Week 3

Sunday, May 2, 2010 - Kellee and Kerry both played at The Bridge today while  Heidi & I went to the 9:30 service @ TRC so we could take another trip to Ames. We went to pick up most of Kory’s stuff so he can just load up his car on Thursday after his last class and come home. We now won’t be back on Ames until January 2011.

Monday begins the third week radiation and we will be staying in the Hope Lodge for the first time.

Below are some prayer requests Heidi typed up for the prayer team at TRC and I thought I would also post them here and share it with those of you who come to this blog for updates. We appreciate all who are praying and yhose who are helping out in other ways.

• Thankfulness for the news of a shrinking tumor after 9 treatments! 
• Pray for an extra measure of peace/comfort as Kellee has the treatments each morning – he gets a strong copper taste when he is being zapped with the radiation and it’s wearing on him a bit.  He has to prepare himself mentally before they call him.  He will have 32 treatments total so we have a way to go.
• Pray for Kent and I as we try to prepare food for Kellee with high caloric and nutritional value – to keep his weight up.
• Pray for restored vision – his double vision is not getting better but worse.  We’ve been so focused on the brain cancer  and treating that, that I sometimes forget what he is living with everyday.  The double vision is Picasso like if that makes sense.  He sees two of things but one of them is up and to the left, I’m not sure if there is distortion, but regardless it’s makes it difficult for him to see clearly.  The prism they put on his glasses (which you can hardly see) corrected the double vision early on, but isn’t as effective now.  It’s one of those unknowns that may keep changing until the treatments are done.  We will see the neuro-opthamalogist when treatments are done to see what can be done to correct the vision.  But until then – I know it’s weighing on Kellee daily.  His spirits are good and his faith is strong!

Doctor Day with Tulips

Friday, April 30, 2010 – Doctor Day, Heidi & Kellee left for Iowa City early this morning for the last radiation treatment of the week. Below is Heidi’s summary of the day and week:

We’ve finished our 2^nd week of treatment in Iowa City and have good news.  An MRI was taken Wednesday and it shows the tumor is reducing in size! – after only 9 treatments!  Which is what the Dr’s expected but seems amazing to me that results can be seen that quickly.  Kellee has one more week of the whole brain and spine radiation – which is the hardest on him.  Because such a large field is being covered by radiation he’s really tired and depends on those anti-nausea pills.  The hope is the nausea should lessen once the radiation is more focused in the brain.  He’s lost 10 lbs which is a little concerning but understandable.  Just need to get the most calories in the least amount of bites – a whole new thought process for me!  More good news – there is a room for us at Hope Lodge (the Ronald McDonald house for adults) on Monday!

Next week is Kent’s week with Kellee in Iowa City.  We’re managing fine, because of your prayers and support, they give us strength!  Kory comes home from school (Iowa State) next week, which will be nice so it’s not so quiet here at home during the week.  Then the following week Kerry will be home too after graduating from Central – Yea more people to mow the lawn!

And now for those of you who will not be in Pella to enjoy the tulips, here are a couple of photos of tulips taken this week. In case you didn’t know, Pella is a small town in Iowa which celebrates its Dutch heritage each year the first weekend in May with a festival. This year the dates are May 6, 7, & 8. For more information see Pella Tulip Time link -  http://www.pellatuliptime.com/

Red Tulips

Tulips

Coming soon…the poll!

VEISHEA Botb

Thursday, April 15, 2010 – Very short post today.

The band, Sons & Heirs will be playing Friday night at VEISHEA  Battle of the Bands because they made it past the first round! They play Friday the 16th @ 6:00 PM. Go check them out and cheer them on if you plan to be at VEISHEA! If Heidi were not on vacation, we would probably go up, but we will be missing this show.

Kellee gets the stitches out tomorrow afternoon, shortly before the band leaves for Ames. He is anxious to have them gone! Pray the removal goes well, no issues. Please continue to pray we as we finalize out accommodation arrangements for during the treatment.

Some people have asked for specifics on how to pray for Kellee: Since his form of tumor is supposed to be very treatable with radiation, pray the tumor shrinks quickly and is gone when the final MRI is taken. Also pray for a minimum of side effects to the radiation (zero would be nice, especially no nausea!) Pray for good rest and safe travels between Pella and Iowa City.

Sunday – Road Trip

Sunday, April 11, 2010 – Kellee left extra early this morning for The Bridge, he had to set up and get ready for the service. He led worship this morning with Matt T. it was just the two of them as rest of the  band was given a break. It gave an opportunity to use some of the music loops Kellee has been working on, it apparently went really well.

I went to the 9:30 service @ TRC  and then left for Ames. Kory had called earlier in the week saying he was having additional electrical issues with his car and he really didn’t want to drive it with the dash lights and the right turn signal not working. So I agreed to drive up the van and leave it there for him to use and I would try to get it fixed. Kory didn’t want me there before noon, being a college boy he needs his sleep. (Turns out Heidi had already called him @ 11:00) When I pulled into the Freddy Court, Kory met me out by his car. He told that one of his suite mates had been in the car messing with the controls so that may be why the dash lights were not working, perhaps they had just been turned off by the dial being moved but he hadn’t checked it yet.  “Hmm”, I thought, “It would be nice if that is the issue, easy to correct – and silly me – why didn’t I think of  having him check that when talking to him on the phone? Did I really need to make the trip?” No matter the turn signal needs to be fixed anyway. We went to eat at Jimmy Johns since the lines at Panera and Hickory Park were too long. It was really good to spend some time with Kory and have him share some of what was going on in his world and to find out what he still needs to do to prep for studying overseas in the fall. After checking out Best Buy and Borders, we went back to his place so I could pick up his car. He told me I would need to gas his car up to be able to make it back to Pella, imagine that!?! (If I can get the turn signal fixed by next Thursday, I can have one of the members of Sons & Heirs to drive Kory’s car back to Ames/ISU and bring the van back. Sons & Heirs plays in a battle of the bands contest at VEISHA on Thursday. If you are going to VEISHA, check them out!)  I made it back to Pella in time to watch the end of The Masters with Kellee, which basically meant I could still take a late Sunday afternoon nap!

Tomorrow morning, Monday the 12th – Kellee  has “THE” ultra-sound, pray the test brings up no surprises!

Here’s another reminder to help out Sons & Heirs. They are trying to play this year at Cornerstone in the New Band Showcase, so the next time you are on the Internet, go to http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/ and vote for Sons & Heirs. You will be asked to set up an account and when they ask you for your cell number, I found you can leave that blank and still get assigned an account. Then you can log on, Click on New Band Showcase 2010 – Vote Now. Then click on Listen & Vote. scroll down to find Sons and Heirs and vote. Can vote once a day if you want. You can also check out more of their music at http://www.myspace.com/sonsandheirsmusic or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000111840004#!/sonsandheirsmusic?ref=ts.