposed. I think this will make planning and shopping much easier because we can buy from us and not us and SANTA. Deep down though, it makes me sad that we have passed the excitement of the Santa days. Oh well.... life moves on.

I said this would be an October update so sorry to get off topic...

All of Todd's labs this month have been stable. He struggled in September and October with getting his Chemo refilled in a timely manner and thus resulting in tiredness and a icky stomach. Funny that being off the chemo gives him an icky belly... Can't win for losing..

Fortunately, he has some amazing nausea medicine and a supportive wife... LOL... to allow him to take it easy those days. I could care less if he sleeps on the couch all day (well, not every day.) I have to give him huge PRAISE because he is doing very well as a 'house' dad. He does what he can do in a day and when he gets tired, he rests.

He has stayed busy taxi-ing Ty around as usual. Ty played baseball anywhere from 2-3 days a week and had guitar lessons. Ty also went to a 'cowboy' camp through boy scouts... I have to give a shout out to this Non-profit organization that works with children with all different types of backgrounds.... Southern Star Shining Ranch. Ty went with a few of his boy scouts and he said it was one of the best times of his life. They slept in a barn over the horses, had a horse to tend to all weekend, sat around campfires, did small group bible study and he did calf wrestling. Yes.. calf wrestling. He came home filthy, tired and super excited about his weekend! Of course, here are some pics.

Lots of horseback riding...

Day one of calf wrestling (below)

Yes... that is my 70lb son trying to bring down a 200lb calf. On the pic above, he is under the calf.

Looks like a guy who has worked hard....

We also took a short trip to Myrtle Beach for fall Break... The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a family trip with some down time. Todd hadn't been to the beach this year so that was on his 'list'. We didn't spend much time on the beach but he said just seeing it and listening to the waves made him happy. Tyler enjoyed time playing and being a kid...

Don't ask about the hat and sometimes you just have to pick and choose your battles... :)

We did baseball, baseball and more baseball for the month of October. Tyler had a wonderful time on a losing team... They won their very last game and pretty much got smoked on all the other games. I kept asking him if he had fun and he said yes so I guess it was still a success. In addition, I met several great families and reconnected with other families Ty played ball with in years past. In fact, Ty is going to play basketball this month and most of the baseball boys will be on the same team. :) This is Ty's first go at basketball so this should be interesting, LOL...

I love love love this picture... <3

Yes, the kid next to Tyler is in the same age range...

The Sox... missing the Coach. The is after the last game that they won by 1. A nice way to end the season. A great group of boys!!!

Lastly to wrap up the month, we celebrated Halloween. As many of you know, our neighborhood does a huge extravaganza and there are 100's of kiddos begging for candy. I love the neighborhood fellowship and Todd hands out candy. Him and another dad, propped themselves in lawn chairs and gawked at costumes (and I think made fun of people because you know, they come out of the hills on halloween.) If you remember, Ty was a BANANA last year so to continue on with the goofiness, this year he was Ollie the Ostrich. Many people thought he was riding a turkey but he was really riding an Ostrich.. haha...

Thanks again for everyone's well wishes and support... Live sure is crazy sometimes.

KB

Family and such

So... I was raised in a very traditional family for most of my life and so was Todd. I say most of my life because my parents divorced when I was 18. Todd's parents are still together and have been for 43 years (can you say WOW.) I say all this because it seems there are more and more nontraditional families these days. So on this topic, I am pretty sheltered from the real world and I think Ty is too. As my work peeps say.. I'm a pretty straightforward realist to life. I call it like I see it. Well... I have been hit with a stick on the nontraditional family topic.

Family is not what it used to be. Who says a family has to consist of a Mom and a Dad? Some families have moms, some have just dads, some have only aunts and uncles and some have grandparents. And you know... there are some families that are so blended that you really don't know who is who.

I think we all need to take a quick look around at who we call family and embrace them. It really doesn't matter how they came into our lives but just that they are in our lives. Everyone, especially children, need a safe place to call 'home.' Also, if you know someone who has taken on others, take a moment to thank them because without them... who knows where those little people would be!

I found this quote while looking for something else but I thought it was cute to share:

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

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!

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.

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!!!

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.

Duke and Life update...

Hey all..

