New Goal: Enjoy Every Moment!

The day was filled with appointments yesterday.  The news was not good.  The biopsy of the mass in the esophagus showed adenocarcinoma.  Kevin has Stage IV Esophageal Cancer which is a very aggressive cancer.  Stage IV signifies that the cancer has spread to his lymph nodes and, worst of all, his liver.  He has 4 masses in his liver, the largest being 4cm.  They will be doing a liver biopsy this week just to confirm what they already believe.

Essentially, because of the type of cancer and the spread of it, the cancer is considered terminal.  Statistics would tell us that we have 12 more months together.  The doctor believes that because of Kevin's youthfulness:) and otherwise good health, we will have 18 months.  He will be starting radiation as soon as possible followed by chemotherapy.  The goal is to give him the best possible 18 months.  The radiation oncologist wants him to be able to enjoy eating food again.  The medical oncologist is choosing a treatment that will allow him to have energy to play with the girls.

Grateful...that we have doctors that are being so honest with us.  A tour of the internet revealed many stories of families that were not so fortunate.  They had doctors that put their patients through the most aggressive treatments which subsequently took that quality of life away and resulted in the same outcome.

Grateful...that we have time together to look forward to.

Please continue your prayers, as I expect this journey will have many ups and downs.  For now, we will not tell the girls too much more.  This is something that I think we will hold off for later.   

A New Journey.

Kevin has been having some issues with his esophagus.  For the past month or so, food has been having a hard time going down.  He went to our family practice doctor, and they gave him some medicine as a first step.  The medicine was intended to  knock down any infection or inflammation that may be in there.  The medicine did not help, and the problem was just getting worse.  Kevin was unable to get food down.  We were not overly concerned as his mom has had problems with her esophagus.  She has to go in periodically to get it "stretched" which is a fairly common procedure.  When you live with someone everyday, it is often hard to see what is right in front of you.  However, Kevin has lost more than 30 pounds in the past four weeks largely due to the inability to take in food.

Last week, I was traveling for work.  The doctor scheduled Kevin for a scope of his esophagus.  The procedure required anesthesia, so Terrell agreed to take him and bring him home.  Again, no big deal.  The scope was scheduled for 9am.  At 10am, Terrell sent a message stating there were problems and they were sending him to the hospital to get a CT scan.  Shortly after that, Kevin received a call from the doctor that they wanted to see him first thing Friday morning.  We called and had it rescheduled so that I would be able to go to the appointment with him once my plane landed.

We went to the appointment on Friday.  Kevin has a very large mass in his esophagus that is essentially growing so large that it is closing in on the passageway.  Currently, only liquids are able to get through.  He also has masses in his lymph nodes and liver.  They took biopsies of the mass in the esophagus and those are probably back by now (Monday).  The doctor told us that Kevin has cancer.  He mentioned that the biopsies are a formality at this moment.  If for some reason they come back negative, it is because he did not take a good enough biopsy.

We have an appointment with two oncologists today to discuss the treatment options.  We took the weekend to try and digest this information.  Neither one of us are certain what this means, but we know life will find a new normal soon.  We have told the girls.  We shared that cancer is not like the cold or flu, others cannot "catch" it.  We told them that nothing anyone did caused it.  We told them daddy would get treatments, and he may not feel that well.  Their responses were priceless.  Sidney wanted to know if his hair would fall out like Mrs. Merz hair did, "If so, could we get him some wigs?"  Kendall said, "Oh, so he will come home from work and plop in front of the TV and fall asleep after two minutes?"  I replied, "Maybe."  She said, "Well that is just about the same as what he does now."  Hilarious!

Please pray for us.  We are scared and uncertain of what the near future will look like.  How will this affect our daily lives?  We will know more after today's appointments.

Judy's Towels and Game Night.

A few nights ago we invited Terrell over for dinner (and a few games).  Our next door neighbors are awesome people.  They are a bit older and do not have kids of their own, unless you count their dogs.  They have a niece that is just a year or two older than the girls.  Their niece visits quite a bit, and the girls LOVE to play with her.  They can play for hours upon hours.  I love when they play, because it never seems to involve TV or video games.  They play dolls, school, gas station, gymnastics.

