♥ 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!

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 ~

PLEASE VOTE ~

Please help us once again by voting for our car, “Nick & Friends 2”. We have 13 days left on this one. We are trying extremely hard to make sure we get at least one car into the top 10 so we can move on to the next round. www.sponsafier.com/share/370029

If you are on facebook, we have an ongoing event you can join SARCOMA AWARENESS - NICK & FRIENDS 2 . This event is done from your computer. It is just a friendly reminder to vote daily for this car. It is going on now through September 6th. With that being said, we have many people not understand why people are saying “NO” to this event. You don’t go anywhere, and I am sure you spend more time reading others statuses, playing games, etc.

But here is my take. Either your friends on facebook don’t understand what we are trying to do, don’t understand what sarcoma is or what it does to our loved ones, they may be too busy, they may of their own set of problems, maybe they don’t need a reminder (wow, I wish I didn’t need reminders), or they just don’t care.

So with that, here is what we are trying to do:
1. We are trying to raise awareness to a horrid disease that affects our loved one, a rare pediatric cancer called sarcoma.

2. Our loved ones go through some very extensive treatment. Sarcoma can be very aggressive and can be disfiguring, painful and often is resistant to treatment.

3. Their survival rate is very low. And if they do survive the first round of treatment and has a chance to be “in remission”, they have an extremely high rate of it returning.

4. Families’ lives are turned upside down, some even fall apart completely. Moms and dads lose their babies, children lose their mommy or daddy, men / women lose their spouse, we lose our friends.

5. If you don’t know what sarcoma is, or if you want to learn more, please visit the Nick & Friends website at www.fightsarcoma.org, ask me or any of the administrators on the event page on facebook.

We are just asking for a few seconds each day. Just a few clicks, click the link, click the vote button and that’s it. If we can get this car through this round and into the next two rounds, we have a great chance of bringing sarcoma and Nick & Friends into the NASCAR spot light.

AWARENESS = FUNDING = RESEARCH = CURE


Thanks and please vote.
Mel ~

PLEASE HELP WITH VOTING DAILY ~

I copied this from Fight Sarcoma.org's facebook page. Please read below and help.

We need to have AT LEAST 10,000 by now if we are going to compete with the top car. If every person who follows this page votes once per day, we should have around 4,000 by now, but we don't. This means that a lot of people who CARE about this CAUSE are not doing anything about it! www.sponsafier.com/share/360505

I don't quite know how to express the importance of this. I think most of you know that sarcoma only has about a 20% survival rate. There is very little funding for sarcoma research. Sarcoma tends to strike children more often than adults. Sarcoma is not like other cancers. It is more aggressive and disfiguring and painful and often resistant to treatment.

Families’ lives are turned upside down, some fall apart completely. Moms and daddy's lose their babies, kids lost their moms and daddy's, and we lose our friends. People have awareness events all the time, and hopefully hundreds of people learn about sarcoma at those events, BUT...

This car winning will mean that hundreds of THOUSANDS of people will see the word sarcoma. They will see yellow ribbons. They will see names of warriors...some still fighting, others whose battle has ended. YOU have the power to make hundreds of thousands of people aware! YOU! Every one of you can personally take credit for doing something big for this cause.

Be a sarcoma warriors hero today...right now...step up to the plate...be activists in this cause...let YOUR voice be heard. Tell those people at Toyota and NASCAR that Sarcoma is the cause they need to pay attention to!!! Vote daily and ask everyone you know to do the same.

We are not asking for your money here...we are not asking for hours of service...we are asking for 2 clicks of your mouse each day for 15 days. That's it. Couple of seconds...couple of clicks... AWARENESS

Now from me, Just think for one minute what this could do bringing sarcoma infront of hundred's of thousands of people. Think of the smiles on each warriors / families faces.

Love ~
Mel

NASCAR VOTING

Yes, it is that time again for us to start voting for our fabulous Nick & Friends NASCAR designed car. We only have 13 days left. So please vote every day from every computer you can log in to. The more votes we get, the better chance of bringing more awareness to Sarcoma.

http://www.sponsafier.com/share/360505

Last time, we were able to get a little ove 23,000 votes, placing us in 11th place. We need to get more votes than this. Please help bring a smile to the face of those families who's warrior is listed on this car. This time, we have over 450 names on this car.

Thanks!!
Mel ~

Latest Update on Michael ~

Sorry for the delay in updating. Since Michael has been in remission, life has gone back into full speed. I would not say normal, I would just say back to the busy schedule I have… Between working full time and helping mom run her flea market; trying to get a business started and off the ground; taking care of the house, cars, animals or other odd jobs; trying to find time to jump in the pool to play with my nieces and nephew, spend time with Michael, spend time with our daughter or just to enjoy life; time just gets away. Days just run together. I cannot believe it is already July.

First, Michael is doing pretty well. He has his days if you know what I mean. He just had his second haircut since completing treatment in October. Before, he would have to get a haircut every 3 weeks, now it’s more like every 3 months. He has lost some weight over the past few months, which is a GREAT thing. He is down 2 pants sizes and still has a few more to go. He continues to work on his weight loss. He still has spells of weakness and overall fatigue. He still has pain on and off in his back, which at times can get pretty severe, and still gets his headaches every now and then. He still has not gone back to work as they will not let him be a mechanic with all his back problems.

He saw his oncologist, had labs and a chest x-ray in April. His counts still are low and the doctor said it may take a while still before they start to climb back towards his “pre-chemo” levels. His chest x-ray looked good. We will go see his oncologist again in October and have labs and another chest x-ray unless any problems arise before then. He’s not schedule for any scans until January 2011. I have been trying to talk him in to going and seeing his orthopedic surgeon about his back pains, but he just brushes me off… Men what are we going to do with them.

Michael has been doing “odd jobs” around the house to keep himself busy. He did finally get his 454 re-built and in his truck (for the second time) and it looks like they are working on another project out in the shop now. He can spend all day and night out in that shop. You still can not get him away from working on cars.

My mother had surgery on her hand about a month ago for the arthritis in her hand and is in a cast for a few more weeks, so on the weekends, Michael and I have been going out to Quinlan, TX to run her booth at the flea market out there. We will continue to help her with is until she gets her cast off and goes through her rehab. That seems to be the only time now that Michael and I get to see each other, which could be a good thing or a bad thing…

July 4th is fast approaching. We wish everyone a safe, happy 4th of July. And remember to thank those serving our Country. Because of these brave men and women, we can continue to celebrate our freedom. THANK YOU! We usually have a big 4th of July / birthday celebration but will put that off once again. We still don’t have a place of our own yet and we aren’t in the celebrating mood lately. I am just looking forward to having the 5th off of work, but I am sure I will be busy that day. This year, most of the nation will get a day off work to celebrate my son’s 19th birthday. How great is that!!

We have a few birthdays coming up in the next two months. Our son Michael will turn 19 on July 5th. Happy Birthday Michael, we love you and hope you have a fantastic day. Time sure does fly, it seems like yesterday he was this cute lil’ guy running around enjoying the 4th with us. Now he’s off doing his own thing. Hopefully you will read this message and know we think of you daily, we pray for you, we love you, and miss you. You have been on our minds a lot lately. We would love to see or hear from you soon.

My brother in Kansas City has a birthday on July 7th. Happy 38th birthday Steve. Wow, you sure are getting up there in age… Kyle, my nephew (one of Steve & Julie’s boy) in Kansas City, has a birthday on July 8th. Also, our nephew, Anthony, will be turning 1 on July 21st. Lil’ Turkey is already walking or should I say running. He is such a hoot and calls his Uncle Mike, Dodge… Yes, Michael has already taught the boy how to say Dodge. He has to teach these kids early of what a real car is. Then August 2nd, my sister-in-law will have a birthday and then I get to turn the big 4-0 towards the end of August. Yes, I am looking forward to it!!

I am working extremely hard to bring our NASCAR Nick & Friends car back. Yes, you heard it right. Be watching here, on facebook, and on twitter. Be sure to watch on Nick & Friends Sarcoma Foundation website or their facebook page. We will be once again asking everyone to vote to help us bring more awareness to this dreaded disease. We MUST get this car into the TOP TEN this round so we can get this car on the track in Phoenix this fall. Yes, that is almost right in the back yard of Nick & Friends!!

If you are on facebook, please go and friend “Fight Sarcoma”. Right now, they have a few other voting contests going on to bring more awareness to Sarcoma. Once is the Chase Community Giving and the other is one of our Sarcoma Mom’s (Ronda) asking for votes for her myown Oprah audition “ Ronda's Recover and Redecorate Audition Video” where she wants to help cancer patients by giving them a little piece of “heaven” while they recover. Go check them out and vote!!!!! You can also find those links on my facebook page.

With that, please continue to keep all these beautiful warriors in your thoughts and prayers along with their families. These warriors go through so much.

Sending everyone big warm Texas hugs and I promise not to be so long before our next update!!
Love ~
Melodie

Latest Update ~

First, as you all know, our NASCAR did not make the top 10. We were only 320 points behind the 10th place car. Well guess what we found out this morning….

We can still vote on the car to keep it the No. 1 spot of the “Most Likes”. Yes, right now our Nick & Friends car is sitting in #1 of the Most Likes Gallery. What does this mean? Don’t know yet. But all I can say is please click the link and give our car a thumb up by saying you “Like this Design”.

www.sponsafier.com/share/201541

Some how, some way, we will find us a way to get a NASCAR Race Car designed like this featured. Please help us find a way!!

Second, Michael is coming up in his next set of 3 months scans. All we are having done this time is just a chest x-ray, lab work, and visit with the oncologist. We will go to the imaging center next Wednesday morning (April 14th), have a nice lunch, go see he favorite vampires (the lab), and then see his favorite oncologist. Not to worried about this visit.

Michael has been trying to keep himself busy. He has an older truck he has been working on re-building. He still has his good days and bad days. His legs and back bother him at times, but I think he just don’t want anyone to know. He just learns to live with it. He knows he will have back pain for the rest of his life. His hands and feet bother him still a bit.

He keeps telling me it’s time for a haircut. If you know my husband, he has always since he was in the military worn a very short hair style. Since he finished chemo last October, he has not had his first haircut yet. I am just in “LOVE” with all the curls that have come back this time. So we like to discuss back and forth whether or not he can get a haircut. I finally caved in this past week so today he went and got his first haircut since it has grown back. It will be interesting to see if he will have to keep it cut as much as he use to. It’s still not as thick as it was.

As always, please continue to keep all these beautiful sarcoma warriors in your thoughts and prayers. Also, please help us help Nick & Friends to bring much needed awareness to this dreaded disease that is taking our loved ones, and invading our lives.

Sending you beautiful warm Texas hugs!!~
Melodie

PLEASE VOTE TODAY, TOMORROW, AND THE NEXT DAY!!!!

Please take a few seconds and vote for the Nick & Friends car and help us bring awareness to this dreaded disease. This car contains the names of that we are aware of fighting or have fought this monster we call Sarcoma. Please do this for the 6 angels we have lost since voting began on this car. Please do this for those still in treatment. Please do this for those in remission. Please do this for each of these beautiful families. We need to get his car a secured spot in the top 10 to make it to the next round.

www.sponsafier.com/share/201541
I have copied this from one of our biggest cheerleaders:
The White Flag Is In Hand
In NASCAR, the officials wave a white flag on the lap before the final lap for the checkered. Folks, the official has it in his hand and we aren't ready for the push. Please, Please, Please....it is time, time for all of us to put the pedal to the medal, to finish strong and place as high as we can in this race. Please make it a point to go to every one of your pages or perhaps send each an email with the link, begging for the vote. Ask them to help, send out the link, do it on face book, do it on care pages, do it on my space, just do it anywhere people will see. We have thousands of people that follow our cause and I just can't tell you what it would mean to all of us if we were to win this race. I want to close by leaving this bit of info with you, pass it on if you'd like. This year, the Daytona 500 drew an 11.3 rating in TV viewers according to ESPN, this is the largest rating they have ever drawn and it relates to (drum roll please) 37 freaking million viewers. WOW!!!!! I would say that’s pretty good exposure, wouldn't you? Good Luck Pit Crew!!!

Yes, this would be a dream come for so many families. Please help!!!

And from the bottom of mine and Michael’s heart, we thank each and every one of you!! Know we could not do this without you!!
Sending you warm hugs!! ~
Melodie

Why this is important to Michael, me and the hundreds of Sarcoma family members!!

First let me say one great big THANK YOU to all my wonderful, supportive cheerleaders we have out there helping get the word out there on this contest.

Second, go and vote, vote today, vote tomorrow, and vote every day from now until the end of the month. We only have 10 days left. Vote from your computer and every single computer you have in your house. Vote at home, vote at work, have your co-workers vote. Even ask your boss to vote. This could mean the world to those hundreds of names listed on this car. The link to the car is:
http://www.sponsafier.com/share/201541

Directly from Nick & Friends:
Why is this NASCAR contest is so important? Sarcoma is rare. Its victims forgotten. There is little research & the survival rate is low. Most people have never heard the word sarcoma. This MUST change. We must make sure that everyone hears, sees and understands the word sarcoma. This car will put that "S" word in front of thousands of eyes... Awareness=Funding=Research=Cure! PLEASE continue to vote

What Nick & Friends mean to Michael and I:
Here you have 2 of the most amazing people in this world that does not know you until they see your story. Then they become one of you closest, best friends. As I can say the same about their volunteers, those fighting their sarcoma, and the caregivers and family members, anyone you meet that know what / who Nick and Friends is.

Cancer is a scary thing, but to hear you have a rare cancer and there just isn't much out there on this, well that puts a whole different scare on it. I have met some of the most wonderful people who are fighting this fight just as we are. And when we lose a precious angel, the love and support is outstanding to that family.

Bring Sarcoma Awareness:
We need to bring more awareness to Sarcoma. We need more research done. We need more answers on the what / why / hows of Sarcoma. Those that know and have followed Michael’s journey or another Sarcoma Warriors journey know how hard these treatments are on these babies, these children, these men and women fighting this disease. Yes, some do become Survivors as Michael, some are still fighting this battle, some have become survivors just to fight it again, and some become our precious angels.

Please help me make this dream come true:
This was just a hey, lets try this and see what we can do idea of Michael and me. But let me tell you, reading the carepages, caringbridge pages of those fighting and asking for help, reading the words that this precious child loves to watch these numbers climb on this car, seeing Michael’s face (yes a big 40 year old kid) when I tell him the numbers, reading all those postings on facebook, seeing all the people on facebook asking to be tagged to the photos of this screenshots going on the car, is just simply amazing and so heartwarming. Please help me make this dream come true. This would mean the world to Michael to actually be part of this car, this race and personally, from my point of view, what better way to celebrate being a survivor then being at the race and bringing awareness to the foundation that helped us and to these terrible disease. As Andrea said, how many people really know what Sarcoma is. And then think of how many of you can watch these beautiful names race around the track.

From one of the wives:
Don't wait until cancer affects your life or the ones you love to start caring, help raise awareness and find a cure NOW! Anyone could be the next one diagnosed. Trust me, we never thought my husband would get cancer at age 22. Take two seconds and VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

Here is what one of our mothers has to say about this:
It would be SO cool to see this car racing around the NASCAR track.. and SO fitting. This disease is like a high speed car race that keeps going around and around and around in circles. Sometimes we ride the high tracks and sometimes the low. And along he way, we have many pit stops. But the pits are ALWAYS where we find our team waiting to fix us up and put us back on the track. You guys are our team!

As you see, this is not only for Michael; this means the world to the hundreds of names on this car and their families, my big family!!

PLEASE VOTE and SPREAD THE WORD TO GET MORE VOTES!!

Want more info on Nick & Friends Sarcoma Foundation, go and check out:
www.fightsarcoma.org
You can also friend Fight Sarcoma on Facebook.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP VOTING DAILY AND SPREAD THE WORD!!! ~

Please continue to vote each day for the next 2 weeks. As of this morning, we are up to 626 votes which currently put us in the top 150. We NEED to get to the top 10. We have a very long ways to get there. The top 20 or so have thousands of votes and we can too!!!! Please vote each day and tell everyone you know. Post on your facebook, post on your twitter, have your family post on their facebook and twitter. Send out emails to everyone you can think of, tell your neighbors, and tell any one you see. Remind everyone daily!!!

http://www.sponsafier.com/share/201541

Please continue to keep all these beautiful sarcoma warriors and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Sending Big Warm Texas Hugs!!!~
Melodie

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!!! We Need Everyone to Vote, Vote, Vote ~

First of all, Michael is doing pretty well. More on him in a bit…

I have one GREAT BIG favor to ask everyone one of Michael’s followers. Michael is a HUGE NASCAR fan. While watching the races, we saw a contest to design our own race car to sponsor during the All Star race this May and well we decided to enter. It was no question of what we wanted to put on the car. As you can see from following the link, we proudly put Nick & Friends Sarcoma Foundation on the car. We have also included a yellow ribbon with each Sarcoma Warrior’s name. It is a chance for us to bring much needed awareness to Sarcoma.

The winner, gets to be at the All Star Race, meet & greet with the driver we chose to drive the car, a lap around the track in the car and most of all, the winning car will be sponsored in the All Star Race. Now how cool would that be to see each of our beautiful warriors racing 190 miles an hour around that track!!!!

This would be a dream of a lifetime for Michael to be at this race, rubbing elbows with some of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever. Plus a chance for us to bring awareness to Sarcoma and Nick & Friends. Just think of this as a big 40 year old man’s biggest dream!!!

So, follow the link, vote now and you can vote once a day for the next 15 days. We have a long ways to go, so please spread the word, vote daily… the top cars have many many votes (tens of thousands), but with our great, beautiful, big-hearted sarcoma family, each of our own families and friends, we can make this dream come true for Michael, and for each Sarcoma Warrior who has fought, is still fighting, and for those beautiful Angels already in Heaven.

http://www.sponsafier.com/share/201541

Back to Michael,
He is doing pretty well. He has a full head of hair, full beard again and tinkering out in the shop. He is currently re-building a truck and loves every minute of it. He still does have his good days and bad. Some days he still can not get out of bed with the back pain. He still gets the headaches every now and then. But most of all, he is on his way back to the top!!

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support along the way. Please, remember to keep all these beautiful Sarcoma Warriors in your daily thoughts and prayers. Also please pray for a cure. And oh yeah, don’t forget to vote daily and spread the word. We need all the awareness we can get!!!
Warm Hugs~
Melodie

Port to Come Out!!!! ~

I get to take Michael up to the hospital early tomorrow morning to have his Port finally removed. YEAH!!! We are so happy for this. Other than that, we are taking it one day at a time. Some days his pain in is low back / tailbone area gets pretty strong and we have to medicate him. Other days, the ones he just lays around, his pain is somewhat tolerable.

I will update everyone again once we get Michael home. Just one more step complete.

Sending warm hugs from Texas!! ~

Melodie

DANCING, DANCING IN THE STREETS!!! ~

OK, the official word of the day is NED!!!! Yes, Michael’s scans looked great!!!! We are so excited. We are both doing “the Happy Dance” and Michael doesn’t dance!!

Today we actually did get to see all three of his doctors. We started off the morning seeing his neurosurgeon. He was extremely pleased with Michael’s progress. First thing he did tell us is there is NO TUMOR PRESENT in any of the scans. We are so happy. He did say that the surgical area, spinal cord is looking better than they had expected. His nerves in the previous scans were still clumped together, but seem to be spreading out like they should be allowing more of a free flowing. They still have some “clumping” but overall it’s looking better. We went over the nerve damaged areas and that hasn’t changed any. As Michael told the doctor, he is just getting “use” to it.

Down side, Michael does have a fractured tailbone. The neurosurgeon said this would be due to the radiation weakening the area and he could have easily fractured it. This could explain for the lower back pains he’s been having. He said Michael needs to work real hard on his core strengthening. We need to work on getting Michael back in shape. We are scheduled to go back and see him in 6 months.

We stopped by the orthopedic doctor’s office after that (they are on the same floor) to see if they could possibly work Michael in today instead of us having to drive back to Dallas next week. They said no problem. We had to wait around for about an hour and were able to go back to the exam room. Doc came in and was excited to see Michael up on his feet. We went over his interpretation of the reports and his excitement of how Michael has progressed since the last time we seen him. Michael doesn’t remember that time as that is part of the 2 weeks Michael still does not remember. Doc explained how amazing it was to watch and assist the neurosurgeon on Michael’s surgery. He also talked about how amazing it is that Michael has been given a second chance and yes he has. He did say that the disk degeneration that Michael does have looks good at this point. He did say he wants Michael to continue to stay away from the heavy lifting.

He said that if we ever move from the area to be sure we talk to him first. He doesn’t want Michael to ever get “lost”. He said by looking at the MRI’s now, if we had to take Michael to another doctor and say he had a “Ewing’s Sarcoma” inside the spinal cord, it would be hard to tell. I explained we will never leave his care. He’ll have to retire first and I don’t see this doctor retiring for a long time. Unless Michael has any more back pain or other problems, we will not have to see this doctor for 6 months to a year.

Michael and I went to grab some lunch over at the hospital cafeteria before we had to go see the oncologist. Of course on our way back over to the professional building all his doctors are in (yes all three are in the same building) we ran in to three different staff members from the oncology center. Of course none of them recognized him at first until he spoke, you know the whole he has hair thing. We go to the 7th floor, check in and go back to get his labs. On the way back to see the doctor, we ran in to Michael’s PA who didn’t recognize him with hair either. It’s such a neat thing to see these people’s faces as they realize who he is and the look on their face knowing we did beat cancer.

His oncologist came in with a big smile on his face and we went over everything again with him. He is extremely pleased with the scan reports. Michael’s labs are up and down. The red cells look great but his white counts are still down at 2.9K. We will go back to see the oncologist in 3 months and have a chest x-ray and labs again. We will re-do the scans again in 6 months and if all looks good at that point, we will go to 6 months visits for a year then go to yearly visits.

All three doctors are extremely impressed with Michael’s progress. We need to keep up with his headaches as he still gets one every few days and they come on extremely fast. We need to continue to keep his back pain under control and begin trying to rebuild Michael’s strength and stamina. To look at Michael, you would not know he was sick, but to someone who sees him daily and has known him for years, you can see where he has become extremely weak. We are also going to work on his sleeping. He still does not sleep well and can go days with no sleep. We also need to continue to monitor is fractured tailbone for a bit too.

Over all, today was a GREAT day!! Many smiles all around. Michael is still cancer free and we only can pray he stays this way. We could not have made it through the last 18 months without our family and friends. And to our sarcoma family, we will continue to stay in this fight with you. Each and every one of you has a special place in our hearts forever.

Please continue to keep all our sarcoma warriors in your thoughts and prayers. While Michael has kicked this horrible dreaded disease in the butt, many others are fighting the fight of their lives. Please continue to lift them up.

We love all of ya & sending many warm hugs from Texas!!!
Mel & Michael

Scans Today, Now the Waiting Game ~

Michael had his scans today and we still won’t hear anything until later in the week. Wednesday, we will go and see 2 of his 3 doctors (neurosurgeon and oncologist) and next week we will go and see his orthopedic surgeon, unless we can get his appointment changed. It was kind of strange sitting in the imaging center on a Sunday, so quiet, hardly anyone there. While I sat there waiting for his scans today, it gave me time to look back over the last 2 years. Yes, we started this journey almost 2 years ago. At times, I wonder how we made it. I am always getting asked a lot how did you do it. All I can say is with love, laughter, faith, friendship, fear, gratefulness, compassion, and support. I don't wish this journey on anyone. Today, it was just a different feeling. Knowing everything we have faced together the past several years, and then sitting there, all alone, but deep down, I know nothing, nothing is this world will stop Michael and I. I sat there remembering every little step along the way.

Almost 2 years ago, he started having pains in his back, but different from what he had experienced before with his previous back problems. After going to several doctors over several months, missing numerous days of work, in August of 2008, we finally began getting our answers.

I will never forget going to see his orthopedic surgeon on August 26, 2008. He picks me up at my office so I can go with him, I wanted answers and we completely trust this doctor. He had previously done 2 surgeries on Michael, not to mention he also fixed my dad's back too. We get to the parking lot, get out of his truck, and he looks at me, jumps up and down and said, "see, I am fine today, let's just skip this appointment." Of course, as he would say, the mean woman I am, I told him to get his butt up there, I want answers, and I am tired of you hurting. By this point, he hadn't worked for a week, and before that, he was lucky to make 2 of his 4 days a week.

Going in to his orthopedic doctor, once we go back, Michael always has to get an x-ray of his hardware first. So the nurse calls us back, quick small talk because it's been a while since we've seen any of them, I go towards the exam room to wait for him, and he heads towards x-ray. I start reading my book, and begin to wonder where he is. It's taking a little longer than usual. He finally walks in; tears in his eyes, he can hardly walk. He sits on the table, and my smart mouth, see good thing we are here.

About 10 minutes or so, doc walks in. Of course, he goes to shake Michael's hand, and as Michael lifts his hand, oh the pain. I can not describe the look on his face and then the doctor’s face. We describe a few things that have been going on with Michael and he says "that's it, you are a train out of control and I am stepping on the tracks to stop you." Just have got to love this doctor. By this point, Michael could not walk; we had to get him a wheel chair so I could take him down to the truck to drive him over to admitting. Luckily our doctor is on the hospital campus.

Tests, tests, and more tests. The next evening, doc finally comes in, of course at the time I finally go find me some food, and tells Michael he has a tumor inside his spinal cord compressing the nerves causing things to basically go haywire. Doc walks out of the room while on his phone telling someone he don't care what time it is, he needs to speak to them immediately, this is an emergency. Later find out it's the neurosurgeon.

So the next morning, my birthday, I keep the kids out of school, we go to the hospital and wait to talk with the doctors. I wanted our kids with me, I was so scared. So both doctors come by, explain everything and surgery was set for Tuesday. This was a Thursday and Labor Day weekend. The neurosurgeon comes back and said he cleared his calendar for Friday; we'll do it in the morning.

So Friday, August 29, 2008, I had the longest 6 1/2 hours of my life waiting in that waiting room, not knowing if he would be ok, if he would walk again. Didn't even think at that time the word Cancer would even come up. Tell ya how great his orthopedic surgeon is, he cleared his calendar too to be in the surgery room. Not to assist, but watch and keep tabs on Michael. Both doctors came and talked to me when they were done, even showed me pictures which was so cool. They placed him in ICU through the holiday, moved to a normal room, and he got up and walked. I was so excited.

Pathology took almost a month; no one was for sure what his tumor was when they removed it. Then Michael gets the call, it's not benign and the referred him to an oncologist. What's that mean, what is it? Cancer in the spine, WOW, Ewing’s Sarcoma which is a childhood cancer.

So, all in all, yes Michael had cancer. He had a kid cancer (the joke between he and I is, I us to always say he was a kid at heart, now in the back too). Did it change our lives, very much so, for the good and the bad. Did he kick cancer in the butt, oh yes he did. Michael and I have been together 22 years this past week. We have had many highs and lows, the good and the bad, and we have conquered each and every one of them. And this does include cancer.

Good, Michael and I are closer than ever. I love him more each passing day. We have met so many wonderful people, doctors, nurses, other medical personnel. Also, all you amazing, courageous, inspirational beautiful warriors fighting his disease too. And then their families, caregivers, thank you for your support. And all the love and support for our family and friends. You are amazing. Then there are also complete strangers who step up, Thank you.

The bad, yeah there is bad. Where Michael's and my relationship strengthened, we have lost relationships with a few people in our lives, family and friends. Michael can not go work and that takes a toll on any hard working man. We have lost many, many things along the way, but I still have my husband. I have watched parents’ lose their children, wives lose their husbands, and children lose their parents. This breaks my heart, we must find a cure.

I have watched him in the last 2 years change in so many ways, physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. I have watched a grown man be scared for his life. I have watched him lose his hair, I have watched as they pump those chemo drugs into his body and watch him go from this fun loving man I know to this sick, tired man. And through all this, he still loves to make every one laugh around him. As he says, what can he do? He wants to live and live he will. Michael is my hero, and so is every single one of you that are fighting the battle of your life. Michael had spinal surgery to remove a tumor, told it was the big C word, went though a total of 11 in-patient chemo treatments, 33 radiation treatments, emergency gallbladder surgery, and is walking and talking. The way he has taken this is just simply amazing. He is a wonderful man.

So today I sat here, alone in this waiting room, but I know and feel the love around me from every single person who cares for us as he was in those machines for hours getting his scans. YES, all we want is NED.

I will try to update again everyone once we here the first word on his scans. Continue to keep all these beautiful, courageous people fighting this dreaded disease in your thoughts and prayers. We need to continue to fight and find a cure.
*Hugs*
Melodie

Quick Update ~

Busy, busy, busy… Don’t know if I ever have time to stop anymore. Christmas and New Year has come and gone. We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year. Ours was nice and quiet.

Michael has been doing OK. He has his good days and his bad days. We just take it one day at a time. Michael let his facial hair grow out to a full beard. Almost looked like grizzly Adams. He finally cut it off this past weekend. He figured he’d better clean himself up, was getting some funny looks out in public. I will have to post a photo when I get home. The hair on his head, not so much growth yet. Slow growing, but so baby fine and soft.

His 3 months is next week. We will go on Sunday (yes I said Sunday) to have all of his scans done. After his scans, we will meet with his orthopedic surgeon, his neurosurgeon, and his oncologist. We will have a week full of doctors’ visits. I am so nervous about his scans and I am sure he is as well. Please pray for NED, this is the only word we want to hear!

Going to keep this short, I will try to update again this weekend and if not, definitely will update once we here the first word on his scans. Thank you again to everyone who keeps Michael and me in your thoughts and prayers. You all mean the world to us and we are forever grateful. We love each and every one of you!! Also, continue to keep all these beautiful, courageous people fighting this dreaded disease in your thoughts and prayers. We need to continue to fight and find a cure.
*Hugs*
Melodie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!! ~

First and most important ~ today is Michael’s 40th birthday. So…
HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sorry for not updating in a while. I just don’t know where the time goes. Michael has been doing OK. After we did get home from Kansas City, it took Michael a few weeks to recover. It took about 2 weeks for him to get his pain back under control. Now he’s back to tolerating it.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home. Right after that, Michael caught a cold which took quite a while for him to get over. I took him to his primary care doctor and he put him on antibiotics to help him get over it. Thankfully it didn’t go into his lungs.

He is still getting those headaches. Some days the headaches keep him in bed all day. Other than that, he’s doing pretty good. His hair is growing in. As he said, he has more on his face now then on the top of his head.

Going to keep this short, I will try to update again this weekend. Please continue to keep all these beautiful, courageous people fighting this dreaded disease in your thoughts and prayers. We need to continue to fight and find a cure. Thank you again to everyone who keeps Michael and me in your thoughts and prayers. You all mean the world to us and we are forever grateful. We love all of you!!
*Hugs*
Melodie

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

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

And the Word of the Day is………

Michael went in for his CT scans on Monday and today we went to see his oncologist. His lab work was OK. It’s still down a little, but the doctor said in time it should come back up. After looking over the CT report, the doctor was happy to say that Michael is………

STABLE!!!!

Yes, we are jumping up and down. It was so nice to hear this. His oncologist had spoken with Michael’s other doctors this week. The plan is that Michael’s orthopedic surgeon will work with the neurosurgeon to order the MRI. But this will not be for 3 MONTHS…

So this means he is done. He is finished. Michael is finally FREE!!! So at this point the plan is, in three months we will call the orthopedic surgeon, schedule the MRI, and then go see all three doctors. He will have a chest X-ray every 3 months, and a CT every 6 months. We will see Michael’s oncologist every 3 months for the next year.

Once we got home, we realized, we were so happy, we forgot to ask about getting his port out. Michael will call his oncologist back tomorrow to see if we can get it out yet. Michael will take it one day at a time as he is still fighting fatigue, headaches, and other side effects.

HOPES for Michael CELEBRATION!!!!
So we can officially say we will be having the HOPES for Michael CELEBRATION in Kansas City. So mark your calendars and meet us there.
When: November 7, 2009
Where: Big Q Bar-B-Que, Kansas City, KS

I will update later with the complete details. We will also be posting an event from Michael’s group page on facebook.

Michael will take it one day at a time as he is still fighting fatigue, headaches, and other side effects.

Yes, we are happy at the moment. But at the same time, we can never loose site of those still fighting this dreaded disease. Please continue to keep all these beautiful warriors in your thoughts and prayers. And let’s continue to fight to find a cure.
Sending our love to everyone,
Melodie

Latest Update ~

Sorry for not updating in a while. Things never slow down. This may be a little long so sit back and get comfy!!

MICHAEL ~
Michael is doing OK. He went in for his labs again on the 28th. They were low as expected. He still gets tired very easy and has been fighting a bad cold for the past week. Luckily no fever!! Thursday (10/28) was his 21st day since his last treatment and would have been his day to go back. We did a small happy dance that we did not have to go check in for his treatment.

On a different note, this week was the first week since the end of May that I worked 5 days. Oh well, I will make up for it next week (only working 3). Tomorrow Michael goes in for his CT scan and we will meet with his oncologist on Thursday. We will go over his scan and hopefully by that time, he and neurosurgeon will have discussed what MRI scans they are wanting and when we will go have that done. After the MRI we will have his 1 year follow up with the neurosurgeon (a little late, but that’s OK). And once we hear “NED” (that is all we want to hear) then he will only gets scans and visits every 3 months.

The fun part, now that treatment is over, is going to keep him from over-doing it. He has it in his head that he is ready to go back to work. NOT… He is no where near ready.

CELEBRATION ~
A fun note, we are still working on some details for his CELEBRATION in Kansas City. We are looking at November 7th. Once I have the final details, I will be sending out the invites through his “HOPES for Michael” group page on facebook, through email invites, and through is page here. So pencil in on your calendar November 7th, “CELEBRATING HOPES for Michael”

OTHER SARCOMA FAMILIES ~
This week, a beautiful angel, Sammie, had earned her wings. Please continue to keep her family in your thoughts and prayers. Also, if you could lift up Jessica’s family; here is another beautiful warrior about to earn her wings.

Little Miss Laurren is still down in Mexico getting her treatment. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Also her wonderful home town is going to have “Christmas in October” for her on October 25th. If you are interested in helping, let me know. Michael and I are planning to attend. You can also find more information about this event at Laurren Smith Foundation.

This week, I had also read an update from Rhonda, the beautiful wife of Bryan who is continuing to struggle with this dreaded disease. But what she said is so very true. So I am going to continue her vent for her so if anyone is going to get offended as she stated in her update, then close your explorer now.

As Rhonda says, just because they are “cancer free” does NOT mean that everything goes back to normal. She is so right. Here is a family, whose husband, father can no longer work. They still struggle day to day trying to get through. They are at the end of their ropes in so many ways and need help. As a wife, she can only do so much. She has asked for help. This is a time where you really see who is your friends.

Currently two of our biggest care pages cheerleaders have stepped up to help. Please check out what they are doing. The “Wonder Aunts” (yes Aunt Lynda, I am giving the Texas Aunts a new name) are going to be holding a fundraising garage sale down in Sugar Land, TX. Check out Brittne's page. Even if you don’t live close, you can still help. Also Check out Supportnick's page. Kelly Olson, Andrea’s daughter is graciously stepping up to help. She too is going to hold a fundraising garage sale in Phoenix.

As I was talking to one of my very close friends about this (why does it feel like friends begin to abandon us), she told me this. As a person going through what we are, we know exactly what each other is saying. We may not know word for word what we are experiencing, but its pretty close. As a wife going through this myself, I can relate to the other wives. It’s a little harder to relate to the mothers going through this. We can not relate on the mom side, but the caregiver side. As a friend, they are there, they do care for us, but really have no idea what we go through daily and frankly at times, they are scared.

THESE BEAUTIFUL MEN FIGHTING THIS
Currently we have Michael, George, Bryan, Mike, Steve, Jonathan (I know there are more but my mind just went blank) that are men, dads, husbands fighting this. There are also women, moms, and wives who are fighting this too along with all the children. I am not leaving you out, but want to focus on these brave men. These are the “MAN OF THE HOUSE”. They are always the one to take care of the family and when they get sick, you take every little ounce of dignity away from them. They have a feeling that is indescribable to us. They can no longer be the “MAN” of the house. Here is the strongest person in our life and he becomes weak and fragile. He is supposed to protect us from the world. And right now, we have to care for and protect them.

Some of us were a 2 income family going down to one or half (depending if the wife can still work full time). Some of us, the man was the sole income and now the wife has to go out and get a job and that job no where matches the income they had. Then there is the health insurance. If any is like Michael, he carried his health insurance, got fired and now we have to pay COBRA (not cheap). Yeah there is social security disability, but did you know it takes 2 years for Medicare to kick in?

This is a childhood cancer, and it breaks my heart to read about the beautiful children, however, these cancers occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, geographic region, or age group. It can occur in ANYONE. The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented. The research out there is very little. These cancers need to have more research done. With that, my husband, who is 39 years old, is fighting for his life with Ewing’s Sarcoma. They told us in the beginning there isn’t really a treatment geared toward the older people with this. He took a kids’ dosage, which his body may reject. The funny part is I don’t look at it as we are old, but with this cancer, he is.

When Michael was first diagnosed, we looked high and low for assistance. He was turned down by so many. He is not a child. He is not a woman with breast cancer. He does not have breast cancer. He is not elderly. He is a middle aged man who should not be sick. Right, a middle aged man that is suppose to support his family. But he did get sick. He had to stop working. He no longer felt like the man of the house. He could no longer be the rock of the family. He had to take on this treatment that frankly sucked the life out of him. But my husband still tries to make light of it. As Michael says, what can you do, we must deal with what we are handed. There is nothing we can do to change the fact he has cancer.

We did get some assistance in the beginning, and we are still forever grateful to those that did help, but it only goes so far. We still lost our house and our land. We still have unpaid bills haunting us from then. Even with insurance, we still have an extremely huge stack of medical bills. Yes, I work, but if I don’t go to work, I don’t get paid. My boss has been wonderful to work with me so I can go to every appointment, every scan, and every treatment with him. I track every little think that goes on with him. Michael and I stress every day over money. Yes, we have a place to stay for now. But you never know things could change in a heartbeat. I know money is tight all around and we can only make the best of the situation we are in. But there is only so much a person can take.

IS THIS NORMAL
Once a family gets a diagnosis like this, their world gets turned upside down. I was asked if this is the normal now or will we ever go back to normal. Here is how I responded:

“Is this our normal? For now it seems to be. But I always remember what Michael says... What can we do? This is how it is and we just need to make the most of it. He says he can't change anything, so let's enjoy what we can. The one thing he has taken from this is you can not take things for granted anymore and to make the most of it and have fun doing it.

If you were to know Michael before, he is an extremely private man. He would laugh and joke with you only if he knew you. He would NEVER have been caught dead with green hair. At first he did not even like me talking about what he was going through on the internet. He didn't even like me talking about it to people he knew. That was private stuff and needed to stay that way. He changed. He opened his eyes to the fact that life is short and we need to enjoy what we have today. Now he does the green hair, he talks to complete strangers; he even now bonds with strangers. He even told me to quit sugar coating his updates. There are still a few things I will not post... Mostly my fears and what I would say is personal stuff.

I guess what I am trying to say is normal is what we make it. Yes, I am scared every single day with Michael. I read other updates and hear of those that are done; just doing scans every 3 months. I see those who have relapses and relapses. I see those parents hanging on to every last moment with their babies. What is in store for Michael and me, only God knows and we have accepted that and we live each day filled with love and laughter. This year long battle has not been easy on us at all.”

TO ALL THE FRIENDS OUT THERE:
(Please feel free to copy and paste to your pages) Cancer is an extremely ugly disease. You must understand that this will be a part of our lives FOREVER. Even after treatment, we are not in the clear. We have scans every 3 months. This cancer can and will come back at anytime. Some of these men will never be the same. They can not work. But they are our men and we will stand by them and support them with or without you. I am sure some of you are tired of hearing the same ole’ thing about your friend and begin to distance yourselves. Please do something little to show you still care. The little things are the greatest things.

Cook a dinner for the family. Give a small gift card. Do you know a $25 dollar gift card to anywhere would mean to world to some. Offer a great big hug and a shoulder to cry on, yes you heard it all but a good cry for us will give us the strength to continue to move. To those with little ones, offer to watch them for a few hours. Just a few hours would be the world. Take the wife out for a nice manicure and pedicure. These don’t cost much. For him, take him fishing or take him out for a fun man’s night out. Yes, we might worry, but at least you are showing him you are still there. There are many other little things you can do. Yes, it does not help with the financial burdens we are suffering, but it does still show you care.

I have heard many say well try to do fundraisers or establish a medical fund. Some are better at doing this than others. Some of us don’t even know how to start these. And as the caregiver and patient, we sometimes have too much on our plates to do this. So as a friend, if you are good with this in anyway, offer that assistance to the family. Or get a group of friends together and come up with the ideas.

Ok, I will stop for now. As always, please continue to pray for all our beautiful sarcoma warriors. They all need our extra prayers. We love each of them and we need to continue to lift them up. Also, please continue to pray for a cure. And thank you once again for all the prayers and words of encouragement from everyone. We love all of you!!!!
Melodie