Rain, Rain Go Away...

Wow! We sure have caught up on our rain deficit around here. As the saying goes, be careful what you pray for - you just might get it! Boy did we - and all in one week's time.

We survived just fine until the final blow of the storms came on Monday. That is when our creek overflowed into the house. We have been flood free for so many years now because of all the hard work Steve did to create a concrete wall to enforce and raise the creek bed in fron t of our house. On Monday the rain was so relentless and the water was so high and forceful that it tore down the concrete wall and the retaining wall on the other side of the driveway too. The water rose to about 3 feet up the house and came through the foundation, bringing with it all that lovely Georgia red clay!

As Steve was trying to deal with all of this, I was at school trying to keep my students' attention away from the turmoil going on outside in order to teach them about adding and subtracting square roots! Our county decided to dismiss the middle schools at 1:15 so we had quite a bit of excitement ourselves. Thankfully the teachers were allowed to leave also, so I went home to help.

We pulled out the carpet, sucked up the water, set up the dehumidifier and fans. Steve kept getting in the creek to clear the debri and try to move the concrete pieces back in place to no avail. He truly wore himself out trying to avoid the disaster. Bless his heart. His office/music room, tool room, and garage were the ones affected by the water and mud.

He spent Tuesday resting and trying to recover. Today he was up and busy again. It is hard to keep a good man down!

On to other news, Steve went to the dentist and started the process of having molds made for a prothesis in the roof of his mouth and eventually teeth. This will be slow, but we are on the road to getting all of this done. Becca is dealing with migraines - we think from stress (school work and life in general). Please keep them both in your prayers. Also, Steve would like to ask for prayers for a man in Florida (Larry) who is going through throat cancer also.

As always we are counting our blessings and trusting God to take care of everything. May he bless you too.

Dr Visit Results

We had good news today. Steve's CT Scan did not show anything out of the ordinary! Steve shared some concerns about pain he is having in his jaw bone area on the left hand side as well as pain on the underside of the left side of his tongue. However, Dr. Grist did not see or feel anything and the CT Scan showed nothing either. So, we will have another CT Scan in late November to keep an eye out on those areas. Otherwise, we are good to go for teeth implants!

We met with the oral surgeon (Dr. Roser) today and he will coordinate with the prosthetic dentist (with whom Steve will meet on Thursday) and with the speech pathologist to get everything started. Steve is looking forward to getting teeth put in. He even asked Dr. Roser if he was busy tomorrow!! He laughed and said "I'm won't be working on your implants if that's what you mean : )".

We are still a bit in shock because we have learned to brace ourselves before these appointments. In a way we make ourselves numb in order to prepare for the worst. So, when it is good news, we are leery to believe it and it takes awhile to accept it. We are still in a state of shock, but are gradually realizing that our prayers have been answered.

With cancer, especially the history of Steve's cancer, it is hard to feel total relief because you realize that it could come back at anytime. Steve and I struggle to keep his cancer from robbing us of the joy of living a "normal, carefree" life. We have to remind ourselves to be thankful for each and every blessing - both big and small! What are you thankful for today? Be sure to let God know. And if it is a special person in your life, why not let them know too? As Steve always says: Be blessed and receive according to your walk and witness to others.

Sunday, August 30th

(Here is a picture of us all at the beach. I finally figured out how to add it on!

Doesn't Steve look great??? Check out the picture at the bottom too!!)

Steve had an appointment with the speech therapist again this week. She has such high hopes, but some of them are not very realistic. Steve (being the humorous guy that he is) loves to give her a hard time. Evidently he had a lot of fun with her during this visit since I wasn't there to keep an eye on him :) !

While he was there she asked how he was doing. Steve told her about some pain he has been having in his jaw and mouth. She was concerned and said he needs to be seen as soon as possible. The problem is his doctor is out of town and our Sept 3rd appointment was rescheduled - to NOVEMBER! After about 8 phone calls I was able to get him a Sept 21st appointment. Can you believe that the speech pathologist talked to one person and Steve has an appointment on Sept 8th. Amazing! I'm thankful, but after all my hard work, why didn't they give ME that appointment????