Last weekend Niki was visiting with a friend.  The four girls played at our house for a couple of hours,  then they went over to Judy's.  Kevin went next door to get them before dinner.  This is what they came back looking like:

 
Holy makeup and hair!  At first, I thought it was hair chalk.  The girls informed me it was none other than food coloring.  I had no idea whether it was going to wash out or not.  The girls were so enamored with their hair that I let them leave it in until the next day.  I was very grateful that the bath water turned brilliant colors as the food coloring washed out of their hair.  I asked the girls if they made a huge mess of Judy's house.  The girls told us how they were very neat and careful when they applied the coloring.  They put on gloves and used towels to clean up the mess.  Towels?  UGH!  I wonder if Judy will be locking up her food coloring after this?  In case you were wondering, the makeup came off before bed.

After dinner, the girls taught Terrell how to play Yahtzee.  They are hooked.  I taught them how to play the night before and they loved it.  You have to watch them though, they like to cheat.  Sidney was rolling for her 4's when she got two 2's, which of course gives her another 4, right?  Pretty ingenious of her.  Both of the girls like to give themselves a few extra rolls if it suits their fancy:)

Annabelle's Scary Encounter.

Annabelle is my niece's Chihuahua.  A few weeks back, my mom and Hallie went on a bike ride with Annabelle.  My mom has a cruiser bike with a basket.  Annabelle typically rides in the basket.  My mom buckles her in so that she cannot jump out.  Typical routine, no big deal right?  This particular day - crazy happened.

Hallie and my mom were riding their bikes around the golf course.  A man was "walking" his dog by driving his golf cart through the neighborhood while hanging on to the leash.  The dog was a very large airedale.  The airedale ripped the leash out of the owners hand and charged at Annabelle.  My mom stopped the bike and threw her arms over the basket.  The airedale retreated momentarily, then attacked again.  This time the dog knocked my mom off her bike.  My mom was pinned under the bike and the airedale was attacking Annabelle inside the basket.  I will not describe it in full detail as to not include all of the gore, but it was awful.  One of Annabelle's veins had been punctured. 

The airedale's owner and another couple that was walking by tried repeatedly to pull the dog off.  After many attempts they were able to get the airedale off.  The couple brought a towel to wrap Annabelle in and transported her and my mom to the vets office.  Annabelle went into surgery immediately.  After a 24 hour stay, she was able to go home.  She is recovering well, but the vet said she is a very lucky little dog to have survived such a brutal attack.

So very scary!  It seems that after this happened, I have heard countless similar stories.  I am investing in dog deterrent spray to ward off attacking dogs.  I hope that I will never have to use it, but I will make a habit of carrying it. 

Picture Day and Pumpkin Painting.

The girls had picture day at school.  They both took great care in choosing their outfit and accessories.  Sidney's comment, "I am going to look so GLAM for my first picture day."  I am certain she learned the word GLAM from Kevin, because I do not say it:)

We decided to give pumpkin painting a try this year instead of pumpkin carving.

The girls worked very intently on their pumpkins.  The one thing I can always count on with Sidney is that she works very neat and tidy with paint.  She does not like to get dirty.

Kendall on the other hand is a regular Jackson Pollock.  Paint flies everywhere!  At one point she decided to start over with one of her pumpkins.  I found her in the bathroom with a used up box of baby wipes.  She had wiped most of the paint off.  So, I dropped the pumpkin into the bathtub for a wash.  She was pretty happy to have a blank canvas again.

Needless to say, the girls had a fabulous time painting pumpkins.  My only concern is that we put the pumpkins outside and they are shriveling from the heat and paint.  Very disappointing!  Anyone have any ideas on slowing that process down?

The "Twins" Celebrate Their Birthday Together.

My mom and Sidney share the same birthday.  Sidney likes to call them "twins".  My mom is happy to play along (after all, this makes her so much younger).  Initially, Sidney had wanted a bowling party.  At the very last moment, she changed the plans.  We had a home birthday bash complete with pizza, pin the tail on the pink pig and a pinata.  I suppose one could call it a "P" party. 

My Dad, Dylan and Hallie were also in town for the weekend.

The girls insisted on helping with the cake.  The center cake is Sidney's and the cool cupcakes were for my mom.

I truly like to believe that I am not half as strange as my father.  I may be able to convince myself of this but others tell me differently.

Asher struck candy pay dirt when he put the pink tail on the pig.  Ruth Ann was the official judge and I made sure that his blindfold was secure.  He won fair and square.

Best Friends Forever... 

The kids scrambling to find the candy and toys.  The pinata would not stay attached.  We were lucky to get one swing per child.  Pinatas always bring me back to my own childhood.  Back then, we had to make our own pinatas (or at least that is what my mom tells me).  I recall one birthday party where we put on the paper mache so thick my dad finally had to crack the thing open.

The birthday girls making their wishes!

