The Interview

As I expected, Tim was amazing through the interview this morning. Here a shot of us with Megan and Jack during a commercial break.

I'm working on figuring out how to get the video of the interview embedded into this blog but until then you can click on this link to watch: http://www.yourcarolina.tv/ycvideo/entry/d12/

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas this year!

Your Carolina

So we've got even more great news for today. Thanks to one of my bosses, Jeff Hoffman, and his wife Megan we will be going on Your Carolina for tomorrow's show. Megan will be interviewing Tim about his story and helping us promote colon cancer awareness to everyone. 

We're both so excited that this is gaining so much traction so quickly. So if you want to watch Tim being his awesome self or me being my completely awkward self and live in Greenville tune to channel 7 at 10AM to watch Your Carolina. If you don't live in Greenville or have to work tomorrow you can tune in through their website which is here: http://www.yourcarolina.tv/

On a side note, for those of you that were having trouble with the comments section I've fixed it now (I think) so that anyone can comment without having to have a special account.

The Greer Citizen

Just in case you don't get the Greer Citizen, here is a great story Krista Gibson wrote about Tim and his awesome spirit. Tim and Krista used to play softball together for First Team Sports and this past summer he coached her son in baseball. The ball has started rolling on some other really amazing things as well, as soon as they are a little more concrete we will be sharing on here. Our goal of spreading awareness about colon cancer so no one else will have to endure this journey is becoming a reality and we couldn't be more excited!

12/22/2010 2:15:00 PM All is merry and Bright while cancer is put aside Hope

Staying busy: Tim and Jenny Bright recently attended the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Krista Gibson Staff Reporter Tim and Jenny Bright got married last April three months after Tim found out he had colon cancer and one month after surgery to remove a foot of his colon that held a quarter-sized tumor. It has not been the type of year most newlyweds experience, but the couple has vowed that their first Christmas as a married couple, will be no different than the ones they’ve spent together in the past. They will be surrounded by family and will put off the next chapter in his cancer story until the first week in January. “I told Jenny I don’t want to do anything differently than I have in the past,” Tim said. “We will spend Christmas Eve and morning with her parents and Christmas afternoon and night with my folks like we’ve done the other years.” Tim, 28, a commercial real estate broker with Bentley Commercial, is a former standout Riverside High pitcher who graduated in 2001 and went on to be a part of the University of South Carolina baseball team until arm injuries sidelined him. Today, he coaches high school pitchers on summer travel teams. He was given a clean bill of health in August after 12 weeks of chemotherapy treatments. By November, though, some of the numbers in his blood work were elevated and he was scheduled for another battery of tests. The cancer was back, metastasized to his lungs. “We found out the 29th of November,” Jenny said. She remembers the dates of all the diagnosis and treatments. Tim said he knew something was wrong when his oncologist didn’t call him back within a few days of his tests. His doctor later confessed he had found out right before he left town for the Thanksgiving holidays. The nodules on his lungs are small but will have to be treated with more chemotherapy. Tim said it will have to wait until after Christmas. “This is our first Christmas and basically we don’t know how many more Christmases we will get to have without chemo,” Jenny said. “It will be kind of nice to have a Christmas when I’m not on chemo,” Tim said. They have been told there is no cure, but that there is a small chance this next round of treatment could knock everything out. If not, it may be contained enough so that it doesn’t spread before the next round. “If it has to be on six months, off six months, on six months until we find something that’s a cure, that’s fine with me. I can live with that. I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon,” Tim said. “We’re focusing on it now as not trying to get rid of the cancer, but trying to keep him going for as long as possible until a cure comes along,” Jenny said. There is one bright light from the past year that has thankfully kept the spotlight away from Tim and he is grateful for that. His brother Steven and wife Haley had a daughter, Lillian. “I don’t really like having all the focus on me,” he said. “She has no idea what’s going on so she treats him the exact same way she always has,” Jenny said. “Little kids are great that way.” The support from his family, friends and employers has been humbling. And if you see Tim and Jenny around town during the holidays, it will probably be the two of them that give you a lift, because they vow not to let cancer, something they have no control over and is out of their hands, take anything away from their first Christmas. kgibson@greercitizen.com | 877-2076

Back From Chapel Hill

I apologize for the delay in posting, we've been working on moving this stuff over here. Blogger is much more user friendly for us and gives us more mobility in posting without a computer if we need to, plus being able to add pictures & video is always a bonus. Please let me know if you have any issues with it!

First of all I need to establish that it was my mom (Cindy) who went to the ER last Tuesday rather than Tim's. Apparently there was some confusion about that :). She's doing just fine and is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery to fix her abdominal hernia on Wednesday afternoon.

UNC-Chapel Hill is a gorgeous place, we headed up that way on Wednesday and saw lots of salt trucks preparing the roads for the snow that was supposed to come later in the night. Some of the Bright's family friends, the Krapfels, were actually also up in the same area on Wednesday night and agreed to meet us for dinner. Two of my friends, Emily and Megan, also joined us at Outback in Durham. During the dinner we came to the realization that Emily was in the same sorority at NC State at the Krapfels daughter, Sarah. In another crazy turn of events, we ran into Andy Mendelson and Joe Erwin from the company I work for, Erwin-Penland Advertising. It was great to see everyone and reminded us of just how small the world is sometimes.

We met with Dr. Bert O'Neill who is such a great guy, we've really been lucky to have such great doctors for Tim who also have incredible bedside manner. He pretty much confirmed all of Dr. Edenfield's directives and told Tim he could start chemo after the first of the year. Tim gave Dr. Edenfield a call on our way back to Greenville and they both agreed that he would start chemo again on January 5.

This chemo is called FOLFIRI and will be paired with something called Erbitux which will hopefully help to keep the new nodes in Tim's lungs at bay for awhile. At this point we are looking to buy time as they continue to research more treatments for cancer which seems to move forward so quickly.

Eventually we will possibly be looking at traveling to other hospitals and venues but for now we get to stay put here in Greenville for Tim to receive treatments which we are incredibly grateful for.

We have been so incredibly humbled and I can't emphasize enough just how appreciative we are of the incredible support that has been given to us through this difficult time. People seem to have come out of the woodworks to show that they care and we are speechless (which if you know either of us, you know that is a rare occasion). Thank you so much for all you've done, unless anything changes we may wait a bit to post anything else with the crazy week of holidays approaching. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To Chapel Hill

We've had quite a busy few weeks between appointments, work and getting ready for Christmas. Oh and last night my mom got to make her own special trip to the ER for an abdominal hernia. Everything with her is fine now and they will be scheduling surgery over the next few weeks to repair the hernia, if it doesn't repair itself in the meantime. I've told her that in the future she doesn't need to go to such an extreme for attention when all she has to do is ask (I don't think she thought that was as funny as I did). We're all just thankful that all is well and she is thankful for the pain medication. :)

I also wanted to make sure I gave everyone a quick update as to what is going on before we head up to Chapel Hill this afternoon. We met again with Dr. Edenfield a little over a week ago just to get him to re-review everything he originally told us and to answer a few questions of ours. During that meeting he mentioned that his plan, as of right now, is to start Tim on the other existing colon cancer chemo protocol either the week of Christmas or the week after. It is our understanding that he must try everything they have that has already proven to have successful results before we start messing around with clinical trials that don't have that same track record behind them.

That being said, this could all change with our meeting in Chapel Hill tomorrow. We're hoping that we can get more answers and have a plan in place by this weekend.

