More Up than Down Right Now

I called to talk to my dad today and ended up talking to my mom for a few minutes. She seems to be doing okay right now since the last scare on Monday afternoon. Her vital signs have been good since then and I am headed up there tomorrow. This whole cancer thing is just a weird cycle. I have quit trying to figure it out or to speculate what will happen with mom next. God seems to be teaching me to just take one step at a time, deal with that and help my dad see the big picture of what is going on. He is so "on the ground" with mom on all of this that at times it is hard for him to step and see what we need to be thinking about and planning for. He is open to my brother and I doing that though so that makes it a little easier.

I ran 5 this morning after running 5 late yesterday afternoon and hope to run 10 in the morning before I head to KC. My running is still happening but I am not logging more than 5-6/day typically.


Today I completed 15 years at LifeWay. It has been a great place to work most of the time and right now is very, very good. My boss, Joe, is really wonderful and has been so understanding with all the stuff that is going on with my mom. When I started at LifeWay, Morgan was about 10 months old. Now she is almost 16. Time really does go in a hurry.


Thanks for praying for my mom and dad. I know that I do not get the chance to thank each of you personally, (I hope to be able to do that), but please know how much I and the rest of my family appreciate your prayers, concerns, thoughts and many expressions of care towards us during this time. Each of you is a strong blessing to us.

Up and Down

So goes mom right now. Yesterday was not a very good day and overall she continues to decline. I left KC yesterday am and about 4p my dad called to say mom was doing really bad. By 7p, she was better. I just think this is a new cycle that we are in.

I head back to KC and to KS to do a conference over the weekend. Shelbi and I had a good visit to B'ham yesterday and today and the class I taught for the New Orleans Seminary extension went really well. Great group of students and I was able to give them some freebies. That is always an easy grab for good reviews.

Looking forward to being at home tonight. Seems like it has been awhile. Morgan is still feeling puny and missed another day of school. I told her I thought she was faking and she disagreed. I agree with her. She's just puny right now. Much to do yet today, so I will try and update you on mom as I know. As of about 1p today she was doing okay.

Thanks for praying for mom and dad. My dad is especially tired right now. I am so thankful my brother is close by to help ease some of my dad's worry.

And . . . basketball practice officially began yesterday. What a great sport.

Come and Go

That seems to be the way of my life right now. Seems like I am coming and going alot lately. Mom seems to be doing the same. Yesterday morning was a pretty tough time for her and much of the day yesterday was sort of come and go for her. It is obvious that she is declining but she still never complains.

Today is my brother's 48th birthday and he just dropped me off at the airport for me to head back to Nashville. It was good to be able to at least see him on his birthday. He sure is a great help to my parents right now too.

I head back to Nashville, work for awhile and then head to Birmingham to teach an extension class for New Orleans Seminary and Shelbi has a college visit at Samford in the morning so we are killing two birds with one stone. It will be fun to spend some time in the car together.

Looks like it will be a busy week. I am leading conferences in Salina, KS this weekend so I will head back up to KC on Thurs., see my parents and drive to Salina on Fri., lead conferences on then drive back to KC on Sat. night, preach for my dad on Sunday and head back to Nashville on Monday.

As always, thanks for praying for my mom and dad. It appears as though we are heading into some pretty tough time with my mom.

Saturday in KC

I flew to KC late yesterday afternoon and my brother picked me up and we headed to his house. His wife, Julie, had her kids and their clans over for some homemade pizza and it was all so very good. It was good to see all of them and to spend some time with them.

Arrived at my mom and dad's around 830p and mom was sitting up in her bed wanting to talk. She looks okay but I can tell a big difference in the last 10-12 days since I was here last. We talked for about an hour or so and then she headed to bed for a little while. She does not sleep well at night much lately and I heard them up quite a bit. I offered to help but dad is pretty determined to take care of mom (a fact that I am totally amazed by how well he cares for her).

She has not had a very good morning today. She has slept quite a bit after sitting up for about an hour and she does not look good or respond very clearly. She is always very sweet and smiling, but it is a pretty big change since I was here last.

I am going to get my dad out of the house some today and I will take care of mom. He needs a break and then he needs to get some sleep today. I have been dropping many not so subtle hints. I think he is hearing me.

As always, thanks so much for praying for my parents. It is obvious that many people are praying.

End of a Great Season

The Lady Cats lost this afternoon to Knox Catholic in 3 games. We played them tough 26-24, 25-23, and 25-21 but it was not meant to be. This team has accomplished so much this year and have many reasons to be proud. They did not quit today even though they got down 2 games to none.

