Just to clarify.

Mark acquired the kids set of golf clubs legally from a friend of his at the hospital. They are Landon/Abby size and they have been hitting around with them. All on the up and up for sure. Also, Landon wants to let everyone know that he has an e-mail address. speedydude1998@yahoo.com
He is pretty proud of it, so feel free to send him a message in your spare time.

Missy

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Well I haven't been anywhere really. Lacking a little motivation these days. I get home and really just want to do nothing. Not very productive of me and really hoping this "stage" passes very quickly before I drown in things to do.

Mark is in the middle of treatment #11. He is wearing the fashion pump as we speak. Things seem to be going pretty well so far 24 hours into it. I am not for certain, but he is so pumped about being almost done with chemo, that it would take a whole lot to get him down. We are so, so, so excited to be almost through this stage. We were a little bummed by our doctor visit. Dr. D. doesn't quite see our plan the same way we do sometimes. Imagine that! We were all set to be done with chemo and move on to the heart surgeon. I will have to cancel that appointment and push it forward a couple of weeks. The oncologists wants to see him two weeks after the last chemo which will be the 19th. He will then order his final scans and give his release from the cancer standpoint pending the results of those scans. Hopefully this will not delay the actual surgery, but we will see. Still planning that for mid September.

The rest of us are always on the go. Landon spent a whole week with Grandmother and Grandaddy. Austin is in conditioning camp and Abby is going to drama camp. I know, I know, do we really need any more drama? She loves it though and gets to perform with their group tomorrow at the Kemp Center for the Arts.

Hope all are doing well and everyone got to enjoy the beautiful rains that we did. Love to all, Missy

Long Time, But Getting Closer!!!

Hey, It's Landon, saying "I ain't seen ya'll in awhile!" As you all know, my mom hasn't posted in a while, so I'm filling in again! My dad had a chemo today and he is feeling just fine. He even played golf with Abby and I using a golf set he says he didn't "Buy," he "Accuired?!? We are all still doing fine and can't wait until the chemos are over.

Hotter than Heck!

Wow, we suffered through only one day of Landon's baseball and I am sure glad we are not doing it again tomorrow. Of course, the reason we are not is that we did not fair so well in the tournament today! We were a little outclassed.....and overheated, and we were just sitting in the stands. Praise God for whoever provided the recent canopies over the bleachers. Oh well. chalk it up to experience. We did get in a little R and R at Danny and Sherry's. We camped out there and invaded the pool and the air conditioning in between games! Austin missed the heat and is having a great time indoors at the Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference in Dallas (per his 11:30pm call last night).

So far so good with this treatment. We took his pump off on Friday and so far it hasn't been to bad. He did sit out in the heat and that has made his hands a little worse. He does complain of food not tasting good either. Other than a few small things, it hasn't slowed him down.

Right now he got a late craving for some steak. Sooooo, 10:00 pm and we have the grill going. It's even pretty late for the Brown's. Must be the 2 1/2 hour nap we took today!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Love to all, Missy.

Great Weekend.

We returned safely from Lake Whitney and our traditional 4th of July family reunion. Great turn out. I am not for sure on numbers, but about 70. The kids had a great time. We now have two accomplished skiers. Austin and Abby both have taken off. It is so fun to watch them progress each time. Landon was quite successful himself as he won the hold 'em tournament. Don't think he got the card playing skills from me. He prefers the indoors to the sun, Can't say that I blame him with temperatures the way they were. Mark enjoyed some r and r indoors himself. The heat was a little much. He did go out on Sunday and watch the kids ski. I think he had thoughts of skiing himself, but never quite got to that point.

Treatment # 10 starts Wednesday. We are a little anxious about these final treatments and what new things he might have to face. We shouldn't even try to anticipate, because we know that it is out of our hands. One day at a time.

We missed Amber at the lake. Hope you enjoyed a little one on one time with new baby Abigail. Will and Anna we look forward to the next time you guys can make it for the reunion. And Helen, so many thoughts and prayers were lifted up for you this weekend. We know you would have traded places in a heartbeat. We will pray for God's healing as you near your surgery time that brings you one step closer to overcoming this battle.

Much love to all, Missy.

Thanks God....

For ending that miserable week. Treatment #9 proved to be a real pain in the buttocks or I guess more appropriately the mouth. On about day three when Mark was pretty run down already, he developed a mouth full of sores. This of course made is difficult to eat and even to talk. After several days of this, several different medicines and mouthwashes and several different varieties of mashed foods, he finally started feeling a little better on this Friday evening. That was awesome, because it made Saturday much more enjoyable. To see him, you would never have guessed how bad his week had been. We went to the Cypert reunion at Lake Fort Phantom. He got to eat everything!! Even brisket! And he talked all day long. They had a great turn out and it was so good to see everyone there. The kids had a blast swimming and riding the jet ski and visiting with family they don't get to see very often. Thanks to all who made our day so enjoyable.

Mark is going to get a much anticipated break now. He would routinely have treatment three days from now, but it will be put off until after the 4th of July. WoooHoooo. So, starting on July 8th, treatment 10, 11, and 12 will be every other week with #12 being on August 5th. Woohoo, Woohoo, Woohoo!!! That was a happy dance in case you couldn't see! I know he will be so glad to have this behind him.

Getting ready this week for the Berend Family Reunion at Lake Whitney. More fun and sun and catching up with family. Mark is all about the fun, but will probably avoid the sun as much as possible. It might be lots of dominoes indoors for him. Suits him just fine.

Have a great Sunday. Love to all, Missy

Happy Fathers Day

Hope all dads have a great day tomorrow. We love all of you and know that each of you have a special place in many people's lives. Just wanted to let everyone see the kids entry to the fathers day contest at KFDX.

http://thp.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?PageType=APPROVED&ContestID=7114&SubmissionID=1008091&IncrementNumber=1&SSMode=STOP#SubmissionDisplay
(couldn't get it to make a link. copy this to your search)

He didn't win the contest and the chainsaw given away, but no worries, he probably won't be using one for a while anyway. Mark is a little drained this weekend. Although, if you had seen him and Austin racing on the go karts yesterday you would never guess it. In fact, maybe it is because of the go kart riding that he feels so poorly today. Anyway, better days are ahead. Have a great weekend, Missy.