Amy is starting a Cancer Support Group tonight. While she is excited to help people walk through their cancer experience, she is a little nervous!
I will keep you informed on how things go.
Tom
It’s all good! October 16, 2008
Wow, we have posted in a long time. But the purpose of this blog was to help communicate Amy’s journey through cancer and cancer is over and out. Praise God!
Amy had a Dr. appt. a few weeks ago and all is well. In January she goes in for follow up scans, rountine stuff. She is doing good, but is still very tired and gets exhausted easy.
Just wanted to say hey to all.
Tom
No More Doctor Appts. Til October!!!!!!!! July 16, 2008
Tom here,
Amy’s last doctor appt. proved to be the best one yet. No more visits til October. Yippee!
All the scans look good and Amy is starting to feel better. Although she still has a few side effects from the Chemo. The one that is driving her crazy is the pain in her joints. Dr. Sjak-Shie said that this is normal, but Amy says normal hurts like heck!
The follow up will be in October for blood work and such, then in December she will have a set of CT-Scans. This process should repeat again in another 6 months, then if all is well in 1 year. Dr. Sjak-Shie said that recurrence is most likely to happen within the first 3 years if it happens at all. But just as during the treatments, we are living life and moving on. Dr. Sjak-Shie gave us some great advice in the beginning. She told us “having cancer is a lot like being pregnant, either you are or your not. So if the cancer shows up again we will treat it”.
So that’s how we are moving on. Thanks for all of your support. This picture is from the Relay for Life Survivor Lap. 
5 Down, 1 To Go! 5-14-08 May 14, 2008
Tom Here!
Amy has completed the 5th Chemo treatment and has her sights set on May 28th, the 6th and final one! As I type she is resting in bed, she is very exhausted! Dr. Sjak-Shie is very pleased with her blood work and overall health.
Thanks so much for the comments, thoughts and prayers. Things are going well and we thank God for Amy’s health.
Getting Ready for #5 5-12 May 12, 2008
Tom here!
Amy is getting ready for her 5th treatment on Wednesday. She has been doing great and continues to have a great attitude. We had a big day on Saturday. Katie performed in her last choir concert at East Central College. My mom was able to come down and watch and we all went to Pizza Hut for some greasy pizza afterwards. We also were blessed with Chelsey Wadlow, a student in our student ministry. Amy and Chelso have become pretty close and it was a good day as she spent time with our family. Chelso calls or texts after each treatment to check on Amy and that means a lot to her.
The kids are doing great! We have worked hard to keep their lives as normal as possible. Ian has started baseball and Katie and I have taken on two yards to mow. Schools about out and the kids are getting excited. If all goes well they will spend a week with Grandma Betty in June when Amy and I go to Super Summer with our students. (The if all goes well concerns Amy’s health)
One last thing! We are getting visitors this weekend! Gary and Donna Murphy, Amy’s parents, are coming to the big O-town for a few days. They have been a great source of encouragement during this time. Katie and Ian are excited!
I will post again Wednesday evening at let you all know how the treatment went. Thanks for all of the support, notes, cards, and prayers.
4 Down! 4-30-08 April 30, 2008
Well there is a lot to say about today! First of all it’s Ian’s 9th b-day. Amy finished her 4th of 6 treatments. And the best news of all is that the CT scans showed that the Chemo is knocking out the cancer.
Praise The Lord! Dr. Sjak-Shie is very well pleased with Amy’s progress. We can’t say enough about the the staff at www.tcccr.com They have been great to work with, from the ladies at the front desk to the nurses and doctors. We are very blessed to have a great staff.
Amy is feeling a good and we just ate Chinese with our good friend Lyle Witcher from the Missouri Baptist Convention in Jefferson City is speaking to our student group tonight.
I have posted some pictures of Ian’s B-day cake and The Cards game. While he and I were enjoying the game, Amy and Katie went to town on his guitar hero cake. It tastes as good as it looks.
Amy will probably head to bed here in a little bit, but she is engaged in one of her favorite shows. Jon and Kate Plus 8.
Thanks for all the prayers and support. The young lady I spoke of last week was there again today. I talked with them again and gave the mother a book that has helped us. Everday Strength–A Cancer Patient’s Guide To Spiritual Survival. This week’s treatment was much better for them. Continue to pray from them and us!
4-2 Round Two, Over! April 2, 2008
Tom Here! As I type the beeper is going off and round two is officially over!
Today was good, really good! Amy is doing great and she is now finished with her second round of Chemo. As you may tell from the photo, Amy is sporting the do-rag look. Thanks to our good buddy Q, she has a Denver Broncos rag.
Dr. Sjak-Shie is such a neat lady and is very well qualified. Once again the staff at www.tcccr.com was wonderful to work with and made us feel right at home. They treat us like family!
Look at the photo, Amy is right at home, she loves puzzles. I posted it because I have been so encouraged by her attitude and outlook during this season of her life.
Amy finished the 1000 piece puzzle that someone else started. She is looking forward to coming back in two weeks to work on another. It was kind of cool to watch her work it and interactive with the other patients. Everyone was so proud that she finished it. Amy can’t wait until her and Auntie Stell can work on puzzles when Jim and Stella return from Arizona.
Continue to pray that the next few days go without side effects. We will post again in a few days.
