Hospice

Sadly, Russell is now at home with hospice. He is pain free and sleeping. Family is in town and he has had family with him these last few days.
I will update as needed.
Thanks for all of the prayers.

The Bad News

Well, Russ has been having chest pain since Tuesday. Today he went to the ER and discovered he had a heart attack.
Thankfully it was in an artery that the docs could reach and place a stent (it was blocked 99%).
He is resting now and doing well. He will be released to go home Saturday. He is at Memorial Hospital in downtown Chattanooga.

Update...Finally!

I apologize for not updating sooner. Here is what has been going on.....
Russ has been in  study in Nashville the last several weeks and last week they took him off the meds because he was really having a difficult time with the side effects. The chemo and drugs were giving him terrible a face rash, diarrhea, fevers and vomiting. He was also very anemic and needed 2 blood transfusions.
Today he got the results of his follow up CT scan and sadly it does not show any improvement. He was very sick for nothing.:-(
Now, he might qualify for another study after Labor Day, depending on what proteins are present in his tumor. In the meantime, he will be going to Utah to visit his brothers and son. The picture above is one taken last month when his 2 brothers came for a visit.
Also, we all plan to spend a long weekend in Mississippi visiting family. Since he has been off his chemo he has been feeling somewhat better so visiting family will be much nicer for him.
Please keep the family in your prayers and I will update more often!...I promise:-)

Happy Birthday!

Saturday was Russ's birthday so we all went to his house to celebrate!

Mom cooked a great meal of steak, shrimp and crab legs. The men were very happy!

Rusty flew in from Utah to help us celebrate.

David biked in from South Carolina to celebrate too!

It was a great day for everyone! Thanks, mom, for cooking so much! It was yummy!
Happy Birthday Russ!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Russell!

He is fortunate to have his son, Rusty, and David in town to help celebrate his birthday. Sami, Devin and the kids are also coming over for the celebration.

Russ went to Vanderbilt on Thursday. They do have a clinical trial for him to participate in, but he can't start until July 13th. They want to make sure all of the chemicals are out of his body before starting his new dosage. However, they did warn him that this is an aggressive cancer.

Please keep them in your prayers and let him know you are thinking of him.

Thank you!

Smack Down

Smack down is what we are feeling today.
Russ had a follow up CT scan Monday and the results show that his tumor has not responded to the chemo.
In addition, the cancer has spread to his liver. Smack down.
Currently the only options available are clinical trial studies at Vanderbilt and he will see about entering some of those studies. I will post updates as I get them.
Please keep him and mom in your prayers. This has been quite a rough year for them both.

What's Happening

1. Russ had his second chemo treatment today in Chattanooga. His platelet count was low, so they lowered the dose. Most likely he will skip his treatment next week, though he will go in for blood work. I also project he will get another evaluation mid June at Johns Hopkins.

2. Fishing, fishing, fishing. Uncle Sam came in for an extended visit and he has been fishing with Russ. They both seem to be enjoying the time out on the water. Who could blame them?

3. Late in April Russ also had a visit with his daughter Terri and her husband Jeff. They flew in from Arizona and stayed for a long weekend. It was so nice to see them again!!!!

4. Russ's honeybees have been doing great and he has been able to sell nucs from his hives. We are both crossing our fingers for a decent honey surplus.

5. The peach trees are loaded with fruit. Now, cross your fingers that the coons don't pick them all first:-)