I talked to Dad today and mom is doing fair. They upped her pain medication more and she continues to just decline a little more every day. I am headed up tomorrow to spend the weekend and to give my dad and brother a little break.

As always, thanks for praying for mom and dad.

My wife's birthday is today and she got a big surprise by her folks showing up from Missouri. It is a little secret I have been keeping for about 5 weeks now. I feel proud to have kept it that long. They got to see Shelbi play the last match today too, so that was way cool.

I am including a pic of my beautiful pride. I love the sign which is a little joke Sondra and I have had for a few years.

1-1 In Pool Play

DCA Lady Cats won in 4 games this morning to go 1-1 in pool play and face Knox Catholic (state defending champions I believe) in the last game of pool play. We really need to win the second match today to move into the semis tomorrow. The girls played well today after the first game and a half. They settled in, had fun and played well. We will see how the 130 match goes. It is running late since our match ran long.

I have not talked to my folks today but will try and get an update later today. Thanks for praying for mom.

Volleyball Update

DCA loses to Page in 4 tonight and we play Thurs @ 1030a and 130p. We did not play bad but we did not really play all that well. Never really got it all together at the same time.

Chicago

Had a nice run in a preserve just east of downtown about 20 miles in Hoffman Estates area of Chicago. Saw a few deer, very few people, and the weather was in the mid-40s and sort of sunny. Ended up running about 9 miles and that was enough. From the smoky San Diego area and the plane rides I have been fortunate enough to catch a head cold. I hate those things. They just make me cranky and feel pretty rotten.

Mom had a fair day yesterday but not really too good. A good day is being redefined just about every day with her failing health. She is extremely restless and only sleeps for a couple of hours at a time and then wants to move around. Of course, she cannot move around by herself so my dad is up alot too. I am headed over on Friday night.

Volleyball state tournament gets under way today with DCA playing Page @ 430p at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro. We play tomorrow at 1030a and 130p and depending how these three matches comes out, we may be playing on Fri. in the semis and if all goes well, the finals on Fri. afternoon. We had the team over last night for lasagna and other assorted goodies and I got in from Chicago about the time they were all leaving. Hated to miss it. They are a fun bunch of girls.

Thanks for praying for my mom and dad.

Fire and Rain

I left San Diego this morning and it was nice, warm and extremely smoky. The fires just outside of San Diego are very bad and with the Santa Ana winds blowing it might not be better for the next few days. All in all it was a good weekend in San Diego.

I am in Chicago until tomorrow and here it is windy, cool and rainy. Just the opposite of what I left this morning in CA. I talked to dad today and mom is sort of holding her own today. She had a pretty good day yesterday but tires very easily and today seems to be pretty weak and her head seems to be hurting quite a bit as well.

I meet with the state youth associates tomorrow here in Chicago and then head home for a few days. I am planning on getting to KC this weekend for a couple of days to be with my folks.

DCA Beats Goodpasture

Amazingly DCA handed Goodpasture, the #1 ranked 2A school in TN, their first loss of the season. There really is very little love lost between DCA and Goodpasture and us besting them this year is really pretty sweet. Our girls volleyball team owned them this year too, beating them all 4 times we played them.

I talked with dad this morning and mom had a pretty good night and was up and moving around some this morning. She usually does pretty good until noon or so and then runs out of gas and begins hurting. Dad sounded pretty rested this morning and mom was smarting off in the background being her usually funny self. This is the first week I have not been up there in the last 6 weeks or so and it looks like it will be next weekend before I can get back up there.

It will be a somewhat full day here today in San Diego but it was nice to sleep in some this morning. I am planning on running 10 or so leaving here in a few minutes. It will be good to get out some.

As always, thanks so much for praying for my mom and dad.

San Diego

I headed to San Diego this morning to be a part of the LifeWay Student Ministry booth at YS. I got here about 1030a and am feeling being 2 hours ahead of the time out here. We have a good team of folks out here and I am here until Monday am and then head to Chicago for a couple of days.

I talked with dad today and mom had a tough start to the day but seems to be doing later in the day. All in all it has been a tough week for her but she never complains.

DCA football is playing Goodpasture tonight and we are up 28-7. If this continues, it would be a pretty big upset. Got Cats!

