Well..... what do you do when you team is down by almost 20 points?
You remember to update your website!
We love cheering for Memphis Basketball, but tonight, yelling "MSU" to a deaf screen is...well... sort of - familiar! :) Maybe things will be different by the time I'm done.

Tomorrow is a busy day. Frank is getting his blood drawn at Bapt. Outpatient in the morning. If he's low, he'll get what he needs and tidy him up for the weekend. In the waiting time, he's going to next door, literally, and get everything set up to begin radiation to 2 spots that the doctor wants to "protect". The 2 areas are the shoulder and upper back. Shrinking the myeloma lesions now will prevent possible fractures in these areas later. The radiation seems to be giving Frank the fastest relief with the fewest side effects. We are thankful to have this option and be able to close to home for the treatment.

Chandler is having her wisdom teeth out in the morning. She's suppose to be playing the piano in front of judges at Festival on Saturday morning. Please pray for her too as she tries to do her best under less than ideal circumstances.

This week has flown by. It's been busy, and filled with emotional highs and lows. It never ceases to amaze me how God is there to meet every need, in every way. It's not just in the 'big' ways, and not just in the Joys, but also in those little hurts - even the ones you never mention out loud. Oh, how I love Him! And, oh, how He loves you and me!

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18

p.s. Memphis is down by 6 now..... I can hear Frank yelling from downstairs! :) I hope we can do it!
Go Tigers!

I can't believe it's Wednesday already!

We made it through the weekend, but not without concern for Frank's blood counts. He was bruising everywhere, and I was quite anxious to get him to the hospital Monday morning.

Our suspicions were right, and his counts low. Hct 21, Hgb 7, Platelets 3. (yes, 3). He was almost 4 quarts low! We spent all day getting blood: he got 2 units of red cells, and a bag of platelets.

It was different day for us though. Usually, Frank is asleep the whole time because of the pre-meds they give him, and I am awake catching up on my Bible study or reading, etc. But instead, Frank stayed awake all day and made phone calls about our insurance bills. He had papers stacks all over the room and was a busy as a bee. I have a cold and slept ALL day long. The kind of sleep that embarrasses you because you've drooled everywhere! Either way, we both were happy when we left there. He felt accomplished and I needed the rest. As we walked to the car, he grinned and said, "Now I know how a vampire feels... I'm full!"

Tuesday was another unusual day for Frank. He spent all day at the office. He had things he wanted to do and it was great to see everyone too. He was tired and sore after such a long day, but it was worth it in every way. The kids and I did school and tried to get back to a routine after spring break.

Today, we're headed up to Dr. Weir's office. Frank will get a medicine today that hardens his bones. Then we'll get blood work and see Dr. Weir.

We are so happy to see things turning green and warmer weather! I hope you are too.

Thank you for your constant prayers and support for our family. We love you and thank God for you!

Peg

Thank you so much for the sweet notes, calls and prayers for our family these past few weeks.For any of you that knew Big Frank, you know how very much we miss him.

We returned home from Greenville late late Thursday night. Friday we tried to switch gears and prepare to leave on our trip to Colorado with the church. The kids left on the buses with the youth group on Saturday afternoon, but our caravan left early Saturday morning. The buses drive straight through, but I am not up for that! We stayed over in Kansas and it broke the trip up for us.

The week was wonderful, weather beautiful and fellowship even better. It was fun being able to ski with kids during the day, but I missed Frank's company on the mountain very much. Coming home for a quiet night in the cabin by the fire was most comforting. He found his own fun during the day and has some wonderful pictures to show for his outings. He and my mom found a beautiful babbling brook and took video of the sound, but they are most proud of the mile high meringue on a piece of pie in a local diner. If you know Frank well, you know he travels on his stomach. He'll gauge any trip on how good the food was.... he said he had a great time!


Frank only had one evening where he felt bad, but thankfully the next day was much better. His fever broke, never came back and we made it home so so happy that the trip was a success. It was a huge goal for us as a family. Thank you Jesus for Your watch care over us!

On the way home we stopped off in Little Rock and hugged the nurses and staff at UAMS. It was wonderful to see them. Just walking the halls reminds of how much God has done! Blessings after blessings. Even though we are home now, our hearts are full of gratitude and will forever be with the staff that had cared so tenderly for Frank these past 6 years. We took pictures and laughed with them before getting back on the road and it made a great end to our adventure.

Monday will be a challenging day at our house. The kids have missed 2 weeks of school. We'll be trying to regroup and finish the year strong! Monday, Frank will have labs drawn and to see how he's doing with Dr. Weir. Frank has a new little bump that is on his skull. It popped up over night, literally. He says he's growing a horn. :) I'm sure we'll have some things to discuss with Dr. Weir. Thank you for your prayers in advance concerning his next course of treatment.

