All Clear!

Ricky’s scan today showed no regrowth.  Everything is in place for his LAST ROUND OF CHEMO!!!  The first week in November is his last round.  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we are!  God continues to amaze us with His faithfulness!

Dr. Yung wants us to continue to come out to see him every 2 months for the next year.  We thought he may bump it to every 3 months, but he wants to keep a close eye on him.  He said that it is especially important since he won’t be on chemo anymore.

Please continue to pray that there is no regrowth.  Please continue to pray for strength as Ricky has a lot more responsibility at home with me being in school and at work.  Please continue to pray for peace as we will be moving to the next phase without any treatment.  Please continue to pray for complete healing!

Love,

Tracey

Prayer is Powerful

Prayer is powerful and we are so thankful for all of your prayers.  When we come together to pray, wonderful things take place.

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:19-20

Ricky’s appointment yesterday was great!  The remaining 10% of the tumor seems almost nonexistent.  Dr. Yung was very confident that he will end his chemo with the 12th round in November!  That means only 3 rounds of chemo left!  We were both thrilled because we thought that they were going to encourage him to continue on past the 12 rounds.  However, after reviewing the MRI, Dr. Yung felt no need to continue after that!

Let me explain the tumor part a little more clearly.  After his craniotomy, we found out that there was 10% of the tumor remaining.  After a couple of MRI’s, Dr. Yung wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was remaining tumor or necrosis from radiation.  So, he just made sure that there was no regrowth.  However, the past two MRI’s have shown a steady decrease in size of the little spot that he had been observing.  This last MRI showed such a decrease, that it is pretty much gone!  GONE!!!  How stinking exciting is that?!? 

While we waited two and a half hours for our appointment, ahem, we were really blessed by the people we met in the waiting room.  First, we were listening to two couples discuss their own situations. 

One gentleman was a 7 and a half year survivor of a Grade III Anaplastic Astrocytoma.  That is the same grade tumor as Ricky’s but a different type.  The lady is a  5 year survivor of a Grade IV GBM, which is the worst malignant type of tumor.  Her smile was contagious and her spirit was amazing.  She was talking about the Almighty Healer and how He has been known to just make those tumors disappear. ( I smiled as I typed this knowing that He snatched the remaining portion right up out of Ricky’s head!)

 It was such a blessing to hear her give all the glory to God and just lift Him up in this room full of people who need to hear His name during their trials.  It is hard to sit in the waiting room and look around.  You see all types of people and situations.  Young.  Old.  Female.  Male.   Scars. Wheelchairs.   Worry.  Fear.  Sadness.  But you also see Hope. Faith. Understanding.  Kindness.  Joy.  Love.  However, the start of our wait was blessed by those two couples.

Then, as we were entering our second hour of waiting time, I looked over and saw a young woman sitting at a table working on a puzzle.  I nudged Ricky and told him she looked familiar.  He said she didn’t to him, but I struck up a conversation anyway.  She was  a fiery little thing and her mom was with her.  Then it hit me, I had been on her carepage.  Her mom updates it for her.  I asked and sure enough it was her. 

She is going blind due to a very unruly Grade I tumor.  The doctors are baffled and her mom came with her for a biopsy.  We had such a good time with them.  Another blessing for us that day.  We prayed and continue to pray for her complete healing.  I hope that they leave a message on here so you two can read her story from their standpoint.  They are Christians who believe in the power of prayer as well!

So, the Lord blessed us with a two and a half hour waiting time, ahem, filled with fellowship.  Then He topped it off with a great report of healing and an answer to prayer!  I would say that’s a pretty good day!

Round 9 is over and the countdown is on for the last 3!  Keep praying…

 

One Year Ago…

One year ago…

   I woke up like any other normal day.  I headed out to talk with The Potter’s House about an upcoming  job opportunity and accepted the position.  The new job was going to offer the insurance my family needed since we had just returned home from Taiwan.  I headed back home happy and upbeat…things were good!

One year ago…

   Ricky met me at the door excited about the next step in our lives.  He had started teaching pitching lessons and enjoyed it tremendously.  The first boy he taught had called that morning to schedule an appointment for the next day.  He headed down to the Reds stadium to see all of his friends.  The Astros were in town and Roy was pitching.  He said he would be back in time for me to go the grocery store.

