One of the goals and prayers that Peggy and I have had these past few weeks has been that God would give us confidence and wisdom as we make treatment decisions. Well, after meeting with Dr. Barlogie, there still is only one choice. Our plan will be to continue our treatment and care in Memphis. The results of the tests here at UAMS confirmed pretty much what we had suspected. This last round of chemo didn't hold back progression of disease, but the places where I got radiation improved those specific lesions. In fact, the lesion behind my eye has almost completely resolved.

Now, as to why we had to come to Little Rock a bit early: my low grade fever and lung infection situation is getting much, much better. In fact my CRP dropped from .32(Tuesday) to .20(today). So if my levels drop again by morning, I expect to be turned lose. We have enjoyed our stay - but it is time to get back to Memphis.

Oh yea, and there's also the matter of platelets. They were 16 today, but they let me wait till tomorrow to get my bag. One for the road. For some reason I still have not been able to keep making platelets. It seems like I make enough to skip a day or two, but then I stop making them and my levels drop. Who knows why this is occurring, but regardless the reason, platelets can be given in Memphis. This issue should not hold us up.

Finally, Go Cardinal’s…….I haven’t declared my favorite team for this weekend’s SuperBowl, so I hope Arizona wins. I don’t have a reason to pull for either team so I’m hanging my hat with the underdogs. They’ve never won a championship so I hope they can bring it home over the Steelers………

I'm drifting in and out of sleep so I'm passing off to Peg for more details... good night.

Good evening,

We've had a good day today. We were thrilled when we woke up this morning and weren't iced in like most of AR north of us. We had to be at the hosp at 6 for a PET scan. Even though we had ice on our car, and roads seemed clear, we still saw a few people stranded from sliding around just in the 5 mile drive to the hospital. The good news for us was: get there early, get out early! We got the Invanz (antibiotic) right after the PET scan and headed to get the kids.

We ate out at Cracker Barrel for lunch. The cold aggravates Frank's pain, so we asked to sit by the fireplace. Sitting comfortably in a chair is an issue, and he stood a lot of the time. First of all, from our vantage point, it is helpless and awful to see him uncomfortable. We each want to help and know that nothing we do can make it go away. We all try to balance how to help him with out irritating him and hovering, etc. But second of all, on a lighter side of it ~ I observed today how others observed us. When Frank would stand up for some relief, the staff all looked around at each other like he wanted something, and eyed for our waitress. So... we got very attentive service. We had also asked to be near the fireplace for warmth. To be nice, they put a few more logs on the fire for us. After a few minutes Frank's back was hot and he had to move seats.

Yesterday was a tough day. Even though we were not shocked with the news, it is still always very hard to hear it out loud and read it in black and white. But like Frank said, nothing much has changed in his decision since Jan 2. We talked with Dr. Barlogie, who called Dr. Weir, and then we talked privately with Dr. Weir. We tried to stay quiet last night and off our phones, and be together and pray. And we had a good talk with Deena this morning. Frank does have confidence in his decision and I am confident with him as I support him. I have prayed that God would give him a peace that no human mind can comprehend - peace that only comes from the Holy Spirit as Frank seeks God's will for himself and our family.

Please forgive me if I've not been able to return your calls or texts. I have been trying to work with Chase in the evenings with school and I haven't been using my phone much. But for those asking about my daddy, I have a quick update on him as well.

His is still in ICU. Momma said it was hard for him to breath all day. He has pneumonia, but the doctors are also saying they think it's COPD. Both the atrial fibrillation and COPD will need to be addressed of course. Please keep him and momma in your prayers too. Our dear friends here at UAMS are always hard to leave, but I am anxious to get home to Momma and Daddy too.

We thank you so much for your prayers for our family! God has been good, and we have had a sweet time together. Hopefully, the next post will be made from Germantown. Love to you..... Frank~n~Peg