Monday, November 16, 2009

The HOPES for Michael Celebration ~


First, I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I haven’t had much time to stop. It’s funny how things can pile up at work when you take vacation time.

Michael enjoyed every minute of his entire extended weekend in Kansas City. We left Texas late Wednesday night, arriving in Kansas City mid Thursday morning. Thursday, Michael slept most of the day. He was extremely sore from the ride up. We did stop every two hours for him to stretch. You can tell he is having pain when he takes his meds without a fight. He has taken pain meds more in the past 1 ½ weeks than in the past 6 months. Friday we just stayed at his friend’s house allowing him to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday, we had a fabulous time at Michael’s celebration. We have to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts who took the time to show up. It meant a lot to Michael, Rebbecca, and I. We had a great turnout. We had close to 50 people show up I am guessing, I lost count. Even though many of you were not there, we did feel your spirit with us.

We had a chance to spend time with family, some we hadn’t seen in many years and a few of my family that had never had a chance to meet Michael but had been following his journey. We also had a chance to catch up with some old friends from our school days (we won’t say how many years that goes back, just remember our kids have already graduated high school). We also had a chance to meet some online friends for the first time. We have known them online for the past 3 years and they have been so supportive of Michael, it was nice to put a face to the name finally and give them a big hug for their support. We do have a few more we will be meeting up with in the very near future.

Sunday we spent the afternoon with family watching the NASCAR race in Texas. It’s kind of ironic, to watch the NASCAR race in Texas from Kansas City. After that, we went back to his friends for a nice cookout. Monday afternoon we headed back to Texas arriving home around midnight. He did say he would like to make the trip again soon. We didn’t have enough time to spend with everyone the way we wanted to. Maybe we can again after I have more vacation time built up at work after the first of the year.

It was nice to be away for the weekend. The weather in Kansas City was absolutely beautiful with mid 70’s the entire time we were there. Yes, ya’ll are welcome for us bringing the gorgeous weather up with us. We hadn’t been back to Kansas City (that is where we both grew up) in 5 years. Some things had changed, some hadn’t. It was nice to spend time with family and friends. And it was GREAT to see Michael smile. Even though he was in extreme pain, I think he has a smile on his face the entire time. Once we got home, he pretty much stayed in bed for 3 days and stayed on his pain meds. He started moving around more by this weekend.

Even though we have celebrated Michael kicking this cancer in the butt, there are many others still suffering. Yesterday, we lost another beautiful angel to this dreaded disease. Please pray for her family as they have to deal with her loss. It breaks my heart to hear of us losing these beautiful warriors. We have a few others that need our prayers. Please continue to pray for these sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives who are suffering from this dreaded disease. And continue to pray for their family, that God grant them the strength needed to make it through their journey.
*Hugs*
Melodie

Friday, November 6, 2009

Kansas City ~

Hi Everyone!!~
Sorry for not updating lately. This will be short but I will update much more Sunday after Michael’s big Celebration.

We have been busy trying to get the final plans in place to get Michael to Kansas City. He is doing OK. He is still getting those headaches and still gets tired real easy. It has been nice not having to go to the doctor’s office every week or going to the hospital for treatments.

We left Texas around 11:00 Wednesday evening. Michael is one that loves to travel at night. This is something we have always done since the kids were little and now that they are grown, we will love to travel at night. We did stop every 2 hours to allow him to get out and move. We were real worried about how his back would take that long traveling. We made it to his friend’s house in Kansas City around 9:30 – 10:00 yesterday morning. We did make it in pretty good time. Of course we slept on and off most of the day. Michael is sore, but nothing we can’t handle.

Today, not real sure what the day will bring, but tomorrow…

Everyone that is in or around Kansas City need to come out to Big Q Bar-B-Que located at 2117 S. 34th Street, Kansas City, KS. We will be there tomorrow from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm. The more the merrier. Nothing better than good BBQ, good beer, great company, and of course, Celebrating Life with Michael!! Hope to see everyone there. Of course the camera will be out so I will post pictures Sunday morning.

Please continue to keep all these beautiful warriors and their loved ones in your thoughts and prayers. Many are still fighting this dreaded disease.
Love ~
Melodie