Well I have made it through the 2nd round of chemo. Thursday was the worst day I have had so far. I woke up that morning at my normal time for work and realized that I didn't feel good and needed to keep sleeping for a bit. I finally woke up at around 9:30 and felt a little groggy but I thought that was just from sleeping a little bit longer than normal, and I got into the shower and got ready for work. I made it to work and started reading emails and getting ready for the rest of the day when I just started feeling incredibly dizzy. I wanted to drink a little water but even the thought of that made me feel sick to my stomach. I stayed at work for about another 45 minutes while feeling like this before I just couldn't take it anymore. I got home and preceeded to fall asleep for about 3 hours. Now I will say that I took a Phenergan while I was at work when I started feeling dizzy so I think that helped me sleep as long as I did. Since I slept so long during the day I was up until about 2:30 that night, but I was up bright and early on Friday and back to work. I woke up at 8:00 to find that my pack was low and I was allowed to head over to the hospital and get unhooked. I got there a little after 9:00 and was out the door and on my way to work before 10:00. I still had the dizzy feeling on Friday but I took a different kind of pill that morning so it wasn't anywhere near the feeling I had Thursday. Friday night was a quiet night and I just stayed at home and watched basketball after Jenny fell asleep at 9.
On Saturday I got up and had to run a couple of errands before I settled back on my couch to watch basketball all afternoon while Jenny worked out in the yard a little bit. (Yes I did help although it wasn't very much) That night we were invited over to John and Christy's house for dinner and to hangout with some friends. It was tough not to have a couple of beers over there but my Coca-Cola got me through the night ok.
Sunday Jenny met with Mrs. Haas, Mrs. Cromer, Georgia, and Carolyn to talk about the baby shower that is being throw by them for my brother and Haley. While Jenny was doing this I assumed my position once again on the couch and watched basketball. I am useless on the weekends during "March Madness" and the college football season. That night my parents came over and we threw some burgers on the grill and had dinner with them while we finished watching the basketball games of the day. They stayed for about an hour and a half before they left and I did a little laundry and went to bed around 9:00 not feeling too well.
I woke up today not feeling well again so I stayed home from work and tried some different medicine this time. I'm finally starting to feel better and plan on heading back to work tomorrow.
Round 2 of chemo is officially over and I am finally in my off week again. We have a busy next couple of weeks coming up so I am going to try to rest any chance I get. I want to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers.
Tim
In January of 2010 Tim was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. After 6 months of chemo he was declared to be in remission until November 2010 when we found it had moved to his lungs categorizing him as Stage 4. He has been fighting ever since.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
USC vs. Furman
Like I said on Monday I will not be letting an entire week go by without updating the site. This really won't be a long post tonite but I figured tonite is as good as any night to write one.
Yesterday I worked a full day and felt really good all day long. The great thing about the chemo I am on is that the week and a half that I am not on it I really feel pretty good. Now there are times that I will get tired, but other than that I almost feel normal. Last night my dad got his law firm's box seats so Jenny, her dad, my parents, Randall, Marty, and myself went and watched the USC vs Furman game. It was good to get out and see a baseball game again this week. After the top of the 9th inning I walked down and was able to run into David Marchbanks, his dad, and Brad Wingo, whose brother had a great game last night. It was good to see those guys and catch up a little bit. After the game was over I first walked down to the USC side and was able to see and talk with Coach Tanner for a couple of minutes as well as Lipsey, little Kish, and Kitick. After talking with those guys for a couple of minutes I walked over and was able to see Coach Smith, Coach Whitfield, and Will Owens. They were disappointed with the outcome but they will fix the problems and get back on track soon.
Today I was up and out of the house by 8:20 and met my mom at my office so that I could drop off my car and ride with her over to chemo. We got there pretty close to 9:00 and I was hooked up and the treatment started. While I was there I did not wear any green so Lynn gave me her St. Patty's Day necklace to wear while I was in there, but did pinch me before I was allowed to put it on. As little fun as it is to get treatments, all of the people at The Cancer Center and especially my nurses are so nice and make it as fun as possible. My treatment was over at 12:15 and my mom and I went and met my dad for a quick lunch before I headed into work for just a little bit today.
I will update the site again on Friday to let everyone know how round number 2 went. Thank you again for all of the thought and prayers.