One year ago…

   Ricky returned home and I headed off to the grocery store with my older sister.  We spent a couple of hours getting groceries for both houses.  I dropped her off at home and was then greeted at our  door by Ricky.  He helped me carry in the groceries and put them away.  We snuggled up on the couch to watch  some cartoons.

One year ago…

   The kids were tired but I told them they could finish the show they were watching.  It was 8:20.  Ricky got up and sat down at the table to read his bible.  At 8:30 I turned off the tv and went to kiss Ricky on the cheek.  I peeked over his shoulder to see him reading Genesis and writing the ages of people in the bible.  Weird I thought, but I turned around and took the kids up for a bath.

One year ago…

   I got out jammies and took elastics out of Lily’s hair.  I started running the bathwater and plopped the kids in the tub.  As I leaned back Lily to wash her hair in the running water, I heard “Say his name.”  It took me a second, but I immediately shut off the water and ran to the corner of the stairs.  I shouted down “RICKY” and all I heard was a silent gasp for air.  I yelled to the kids to stay in the tub and leaped over all the stairs in one jump. (Okay, not really, but it felt like it)

One year ago…

   I made it around the corner to see the baseball game on tv and Ricky tensed up in a sitting position on the couch.  His body was jerking and his eyes were rolled back in his head.  His right arm was firmly grasped on his left.  I called 911.

One year ago…

   I thought Ricky was going to die on my living room floor.

One year ago…

   I got him on the floor and on his side.  His breathing was labored and his chest and face were speckled with broken blood vessels.  His body was still tense and his eyes were rolled back in his head.  He started foaming at the mouth.

One year ago…

   My naked kids ran down the stairs to find their daddy laying on the floor with their mommy praying over him.  I was trying to clean all of the dip out of his mouth (he has since quit dipping).  They ran to his left side and held his hand.  He was still seizing, but Lily still thinks to this day that he was intentionally holding her hand.

One year ago…

   I thought Ricky was having a heart attack, not a seizure.  Foolish, I know.  But I was so shaken up!  The 911 operator kept asking me if he was breathing.  He was, but barely.

One year ago…

   The kids and I prayed over Ricky’s jerking non responsive body.  Not knowing if Daddy would ever be with us again.

One year ago…

   Ricky’s body became motionless and he rolled onto his back.  His eyes came forward and there was a complete blank stare.  Everything stopped, even his breathing.

One year ago…

   The 911 operator told me to perform CPR on my husband with my kids at his side.  After two sets of rescue breaths, he was breathing again.  However, it was more labored than before.  But praise God that he was breathing.

One year ago…

   911 told me to go open  the door and get ready for the ambulance.

One year ago…

   The EMT’s told me, “You’ve done your job, now let us do ours.  Please do NOT come back into this room.  You can see him in the ambulance.”  I honestly didn’t know if I would see him again.  I took my naked children out on the back deck to look for help.

One year ago…

   We are in the ambulance headed to the hospital.  Ricky is still unresponsive.  I am praying out loud in the front and wondering why people arent’ moving faster or getting out of our way.  Don’t they know what is going on inside this ambulance roaring down the by pass?  I keep asking if he is responsive, and nothing.

One year ago…

   I asked for the millionth time if he is responsive.  I look back to see him lifting off his oxygen mask.  I ask him if he can hear me and he raises his arm. I praise God that my husband is alive and can respond.

One year ago…

    The doctor at the ER performed a CT scan on Ricky.  He told us that Ricky had an old fracture and he needed to be put on anti seizure medicine.  He tried to send us home.

One year ago…

   I thought that doctor was a nutcase.  I was not taking him home.  He needed a night in the hospital after all that had transpired.  We argued.  I won.  Ricky spent the night.

One year ago…

   I spent the night in a chair in his room.  It was cold.  I was alone.  I had peace knowing that it was just a fracture.  I quick fix with just some medicine.  He was going to be just fine.