Thank you all for the incredible outpouring of love and support you have provided over these last few weeks. We really feel so special to have so many wonderful people reaching out to us during this time. We will update again as soon as we have some new information!

It's Back

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich 

Here we go again. This is the last news we ever wanted to have to share and now that we’ve had the time to fill in our families and a few friends we thought we’d let everyone else know what is going on. Tim’s CEA test scores have been slowly creeping up for a few months now, 4.4 to 4.6 to 4.8 although over the last 2 months it jumped up to a 9 all of the sudden. This isn’t a huge number for it to be at in comparison to where many others are but that large of an increase that quickly is a cause for concern.

Tim’s oncologist immediately ordered a PET scan and a CT scan which he got the Thursday before Thanksgiving and we received the results on yesterday. We expected that a lymph node would light up which we could remove with surgery and radiation but instead found that his PET was clear although the CT was a different story.

According to Tim’s CT there are now spots that are showing up in both of his lungs, they have to be less than 8mm in order for them to show on the CT and not on the PET although apparently that doesn’t really help the situation very much. His cancer is still considered to be colon cancer it has just metastasized to his lungs instead of being located solely to his abdomen. Unfortunately, as his doctor said, they no longer know how to cure it now that it has traveled to his lungs.

We’re not really sure what the next steps are yet, he had a better quality CT scan today and we are currently planning on heading up to Chapel Hill on Dec 16 for further tests and to meet with a specialist. We’re looking into every possible option in the country to find out where we can get Tim the most advanced and best possible treatment for this specific form of the disease.

We do know that at some point over the next few weeks Tim will once again start chemo. Not really sure what it will bring with it this time but we’re pretty sure it will be harder than the last.

Once again we feel so humbled and overwhelmed by all of the love and support of our friends and families. We really are so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing support team surrounding us and can’t thank you all enough for your love during this time. All we  can really use right now is to ask that you keep Tim in your prayers so we can get him as many as possible.

Thank you so much for everything. We owe you all more than we could ever repay.

Thanksgiving

Jenny and her cousins just finished cooking our Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow and we wanted to take the time to thank all of you for the support and encouragement you've provided to us over the past 10 months. Thank you all for everything you've done, we couldn't have made it as far as we have without the support of so many incredible people. We hope you and your families all have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Tim & Jenny 

PET Scan

It has been about 2 months since I have updated this page, and I hope that all is well with everyone.  I have a PT Scan set for next Thursday to see if anything has changed since my last one in Aug.  If all comes back ok then hopefully I will get my port out very soon after that. 

I have felt great since my last update in Sept. and things have finally started to get back to normal.  Our niece Lillian is getting so big and it is great having her around. 

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Tim and Jenny

Colonoscopy

Its been awhile since we last posted but wanted to make sure everyone was filled in. Tim had a colonoscopy last Monday which came back perfectly and provided hours of entertainment for me. He does not handle anesthesia very well and is quite the little clown when he is on it. For your colonoscopy they put you in what they call "twilight" sleep where you aren't as far under as you are during a surgery but you aren't really all there either.

When the nurse came to get me she informed me that he talked his way though this procedure too. Apparently you should never trust Tim with trade secrets if he is due to have a procedure with anesthesia. He kept me entertained while he recovered from the surgery and on the car ride home (where he sucked down a milkshake in less than 3 minutes). One thing he did say as he was waking up was that the whole thing was "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy." Hopefully that can help any of you that are 50 or older and in need of a colonoscopy but nervous about having one feel a little better about it!

Other than that we're just trying to adjust to having a "normal" life again. As strange as it sounds its a pretty big adjustment to be able to have all of this new-found free time and not having to worry about whether its a chemo week or not when making plans. As strange as it is, its a great adjustment to have to make.

One last thing. There is a couple at our church named Anne and Tedd Garner in a group call the Palmetto Peloton Project (P3) who ride from Greenville to Austin, TX each year to raise money for cancer research. Every year they pick people to honor as they ride who have just completed or are still in chemo/radiation and this year they have chosen Tim to be one of their "cancer warriors". They leave in about a month and are doing a fundraiser at Barley's on Monday Sept 20 at 6 where its $20/person for appetizers and drinks and a silent auction.

We want to let as many people as possible know about this great group as 80% of all of their fundraising goes directly back to Dr. Edenfield at GHS (Tim's oncologist) and into other local and non-local forms of cancer research which has now become near and dear to our hearts. We may not ever have an answer as to why Tim had cancer, or what caused it but hopefully there will be an answer and a prevention for someone else down the road.

Please feel free to join us for this fundraiser if you are in town or if you can't make it but want to do something feel free to pass the infomation below along to help spread the word. The more people that know about this the better the turn-out can be!

Thanks so much for your help and support, hopefully we can continue sending along great reports over the next year! :)

Eat, Drink, Beat Cancer
Come out to Barley's in downtown Greenville for a fun night of eating, drinking and beating cancer.  Registration is online and at the door.  When you register online you will receive 5 raffle tickets for a chance of great prizes.  The party will start at 6pm on Monday, September 20.
Register Online for this event now!

For more info contact Anne Garner anne.garner@att.net

Remission

Tim is in REMISSION, the sweetest word we've been waiting to use for so long now it seems. Well, we are considering it to be remission anyways. The doctors are hesitant to use that word but Dr. Edenfield specifically said that "there are no evident signs of cancer remaining in Tim's body at this point in time."

We are all so ecstatic that he was lucky enough to have all of the right doctors who made the right decisions enabling them to find this early enough to get to it and get it out so we can now start to move on with our lives.

We still have a ways to go, there will be more tests, procedures and appointments in the weeks, months and years to come but we are finally in the place where we don't have to base our calendars upon treatment schedules and can start to live a "normal" life. Although everyone who knows us knows that there really is no such thing as normal with us.

We never would've gotten through all of this without the support of everyone that has surrounded us. There really are no words to express our gratitude for the many meals, all of the prayers and the kind words. We are so especially grateful for all of the strength you all gave us whether it was to come by the hospital or the house for a visit, making yourself available for anything we needed, even if just to vent, or for covering for us while we took time away from work. All of these things have meant so much to Tim, myself and our families.

We've always known that we have some incredible friends and family but we've been absolutely blown away by how much kindness everyone has expressed over these past 6 months, even from people we've never met. We consider ourselves to be so blessed and know we never would've made it this far without you all.

We know we can never repay everyone for everything they've done, we just hope that someday, somehow we can help others who are just as much in need. Please make sure to keep in touch. We will update this periodically as everything wraps up and as Tim goes through his first year cancer free. Please make sure that if you're ever up our way to stop by for a visit!

Thank you all again from all of us!!
Tim and Jenny Bright
The Bright Family
The Clanton Family

Chemo Round #12

Well last Friday will go down as one of the best days that I have ever had.  Dr. Edenfield called me around 5:30 and told me that he had the results of my PET Scan.  Let me rewind before I get to the rest of the story.

Two Fridays ago we got a call that I was to have a PET Scan the coming Tuesday.  This was a shock to me because neither Jenny or I had any clue that I was going to have this so it freaked us out just a little bit.  I called Dr. Edenfield and he told me that he was just really busy that day and hadn't had the time to tell me that he had scheduled me for a test.  The reasoning for the test is that my CEA results were rising, although not drastically, but it was something he wanted to see why it was happening. 