Tim
Yesterday I worked a full day and felt really good all day long. The great thing about the chemo I am on is that the week and a half that I am not on it I really feel pretty good. Now there are times that I will get tired, but other than that I almost feel normal. Last night my dad got his law firm's box seats so Jenny, her dad, my parents, Randall, Marty, and myself went and watched the USC vs Furman game. It was good to get out and see a baseball game again this week. After the top of the 9th inning I walked down and was able to run into David Marchbanks, his dad, and Brad Wingo, whose brother had a great game last night. It was good to see those guys and catch up a little bit. After the game was over I first walked down to the USC side and was able to see and talk with Coach Tanner for a couple of minutes as well as Lipsey, little Kish, and Kitick. After talking with those guys for a couple of minutes I walked over and was able to see Coach Smith, Coach Whitfield, and Will Owens. They were disappointed with the outcome but they will fix the problems and get back on track soon.
Today I was up and out of the house by 8:20 and met my mom at my office so that I could drop off my car and ride with her over to chemo. We got there pretty close to 9:00 and I was hooked up and the treatment started. While I was there I did not wear any green so Lynn gave me her St. Patty's Day necklace to wear while I was in there, but did pinch me before I was allowed to put it on. As little fun as it is to get treatments, all of the people at The Cancer Center and especially my nurses are so nice and make it as fun as possible. My treatment was over at 12:15 and my mom and I went and met my dad for a quick lunch before I headed into work for just a little bit today.
I will update the site again on Friday to let everyone know how round number 2 went. Thank you again for all of the thought and prayers.
Tim
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Chemo Round #2
I'm not going to type a lot tonite but I just wanted to give a quick update before I start my next round of chemo on Wed. This weekend Jenny's sister Sarah threw her a bachelorette party from Friday night thru Sunday. This was great for me because I was able to get out of the house and get some rest and do nothing. My brother and Haley went up to Nashville and they let me stay at their house which was so nice because like I said I got to do nothing but watch basketball all weekend.
On Friday night I went with my mom to watch Georgia play in the Greenville County All-Star basketball game. Although her team didn't win Georgia played really good. On Saturday I watched basketball all afternoon before I went with my parents to watch Becca play in the Greenville vs Spartanburg basketball game. Becca played very good and her team beat Spartanburg pretty easily.
Sunday I went and met my parents at Thornblade for the Sunday morning brunch and then dad and I went down to the driving range and putted around a little bit. We had a great time even though I can't play yet.
I went to The Cancer Center today for my bi-weekly blood work and doctor visit before my round of chemo. Everything went well and to my and my doctor's surprise my white blood cell count went up this week from the last time I had it checked which was before my 1st round of chemo. Don't know how that happened but Ill take it. I will give another update on Friday to let everyone know how the 2nd round went.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers and I will update again soon.
Tim
On Friday night I went with my mom to watch Georgia play in the Greenville County All-Star basketball game. Although her team didn't win Georgia played really good. On Saturday I watched basketball all afternoon before I went with my parents to watch Becca play in the Greenville vs Spartanburg basketball game. Becca played very good and her team beat Spartanburg pretty easily.
Sunday I went and met my parents at Thornblade for the Sunday morning brunch and then dad and I went down to the driving range and putted around a little bit. We had a great time even though I can't play yet.
I went to The Cancer Center today for my bi-weekly blood work and doctor visit before my round of chemo. Everything went well and to my and my doctor's surprise my white blood cell count went up this week from the last time I had it checked which was before my 1st round of chemo. Don't know how that happened but Ill take it. I will give another update on Friday to let everyone know how the 2nd round went.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers and I will update again soon.
Tim
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
End of Round #1
Sorry I haven't updated the site in a week. I finished with Chemo last Fri. at about 9:00 in the morning. I felt pretty good overall for the first round. The best way for me to describe how I felt is that I felt like I had a cold for 3 days and I was tired, groggy, a little dizzy, and very lethargic. But this didn't last but 3 days and I was able to work at least half days for those 3 days. I'll try to go back a couple of days and let everyone know what went on.
On Thursday I went into work and left a little bit after lunch time and came home and took a nap and this was the first time in a couple of weeks that I had done this. That night Berkley and Chris came by and dropped off dinner and that spaghetti was so good and exactly what I was craving that night.
I remember that I felt the worse on Friday. I haven't figured out why it was the worse day but it was. I woke up at 7:45 that morning and when I got out of the shower and I was getting dressed my cool fanny pack was going off and telling me that the medicine was running out and that I could go and get unhooked. I got to the hospital at around 9:00 and was able to go right into the back and Lynn pushed the last bit of medicine from the pack into me and then flushed my port and I was about to be on my way when she noticed something black near my port. There was a stitch that was sticking up that needed to come out. It's like they say "when it rains it pours." I just can't catch a break right now. So, I left The Cancer Center and started walking across the hosiptal over to the radiation department where they placed the port to see what needed to be done. Now I had to call Jenny b/c I got completely lost trying to find my way over to the complete opposite side of the hospital. I finally made it thanks to her directions and I was told that it was a stitch from the inside that had come through and needed to get removed. So they cut the stitch and I was on my way back to The Cancer Center b/c I forgot to set up my appointment for my next treatment. I really got lost this time and ended up in some wing that wasn't even close to where I needed to be. Jenny again bailed me out of my situation. I left the hospital and went and met GH for lunch and headed home for the day.