One year ago…

   They wheeled him off for his MRI.  I called everyone I could think of to let them  know the good news.  Just a fracture with an easy fix.  They were doing an MRI just to confirm the fracture.

One year ago…

   My world stopped.  The MRI results showed a large tumor.  He needed brain surgery to remove it.  It appeared to be benign, but we would have to wait for pathology results.

One year ago…

   It hit me that we had no insurance. 

One year ago…

   Our amazing friends set up an account to cover all medical expenses and household through Helping Hands Ministries.  Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) also agreed to help us out financially.  Other friends set up an online auction.  Major League Baseball came together and donated so many awesome items for the auction.  God provided for our family in our time in need.  He is good.

One year ago…

   We scheduled a craniotomy for August 22.  Never thought I would be saying that =)

 

I could spend forever writing about the entire year, but I welcome you to look through the archives.  I’ll save that for another post!

 

Today…

   I thought would be a hard day for me.  It is the day that changed our world forever.  It is not a hard day though.  It is a day of celebration.

Today…

   We celebrate that Ricky does not appear to have any remaining tumor in his brain.  The MRI’s continue to be clean and show no regrowth.

Today…

   We celebrate 8 rounds of chemo down with round 9 to start on Monday.  The side effects have been minimal compared to others.

Today…

   We celebrate that although Ricky is fatigued and must nap everyday, he is able to do most activities with our family.  We have been able to go on vacation and go to Kings Island.  We took a mini trip to Louisville for his first bull pen in a year. 

Today…

  I have realized that it is okay to mourn the loss of our old life.  I miss many of the things that we used to be able to do but can’t now that cancer is a factor in our household.  There are days when I wake up praying it has all been a bad dream.  But, it’s not.  And I move on. 

Today…

   We celebrate the new normal in house.  Ricky is able to help out more, which gives me some time by myself.  I can go to the grocery store or run an errand while the kids stay with him.  He is able to get out and go visit his dad or go on a visit with some friends from church.  There were days like this one when it was hard for me to even think about life in a year.  However, we have slowly become our new normal.

Today…

  We celebrate God’s goodness.  He continues to amaze me with all that He has done for our family.  There are have been so many God things that have happened over the past year. 

Today…

   My faith is stronger than it has ever been.  I wrote this last year and it holds true today.  Our future is still unknown.  Ricky’s cancer is still an uncertainty.  We never know what tomorrow will bring.  But I do have faith that whatever happens, it will be in will with the one and only God.  I have faith that He will not put more on me than I can handle. 

Today…

   I am going to spend the day with my family and celebrate today!  We never know what tomorrow may bring, so celebrate today!

 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

James 1:2-4

Fish Fry

Ricky and his dad brought back a ton of fish from their fishing excursion in Mississippi.  Yes, I spelled that out loud as I typed it.  Go ahead.  Do it!  M I S S I S S I P P I.   Alrighty then…  So, we had 80 fish fillets to fry up.  So what do you do?  Invite the family to come and eat it! 

We have promised our friends the Gortners some fried fish all summer, so I hope that it was worth the wait!  We had a great time and ate a ton of fried food.  Fried fish, fried taters, fried hush puppies!  Oh my!  A little banana pudding to top it off and you’ve eaten enough calories for the week!  You’ll see Lily working on her chin ups in one picture.  No, I don’t have her do them at home.  I started P90X last week and this is my bar.  She just had to show everyone how good she was at it =)

Here are two of the four bowls of fillets ready to get battered and fried.  Unfortunately, the bowls have got a stench that won’t go away now.  I almost passed out when Becky stuck it on my head to take a whiff and the bleach after that didn’t help!  Fish stink!  Don’t put them in plastic.  That’s my tip of the day.

Ricky and his dad getting the fryers ready in my garage.  You might be a redneck if…

The men doing their manly deep frying thing.

Tyler, Riley, Anna, and Lily hanging out waiting for the goods!

Tyler, Mike, Ganny, Nana, and Hannah!  Bring on the good stuff!

All the fried stuff.  Fried fish, fried taters, and fried hush puppies!  The fruit was just to help us feel better about all the grease =)

Lily showing off her skills on my pull up bar! 