Not really sure where I left off last month so I will do my best to do a continuation from the last post, which I think was somewhere at the end of June. I've tried to take lots of pictures again so hang tight as I post pics.

July is scheduled to be a super busy for me and Ty....and as soon as July is over... School will be close to starting. I'm not sure where the summer has gone!

On June 29th, I took a 1/2 day from work to spend the day with the boys. We opted to go up to Ober Gatlinburg (which I don't think I have done in 15+ years). I remember as a kid riding the alpine slide with my dad and cousins and I knew Tyler had never be on the slide or be on the tram. I have GREAT memories of doing this with my family so off we went. I wasn't sure how Todd would do because of all the walking and uneven pavement/ground. We started out in Gatlinburg and rode the tram up to Ober Gatlinburg. From there we walked around and while Ty and I did some rides and the chairlift, Todd sat and waited for us. :( Here are a couple of pictures of us from the day.

Ty and I up on top of the mountain after we took the chairlift to the very tippy top of the mountain.

Yes.. Ty's hair is a bit long (haircut coming very soon-because he was called a GIRL 2x during the week)

The Alpine Slide

Next we roll into 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, July 2 we all went to my moms to see Rockin at the Docks Fireworks. This is the first time in over 10 years Todd was able to join us. Typically in previous years Todd was working. I was excited that we all could share the night together. Here are a few pics of that night.

Me, Mom and Tyler... Ty with a new haircut of over 3 inches off the bangs

I love this picture of the 3 of us

Ty and Pops with his crazy hair.

We opted for the 4th of July to have a fairly quite day. We started out with the neighborhood parade, which I swear every year is Tyler's last year. I only do it for the mingling with the neighbors and I love 4th of July. The evening part started out as a quite "few person" day and by the end of the night we among many neighbors and friends. Again, here are a few pics of our night.

Our best buddy family friends-Tim and Renee

Another picture of the 3 of us... I love this one!

The family boys- Mason, Tyler and Cameron

Tyler and Mason (for those of you who did not pick it up from another post, Mason is my new nephew and Ty's cousin)

Our neighbor buddies-Dylan and Avery

And so our busy July continues... (Will tell you about our Duke, July 7, visit afterwards) Tyler and I went to Myrtle Beach July 10-14 to stay with our Friends, Amy and her Mom. This is a trip that we try to do every year. Lots of fun with friends and their kiddos. Last set of pics, I promise!

My dear, dear friends who will hate me since I posted a pic of them in a bathing suit... These 2 women are one of a few rocks in my life. April (in blue) is my new buddy and Amy has been bff for almost 20 years!

Ty and Amy's girls- oh someday...

Lastly, I know I know, what you have been waiting on-An UPDATE on Todd. On July 7, we took a trip over to Duke. This week had been a bit stressful because we had so much going on at home AND I knew Todd was a bit 'off.' Without going into to much detail, I will hit the highlights. We met with Nurse Practitioner and she asked lots of 'mental health' questions. I think this is where things got wishy washy... The honeymoon period of chemo and life is over and now we are faced with REALITY. Todd has realized that he is 'handicapped' and life has come to a screeching halt. We knew this was coming and it was only a matter of time. The NP suggested that Todd (and me) find a local support group, find a Occupational Therapist that deals with brain injurys/tramuna and she put him on an anti-depressant. HOLD PLEASE... there definitely is a brighter side to this story. Dr. Desjardins talked to us about all of the above but then she put in the latest scan and proceeded to show us what she saw. According to her, it appears the tumor is SLOWLY breaking down from the top. She said it was super faint but as she compared the last 2 scans, we could see the difference. So with all the ugliness of life's issues, there was a shining star. We asked her if she would consider going more aggressive and she wanted to wait since we saw a bit of 'something' for the positive. The PLAN: stick with Temodar for another 4 months and see her back in November with a scan in September and November.

Since I have just gotten back, I will spend this week finding a support group and an Occupational Therapist for Todd. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! I also leave next Monday for a trip to Denver with work (whew, July is busy!)

Also, We dropped Tyler off at camp today. He will be gone all week to Wesley Woods. It was bittersweet pulling out of the camp. Pray that I can make it though all week with him being gone. I KNOW he will have such a blast and he is a big guy!!! Will update next post!

Thanks for reading the entire post... I know it was longgggggg.... Thanks all!