So, I go Tuesday to the Radiology office and I get hooked up with my IV and I drink the terrible drink that they make you drink, and the they dim the lights and you sit there for 45 minutes.  They came and got me and I went back for the scan.  It lasted about 28 minutes and it was back to work.

After that I thought that I would have to wait until the following
Wednesday to get the results and you have no idea what it is like to have to wait for results like that.  So I tried not to think about it and just stayed at work as long as I could. 

Now back to Friday evening.  Dr. Edenfield called and said that he had the results of my test.  He said "we still need to monitor you closely but I couldn't find anything on the PET Scan it came back clean".  He said that this was positive and he was very excited about the results.  As soon as I heard those words my heart dropped out of my chest and it felt like a huge load was lifted off my my shoulders.  I know that there is still a ways to go but this is a great start.  I really feel that all of the prayers and thoughts that have been directed towards me are the main reason we got these results. 

So, I want to thank everyone for all those prayers and thoughts.  I will give another update after this final round of Chemo this week and my visit with Dr. Edenfield.

Chemo Round #11

I am back for another round to Caringbridge.  I have just started my 11th treatment today and only have one more go to.  I can see the end in sight but it will still feel like forever to me.  I wasn't able to get the oxaliplatin last week or again today b/c there is still some numbness in my toes and fingers.  It makes the treatments just a little easier to bare. At least I don't have the sensitivity to cold so I don't have to drink lukewarm everything. The doctors said that if I was to miss one drug that would be the one to miss.  I will feel better this week and I will get over this treatment a little faster than normal just because I don't have that drug in me. 

Baseball has ended for my team but will get started back before it know it in the fall.  I am going to help out there as much as I can b/c I have already made my plans for the USC games.  I can't beleive that college football is about to start again.  It might be my favorite time of the year. 

I will finish with all of my treatments Aug. 13th, turn 28 (yes I'm almost 30, Jenny reminds me all the time) on the 14th and then I will have to have another Colonoscopy on Aug. 30.  Sometime in the next two months I should also have my port taken out. They've said it will be an office procedure where they just numb it up and pull it out but thats not going to work for me. I need something so I won't remember anything. So, it really is getting closer to the end. 

Our little neice is getting so big and is so cute and it wish that I could paste a picture into this just so everone could see.

I hope that everyone is doing well and thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers. Please keep one of Jenny's co-workers in your prayers as well.  She is about my age and has breast cancer and has just started radiation. We should finish up everything at the same time and the four of us plan to have a nice dinner out to celebrate after everything is over.

Chemo Round #10

  I havent updated this page like I want to or as frequently as I should so I am sorry about that.  I am gearing up for my 10th treatment tomorrow morning and after that I will only have 2 treatments left.  It seems like time has flown by these past 5 months and that is something that I am not going to complain about, but I feel like this next month will take forever but I'm sure I'll look back and realize it went by just as fast. 

  We got my CEA test results back and they went from a 3.4 to a 3.6, not exactly the way we want them to go but there are a couple of factors that could've influenced that test result including that I had a skin infection which can also make that number spike up. Dr. Edenfield was pretty nonchalant about it so we aren't too worried and hopefully the next test will show a nice dip down.

   I was down in Charleston this past weekend for a baseball tournament where we went 4-0.  I tried to pass it off to Jenny as a birthday trip but she didn't buy it. Regardless, it was good to just get out of Greenville and head to the beach even if it was only for a couple of days and I didnt get to make it to the actual beach.  We stayed at Ms. Pittman's place and it was amazing.  She has done a wonderful job with some of her renovations inside the house. Another guy who coaches me stayed with us with his wife and 22 month old daughter who is so cute. I can't wait for our niece Lillian to start developing a personality like that. Our friends Josh and John also came down with us and we had a great dinner and went out with them Saturday night. We also met up with my friend Sheena at a pretty cool place in downtown Charleston.

  It was back to work on Monday where things are starting to really pick up in the Commercial Real Estate business.  We are seeing things start to turn in the right direction.  Last night we went out for Jenny's birthday dinner and along with my parents, her parents, my brother, her grandmother, her grandfather got to come along and looked pretty good. He's getting the same bruises on his arms that I had back after surgery from them testing his blood so much but he seems to be doing much better. He's definitely getting out of the house a lot with how much they are switching up his medicine. We're all glad he is starting to feel back to normal again, I knew he was a tough old guy.

Tonight Jenny and I went to the visitation for Ben Thwaites, who was the sister of one of my friends from high school.  What I am going through is tough, but I can't imagine going through something like that.  It was good to get to see some of my friends that I haven't seen in a while, but I wish the reason was much better.  So please say a prayer for Whitney and the rest of her family as they go through this tough time.  After we left the visitation we went out to dinner with Amanda and Drew.  It was good to see them again and be able to catch up.

    Again I want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts, and please don't forget to keepy Whitney and her family in your prayers as well.

Chemo Round #9

Well it is Tuesday night and I am sitting here updating the page while I watch my Gamecocks try to win the National Championship.  I am on the eve of my 9th round of treatment and I am just ready for all of this to be over and in the past.

My 16U team played in Knoxville this past weekend and we went 3-1 over the weekend.  The team played pretty good but we should have been 4-0.  This weekend's tournament is in Columbia where there is also the USC Baseball Alumni game against the Blowfish Saturday night. 

Other than that everything has been pretty boring around here, just work and baseball. Oh and Jenny's so-called "good knee" decided to go bad so she is doing physical therapy now and if that doesnt work will be having surgery later this year. At least we will get a good tax return back next year with all of these medical bills.

Like I said earlier this will be my 9th round of treatment and so far I have been very lucky not to experience too many of the side affects that come with Chemo.  Last week I had to get a new kind of nausea medicine because the two I have aren't working anymore. Obviously that made for a pretty rough few days last time. The new medicine worked really well and luckily this time I'll have it from the beginning.

Some of the Krapfels came up for lunch today, it was good to spend some time with my Aunt Seg, Kim, Katherine & John. Katherine & John are really growing up quickly. Mrs. Derrick and Clark brought Jenny & I dinner tonight and it was an awesome meal, it will be nice to start this thing with so much good food in my system.

Today they took some extra blood so I will be getting my 2nd CEA test results back tomorrow. Hopefully the number is continuing to shrink which means all of this is working and the cancer is going away. Basically that means that what I'm going through right now actually will mean something.

I want to thank everyone again for all of the prayers and thoughts that have been directed towards me.  Please keep Jenny's grandfather in those prayers as well as he was admitted to the hospital today for blood clots in his lungs. They think it should be a pretty standard treatment and he is a tough old guy so everything should be fine. Thanks again and I hope that everyone has a good week.

Chemo Round #8

I am sorry that I havent updated this page in a LONG time but I am back to give just a little update on how things are going. 

I am coaching a 16U baseball team this summer with guys from all over the upstate.  We had our first tournament last weekend at Coastal Carolina, which I was not able to go to because of the length of the drive and because it was on a chemo week.  But I was out at the field this weekend for all 4 games up at Western Carolina.  It felt so good to get back out on the field and coach again.  We had a great weekend going 4-0.  It is always a good feeling to win but when you have a group of guys like we have it makes it even better. 

Jenny was down at Kiawah Island for Emily's bachelorette party.  She had a great time getting to see her friends again.  I told her last night not to call me because I had a long day at the field but to let me know that she got home ok, so I recieved my text message at 2:45 am letting me know she was back.  And yes I slept through the beeping to find the text the next morning. 

