Happy Birthday Jim! We love you and hope you have a great day!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and notes to us after the last post. The intensity of Frank's pain has gotten better since we posted last Wednesday. Thank you, Lord!

After meeting with Dr. Weir, the meds changed and a radiation plan was set into motion. Thursday he got a unit of platelets (they were 4) and then we saw Dr. Lee for radiation. He started that afternoon with the first of 5 treatments. The last one is today.

We are so thankful he's getting some relief, but the real proof for us is when he feels like being more active. We don't get out much, so we were most encouraged when a trip to Gus's Fried Chicken sounded like a good idea to Frank for Friday night. Frank LOVES Gus's. Zach and I rolled him right up to a table and and we all enjoyed a deep fried southern cooked meal ~ and even left with a souvenir t-shirt! We even saw a movie Sunday night too!

Monday, his blood counts were low again. His Hct was 25, and Platelets 4, so spent all day at Baptist getting 3 blood transfusions. I pushed him across the street for radiation while we waited on his lab results and had a great time strolling outside. The weather was so nice! We talked trees and flowers and made plans for our yard. The day was productive and fun! The nurses there are so caring and accommodating. They take great care of Frank and our time there never seems burdensome.

Today is Wednesday ~ doctor day. After his last radiation treatment, we'll be at Dr. Weir's office getting Aredia (to lower his calcium levels in the blood and harden his bones) and then we'll meet with him.

Please be praying for our next step. Frank has a lesion on the right side of his face that is pressing on a facial nerve. At first was only making his mouth numb, but is has progressed over the weekend. His speech is slurred quite a bit and he's only comfortable eating soft food for fear of choking. We will talk to Dr. Weir about having that spot radiated. Like the lesion above his eye, we are very hopeful that the symptoms its causing now that seem so scary will go away quickly and he'll have full recovery from those effects.

As for the rest of the family, everyone has been busy. Chandler went to UT - Knoxville for the weekend and had a wonderful time. That campus visit put UT at the top of her choices for colleges. She's working hard to finish school and is looking forward to the prom in a few weeks.

Zach's having to rest from soccer this week for inflammation under his growth plate, around the knee area. I have no idea what that means, but we were all excited to hear that he's not done growing! He quit listening to the doctor after he said that .... either way, we are hoping for him to have a quick recovery.

Chase has a cold and is running fever. Please pray he can get over this FAST and keep his germs away from Daddy and the rest of us.

We are so thankful for your prayers, the meals, the help, calles, notes, etc. We are so so blessed to not walk this journey alone.

peg