I like this picture of Frank and I, esp because it was taken on my birthday. I skied with the kids in the morning and had lunch with Frank in town in the afternoon. (He asked me on a date... yahoo!) Frances and I share our birthday together and we had fun talking to her too. She had a fun filled day with her sister in Greenville, but we look forward to seeing her so we can blow candles out together.

Ps 107:1 "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His mercy endures forever."

Thank you so much for the calls and emails of support of our family during this time.

Frank and Frances with Chandler, Zach and Chase ~ Jan 2009

FRANK ANDERSON CARLTON, JR. 74, United States Army, Colonel (Retired) Greenville, Mississippi. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, March 12, 2009 at First Baptist Church. He was called home to be with His Lord and Savior on Sunday, March 8, 2009 in Greenville following a sudden cardiac death. Burial will be in Greenville Cemetery under the direction of Boone-Wells Funeral Home, Greenville. Born, February 12, 1935, in Hollywood, California to Hazel and Frank Anderson Carlton.

Frank was a man who lived many lives well, all at once. His life was punctuated by a love for his family, a love for his community and country, and a love of God, which he shared with others in unique ways. Frank graduated valedictorian of his senior high school class from Jefferson Military College located in Washington, Mississippi. During this same time, he lived with his aunt, the Honorable Zelma Price, while working as a teenager for the Mississippi Legislature in the Post Office during its sessions. This is where he first developed a love for the law, the legislative process, and public service. Frank went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi on a Golden Gloves boxing scholarship. He was proud of his Golden Gloves record. He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, where he served as President, 1956. He was active in student government at USM, serving as President of USM Student Body from 1956 1957 and he was selected as the 1957 Outstanding Male Graduate for USM. Frank graduated with a B.A. in History. He was commissioned through ROTC.

Frank reported for active military service at Fort Benning, Georgia for Basic Infantry Officer’s Course. Frank entered law school at the University of Mississippi in 1957 and achieved notoriety by serving as the emcee of the “Murder Bowl” football game between the Pharmacy School and Law School. He dropped out one semester to make his first run for the Mississippi House of Representatives, an unsuccessful political campaign, but it was during this time that he met his future wife, Frances Caillouet. Frank later served as President of the Senior Law Class and graduated in December 1960. He returned at that time to Greenville where he opened his private law office. During his legal career, he was a member of the Washington County Bar Association, Mississippi Bar Association, the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. Frank and Frances were married on his birthday, February 12, 1961, in Greenville, Mississippi.

In 1963, Frank successfully ran again for the Mississippi House of Representatives and served from 1963 1972. He was a leader on education issues helping to pass legislation critical to the funding for the Mississippi Public Broadcast System. He was noted by all for his humor and comraderie. Frank began his career as a prosecutor in 1971 until 1975 as an Assistant District Attorney in Washington County before returning briefly to the private practice of law. In 1979, he ran for the post of District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District, which he won and held until his retirement in 2004.

He was an active member of the Mississippi Prosecutor’s Association, serving as President, and mentoring his colleagues. He continued to support the organization beyond retirement. Throughout his legislative and legal career, he had an active military career. He was a Special Forces Green Beret. Most notably, he was a founding member of the original Mississippi Army Guard SF “E” Company in Jackson, Mississippi. He served an extended time as an “A” team leader, eventually rising to be the Commander of “C” Company in Columbus, Mississippi. He was honored by his airborne comrades in the 20th Special Forces Group as the “Best Damn Trooper to Stand in the Door.” He retired from military service as “Colonel Carlton” in 1984.

Frank loved Greenville, Washington County, and the State of Mississippi. He served over 25 years as Chairman of the Board for Washington Warren Issaquena Sharkey Community Action Agency. His service was honored when the Board established the “Frank Carlton Humanitarian” Award. He was a twenty-five year Board Member of the Washington County Opportunities, Inc. (Headstart). He received the Greenville Chamber’s Point of Pride Award. For a time, he operated a newspaper known as “The Delta Gazette” featuring uplifting community interest stories. He organized the “Barbeque, Catfish, and Hot Tamale Cooking Contest” and its companion the Greenville Blue Grass Festival. He was the proprietor of the “Big River Goat Ranch Kick Ass Cooking Team,” which prepared the food for his annual “Christmas in July”, a community celebration for 39 years. One day before he died, he won First Place in the tamale challenge for the Louisiana Hayride Performance Event held in Greenville, Mississippi.

He was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School. When not spending time spoiling his grandchildren, Frank had many notable hobbies. He loved his family’s homestead, and he was an avid gardener and goat rancher. He passed away while tending to his goats on the land where he was raised, where he raised his children to love the land and where he communed regularly with his Lord and Savior.