Kendall gifted my mom a frame that she had made at her last birthday party.  This frame was very special to Kendall, which made it all the more special for my mom.

Sidney was blessed to receive a doll set for her bedroom.  Complete with cradle, high chair and wardrobe closet.

She immediately ran up to her room to get Chloe and tuck her in.  After receiving this gift, the party was pretty much over for Sidney.  She was lost in her play!

Kami and Hallie catching up during the party.

A special moment between the birthday girl and her daddy. 

First Day of the New School Year!

...And the school year begins.  Sidney looked so grown up.  We held our breath the first day hoping that the send off would be smooth.  I walked her into her classroom, and she gave me a brave squeeze hug and firmly said "Goodbye Mom".  I took my cue and exited as quickly as possible.  I peered from the hallway for the next 20 minutes watching as tears silently streamed down Sidney's face.  It was heartbreaking and took every ounce of willpower to not go back in after her.  Soon enough the silent tears stopped, and she had made the transition.  It felt like we were walking on egg shells every day that first week.  Sidney amazed us all at how well she did.  It was a sharp contrast to the preceding months (and years).

Kendall was looking forward to seeing her friends.  She is the only child I know that cried the last day of school, because she was going to miss everyone over summer break.  This year seemed so different.  As I dropped her off that first morning, she seemed a bit intimidated.  As mentioned in an earlier post, her new teacher is not the "nurturing" type.  She was definitely giving the kids more responsibility and privilege.  It is probably perfect for the kids, but it took a bit of adapting on my part.  I am very grateful that Kendall seemed very quick to adapt.  She needed a few additional kisses, then she was off and running.

I took a big gamble last year and bought the girls clearance backpacks for this year.  Who can resist a good bargain?  However, I sometimes forget that as they get older they are very opinionated about things.  Fortunately, I did good.  They were very pleased with my selections.

Here is Sidney after her first day of school.

She was very excited to tell me all about her first day.

As we were leaving, Kendall spotted us and ran over to say hello.  She also enjoyed her first day and had a lot to tell us about.

Checking Out the New Classroom (Sid's First Ever).

Sid started kindergarten this year.  We attended the meet and greet so the girls could meet their teachers and drop off their supplies.

 

Each of the girls seemed to have the perfect teacher for their needs.  Sidney 's teacher is a seven year teacher, but this is her first year teaching kindergarten.  She is a very nurturing person.  This is perfect since we were so worried about how Sidney would do.  She has had what I term "severe" separation anxiety for the past few years.  It escalated last year!  We tried everything, to no avail.  We were really hoping that she would be past it by the time she started school.

The minute Kendall found her classroom, she was greeted by one of her friends from last year.  Second grade is a whole new adventure.  Her teacher is treating them like they are so grown up.  Kendall got to choose her own desk and cubby.  They get to keep them as long as they do not cause any trouble.  Needless to say she was moved by the end of the first week.  For what?  Chit-chatting with her friend of course.

Her teacher is an older woman with 20 plus years of experience.  She does not seem very nurturing at all.  She is "old school" stern.  Kevin and I were not too sure, but Kendall loves her and she adores Kendall.  Hey, as long as it is working, who am I to judge.  Kendall has hit the ground running!

 

The girls are excited to be in school together.  Their classrooms are in the same hall, one room apart.  They spend morning and first recess together.  They both have a fierce passion for "chasing the boys" (which I just cannot understand).  In fact, the second day of school Kendall recommended that Sid change her shoes in order to catch more boys.  What did Sid do?  She listened to her big sis and promptly changed her shoes. 

Back to School Pictures.

Getting ready for school is not complete without pictures.  Here are the girls hamming it up for the camera.

 

 

School Shopping with Grandma.

Grandma Karen took the girls school shopping.  However before the shopping ensued, the girls had to get their hair cut and styled.  Hallie was not here with us, but that did not stop her from getting her hair done too.

Hallie before:

 

Hallie after:

Kendall in the washbowl:

Kendall after:

Sid in the washbowl:

Sid after:

The outfits.  These girls still love to match clothes.  They are quite the characters.

Sidney chose this outfit for the sole purpose that it had a matching doll outfit.  It is a cute one though.

Gotta love those sneakers.  She is a sketcher girl.

The following outfits are not entirely new, but rather twists on some old outfits with an element of new thrown in.  Sidney absolutely loves getting Kendall's hand me downs.  It is rare that Kendall is able to pass down shoes (she is a toe dragger).  However, last years sketchers are still in great shape and Sidney loves them.