Ben and I spent several days with mom and dad this week and had a great visit. One night, the Bixler brothers hosted a fish fry....pretty serious business as you can tell from this shot.



Dad is very tired and experiencing painful side effects secondary to the Neupogen injections he receives to replenish his white blood cell count. The chemo regimen he is on attacks the bone marrow, depleting red and white blood cells and platelets. However, as Tim described in the previous posts, dad never skips a beat. He is pushing and fighting and doesn't want to sit around and talk about cancer. Funny....one of Grandpa Bixler's canes was at the house. Uncle Craw told dad that he should use it to get around. Dad replied, "I don't want people to see me with it and think I'm sick."

For their birthdays, mom and dad received a veranda swing for the back yard. We couldn't get these three out of it to move it over the fence!




As always, thank you for the continued support and prayers.

07-17-09

Dad had another treatment this week even though his platelet counts were down. He went to Cape every day for 4 days prior to his treatment to get shots to raise his white blood count. His oncologist is thinking about decreasing the dose of chemo by 25 percent. Dad will get another CT scan in a couple of weeks. The results of the scan will give us a better of idea of what treatment option to pursue. Hopefully the cancer has not spread.

My grandmother (dad’s mom) fell last week and broke her shoulder and hip. Dad and his siblings have been staying with her at the hospital in Cape. It sounds like the doctors are trying to get her stable enough to perform surgery tomorrow morning.

Later,

"There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle."
-- Albert Einstein

"Never Give Up"

Mom and dad just left Columbia to head back to Sikeston. Dad had a treatment last Tuesday, took the pump off Thursday, and headed up here Thursday afternoon. We had a good time although dad was extremely weak. We watched the city's fireworks on the 4th, spent some time at the winery on Saturday, went to the farmers market, did some work around the house, etc... Dad got stung by a wasp when we were working outside. His hand swelled up a little. Wasn't anything a little vinegar and baking soda wouldn't take care of. I've attached a picture from the 4th.

The treatments are starting to knock dad more that they used to. He's still losing weight. Over 115 pounds. It amazes me that he's still getting around like he is. He stumbles around a little when walking but keeps on going. He's definetly a fighter. I question whether I'd be able to handle something like this as well as dad has. Probably not. My observation is that he's struggling to keep going, although he doesn't gripe or complain. I think he's trying to teach me a lesson, all of us for that matter. His own words to me this weekend were. "You gotta keep on going, never give up, no matter what the situation."

I hope those of you close to the situation get something positive out of dad's fight against cancer. Deep down I don't think he's fighting for himself, it's for all the people he loves. Dad's always seemed to live for everyone else. Caring for others more than himself. As I've grown older I realize how hard it is to live like dad. It's admirable.

Dad has to go to Cape for shots that will boost his white blood cells Thursday thru Saturday of this week. He'll probably take another treatment next Tuesday.

Hope all of you had a good 4th.