The best part…

PS  After I posted this it got me thinking about the fish fry we had last summer when we got home from Taiwan.  Click here to read about our fish fry from July 20th of last year.  My, how things have changed in a year!

How Does Ricky’s Chemo Work?

Okay, so I have had a ton of questions about Ricky’s chemo and how it works each month.  It is much different than traditional chemo that is taken for most types of cancer.  Since Ricky’s cancer is primary brain cancer, he must take a special type of chemo called Temodar.  It is an oral chemo that is  known to pass the blood brain barrier, which IV chemos do not do.  Here is his arsenal for the next five days.  These came via fed ex today.

That is approximately $6000 dollars worth of medicine.  For 5 days worth!!!  The pills on the right are his chemo pills.  There are 4 boxes with 5 pills in each one.  Every night at 10 pm, he takes 4 pills which equals 400 mg of Temodar.  He will take 4 pills every night for the next five nights.  Does it make him feel nauseous?  Absolutely!!  That’s where the other pills come in handy.

Each pack contains 2 pills called Kytril.  This is a new medicine for Ricky this month.  He did take Zofran, but unfortunately that stopped working for him the last round.  We are praying that these little guys work much better.  He will take the first one at 9 pm tonight which is one hour before the Temodar.  He will then take one every 12 hours for the next week.  Even though the Temodar’s last dose is Friday, he will stay on the anti nausea pills for a few extra days.  The days following the treatment tend to hit him pretty hard.

So, tonight is round 8.  We thought it was round 8 of 12, but it looks like we may be in for a longer treatment than expected.  We won’t know more until our next appointment in Houston.  We are praying about this decision, as it is ultimately up to Ricky and not the doctors whether he continues to go more than 12.  He said that he is tired of feeling sick and fatigued, but is not sure if stopping treatment is the right thing to do.  So, please pray for wisdom on our parts for that major decision heading our way.

As for now, we are enjoying the summer!  The pool has been a second home for the kids and I.  Not so much for Ricky, as he must be very careful in the heat.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids with some friends at the pool.  Oh, I can’t forget that Lily and Riley both passed their swim tests at the Y last week!  They told me today that Riley is the youngest to ever pass the swim test.  He gets his athletic ability from me… =)

In the Middle of Something

So I heard this sermon the other day that really hit hard.  I’m sure most of you know the story about Moses and him leading his people out of Egypt.  They made it to the bank of the Jordan River and sent spies ahead to check out the promise land.  The spies came back with stories of “giants”, but the land flowed with milk and honey.  They were scared and turned back. Not to mention this river that they needed to figure out how to cross. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  Sounds like fun, huh?

Then after 40 years Joshua is going to lead them to the promise land.  He knows that he has the river to cross with all these people.   The river was in his way.  River=problem.  So what does he do?  He sends the presence of the Lord before him and the people.  He sends the Ark of the Covenant before them and lets them know that the waters will part once it enters the river.  How many of us can say that when we are faced with a problem, we send out the Lord’s presence?  What about praying for a problem instead of trying to “fix” it ourselves.  I am so guilty of trying to fix my own problems.  However, God wants us to trust in Him and let him fix them for us.  It might not be quick.  It might not be easy.  But if we trust in Him and give them to Him, he will take care of them.

So this “problem” of a river is before them.  Joshua and the people praised God for what he was about to do.  They had faith that the Lord would solve this problem for them.  Did they moan and complain?  Nope.  Did they sob and ask why?  Nope.  They praised and worshipped for what they knew would happen.  The priests carrying the Ark dipped their feet into the water and it parted.  There they stood on dry land.

Problem solved.  Right?  The people walked across dry land and the priests stayed in the dry part of the river with the ark.  When all had passed, they could have stepped up and out.  The problem was over.  How many of us pray for a problem and are happy when it is solved.  Then we tend to forget about it.  We may whisper a quiet, “Thank you Jesus” and then go on like it never it happened.  Not Joshua.

He then placed twelve stones in the center of the Jordan river as an alter.  He continued to worship and praise God in the midst of this “problem”.  He also ordered that twelve men carry shoulder size boulders out of the river to take to town and build a memorial.  He wanted everyone to see the smooth river rocks as proof of what the Lord had done to get them there. 