Kip and BA came into town on Sat. for Jenny and I's shower that night. I met them at Gregory's for Kip to get fitted for his tux and then we left and went to Chipotle for lunch. We left and went and messed around for a little bit before we came back to our house and took some naps. The party started at 7:00 and it was really good to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I'm not going to name everyone that was there but that would just take too long but we had a great time seeing everyone that came. We left the party and went downtown and hung out at Connelly's for about an hour before I was ready to go home and go to sleep.
Sunday we woke up and waited for Chuck to get into town and then we went and ate at Lieu's. After that we came back to the house and hung out for the rest of the day.
On Monday I went back to work for a full day and also went to see the surgeon and he told me that everything looked really good but I am still not allowed to lift anything too heavy or do anything too strenuous. After work I headed up to Rock Hill with my dad and brother to watch them take on Fort Mill. Coach Bates called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to come and throw out the first pitch. It was such and honor to be asked to do something like that. All of the people and players we extremely nice and it was a great experience that I will never forget.
I work another full day yesterday and finished it off with dinner at Jenny's Uncle Tom and Aunt Kay's house for dinner. We talked about the wedding and how things were going to happen that day since Uncle Tom is going to be performing the ceremony. We had a great dinner and I think that I ate way too much but the food was so good that I couldn't stop eating.
Finally for today. I can say that I will no longer wait an entire week to write one of these and I'm sure that I have forgotten things that I did this week but thats ok. I slept in a little bit longer today b/c I think that I pushed myself just a little bit too much that past 2 days. I got some rest and I will be back ready to go again tomorrow.
I want to thank everyone so much for all of their prayers and thoughts. It means so much to myself, Jenny, and both of our families. I know thank you doesn't do it but I want to say thank you and I love you all.
Tim
On Thursday I went into work and left a little bit after lunch time and came home and took a nap and this was the first time in a couple of weeks that I had done this. That night Berkley and Chris came by and dropped off dinner and that spaghetti was so good and exactly what I was craving that night.
I remember that I felt the worse on Friday. I haven't figured out why it was the worse day but it was. I woke up at 7:45 that morning and when I got out of the shower and I was getting dressed my cool fanny pack was going off and telling me that the medicine was running out and that I could go and get unhooked. I got to the hospital at around 9:00 and was able to go right into the back and Lynn pushed the last bit of medicine from the pack into me and then flushed my port and I was about to be on my way when she noticed something black near my port. There was a stitch that was sticking up that needed to come out. It's like they say "when it rains it pours." I just can't catch a break right now. So, I left The Cancer Center and started walking across the hosiptal over to the radiation department where they placed the port to see what needed to be done. Now I had to call Jenny b/c I got completely lost trying to find my way over to the complete opposite side of the hospital. I finally made it thanks to her directions and I was told that it was a stitch from the inside that had come through and needed to get removed. So they cut the stitch and I was on my way back to The Cancer Center b/c I forgot to set up my appointment for my next treatment. I really got lost this time and ended up in some wing that wasn't even close to where I needed to be. Jenny again bailed me out of my situation. I left the hospital and went and met GH for lunch and headed home for the day.
Kip and BA came into town on Sat. for Jenny and I's shower that night. I met them at Gregory's for Kip to get fitted for his tux and then we left and went to Chipotle for lunch. We left and went and messed around for a little bit before we came back to our house and took some naps. The party started at 7:00 and it was really good to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I'm not going to name everyone that was there but that would just take too long but we had a great time seeing everyone that came. We left the party and went downtown and hung out at Connelly's for about an hour before I was ready to go home and go to sleep.
Sunday we woke up and waited for Chuck to get into town and then we went and ate at Lieu's. After that we came back to the house and hung out for the rest of the day.
On Monday I went back to work for a full day and also went to see the surgeon and he told me that everything looked really good but I am still not allowed to lift anything too heavy or do anything too strenuous. After work I headed up to Rock Hill with my dad and brother to watch them take on Fort Mill. Coach Bates called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to come and throw out the first pitch. It was such and honor to be asked to do something like that. All of the people and players we extremely nice and it was a great experience that I will never forget.