He was preceded in death by his father, Frank Anderson Carlton, his mother, Hazel Wells Carlton, and his brother, Walter Carlton. He is survived by his wife, Frances Caillouet Carlton, his children, Scott Carlton (Virginia) of Columbia, Mississippi and their children Rachel, Harrison Read, and Phoebe; Frank Carlton, III (Peggy) of Germantown, Tennessee and their children Chandler, Zachary, and Chase; and Neely Carlton (David Maatallah) of Madison, Mississippi and their children Marissa, Adam, and Joshua, as well as by his aunt Walter Lou McIlwain, cousins Billy Eugene Wells, Zelma McIlwain, Willard McIlwain, III, George Read Carlton, and many other family and friends. Pallbearers are Walter Brown, George Read Carlton, Jim Carraway, Lynwood Easterling, Mike Keller, George T. Kelly, George F. Hollowell, Jr., Charles McKeller, and Dewayne Richardson. Honorary Pallbearers are the Mississippi Bar Association and the Billy Ireland Sunday School Class. The family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at First Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Jefferson Military College Foundation, Post Office Box 11, Washington, Mississippi 39190, 601-442-2901. Boone Wells Funeral Home 662-335-7111

My Daddy

March 9, 2009

A Time for Everything - Sunday, March 8, Greenville, MS;

At approx. 4:30pm, Frank A Carlton Sr., was out on his goat farm doing one of the things that he loved best, looking after his animals. With a feed bucket in hand, Frank was slinging sweet feed & corn so that all the creatures got their share. It was at that time Frank Sr. had a heart attack.

He sat down with his “friends” and in the most gracious way God could of ever made the call, He told Big Frank, “let’s go home.”

Arrangements are for Wednesday visitation from 6-8 at the First Baptist Church - Greenville and another visitation from 10-11 on Thursday; the funeral service is at 11:00am.

In loving memory of my dad,

Frank

Ecclesiastes 3 - There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know the liver scan was normal. They didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Praises!

Dr. Weir took Frank off the Revlimid, and said in about 1% of the time it can cause liver problems. So, we'll see if that works. I already think he's less jaundice. Maybe that's the "lime in the coconut" Frank needs! He's is on an antibiotic and for the past several days hasn't had any fever, so that's good too. Otherwise, all else is well.

We'll see Dr. Weir again on Wednesday.

Don't forget to set your clocks tonight.... much love from all of us....

Good evening from the Carlton house... and since it's after midnight, I have to officially say:

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY CHASE ANDERSON! Chase has been cracking us up, counting down the day. We are so happy to celebrate with him.

Frank went to see the Infectious Disease guy on Tuesday. We liked him and appreciate the approach he's taking with Frank. He did say there was a bacteria in his lung. It's a cousin to the TB bacteria, but it's NOT TB. It can lie dormant and do nothing, so it may -or may not - be the cause of the fevers. He is doing some more blood work, looking at his past scans and having Frank keep a log of his temperatures. We are happy that he doesn't seem too concerned, and that he's not anxious to just run a lot of aggressive tests right off the bat.

Next in line was Dr. Weir on Wednesday. His liver enzymes had gone up some more, and his hematocrit was 22. So, we went today for a liver ultrasound and 2 units of blood. We hadn't been to Bapt. Outpatient in a few weeks and it was good to see the nurses there. Leaving the relationships in Little Rock has been hard, but we are finding our way into new ones here. The nurses here love Frank ~ it's easy to do ~ and the sweet relationships are forming that make days like today easy on ... well, I was going to say Frank, but it makes it easy on both of us really, but esp Frank. Our nurses today were so sweet and asked a lot of questions about Frank and his journey.

Speaking of which... Frank shared last night a bit of his testimony with a church. He told people of all ages, that God is enough, and faithful, and trustworthy ~ no matter what your circumstances. What a sweet time of fellowship and prayer this church has and what a blessing it was to be there with them.

We learned today that one of our close patient friends, Susan went to be with the Lord on Monday. I have thought of little else ever since we found out. We made friends with them about this time last year and kept up through phone calls and emails when we weren't together in Little Rock. Mike and Susan were in our same apt complex and she and Frank were on the same treatment regimen most of the time. Susan was a strong woman of faith and we spoke often of what the Lord was doing in our lives. I am so thankful this earth is not our home!!

As we enter the weekend, we have many praises:
*that Frank's fevers have not been over 102
*for the flexible schedules we have with the kids
*for the wonderful support system all around us

Please join us in prayer:
*for wisdom as doctors look for cause of elevated liver enzymes
*for stable blood work
*for good results from the radiation (the ones on his head are GONE)
*for the Nanney's as they continue to battle Lyme disease

Ephesians 3:16-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.