Now to the boring stuff.  The treatments are going good and every other week just means that I am one week closer to beating this.  This Wednesday I will have treatment number 8 and when I get unhooked on Friday I will only have 4 treatments left.  My college drinking days have finally caught up with me as a couple of weeks ago I had to skip a treatment due to my liver counts being a little too high.  But those numbers are back to being normal and all of my other counts are right on par as well.

If anyone wants to see some pictures of the wedding you can find those at http://www.upstatebliss.com/?p=253

I hope everyone has a good week.

Tim

Chemo Round #6

Well it has been a while since I have updated the sight and I am really sorry about that.  I was unable to recieve a treatment last week due to my liver counts been al ittle too high.  Which I won't be too mad at.  It gave me a total of 3 weeks off and feeling good.  I am currently on my 6th treatment that I just started yesterday.  This is the halfway point for me.  Once I get unhooked tomorrow then I will only have 6 more treatments left.  It seems like it will never end but I have a feeling that it will be over with sooner than I can immagine. 

This past week and the week before were really nice.  I was able to play a little bit of golf and I was able to make it to the Greek Festival.  The Greek Festival was the highlight of the weekend b/c they have the best food especially their lamb burgr.  It is something that I look forward to every year.  After devoured the burger I had to go and see the Fosters and get some of their ice cream.  It is such a great festival with lots of fun and great food. 

Once Jenny and I left the Greek Festival friday night we decided that we were going to go and meet her dad and his brother for the weekend at Fripp Island.  We arrived on the island at around 10:30 and stayed up and talked to them for a bit before everyone went to bed.  We woke up the next morning at about 9:00 and were on the beach fishing by 10:30.  We stayed out there for about 2 hours before we went and met up with Robert's daughter Jessie.  We picked her up and had a little lunch and went back out for a little more fishing.  Over the weekend the 5 of us combined caught 2 fish and had maybe 5 bites.  It was not the best fishing any of us have done.  We stayed up and watched a movie that night before we were up and out of the house by 9:45 the next morning. 

We got back to Greenville a little bit after lunchtime and I was out at the baseball field by 5:00.  But not before I stopped by Greenville Memorial Hospital to see the most beautiful little girl that I have ever laid my eyes on.  Miss Lillian Francis Bright was born Saturday morning at around 9:00.  Jenny and I were able to spend about 30 minutes with her before I had to head over to the field.  We had a good practice and I can see the kids are getting better and are excited to be out there. 

Well I am about halfway through this treatment and I am ready for it to be over and I can get back to being somewhat normal for a couple of days.  Again I want to thank everyone for all of their thoughts and prayers.

Tim

CEA Test Results

We're excited to give everyone a quick update about the test results we got back today. We met at the house for lunch so we could give the doctors office a call in to see about getting the results back. Tim had to leave a message for the nurse and got a call back a little while later. Before chemo started Tim's CEA counts were 5.7 where the normal person is preferably below 2.5 but 3.0 is considered to be the start of the "normal" range. Tim's test came back at a 3.4 which means the chemo is working!

Although we still have a long journey to go this was some great news for us to get today and makes it all just a little bit easier to bear.

Thanks to all of you for your support over the last few months, we wouldn't have been able to make it this far without you!

Tim & Jenny

Chemo Round #5

Well I am back again writing this week.  I will not be able to remember everything that happened over the past 2 and a half weeks but I will highlight a couple of days that I do remember.  I was on my way to my house for lunch this past Wednesday when Coach Smith from Furman called me and asked if I would throw out the 1st pitch at the Furman vs. PC baseball game the next night.  He told me that I needed to be there by 6:30 and the game started at 7:00

Now before I get into this story I must say that if you cant make fun of yourself then who can you make fun of.  Jenny and I got to the field on Thursday at 6:15 and went up to our box that Brody let us have for the night and put our things down.  I then made my way down to the main concourse and caught a glimpse of Coach Smith and he asked me if I want to come down there and throw a little bit to get warmed up.  Now this was mistake #1.  I told him “nah I am good,  I will just sling it when I get out there”.  Now keep in mind that this will be the 2nd time that I have thrown a ball in the past year and the first time went perfect. 

I was down in the dugout with Coach and some of the players that I coached a couple of years ago just talking about the season and what they were going to do next year when they graduated, when they called my name out to the mound.  I went up the stairs and make my way to the bump and stopped just short but I was still on the dirt of the mound.  I looked in at one of my former players Chris Cowart who was catching me, and I went into my BP throwing motion.  This was mistake #2.  I should have just stepped and thrown the ball but I wanted to put a little extra juice on it tonite.  Well I threw it pretty hard considering everything I have gone through this past 4 months but the ball short-hopped the catcher and got past him.  Coach Smith threw his hands in the air in disbelief and I dropped my head in shame.  How can a former D-1 pitcher not get the ball all the way to the mit.  It was a very embarrassing situation that I’m sure I will hear about for a while.  As embarrassing the situation was for me I would still do it all over again b/c it was such an honor for me that Coach Smith wanted me to do this.

On Friday after work Jenny and I made the short trip up to Gaffney to do a little bit of shopping that lasted all of 20 min because there was nothing there we really wanted.  We then made the short treck over to Cracker Barrel and had dinner before we headed back this way.

Kip came into town on Fri. and hung out with some of his former football buddies in Pickens and I was planning on meeting them on Sat. at 1:30 for a round of golf.  Kip called early that morning and told me that we moved the time forward and were going to tee off at 11:30.  So I hopped in the shower really fast and made my way over to Pickens to meet up with these guys.  I felt pretty good out on the course and was back to swinging like I used to.  I hit the ball pretty good and we had a god time until the sky opened up on us while we were on hole 8.  We decided to stop after 9 and get rain checks and when Kip comes back up this way we will go and play again.

I got back late in the afternoon on Sat. and just relaxed on the couch while Jenny did her cousin Rebecca’s hair and make-up for her prom that night.  Once she was done we both got ready for Ryan Earl’s birthday dinner at Bin 112.  We picked up John and Christy and made our way over to Greer.  The food was really good and it was good to see all of those people again.

Sunday I went up to the Club to watch my dad and brother play in the shootout for the Member/Member Tournament at Thorneblade.  They ended up missing the shootout by one shot.  We decided that we would go out there and watch the shootout anyways.  I lasted about a hole b/c they started the shootout late and I left to come home and eat dinner with Jenny. 

Everything has been pretty boring since Jenny posted last time, we are just settling into married life which still sounds pretty strange to say. Today I started Round 5 of my Chemo treatments.  Things are going ok I am mainly just tired and kinda loopy from the medicine that I am taking.  I will try to give another update by the end of the weekend talking about how this round went.  Again I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and I actually have a favor to ask about that. Today they took some extra blood from me to look at my CEA levels which are also called tumor markers. This will let us know if the chemo is working or if the cancer has progressed while I’ve been doing the treatments. The doctor was really positive about everything today so I think the results should turn out to be alright but if ya’ll could just keep us in your thoughts as we wait for the results I’d really appreciate it.

Tim

Chemo Round #4

So I decided to give Tim a little break as he is so exhausted from the events over the past week.

His last chemo treatment went pretty smoothly, he even went and hit a few balls with Steven on Friday after work and getting unhooked. By Saturday Tim was feeling a little rough but rested all day and we went over to Jay & Carolyn's engagement party that night. Sunday we laid around and got ready for our last few days at work before the wedding.

Tim worked on Monday and Tuesday before heading down to Augusta to watch Bill play a practice round at the Masters. We ran errands on Thursday and had dinner at Tim's parents house with all of his family members that had already arrived and my family.

Friday, Tim rode around with his brother, dad, cousins and uncles while they played some golf. He even managed to get in about 4 holes himself. He came back to the house and quickly got ready for the rehearsal dinner before picking me up to meet some of the guys to get their tuxes. We went straight from there to the rehearsal where we were entertained by our flowergirls. Hannah and Emma's placecards were in front of the groomsmen and because they knew they were supposed to be standing on their nametags, they picked them up and moved them in front of the bridesmaids instead. They also informed the wedding director that they "might have to play" when she told them that they would need to stand really still during the ceremony.

After the rehearsal we went over to the rehearsal dinner at the Lazy Goat which was absolutely incredible. We had a great turnout, the food was amazing and the story Steven shared about Tim was priceless. We went out for a little bit to Mojito's and Connelly's before Tim dropped me off with my parents and headed with Kip over to his for the night.

Saturday we both got up and got ready for the big day. We had such an incredible turnout at the wedding and were entertained throughout the ceremony by the flowergirls again. They were incredibly cute and even gave Tim a scare by taking so long to get down the aisle that he didn't think I was coming. The only time Tim didn't really feel well was after the ceremony and pictures but he perked right up once we got to the reception hall where our amazing wedding planners met him outside with cheese and crackers and a glass of wine for me.

We had a fun time at the reception and carried it later into the night by meeting everyone out at Connelly's and even making it to the Fiddler before heading to Waffle House, dropping Steven at his house and finally getting into our hotel room around 5 in the morning. We woke up the next morning to some cheez-its and a glow stick thanks to some very thoughtful friends of mine who were afraid that we "might get hungry and would need a light to find our way to the food." Kristen, Lindsey and Jen came by to check out their work from the night before and Kip and Ryan stopped by to drop off Kip's tux and sample some of the wedding food we were sent home with.

Tim and I got up and headed over to his parents to drop off the tuxes we had before going by my parents to drop off my dress and finally we came home to pack before heading up to Highlands to stay at the Old Edwards Inn for our "mini-moon". The 2 hour drive up the windy mountain roads was not fun without Dramamine but it was all worth it.

The Old Edwards Inn and Spa was such an incredible place and our room was really nice. I think Tim's favorite part (and pretty high up there for me too) was that they had a freezer completely full of Dove Ice Cream bars that were available 24/7. We had some great meals, had fun shopping and both really wish we didn't have to leave yesterday!

Today we had to be at the Cancer Center at 8 for all of Tim's testing, doctor's appointment and infusions. A stitch had been poking out for about 2 weeks so they decided to cut it out today, hopefully that will be the last one for him. His levels have dipped a little but that is to be expected with all of the activity over the last week so Tim is working on relaxing and getting himself rested back up.

Thanks to all of you for all of your support, we're excited to finally be official and are working on settling into our house together.  Tim will be back soon for your entertainment pleasure!

Jenny 

Chemo Round #3

Well I am back for another update.  I said last time that I wasn't going to wait a whole week to write another update but that is exactly what I did.  I am not going to go all the way back a week because to be honest my life really isn't that much fun.

Ill start with Friday.  John and Christy Groome and Ryan and Casey Earl threw us a great "Entertainment Shower" on Friday night.  We had a really good time and it was good to see people that Jenny and I haven't seen in a while.  The food was absolutely amazing.  I still can't get over how good the "dirt cake" was.  I think that I could have eaten the whole bowl.  I would have been incredibly sick but I would have been happy being sick from that.

Andi and Aaron came into town on Friday afternoon and their gift to us for the shower was a turkey fryer.  Now I have been wanting one of these for a while now and I finally have one.  Jenny thinks that I will burn down the house and honestly I don't blame her for thinking that about me.  So, thankfully Aaron was in town and he has fried his fair share of turkeys and we fried a 12 lb turkey Saturday afternoon.  Soup came by that afternoon when the turkey was finishing up and then Kip got here about an hour after that.  The turkey was so good.  Over half of the turkey was gone after about an hour of us picking on it.

That night was my mini bachelor party.  We had 16 guys meet at Rick Erwin's downtown for dinner and then off to my folks house to chill, play a little poker, and watch the fight.  We met at the restaurant at 7:00 and it was really good.  We left and got back to my parents house by about 9:45 just before the fight started.  We had a good time and it was very laid back just like I wanted it to be.

On Monday I went into the Cancer Center and got my blood work done and met with the Doctor.  All of my counts were really good and still up to great levels.  Over the weekend I had a really sharp pain near my incision on my stomach.  I had the doctor look at it and she said it is just scar tissue and nerves building back.  This was a great relief because now its like Rodney Carrington says "if I stump my toe I think I got cancer" well I have that, but you get my point.  I did receive some great news that day as well.  I asked if I could start playing golf again and she said that I could.

Tuesday when I got to work the first call I made was to my surgeon to see what he thinks about this golf idea.  I left a message for his secretary and she called back about an hour later and said that I am cleared to play but if it hurts just stop.  I haven't played since late Jan. and yesterday after work Steven and I went up to Thornblade and hit a couple of balls at the range and there was no pain.  Just the pain that I don't hit it nearly as far as I used to.  But that will come with time.

Chemo started today and I felt pretty good.  I was there at 9:00 but it took much longer today than it usually does.  I left there and went to grab a little bit to eat and then headed over to work for a little bit.  By about 2:00 I couldn't keep my eyes open from the medicine I took at 1:00.  So I left and got home close to 3:00 and before I knew it 7:00 had crept up on me.

 Hopefully this round will go by fast and without too many problems.  I am ready for this week to get finished so I can get ready for next weekend with our wedding and "mini-moon" to Old Edwards Inn and Spa.  Like always I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.  My love to all.

Tim

End of Round #2

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

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

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

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

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

Date Night #2

Well I haven't posted anything on here in a while so I figured I would update the site tonite.  This past weekend was pretty quiet for everyone on this end.  Sunday we got out of the house for a little bit and went to church, lunch, and ran some errands. 

I started back to work on Monday and it was so good to get back to a normal routine and see the people I get to work with everyday.  I only stayed until about 12:30 but it felt like I was there all day long.  I guess it will take some getting used to being back in the swing of things. 

Last night Carolyn came over and helped Jenny and I stuff all of our wedding invitations.  I don't think that we would have been able to do all of that if she wouldn't have been here to help us out.  With the three of us doing that it still took us alomst 3 hours.  I can only imagine if it was just Jenny and I.  So I want to tell Carolyn thank you again for the help.

I worked again today until about 12:30 for the second straight day.  It is really funny how it sounds like such a short time to be at work but it really takes a lot out of me right now.  I left and went and met my brother and Billy for lunch before I came back home and did a little laundry and relaxed.  Jenny called me at around 4:45 and told me to come to her office and that we were going to have a "date night" tonite.  We went and had a good dinner at Coal Fire.  We had a glass of wine, split a salad, and had a great pizza.  It was so good to get out of the house, just the two of us, and have a good night together. 

I have so much to look forward to tomorrow when I am lucky enough to get my stitches taken out from where they put the port in my chest and I get to go to the dentist.  I don't know how I will be able to sleep tonite with that excitement tomorrow.  I hope everyone has a great night and day tomorrow.

FOLFOX

We are so excited to be able to share some great news with you all today. We met with Tim's oncologist this afternoon where we learned the results of his PET scan and what the course of treatment would be. The doctor informed us that all of Tim's organs are CLEAR from any sign of spread from the cancer. There were 3 spots out of the usual that lit up (visit this site to learn more about how that works: http://www.petscaninfo.com/zportal/portals/pat/basic/howpetworks),  one was his incision, one was the spot where his colon was rejoined to itself and the last were 2 lymph nodes. The doctor is fairly certain that all are lighting up as a response to the trama they endured during Tim's surgery but will be keeping a close eye on the lymph nodes during Tim's next PET scan in 6 months just to verify that is the only reason they are illuminated.

We are really trying not to put the cart before the horse but can't help but to be so excited about this incredible news. Although we did receive great news today we still have a long journey ahead. Tim will start a chemo treatment nicknamed Folfox on March 3. This will include him going to the cancer center to have blood work and about 3 hours of infusions before they hook up a chemo pump to his port. He will be able to carry on his day-to-day activities by carrying the pump around in a handy-dandy fanny pack. He gets to carry around his fashionable fanny pack for 48 hours before returning to the cancer center to have it removed. He will do this about every other week (twice a month) for approximately 6 months which will turn out to be a total of 12 treatments.

Once he has completed all of his treatments he will have another PET scan which we hope will come up completely clear so that we may put all of this behind us. We will continue to update the site on his progress as we go but wanted to share the news as fast as we could.

I know we say this everyday but thank you all so very much for everything you have done for all of us over the past few weeks. We really wouldn't have made it without all of you and your support. Please keep Tim in your prayers over the next few months as he goes through these treatments. It is our hope that he will have as few side effects from the chemo as possible and will be able to start living life as close to normal as before.

Tim's Side

I know Jenny has already given some updates today but I thought I'd give my side of the story.  Today was probably the roughest day for me so far.  After the surgery I was not only hurting on my stomach but now my neck is hurting as well.

We got to the hospital around 7:30 this morning to do all of the normal checking in routine.  They took me back for surgery at around 9 and my nerves were going crazy.  It took about 10 min. once I got into the procedure room before they got started. They gave me the meds that were intended to knock me out but they didn't do their job.  I was awake for the ENTIRE procedure. That was my fear going into thing today and it came true.  I felt the first shot to numb the location and after that I couldn't feel a thing.  I was told when I got out of surgery that I was talking a mile-a-minute.  Who knew that I would do that?

I got back into my post-op room where my folks and Jenny were there waiting.  I could feel the pain in my neck where they connected the port to the vain in my neck to get the medicine to where it needs to be.  I had to wait in the post-op room for around an hour before they left me leave with no prescription for pain medicine.  I am lucky enough to get to take Tylenol for the pain I am experiencing.

I got back to my house and Jenny helped me into the bed and I took about a two hour nap.  I'm so glad I could sleep when I got home and not in the surgery room.  I don't understand sometimes why I do things backwards.

I had a great surprise when Steven came over to hang out with me at around 6:30.  I watched him play video games and now he is sitting with Jenny and I watching the Olympics.

I am going to hang for the rest of the night and hope for a better day tomorrow with no pain.  I want to thank everyone for the kind words and prayers before and after my procedure today, and for that fact this whole process.

Tim 

Post-Op Port Placement

The surgery went well today. We are sitting in the recovery room and have about 30 more minutes here before we can go home. Tim did great today, he is pretty sore but everything went smoothly. The nurse referred to him as a Clydesdale based on how much sedation medicine they gave him and yet he still couldn't be knocked out. Apparently he was a pretty talkative guy during the procedure and asked the same questions over and over including asking the doctor how long he had been doing this and if this was his first time. They also got to hear ALL about our wedding, I'm sure they loved that! He only has spotty memories of everything but said he couldn't feel anything at all. I think he's ready to get home into his own bed and sleep the day away.

Port Surgery

Good morning! We got to the hospital about 7:30 this morning and have had a really smooth and fast process with checking in. Tim actually was just wheeled back to the operating room about 5 minutes ago which was 30 minutes early. The only hitch this morning was that they let Tim know he would not be completely knocked out and would be given similar sedatives as to what he had during his colonoscopy. He was a little nervous about waking up during the middle of this procedure as that is what happened during his colonoscopy but once again the nurses have been excellent and have worked their magic to reassure him.

One of the nurses pulled me up to the desk to show me what the port will feel like as well as what it looks like. I was really impressed, its a tiny little triangle about the diameter of a quarter and is about the depth of 4 quarters stacked upon one another. From what I understand it will show through his skin a little more or less dependent upon where they place it on his chest.  There is a tiny little line leading from the port that they will attach to one of the arteries within his neck. From everything we've been told he should be bouncing right back from this procedure within 2-3 days.

The procedure is scheduled to last about an hour between the prep, the ultrasound they do to find where to place the port and the actual procedure itself. He will be in recovery for about an hour before we get to head back home just in time for his daily nap. :)

Thanks for keeping Tim on your thoughts and in your prayers this morning, we all appreciate it!

Pre-Op Port Placement

Well everyone you get Tim himself again tonite.  Today was a pretty quiet day which was much needed after yesterday.  I woke up today to find that Doug and Angela Lineberry had left us a breakfast feast on our front porch.  There's not a better way to wake up than having someone drop food off for you.  My mom came over to the house and she helped me clean up a little bit.  My brother and Billy came by the house after lunch and stayed and hung out with me for a little while.  It was good to sit and laugh today.

After they left I went and met Jenny for our meeting with Leta.  Our meeting lasted about an hour and when we finished I really wanted a smoothie so of course I drove over to Smoothie King and got my "Angel Food" smoothie, and it was amazing.

I got back to the house and Jenny and I had a little under and hour before we needed to head over to Becca's game, so nurse Jenny dug into my stomach before we left.  Jenny has been so amazing doing this for me and is so delicate when digging around.

We got to the game in plenty of time and sat up at the very top so I could have something to lean back on.  Becca gave us a wave before the game which made me feel pretty cool.  She played a great game as did the rest of her team as they dominated Seneca. 

I want to thank a couple of people for some great dinners that I haven't done yet.  I want to thank Ryan and Casey as well as all of our "Dinner Club" buddies.

Tomorrow I get my port placed.  So I'm guessing that Jenny will probably update everyone on how things went. 

I know that Jenny and I say this every night but it really means so much to us for everyone saying such kind words and keeping both of us and our families in their prayers. 

Tim

Q-Tip

Well today was by far the most event filled day I have had so far.  It all started at 9:00 with a small cup of apple sauce, the only thing I was able to eat all day, and then I had to be over at the Cancer Center by 9:30 for lab work.  And let me say this, I don't like anything about needles, and when they say "lab work" it really means "Ok Tim we need a lot of you blood so just sit back and try not to pass out."  So I had them lay me down before they drained everything out of my arm.

After that was over I headed over to my office to make 2 copies of some bills that have come in.  It was so good to finally see the people I work with everyday.  I didn't stay too long but it was so good to see all of them and catch back up with them a little bit.

I left my office and went back to my house for some rest before my jam packed rest of the afternoon. 

My mom and I left my house at 1:00 to get to my appt. with my surgeon for him to look over my cut from when it busted open this weekend.  He told me that I have a very small infection in my cut.  He then precedes to take off all of the butterfly strips and then took it one step further and grabbed a long q-tip.  At this point my eyes got a little wide but I really wasn't that worried because I figured he was just going to get a little sample and it would be over and we could both move on with our lives.  But that was not the case.  He preceded to put peroxide on the end of the swab and jam it down into the small opening in my incision and acted like he was baking a cake.  I have felt some crazy pain my life but nothing prepared my for this pain I felt today.  After it was over he acted like nothing happened and nonchalantly told Jenny that she would be doing the same thing 3 times a day for the next 2 weeks.  At this point right now I don't know who is more scared me or Jenny.

I left the kitchen, I mean the doctor's office, and Jenny, my mom, and I headed over to the place where I was getting my PETscan.  We arrived early because the surgeon's office was fairly close to where this place is.  We got there and sat in the waiting room when a familiar face come over and talk to us.  Marc Young's mom works at the hospital and happened to be over at the PETscan place this week, so she came and talked to us for about 10 minutes. 

I got taken back to my room where they hooked an IV into my arm and made me drink this funny tasting water drink.  It was nice b/c I was in a recliner and I just sat and literally watched the clock move for 50 minutes before they finally came and got me and took me back to the scanning room.  They laid me down and slid me through a tube for about 20 or 25 minutes and then it was over. 

I left the PETscan and Jenny and I went back to the house and finally my crazy day was over.  I think that my day was so full and it was nonstop that I really just didn't feel well at all when I got home.  But I feel fine now and I am glad that today is over and I get a break tomorrow.

Again I want to thank everyone who looks at this site and who has written me here, sent me a text, or called.  All of these things are so humbling and keep me going everyday. 

Tim

Hematoma

Today was a pretty eventful day for us which included a trip to the ER. We got up around 9 this morning and I went to go get my haircut while Tim took a nap on the couch. When I got home we decided to talk a walk before all of the snow from last night melted. Tim got off the couch, I helped him put his shoes on and as he walked over to put his jacket on he felt down by his incision and found that it was leaking pretty badly, including a good bit onto the floor. We decided to head to the ER to get it checked out but Tim made me clean up the part on the floor before we left so it wouldn't "stain the wood."

We went to the North Greenville Campus of Memorial so we could get there faster and had a short wait to get back to see the doctor. Once we got back there the doctor ended up being an old friend of the Brights and was incredibly helpful. He explained that due to the intense bruising on Tim's stomach (aka a hematoma) he had most likely developed a seroma which is simply a pocket of fluid that can collect after surgery. At some point of Tim's moving around the seroma had managed to make its way through a weak portion of his incision. We were told to keep an eye on it and to visit his doctor on Monday just to have it checked again. It was great to learn that this is just a standard thing that sometimes happens with surgery and wasn't something we needed to worry about.

After leaving the ER we came back to the house and had a little lunch after Tim got settled into the couch again. His friends Jason and David came over (as well as Jason's girlfriend) and hung out with us for awhile. David stayed over for dinner, Mrs. Haas's awesome Chicken Pot Pie and some overly salted zucchini (guess I should've been paying a little more attention to what I was adding while I was cooking :)), before heading back to Atlanta. We're just taking it easy and watching some of the Olympic games before we take it to bed a little earlier than usual tonight. Hopefully tomorrow brings a much less exciting day for us!

Visitors

Today has been both a productive and exciting day for Tim. I've been back at work since Wednesday so I woke him up before I left to help get him up out of bed. He fell back asleep until about noon and started doing laundry (seems like he likes household chores more than he wants to let on). He also ordered some flowers to be delivered to my office today, such a sweet guy! In between all of those tasks he managed to get some calls in to the doctors office confirming appointments for next week before Aaron and Andi came at 1:30.

Bill came by shortly after and they all played Scene It on Tim's PS3 and the boys took turns playing football after that. They let us out of work a little early today due to the snow that started at 4 so I got home around 5 to all of them having a good time and Andi in the middle of cooking us an amazing dinner. Bill couldn't stay for dinner but we all got to hang out for a little while during the cooking. We ate dinner and hung out for a little bit before Andi and Aaron had to head back to Columbia before the snow got too bad. It ended up taking them almost 3 hours to get back down there due to how much was falling.

We also ended up getting some additional visitors this evening. Haley and David stopped by to hang out and entertain us for about an hour before they went to her parents house for dinner. After they left Tim got a shower all on his own and we've settled down to watch the opening ceremonies which are, according to Tim, like a musical and not in a good way.

Not only has Tim been pretty active and stayed busy today but he also made some tremendous physical achievements throughout the day. In addition to being able to shower by himself he is now able to lie himself down on the couch as well as get back up. He also learned how to get himself up out of the bed by himself and is hoping to be able to be on his own by Monday and possibly start driving again not too long after that. His stamina and determination impress me even more each day and hopefully he will be running at full speed before too long so he can move into the next stage of his fight.

For now we are just watching the end of the ceremony and the snow that has already dumped about 4" and is still steadily falling. Its the most either of us have seen here in a few years and Tim is more than impressed. We both hope that all of you have a fantastic Valentines Day, enjoy spending some quality time with the one you love. We will be enjoying some much needed quality time with one another here at the house. Have a great weekend and enjoy the snow!!

Staple Removal

Not much has really happened these past 2 days.  Yesterday I laid around the house all day until around 5 when Steven came over and I finally beat him in College Football.  He has humiliated me until yesterday but it was a good feeling to finally win 1.  It was too cold to go for a walk outside so I took about 25 laps through the house. Then last night Jay Jr. and Carolyn came over and brought a ton of food for us to freeze and then they hung around for about an hour and talked. I also got a great message from Ern's 2 year old daughter yesterday, she sent me a voice message saying that she hoped I felt better, that she loved me and that she made me a necklace. She also sent me a picture of this necklace that said "EK LOVES TIM" on it. I love it.

Today I was up early to get the staples out of my stomach.  This was a terrible pain but according to the doctor I was kind of a wuss about it.  After that great experience my mom and I hung out together for the rest of the day until Mrs. Haas brought over an unbelievable dinner for all of us.  She spoiled us way too much but it was so so good. 

Ever since dinner I've just been hanging around. My dad came over to help me shower again and I was able to actually stand up to do it all on my own for the first time tonight which was pretty awesome. I think I'm about to go to bed now, this exciting life has worn me out. Again I want to thank everyone for all of their kind words and prayers.

Ern's Visit

I wanted to give Jenny the night off of writing this so I am taking charge tonite.  Today was a day filled with information and the tasks that are ahead of me next week.  As you all know last night Jenny posted that I wanted doughnuts and I guess as they all say "ask and you shall recieve" and today I recieved a dozen Dunkin Doughnuts from my man Ern.  I could have kissed him when he came in the door with the box but then as soon as I did that he would punch me and walk back out....................with the doughnuts in hand.  Ern is a great friend and it was good to see him today and even nicer that he brought Jenny and I food.

I got a call from Dr. Edenfield this afternoon right after lunch and he told us about everything that I would be facing in the coming weeks.  Staring on Monday I have to go and do some lab work at The Cancer Center, and then that afternoon I have go and and get a PET scan in order to see if the cancer has spread at all. 

I get a break on Tuesday with no appointments or any plans for the day.  I think after Monday I will want a day off.

Wednesday I am going to have a port installed in my chest for the Chemo treatments I will begin to recieve in early March and will last for about 6 months.  I'm glad for the port b/c me and needles don't see eye to eye. 

Thursday afternoon we get to sit down with Dr. Edenfield to discuss test results and talk about how we are going to attack this.

Enough about next week, I will now get back to the rest of the day today (because I really lead a super exciting life) and after the phone call Jenny and I kept working on wedding stuff which will still take place in April.  Tonite John and Christy brought dinner over and it was amazing.  I called Christy after eating and told her that was the most I had eaten in almost a week and a half. 

Both our parents came over tonite and we discussed our wedding and what we should do and like I said earlier we decided that the wedding is still a go and I can't wait for it to get here. 

Like Jenny says everyday at the end of her posts, I really can't thank everyone enough for all of the love and support everyone has given.  Getting on the site and seeing all of the new messages everyday puts a huge smile on my face.  So for that I want to say THANK YOU to everyone that has posted or visited this site.

Tim

Dunkin Doughnuts

Tim had a great day today. We only woke up once last night and slept almost 12 hours. It put a small dent into the lack of sleep we both have after last week.

Tim laid in bed for about 3 hrs this morning in order to air out his incision. During that time he ate double of what he has eaten the whole day in the hospital. He stomach is also looking much less swollen today (although after the busy day he had it was looking a little puffy tonight). We took a walk around the circle in our neighborhood which is the furthest he has gone yet, he even managed to tackle a few very small hills. He spent the afternoon sitting up in a chair watching Glee with me. Steven came over after work to beat Tim at football on the PS3.

Thanks to our friend John who helped me switch our showerhead for a handheld version today as well as Tim's dad for supervising him again, Tim was able to successfully get a shower for the first time at our house. He looks so much better today than he has in awhile.

We weren't able to get in with Dr. Edenfield as there are a few tests Tim needs to have before an appointment would do much good but he did call us today and Tim is hoping to touch base with him to get a few questions answered tomorrow morning. As for now we are laying in bed (well he is in bed and I'm on the floor next to him on the Aerobed which is an incredible upgrade from the hospital cot) and watching the Food Network. Amazingly Tim just got hungry for the first time as we were watching a show featuring donuts covered in a maple glaze and dipped in fresh bacon bits. I think we may make our first field trip out tomorrow for some Dunkin Doughnuts for him. The strides he is making everyday are astounding and we are hoping for the best as we head through the next few weeks and months. Please continue to keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers as we have a long journey ahead of us.

Released

Last night was pretty uneventful except for our neighbor's alert system going off approximately every 15 to 30 minutes and keeping us awake. We watched part of season 1 of Glee and found a new addiction.

The doctors came in around 6 and informed us that if Tim was ready we could head home today provided that he tried some solid food at lunch and everything went ok with that. We made sure that he got another shower and packed up at the hospital in order to make the drive home. We got back around 4, got Tim settled into bed where he has been napping ever since. I think just being at home has done wonders for him in terms of sleep already.

We're trying to get in with the oncologist tomorrow to discuss the most recent developments we learned on Friday and hopefully we will be able to get some answers to all of our questions. Other than that I think we will both be sleeping the next few days away as the hospital doesn't exactly allow for a solid nights worth of sleep. We are both so glad to be back in our own home and are looking forward to some much needed rest.

More News

We've stayed busy these past 36 hours so I have not had an opportunity to post anything. Tim has made lots of progress over the past 2 days. His meals have gone from an icy and some jello to full liquids including pudding, applesauce, nutrient shakes and pureed chicken noodle soup. He has also gone from eating just a spoonful or two to eating almost all of each.

Due to a little teamwork Tim was also able to have a shower and he looks (as well as feels) much better. He has also been up and walking around the floor making as many as 2 laps at a time. Sitting up in a chair has become a regular occurrence and he is even managing to get himself up and out of chairs and the bed only using people as support rather than helping to pull him out.

He and Steven have been competing with NCAA 2010 Football on his new PlayStation 3 and there was a Trivial Pursuit competition on there earlier today with Tim & Steven completing against Mr. Bright & my dad. We've also been experimenting with the SceneIt game and may even play a little Sonic later.

Unfortunately it is not all good news. We did get some preliminary tests results back late yesterday afternoon which suggested that the cancer may not have been confined to the colon. Right now is just a waiting game for us until we can go meet with Tim's oncologist on Monday so we really have more questions than information right now. We are just taking this one step at a time and your continued thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated by us all.

2 Days After Surgery

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry in this nasty weather. Today has been a very long but productive day for Tim. He got up out of bed again this afternoon where he stood for about 20 minutes while his sheets were changed for him. The second time he got up seemed to go much more smoothly than the first as he was more comfortable with the process.

During lunch & dinner today he discovered the true definition of hospital food. He managed to get a few spoonfuls of chicken broth down at lunch but barely took a sip of the beef broth at dinner before he decided that it just wasn't up to his discerning tastes. He ate part of another Luigi's icy at lunch and actually managed to finish one at dinner. Although he told me repeatedly just how amazing they are and how much I needed to get one, I'm thinking that he will never want to see another Italian Ice once all of this is over.

One of the nurses suggested that watching the food network sometimes will help get your stomach moving and growling again which can, in turn, help the rest of his digestive system get a jump start. Needless to say I was pretty happy with that determination since it means it was "medically necessary" to keep the TV off of ESPN and we (or I) just happened to be lucky enough that he changed it over right as Paula Deen (my favorite) came on. This also brought an additional benefit to Tim, he got a nice long 2 hour nap in this afternoon. He has mentioned feeling some spasms in his abdomen so who knows, maybe this "medicine" is actually working.

During his vital check this evening his PCT helped us to come up with a plan to start backing him down on his morphine pump. Now instead of hitting his button every 12 minutes he is hitting it every 30. This is still managing his pain just as much but is allowing him to sleep much more soundly (he is snoring loudly in the background as I write this) and from what we understand will help speed up the healing process both now and later as he begins to switch over to pain tablets rather than the pump.

Thank you all for your encouraging notes on this site. I make sure that I pick out a few to read to him each time he wakes up. He is absolutely astounded that so many people are in his corner and each time mentions how amazed he is about all of you that are following his progress. Although the doctors are working on healing his body right now I really believe that all of you are helping to heal his spirit through all you have done and continue to do for him.

One more note, that I can't believe I forgot to mention earlier today (pbly has something to do with hearing the news at 4am), but Dr. Robbins informed us that the results of Tim's blood work came back completely clear. Although we are still waiting on path results to find out if the cancer spread to his lymph nodes, it was excellent news to know that they didn't find any signs of it in his blood and helps add to the hope that it was contained within that one spot within his colon.

Day After Surgery

Last night was a pretty good one for Tim. He surprised me by how alert and lively he was last evening and stayed awake off and on until about 1 this morning. He finally figured out how to fall asleep without setting off his Oxygen alarm around 2 and slept as well as anyone could expect when being poked and prodded every few hours. So far we have seen 2 doctors this morning, one from Dr. Robbins practice and most recently Dr. Robbins himself. Both said he was looking great and they expect him to get up and walk around the wing today. He has been upgraded to clear liquids so they brought him a wonderful breakfast of apple juice, tea, green jello and a Luigi's lemon icy thing. Tim choose to only eat the icy and I can't say I blame him at all. After he ate he burped twice which is a great sign that his digestive system is getting itself started back up. I just helped the nurse place him into a chair where he has been sitting for about 30 minutes now and is doing great. He was also able to brush his teeth and was given a sponge bath. Not exactly the hot young nurse that he had originally envisioned but she had a great personality :) Overall he is doing a fantastic job and I couldn't be more proud of him. He still has a long road to a full recovery but is taking some amazing strides at getting there.