This is the part that I like best.  When the priests stepped out of the dry river bed with the Ark, the river returned to normal.  This “problem” was no longer there, it was then a miracle.  How many problems in your life have turned into miracles?  How many times have we looked at what could have been a disaster but turned into something so good?  Do you praise God before, during, and after all of these times?  That is the hard part.  It’s hard to praise Him when things are tough.  It’s hard to praise Him when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But He deserves it!  He can turn your problems into miracles.  The people of Israel stood and looked forward at the Jordan and saw a problem but looked behind them at the Jordan and saw a miracle.  It all depends on which direction you are looking.

I know that through the past 11 months we have had plenty of problems.  Ones that seemed like they would never end.  Ones that we are still in the process of getting through.  Ones that are no longer problems, but miracles.  I have tried so hard to praise Him throughout.  When I heard this story about Joshua, I couldn’t help but relate our own situation.  When we found out about Ricky’s tumor, we were crushed.  However, we used the power of prayer and sent the Lord ahead of our situation.  He helped us find the right surgeon and then the right neuro oncologist.  Even though we were faced with speech problems, radiation, chemotherapy, mood swings, sleepless nights (I could keep on going), we tried to find even small things to be thankful about. 

Were we disappointed when Ricky came out of surgery and couldn’t speak?  Absolutely.  However, we praised God that he had all of his motor skills.  Were we disappointed when the doctor said he could remove 100% of the tumor, but only got 90%?  Yup.  But we praised Him that it was operable because so many are not.  Were we disappointed when the tumor was a very rare Grade III Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma when they thought it was a Grade II benign tumor.  YES!  But we praised Him that it was not a Grade IV Glioblastoma that would have been even worse.  I could keep going on and on, but I think you get the point =)  Praise Him in every situation. 

So, this cancer diagnosis is the river in our lives.  We are 100% positive that God is working a miracle in our lives. We try hard to praise Him even during this difficult time.  God is the same now that He was before the cancer diagnosis.  He deserves the same praise that he did 11 months ago.

 Remember that on the other side of every problem is a miracle.

Houston Trip 2009

Our trip to Houston was amazing!  I tried a new way of posting my pictures since there are so many and it wouldn’t let me order them the way I wanted.  So, they are kind of mixed in together in no certain order.

Our trip started at the Ranch and it was beautiful.  Our week included horseback riding, spotlighting at night for animals, lots of swimming, fishing, a trip to the Jersey Farm to milk cows, a visit to the neighbors “zoo” where there were lemurs, and a tour of Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery. The pictures of Riley at the jersey farm cracked me up.  He had his nose covered almost the entire time.  Way to stinky for him =)  However, he couldn’t wait to see a horse poop and was thrilled that he got his wish.  All boy…that’s all I can say about him.

Ricky did some welding with Josh and had a great time.  Josh had a couple of projects and Ricky spent the afternoon helping him out.  He then worked on welding a cross for his mom made out of railroad spikes.  They are amazing!  Speaking of Josh, he was amazing with the kids.  They loved riding the horse with  him and getting thrown into the pool.  He took Lily and I spotlighting and we saw a ton of animals.   Lily has what I would call a tiny crush on Josh and enjoyed every second with him =) 

Nana Baker was amazing and just loved all over the kids.  They were spoiled with ice cream after every meal and cuddle up rest time every afternoon.  Teresa and Lily hit it off and you can see them working together in the kitchen.  Ricky did have a couple of sick days while we were there, but he had the bunkhouse to rest in while we were at the main house. 

After a week at the Ranch, we headed to Tyler Texas to visit the Brink Family.  Rebecca and Andy have four children and one on the way.  They have two boys who are totally into jousting and sword fighting.  Riley now has a new love of sword fighting and came home with The Armor of God helmet and sword set.  They also have two girls that Lily just adored.  The three of them were like peas in a pod all weekend.  Ricky was sick on Saturday and slept most of the day, but he couldn’t wait to go do the prison ministry on Sunday morning.  He said it was amazing!!  He got to share his testimony with over 100 prisoners and said that it was something that he will never forget.