Thurs. PM Update

Our volleyball team won 3-0 tonight against Summertown and head to the state tournament beginning next Weds. I will try to keep you updated as we go along. Talked to my brother briefly tonight and mom is physically getting pretty weak and tired. Her mind is pretty sharp but the body seems to be having a tough time. Thanks for praying for mom and dad.

Thursday

It was 10-miler in the rain this morning and it was pretty refreshing. I am so thankful that we are getting some much needed rain in middle Tennessee. We are nearly 17 inches behind for the year and any rain is greatly appreciated.

Mom is hanging in. She seems to be growing weaker by the day and is getting to the point where she is not very capable of getting around easily. She has been using a walker and shuffling behind it but that is less and less each day. Thanks so much for praying for my mom and dad. Dad is an incredible man. He is such a model of a great husband "in sickness and in health". I cannot even begin to explain the many lessons he and mom continue to teach me. What an honor and blessing to have the parents that my brother and I have.

My brother and sister-in-law continue to be a huge help to my mom and dad and I am so thankful for them. It is hard to live 550 miles away from mom and dad but is comforting to know that James and Julie are close and so very helpful.

Shelbi and the volleyball team play tonight in the sectional. It is at DCA so we do not have to travel. We play Summertown and I know very little about them. If we win, it is on to state, and if we lose, it has been a wonderful season. Shelbi's picture was in the Tennessean yesterday and she is attempting to block a strong hitter. I have shared the pic above.

I head to San Diego early tomorrow but will do my best to blog the results of the volleyball match as quickly as I can.

Thanks for praying for my mom and dad.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Monday's soccer game went well for DCA and we won 3-0. That meant we would play at 5p on Tuesday against CPA who had beaten us earlier in the season 3-0 and they are a pretty good team. Our girls were ready to play I think and in the first half on Tues. played a little kick ball and got down but played much better in the second half, but unfortunately lost 2-1. One of the roughest collisions I have ever seen happened in the second half when one of our defenders collided with a girl of girth from CPA. It was pretty brutal looking and Shelby Pigue, our defender and their player both went down in a heap. The CPA player was yellow carded and Shelby P. came back in to play. She is one tough kid who I am sure is very sore this morning.

Volleyball played at 4p yesterday and won which put them in the region championship and we played Goodpasture for the 4th time this season and beat them in 3 games. We host a sectional tomorrow night at 7p. If we win, we go on to state next week and if we lose, our season is over. Shelbi had a decent match at 7p but by her own admission she has played better.

Mom seems to be declining a little bit more every day this week. She is becoming very weak and doing very little walking on her own. She has been experiencing some pain that dad is doing a good job of getting under control. This whole process seems to be a moving target at time. Mom's attitude remains very good and she never complains. She is a model patient for sure. I mentioned in one of the earlier posts that my mom is not only teaching me how to live but also how to die. What an incredible, godly, Proverbs 31 woman she is.

Thanks for praying for my mom and dad.

Monday, Monday

Shelbi and I caught an early flight home from KC this morning and we enjoyed the extra time with my folks. Overall, mom had a really good weekend. I guess having the grandgirls there was good medicine. It is a weird thing to see mom doing so well after last weekend being so very bad. That is the nature of terminal illness I guess. We are thankful for the good times that we have with mom. Thanks so much for praying for mom and dad.

Soccer kicks off tonight at 6p at DCA and it is win or go home time. We beat Hume-Fogg 3-1 earlier in the season, but that was then, and anything can happen. Volleyball tomorrow has us playing Harpeth in the first round and if we win we get the winner of Cheatham Co.-Goodpasture. One of my co-worker's husband, Jim, coaches Cheatham Co. and they are undefeated this year. My vote is for him as coach of the year and he may have gotten it since Pam is out of the office today and I do not have the latest word.

I will do my best to keep you posted on my mom. I am still getting in some running with a couple of 5-milers over the weekend and planning on 5 after work and before the soccer game tonight. Should be a 10-miler in the morning.

Again, thanks for praying.

Sunday Morning

We had a good day yesterday here in KC. The weather brought a good amount of rain in the morning but I still got to squeeze in a 5-miler between storms. Mom seems to be doing pretty well and is much better than she was last weekend. She is enjoying having Shelbi and Morgan around. Sondra is feeling pretty puny with some kind of head and throat stuff that has robbed her voice. She whispers alot.

I had hoped to drive to Blue Springs this morning to run a Breast Cancer race that a good, college friend is putting on, but I woke up with a bad headache and have been helping with my mom this morning. Sorry Linda that I did not make it to the race. I will send you a check however, so email me your address.