So, Steve will go on Sept 3rd to have his CT Scan. Then on Sept 8th we will go to see Dr. Grist (the oncologist) and Dr. Roser (the oral surgeon). We are praying that the spot on the June CT Scan turns out to be nothing - maybe a shadow or something. Please pray with us that we will have good news to share!

In the meantime, Steve is doing pretty well. He has been able to do a little bit of work and has been completing some of his small projects around the house and in the yard. He cleaned out his closet (which had crept up to the attic too - he never gets rid of anything!). He had soooo many clothes to get rid of that don't fit anymore. Some of them he has owned since before we got married!!

Have a great week and find time to relax and enjoy life this Labor Day weekend! Remember: God is good ... all the time!

August 17th

Well, it has been awhile since I have written! I guess no news is good news. We have been just trucking along here. School started last week so we are all trying to get back into the swing of schedules, homework, bedtimes, etc. We sure did miss spending most of our days together!

Steve has been doing pretty well. He still gets the shakes as well as the dizzy spells. He has good days and bad. He had an appointment last week with the speech pathologist. She did a swallowing test on him. It seems he does have a few spots where things get stuck in his throat and need some extra help being pushed through. The main problem is Steve cannot manipulate anything to get it to the back of his throat. He will continue his exercises and go back to see her in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, our appointment with Dr. Grist (the oncologist) has been put off. He is out of town the week we were scheduled to get the new CT Scan and see him. So I am working on rescheduling that.

Hard to believe it has been 6 months since Steve's surgery. Sometimes that feels like so long ago. Other times it feels like yesterday. When I look back at the pictures I realize how far he has come. When I look at Steve, I realize we still have a good way to go too. It's an odd feeling. We try not to dwell or even think about what could happen in the future. No one every really knows what the future holds - do they? We just work with the day we have been given, making a few plans here and there for the week and/or weekend ahead. It keeps us focused on each other more, and helps us take advantage of the time we have for now.

Well, I've got to get to work. Remember - God is good...All the time!

Nothing New

I apologize for not posting anything lately. We have not really had any news. Steve is recovering nicely - feeling a little better each day. He is back to pushing himself physically by working outside. He is really enjoying practicing his guitar. (Did I tell you he is the base guitar player in the praise band at church now - full time!) I have started back to work this week and the girls will start back to school on Monday. We are not really looking forward to the stringent schedules, stress and exhaustion, but time goes on. We will make the most of each day and try to see the glass as half full : )

I'm praying that Steve continues to feel better and that his upcoming CT-Scan will give us good news.

Feeling a little better

We heard from the doctor on Friday about the blood work they did on Steve. Everything looked good with the exception of his iron count. Steve is anemic so he is now on iron pills. He will go next week to do stool samples and then more blood work in 6 weeks. In the meantime, this virus seems to have run its course. Each day has brought a slight change in symptoms, aches and pains. We are hoping he is about done with the whole thing. He is feeling a little better this morning : )

Since school starts soon, I will feel much better if he is back to feeling better before I go back. Being the mother hen that I am, I have been hovering over him and won't be able to do that. For my piece of mind it helps to know that he is up to taking care of himself!

Thanks again for all your prayers and cards!

Virus?

Steve is still not feeling good at all. We went to see our family practitioner this afternoon since he has felt so bad for so long. Dr. Mills did a urine test, a chest xray, and blood work. The urine test was fine as was the chest xray (he was worried about pneumonia). So now, we are waiting on the blood test. The results should be back in about 2 days. Assuming that shows nothing wrong, then Steve just has a virus that has to run its course.

So, Steve just needs to wait it out - take it easy. He feels exhausted all the time. Today he was helping me put up mini blinds and could not lift his arms above his head for more than 15 seconds. His symptoms are all flu-like, but there is no fever.

Just wanted to keep you up to date. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers!