Friday, August 26, 2011

♥ 3 Years Ago ~ Our Life FOREVER Changed ♥













3 years ago today, was just like any other "let's go to the back doctor and see what we can do for his pain" day. Once he was at the doctor's office, our world, as we knew it, came to a stop. After his x-ray to check his hardware in his back, Michael could not walk on his own. This was very disturbing for us and the doctor. I will never forget the look on the doctor's face when he walked into the room. He said Michael was a freight train out of control and he was stepping on the tracks to stop him. He immediately admitted Michael to the hospital and began running a series of tests.

August 27th, after all the tests they found a tumor inside Michael's spinal cord entangled in his nerves. They removed the tumor on August 29th. At that time, we had no idea what type of tumor it was. We were so thankful that Michael was still alive and was able to walk again!! A month later, we received the news of the "C" word. Michael had Ewing's Sarcoma. Michael still to his day has no recollection of those first two weeks.

In the past 3 years, we have been tested time and time again. We have had our high of highs and our low of lows. Some no one could ever imagine unless they had to fight this monster. But in the mist of all of this, we still have each other! It has been 23 months since Michael completed his very last round of chemo. But a day does not go by that I don't think about the fight he had to endure. The same fight that all of our sarcoma warriors have to face, the fight that their loved ones face each day with them.

I have heard many times, "how could you do this? You are such a "strong" person doing this for your husband." I think a great friend; another sarcoma wife said it best. She said “I came to the conclusion that God trusts us with this because He knows we will still bring Him glory though it in the end, no matter what the result. He is forging us into something greater and stronger than this world... so I guess for that, all of the pain and tears are worth something.” My answers to everyone were, you just do it. But now I couldn’t agree with the above statement more.

With this, my birthday is this Sunday and my birthday the last few years has a different meaning. To me, it makes me stop and think, I could have lost my husband 3 years ago and I have been given the life of my husband. So each year I only have 1 wish. That wish each year is to bring more awareness to this cancer called sarcoma. This beast is taking too many lives each day. If the past 3 years, we have found a large community of sarcoma warriors and we follow their stories. Many families are not as lucky as ours. Some are!

And for those of you that know Michael and me, we are big NASCAR fans and will not stop entering this contest until we finally WIN!!! Yes, we have entered the Toyota Sponsafier contest again for the 4th time. The last three cars we included the names of all the warriors associated with Nick & Friends Sarcoma Foundation, however, this time, we could not use the same design and of course that list of names continues to grow. Please, if you haven’t, go check out Nick & Friends at www.fightsarcoma.org or find them on facebook (Fight Sarcoma). They play a vital role in many of these sarcoma warriors fights as well as ours. We love you Nick & Friends!!!

With that, our car this time is “N&F Fight Sarcoma”. Please we only have a few more days to get as many votes as we can. The website to vote for our car is www.sponsafier.com/share/40721. Please be patient as the page does load slowly this time. Please vote every day and share this page with everyone you know. Just imagine if we could let the NASCAR community know about sarcoma and what it is doing to our loved ones.

With that, I will try to write again soon and not leave such a large gap in-between updates. Thank you for supporting us through Michael’s journey!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Scan Time!!~

Just a quick update!! It is that time again; Michael is scheduled to get his scans on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

Other than the normal going crazy waiting on these scans, life has been pretty good for us lately. We have been trying as much as we can to be "normal". We have finally moved (YEAH), we have been trying hard at getting my side business off the ground (he is such a great helper), and other great things. I promise to update everyone more once we hear back on his scans. (Have to get back to work as I am "working from home" in this lovely Texas cold ice / snow storm).

Thanks for checking on Michael and say an extra pray we get a visit from NED soon!!

Lots of love from Texas,
Mel ~