I am taking Morgan and Sondra to the airport today and Shelbi and I fly out in the morning. Shelbi needed a little extra time with her grandparents and Morgan has soccer practice later today and they start districts tomorrow.

My brother and sister-in-law came down yesterday and we grilled a bunch of meat and then a friend of my parents brought a scrumptious pork roast. We all ate like royalty. It was wonderful.
Thanks so much for praying for mom. She is doing a little better right now.

Bragging Dad

Thurs. night was filled with volleyball and soccer. Morgan's soccer team beat Davidson Academy 6-1 and open their district play Monday night against Hume-Fogg. Shelbi's v-ball team played Lipscomb at 4p and won in 4 games and then played in the district finals at 7p against tournament host Goodpasture. We won in 4 games. Shelbi was selected all-district for the regular season and then was district tournament MVP! Awesome! She played really well as did their entire team. The host the region tournament at our place on Tues.

We all flew to KC this morning to be with mom and dad and remarkably mom is doing pretty well. Hard to believe that she is doing as well as she is. Up and alert and having a good time. My guess is that the grandkids are good medicine.

We will be here all weekend and then back home for a new week. I am scheduled to be in San Diego and Chicago next weekend into the week. Thanks for praying for mom.

Fall is Here . . . maybe

It seems that the weather is finally changing and we actually might be into what could be classified as a "late fall." Running yesterday was hot and miserable and today it was nice and cool. The sky is clear and the humidity seems to have subsided.
Okay . . . here are the sports updates: Shelbi's volleyball team won 3-0 against East Literature and they play Thurs. @ 4p against David Lipscomb. We have beaten them twice this season but it is tournament time and you never know what will happen. If we lose, we are done for the season, if we win, we play in the tournament championship game at 7p and are assured a region tournament game next week.

Morgan's soccer team won 6-0 and it easily could have been a gazillion to 0. We pulled all the starters in the first half and then worked a few back in throughout the game. It was Sr. night, so it made for a fun night. We play Davidson tomorrow at 430p (tis true, we have two games at the same time at two different places.) Morgan understands that we will be watching the senior tomorrow.

Mom seems to be doing okay so far this week. We are all looking forward to going up on Fri. and will be there the weekend. Thanks for praying for her and us.

Hot Monday

Nashville is hot today. 90 degrees at noon is crazy for this time of year. I got home about 1230a from KC and found myself fairly tired all day long. I did talk to my dad this am and mom seems to be fair. Not as good as yesterday but I really did not think she would.

I did a 5-miler this am and it was pretty warm then as well. It was good to get out but I was pretty tired. I suppose it is a 10-miler tomorrow and should be the last warm day since a cold front is supposed to be moving in. I am ready for some cooler running weather and a little less sweat.

Volleyball districts start tomorrow and we play in the afternoon some time. Soccer is on at 7p against MLK and we need to get a win for sure. We have a non-district game on Thurs. and then start district soccer next week.

Thanks for praying for mom.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I am sitting in the KC Airport waiting on a late flight to carry me back to Nashville and thought I would take advantage of the free wifi at the airport. Had a good day with mom today. She seems to be a lot more awake and aware of things going on. She ate much more today and even got up and walked (with her rolling walker) around the house some.

I went to church with dad this morning and he preached a great sermon on being strong and the full armor of God. The old boy can still preach, that is for sure. We had some cousins come by today and it was good to see them even though the visits were short.

Mom doing better today makes it a little easier leaving tonight. There is much going on this week with soccer and volleyball (district tournament starts on Tues.) and many work related activities. We are all headed up here on Fri. since the girls are on a short fall break.

Thanks for praying for mom and dad. Pray that this flight gets me home safely sometime tonight or early morning.

Blessings Saturday

I got to come up to KC yesterday and be with my mom, dad and brother and it has been a good time. Mom has really taken a down turn and sleeps most of the time. When she is awake, she is always very sweet and smiles all the time. She is regularly confused and then will be very clear for a few minutes and then back to sleep. It is a bittersweet time with most of the time just being very sweet. Dad and James are doing pretty well and I think I am doing okay.

James and I went to the funeral home yesterday and picked out the casket and vault and got a pretty good handle on what needs to be done. We thought it best to deal with these issues while we were not totally emotional. I really think the things we chose will be very honoring to mom and also meet her wishes for her service to be very modest. I commented that mom would like to have her funeral where she is not even mentioned at all. She is just that modest and wants no attention drawn to herself. I obviously did not get that from her.