I work another full day yesterday and finished it off with dinner at Jenny's Uncle Tom and Aunt Kay's house for dinner. We talked about the wedding and how things were going to happen that day since Uncle Tom is going to be performing the ceremony. We had a great dinner and I think that I ate way too much but the food was so good that I couldn't stop eating.
Finally for today. I can say that I will no longer wait an entire week to write one of these and I'm sure that I have forgotten things that I did this week but thats ok. I slept in a little bit longer today b/c I think that I pushed myself just a little bit too much that past 2 days. I got some rest and I will be back ready to go again tomorrow.
I want to thank everyone so much for all of their prayers and thoughts. It means so much to myself, Jenny, and both of our families. I know thank you doesn't do it but I want to say thank you and I love you all.
Tim
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Chemo Round #1
I hope everyone is doing well today. I thoght today would be a great day to give an update on how things are going. This past weekend Jenny had her sorority sisters Jen and Jenny come into town for her girl's shower this past weekend. It was good to see them and catch up again. I made them all dinner Friday night and proceeded to beat them in SceneIt, twice.
On Monday I got my port accessed for the first time. I can't thank the Owings and Mrs. Van Gieson enough for telling me about the Emla Cream. It was so nice not to feel a needle go into my body. They took about 3 viles of blood to check all of my counts and then cleaned my port out with a Saline solution. I still don't like needles or blood and I didn't look when they took the blood or after it was over but the whole process was totally painless. We then went and met with Dr. Edenfield and talked to him for about 10 minutes and just had a couple of last minute questions.
I did a lot of relaxing the rest of the day Monday and Tuesday. I feel asleep very easily last night and slept through the night. I woke up today got ready and met Jenny at my office so I could drop off my car. We got to The Cancer Center a little after 8:30 and stayed there until about 1:15.
When I got there they hooked me up to some fluids and then anti-nausia medicine for the day. My nurse Lynn sat down with Jenny and I and told a little bit more about some of the side-effects I could expect to experience as I continue throughout this process. I was then hooked up to my first dose of Chemo and it lasted about 2 hours. Lynn then unhooked me and connected me to my travel pump. The best way to describe this pump is it looks like a 1992 travel car phone. It is way too funny but I am rocking it out the best I can. Jenny says she is going to try to keep up by wearing her Myrtle Beach fanny pack (which I think she is actually really looking forward to) but I think we all really know who can pull off this look the best (sorry babe). I will keep this pump on me until Friday at about lunch time and then I will go back to The Caner Center and they will unhook me and I will be finished for the next week and a half before I do this all over again.
I have felt good today and hopefully will feel this way throughout this entire process. I was so anxious to get started today and I am looking forward to the end of this.
Like always I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers as Jenny, our families, and I go through this. Thank you all so much.
Tim
On Monday I got my port accessed for the first time. I can't thank the Owings and Mrs. Van Gieson enough for telling me about the Emla Cream. It was so nice not to feel a needle go into my body. They took about 3 viles of blood to check all of my counts and then cleaned my port out with a Saline solution. I still don't like needles or blood and I didn't look when they took the blood or after it was over but the whole process was totally painless. We then went and met with Dr. Edenfield and talked to him for about 10 minutes and just had a couple of last minute questions.
I did a lot of relaxing the rest of the day Monday and Tuesday. I feel asleep very easily last night and slept through the night. I woke up today got ready and met Jenny at my office so I could drop off my car. We got to The Cancer Center a little after 8:30 and stayed there until about 1:15.
When I got there they hooked me up to some fluids and then anti-nausia medicine for the day. My nurse Lynn sat down with Jenny and I and told a little bit more about some of the side-effects I could expect to experience as I continue throughout this process. I was then hooked up to my first dose of Chemo and it lasted about 2 hours. Lynn then unhooked me and connected me to my travel pump. The best way to describe this pump is it looks like a 1992 travel car phone. It is way too funny but I am rocking it out the best I can. Jenny says she is going to try to keep up by wearing her Myrtle Beach fanny pack (which I think she is actually really looking forward to) but I think we all really know who can pull off this look the best (sorry babe). I will keep this pump on me until Friday at about lunch time and then I will go back to The Caner Center and they will unhook me and I will be finished for the next week and a half before I do this all over again.
I have felt good today and hopefully will feel this way throughout this entire process. I was so anxious to get started today and I am looking forward to the end of this.
Like always I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers as Jenny, our families, and I go through this. Thank you all so much.
Tim