Special Prayer Request!

Hi everyone!

Don't worry, David is fine.  He has another meeting with the oncologist on Dec. 12, and likely he will have an MRI before that date.  We have not scheduled his next exam with the Eye Doc, but we are hoping to schedule it also on Dec 12.

My prayer request is this:  Our house (which is for sale), is having a second showing tomorrow 11-20-08.  Please pray that it will show well, and that a contract will proceed from it.  It has been very difficult for me to keep the house up to show quality while we have been continuing to live here with three kids.  But even more than that...we would really be able to find a great house in a great place in Winston Salem if we were able to move right now when housing prices are so low.  It would be a great thing.  So please pray!!

Thanks!!

Kim

Nothin' New

Hi All!  I wanted to update you on David's last exam.  The doctor didn't find any new growth this time - which was such an awesome thing!  He decided to go ahead and cryo all of the old spots just to be sure that they are dead (since he can't always tell just by looking at them).  

David was a champ the whole day.  Our appointment was 9am, but they didn't take him back to the OR until 12:20pm, so it was a very very long day for us all.  But David was very well behaved.  He even slept for a little while (and so did Mommy and Daddy).  His eye is a little swollen still, but not too bad, and I think it looks much better today than it did yesterday.

We don't have to go back for 6 weeks, so that is nice.  David is beginning to understand what that place is all about, so that make it nice when we don't have to go as often.  

Thanks again for all your prayers.

Kim

Update

David's next exam will be on October 31.  This is a little longer than what the doc told us to begin with, but he seems to think this will work fine.  So, that is what we will do.

Our house went on the market this past Wednesday.  So far, we haven't had any showings.  We don't know if that is bad or not since this is the first time we have ever sold a house.  We are hoping that this won't drag out forever.  There are several good possibilities in Winston-Salem, so that is encouraging, although we won't really start the serious search there until we are closer to selling this one.  We would covet your prayers for this whole process.  

The big kids are doing really well in school.  Isaac is doing much better than we could have imagined, so that is a great blessing.  Hannah is made for school and enjoying it a lot, although she has had her first bought of friendship issues.  She is doing very well, however, and we are chalking all of that up to learning about life.  

I think that is about it.  I spend my days making sure the house is ready at a moment's notice for a potential buyer to walk through.  It keeps me very busy, but so far, I have been able to keep up.

-Kim

Growing

So, our news from David's exam yesterday was not the best.  The doctor found a small section of new growth.  He believes that it is "contiguous with the original tumor", but he can't be sure.  The good news is that it was a fairly small growth - about 1mm round - and the doctor was able to hit it with cryotherapy.  Unfortunately, we will have to speed up our time between visits again.  This time we have to go back in 4 weeks to see how this latest treatment has worked.  

We also had a visit with the oncologists.  This was pretty uneventful.  We have to go back on December 12 for another oncology visit and also an MRI - that will be a long day.  

The best news is that the left eye is still clear of tumors.  

I guess we are just still in a holding pattern to see what happens next.  Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

-Kim

Move

Life has been happening at an alarming rate the past few weeks.  

It has been confirmed that David will only see the oncologists every 6 months unless otherwise needed.  We have scheduled his next exam with the eye doctor for September 12.  This is the longest interval we have had between exams since he stopped chemo.  This is exciting, but also a little anxious for me.  But, it seems like these intervals will be getting longer so that is great news.  We have to have exams every 3 months until he is 3 years old, and then every 6 months until he is 5 or 6.  After that, I don't know... that is a long time in the future.  He is doing very well.  He is walking and getting into trouble.  

The big kids both start school on Tuesday.  Tomorrow is Isaac's birthday, so that will be a nice day.  They will both be at Reedy Fork Elementary this year.  You can pray for Isaac that this will be a smooth transition.

And finally, we have decided to put our house up for sale and move closer to Rob's work.  We have been talking with a realtor who is going to help us to sell.  We are in the process of doing some of the cosmetic work to make it look just right.  We have an aweful lot to do.  We have a bit of painting on the inside, and cleaning of the vinyl on the outside.  We also have a ton of packing and moving to get us down to the bare minimum of necessary things.  It is a lot of work, but Rob and I will be childless on Labor Day weekend, and hope to get a lot of this done.  Please keep us in prayer as we make all these decisions about this move.  Pray that the house will sell and that we will be able to find a house in the proper place that will fit our family and keep Rob from having to drive so long each day.  

I hope you are all well, and I will update again soon!

-Kim

Intervals

I talked to David's oncologist yesterday, and he feels like we don't need to go in and see the oncology people but every 6 months.  This will be great!  Each time we go, they will do blood tests and David will have to have an MRI.  These are mainly precautions just to be sure that the cancer isn't spreading anywhere else in the body.

I am hoping to talk to the Eye Center people today and schedule David's next exam with them.  We are hoping that after this one, we will only have to go in every two months for exams, but it will depend on what the Doc. finds during the exam.

So, that is where we are.  David is growing nicely - he is our most robust child.  Hannah and Isaac love him, and he loves them, so that is fun to watch.  

I am ready for school to start.  It has been difficult for me to stay above the mess that three kids make when they are home every day, and I have also found it very hard to keep the kiddos occupied.  So, I am ready for a little more routine.

-Kim

Update

David had his exam as scheduled on Monday.  Even though the OR was very very busy that day, they took him back very quickly.  He was great in the pre-op room....just playing and laughing and getting sleepy on shoulders.  

The doctor seemed pleased, although he still had to do a little more cryotherapy.  He told us that he hasn't seen any new spots in the last few exams, but some of the old spots aren't "flattening out" like he would hope to see.  He said that he can't be sure if these spots are dead or alive, but he feels like he has to treat them just in case. He didn't give us any ultimatums about enucleation this time, so we are feeling a little encouraged.  

We get to go back again in 6 weeks.  Unfortunately, that will be right around the time that Hannah starts back into school, but, what can you do?

In other news, we may be changing our oncologist.  Our current oncologist has been great, but he is changing his clinic days to a day that doesn't coincide with David's EUAs.  This would mean that we would have to make separate trips to see him and the eye doc.  We aren't sure yet what we will do, but it has been very convenient with gas prices as they are to only make one trip.

The big kids are currently in Waxhaw playing with their grandmothers (my mom and her mom).  They are having a blast, and in the meantime, Rob and I are doing some summer cleaning and getting ready for a yard sale that we are going to have next Saturday.

-Kim