Sondra the girls are having somewhat of a quiet weekend. Shelbi is involved with the jv district tournament this morning but the others are playing it low at home.

I am very thankful that I am here with mom and dad and James. We jokingly call my parents' dog, Scuffy, the 3rd brother and he is very protective in a good way of my mom. I gave him a bath this am just because he stunk.

We so appreciate your prayers and concern. I do not believe mom will be here much longer but we have had some really good conversations about her going on to heaven. We are all cool with that. I will try my best to keep you updated through the blog. You guys are great in supporting us and we so appreciate it.

Up and Down

And . . . so it goes with my mom. She had a good morning and is now having a bad afternoon. The pain is really difficult to manage and it seems that will be the nature of it for the next few days. I talked to my dad about an hour ago and he said that mom slept decently last night but he sounded tired. His mode is to sleep when mom is sleeping and then be up when she is, whenever that is. I leave early tomorrow to go up and relieve him a little, as much as he will let me.

I am sitting in the gym right now waiting on the jv to begin their match against Ezell and then the varsity plays. We are undefeated in the district and Ezell has one loss. If we win, we have district outright and if we lose, we will both be tied for first.

It appears we might get some rain today but I am not holding my breath. I do not think it is really much of a chance. Soccer plays at 6p at Goodpasture and it is pretty much a must win for us for district tournament seeding purposes. We really want to be in the opposite bracket of FRA. They are just really strong.

Thanks for praying for mom. It is pretty tough right now.

Morphination

Mom is now on oral morphine and it appears to be taking care of the pain. This whole pain management thing is a tricky thing it seems. In my mind, the switch to morphine is a switch to a more critical step in the dying process. Mom continues to be upbeat and pretty quick in her thinking but it is obvious that the morphine is slowing her mental processes and her memory is not as good. All common experiences with morphine the way I understand it.

Both Shelbi and Morgan won their district games last night. Volleyball won in 3 games and soccer beat David Lipscomb 5-0 which I have to tell you is quite a surprise that we got them by that many. Our girls came out ready to play, beat them to the ball, and generally played really well. Morgan got to start and is really playing very strong right now at defender. Pretty fun to watch both of the girls play. Now they need to play well tomorrow night as well with district games on the schedule.

I got a 5-miler in today after running 11 yesterday with a mile trial run at 6:23 which really surprised me. I was going back by the track at Vandy to catch up with my buddies who were running a speed workout and just jumped on and started running. A couple of NROTC students were running and I guess I got suckered in.

I head to KC early Fri. to stay the weekend and give my dad and brother a break. I look forward to seeing them and spending some time with my mom. We really appreciate your prayers. Thanks so much.

Pain, Pain Go Away

The title of this blog is a play off of "rain, rain, go away", but is pretty indicative of what mom is going through right now. They upped her meds last night and then it was not enough. She had a pretty bad night and the hospice nurse came back during the night and the dr. made the decision to start morphine. It just seems like all of this is escalating so quickly. It is obvious that the tumor in her brain is growing and very active. I talked to mom this morning and she did not complain but did say the sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

I am scheduled to fly to KC Fri. and may have to go sooner if things continue to progress like they are. It is just amazing how quickly things seem to be changing. I woke up many times during the night praying for mom and knew that something was up with her. I guess God was letting me know that mom needed prayer during the night.

Both of the girls play tonight and I will update how they come out. Both are very big matches. I am still managing to get some work done even though at times it is difficult to fully engage with the work. My boss and company are great and are very supportive of me being away if needed. That is a great blessing.

Monday Update

Talked to my dad a few minutes ago and mom has had a couple of days that have been less than stellar. They have upped her pain medication today to stem the pain that seems to grow increasingly more severe. Of course, she never complains (a quality I obviously did not get from her) and she is always trying to encourage any one who calls or visits. She seems to grow weaker by the day and is taking longer to get ready for the day.

It is an odd thing this cancer. It is mean, vicious, and bent on destroying my mom's body. She is determined to not let it steal her humor and good spirits. The plan is for me to make it up there this weekend and relieve my dad and brother. Mom and dad both tell me they are missing me being around. My dad's college buddy who lost his wife to cancer two months ago has been visiting the last couple of days and is a great encouragement and help to my dad. I am thankful that dad has someone to talk to and confide in.

The girls have no games today and we are actually at home tonight. Yea! Big district games tomorrow in both volleyball and soccer. Should be fun.

Thanks so much for praying for my mom. I cannot thank you enough.