Then we headed to Houston for a week with Roy and Nicole and their two little girls.  Once again, we had a great time and the kids enjoyed a lot of swimming and indoor play.   The kids set up a lemonade stand and enjoyed selling lemonade to…us!  They live in a cul de sac and there weren’t a whole lot cars!

It was HOT in Houston!!  They had record temperatures that week.  We got to go watch Roy pitch one night and that was a lot of fun.  The roof was closed at the stadium so the temperature was perfect.  We got to go out to dinner and enjoy catching up!  I also got to see my friend Cara’s sweet new baby girl, Abigail.   She is so precious.

Ricky is doing great although he is a little tired.  He is leaving to go fishing with his dad on Friday, so he is trying to get in plenty of rest.  His dad goes on a fishing trip every summer and Ricky has never been able to go. Ricky always said that when he was done with baseball he was going to go.   His dad usually goes to Canada and does the whole backpack and carry your own food and canoe, but this year they are going to stay in a cabin in Mississippi.  I am much happier with that than I was with Canada =)

The top picture is what happens to your garden when you leave for two weeks!!!  We were stunned to come home and find a jungle out there.  Mental note,  next year plant less =)

Enjoy the pictures and thanks for checking in!

Great News!

Okay, so sorry it has taken me so long to update!  The MRI was clean and showed no regrowth.  We continue to praise God for such great news!  We go back in August for his next check up!  I am so thankful that round 7 of chemo is almost over.

He is currently on Day 4 of chemo, and unfortunately today was not so great.  We went on a tour of Blue Bell Creameries to see how they make ice cream and boy was he miserable.  When we got back he took one of his strong anti nausea pills and slept for 4 and a half hours.  He did feel better when he woke up, so that was good!

The ranch has continued to be such a blessing.  We have enjoyed the company of the Bakers and Teresa so much.  They are all truly family to us!  The kids just love them to pieces and will be so sad when we head out tomorrow!  We are so thankful for their kindness!

Tomorrow we are headed to Tyler, Texas to visit with Pastor Andy and his family.  Ricky is going to visit the prison on Sunday morning with Andy to share his testimony and then we get to hear Andy preach at his church.  Please pray for Ricky to feel well as we travel this weekend.  There is nothing worse than driving on these country roads and feeling sick to your stomach.

Andy and his wife have four children with one on the way, so I know the kids will enjoy having so many friends to play with this weekend.  Then we are headed to Houston Sunday night to stay there for the week!  We are staying with Nicole and Roy and their two little girls and Lily is so excited!  Ricky can’t wait to visit with Roy and go see everyone at the field.  He hasn’t been to the field in Houston in a couple of years, so this will mean so much to him.

Okay, I better jump off here before they come and find me.  I am hidden on the only computer in the ranch in the back of Mrs. Baker’s closet!

Jersey Retirement

Saturday night was awesome!  They retired Ricky’s jersey and we couldn’t be prouder.  If I can ever figure out how to get video off of my camcorder onto my computer and then onto the website, you can watch it!  Until then, I have pictures. 

 Dan Bowling was Ricky’s coach in high school and is still the coach so he recapped Ricky’s high school career.  He did a great job with the speech he put together with all of his accomplishments.  Ricky was a true four year varsity player which means he never played a game at the JV level.  His stats were amazing, but I can’t remember them all off hand.  However, I do remember that he led the team in home runs his senior year with 8!  He has always been so proud of  that =) 

The next pics are just some random ones from the game and later on.  Here is Lily…upside down of course!

Riley in his garage sale Power Ranger suit!  He wanted muscles like daddy.  He slept in it that night…

The kids took turns taking pictures.  Here is the one Riley took of Lily and I.

And the one Lily took.  Riley of course had to be rotten and not smile.

It was a wonderful ending to a perfect night.  I am so proud of Ricky and all that he has accomplished!

Pictures and More Pictures

Okay, I realize that I haven’t posted pictures in awhile.  So, this post will be mostly pictures.  I have some from Easter, Lily’s first soccer game, and Lily’s gymnastics banquet.  Enjoy!