Update on Wes

I thought I would give an update on Wes. Last week we made the five hour journey to MD Anderson. We met with a doctor who specializes in nonseminoma germ cell testicular cancer. They did all the CT scans over again and redid his blood work. They also had their pathologist look over the slides from the tumor that was removed. The doctors at MD Anderson found that the cancer had spread to a lymph node in his chest and cancer markers were found in his blood work. They recommended he start chemo immediately. We were shocked. We had been told that his type of cancer was grew fast. It had been a little over a month since the last CT scans had been done which found no growths. At this point we didn't have a choice between watching and waiting or chemo - chemo was a must.

The doctors recommended Wes have a total of 9 weeks of chemo. He has 5 days of treatment the first week, followed by two weeks with treatment only on Tuesdays. He repeats this cycle 2 times.

He has been through 5 days of chemo and done better than we expected. He has needed extra rest, his stomach hasn't felt great, and he has been weak, but he is still managing to go into work some. His appetite has been great. We even enjoyed a good time with the Slechta family at Chic-fil-A today for lunch. Thank you all for lifting up prayers on our behalf. God is GOOD!

The girls are doing well. We told them that Daddy had cancer in his body and that he would be getting medicine to get rid of the cancer. The medicine would make him feel bad at times, as well as make him lose his hair. (We gave them some more details than this.) Wes told them that he might cut his hair real short after a while so his hair wouldn't look funny when it fell out in clumps. Avery asked, "Daddy, why do you have to cut your hair? If a little falls out on one side just shave your head on the other side to match." Ha! That made sense to her. After giving this whole preparation spill and reading them a great children's book about a mom going through chemo (they didn't have one for dad's) Abby's one comment was, "Sometimes I wish I were bobbed (bald)." Oh, Abby - you crack us up.

We have tried to keep things around here as normal as possible, for the girls sake and for sanity's sake. I am so thankful for all the support of friends and family through all of this. All the phone calls, texts, facebook messages and blog comments have really helped to lift my spirits. People have been supportive with picking up the girls, keeping them on occasion and bringing over food. We feel truly blessed.

I am doing much better. When we first found out it had spread, I have to admit, I was an emotional wreck. After getting some perspective on things, praying, and lots of encouragement I am feeling better. It also helps that Wes has such a positive outlook. Only 8 more weeks of treatment, yay!

Last night we went and got pictures taken. Yes, Wes even felt well enough to do this after a long nap following his treatment. Olan Mills will be coming in March to make a new directory for our church. We only do this every 5 years or so, so we decided it might be good to go ahead and get a picture done ahead of time. We aren't sure how Wes will feel or how sick he will look. Plus, we haven't had one done in a while of our whole family. The girls did better than they have ever done, which makes a big difference.

Our little family.

This will go in the church directory.

More Decisions

I wanted to let you know what we found out today. We met with Dr. Bibawi at Richardson Regional Cancer Center for a second opinion on Wes's treatment. He was very helpful and explained things well. He strongly recommended we consider just monitoring Wes with frequent scans and lab work rather than going through chemo. He told us Wes's cancer was Stage 1A. That is there very best stage to be in. There are only 3 stages of testicular cancer where as other cancers have 4 stages (4 being the worst). Within each stage there are levels A, B, and C. A is the best and C is the worst. Stage 1A simply means that this cancer was discovered at the earliest level. All the results of his blood work were normal. He said it wouldn't be "wrong" to do chemo, but it would be "like killing a fly with a bazooka". Testicular cancer is very treatable and responds so well to chemo that if they found something while monitoring him closely Wes could undergo chemo at that time. He said if it were him, he would just get scans and lab work monthly rather than going through chemo. He also said since what he recommends differs from Dr. Roque, our first oncologist, that he would seek a third opinion. He was not concerned at all about the spots on Wes's lungs. He said that testicular cancer is very predictable in the way that it spreads. It would have to travel through his lymph nodes before it would reach the lungs. The spots are most likely scar tissue from an earlier sinus infection or bronchial infection.

All of this news was great to hear, however we are torn about what to choose now. It would be wonderful if Wes didn't need to have chemo. We are going to seek a 3rd opinion, at either UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas or MD Anderson in Houston. We are leaning towards UT Southwestern, and are hoping to get in to see an oncologist soon.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and direction.

New Update

Wes' oncologist just called today and said she would like Wes to do 3 treatments of treatment rather than 2 treatments she suggested at first. She didn't see the spots on the chest X-ray that Wes had yesterday that she saw on the original CT scans (taken before Christmas), but she said they are so small they wouldn't necessarily show up. She wants to play it on the safe side. I asked if we needed to do more scans and she said we did not. They probably would not show up. We are making plans to seek a second opinion on the treatment plans.

Thank you for lifting us up in prayer!

Update on Wes

Wes had his first oncology appointment at the Texas Cancer Center in Sherman this afternoon. Dr. Roque was very helpful and answered all our questions. She told us that the CT scans did show a spot on his lungs that was between 2-3 millimeters big. (This was a shock to us. We had not heard this before.) She had Wes do another chest X-ray today while we were there which, thankfully, found no abnormalities. She advised Wes to undergo 2 sessions of chemotherapy which will last 6 weeks. Wes will begin those on the 26th. He will go in to the Texas Cancer Center (in Sherman) for 5 days straight. He will receive the chemo through an IV for about 2 hours each day, coming home each day after the treatment. After two weeks he will repeat the 5 days of treatment. She said for him not to plan on going into work that whole weak he is going in for treatment. He will most likely experience nausea and fatigue and needs to take it easy. Each day after the week of treatment he should gradually feel better. She said most patients on this medication lose their hair. Three months after the treatment process he will be back to 75% normal. After about a year he should feel totally normal. (Hearing that was a little overwhelming.)

Thank you again for all your prayers and we are now praying that the chemotherapy does what it is supposed to do and that Wes will do well during the whole process.

Joy and Heartache

I have not updated my blog in quite a while. I think part of it was that I didn't know exactly what to write. I also knew that my emotions would well up, and I just didn't want to go there again. I am at a much better place now and want to share all that has gone on in our lives. Most of you know a lot of this, but I wanted to share it with those who might not know.

In the beginning of December Wes felt a lump in his right testicle. He immediately made an appointment with a urologist and was able to see him fairly quickly. The doctor examined him and took blood and was pretty concerned. He told Wes to get a sonogram that afternoon. A couple days later we went to the doctor to discuss the results of the blood work and sonogram. The blood work did not show any cancer markers. The doctor was not surprised and let us know that there are two forms of common cancer in the testicles that don't ever show markers. He said he was 95 percent sure the mass was cancerous (based on the over 1 inch size and hardness of it) and recommended that it be removed immediately. Six days later the doctor removed his whole testicle as well as extra tubing leading to the abdomen. The surgery went well and when the doctor came out to talk to us he told us that he went ahead and cut the mass open after he took it out. He said that it definitely looked like cancer. To quote him, "I will eat my shoes if it is not." We got a pathology report a couple days later that told us that the mass was cancerous. Three days later Wes had CT scans on his abdomen, chest, and pelvis to check if it had spread. Thankfully, other cancerous masses were not found. The scans are not able to detect individual cells, so the urologist has referred us to an oncologist and told us that more than likely the oncologist will recommend some chemotherapy. The soonest we can see the oncologist is Jan. 15th. We are extremely grateful for the news that no other cancerous masses were found, but we will feel more at ease when Wes is through with all the chemotherapy. Wes is healing very well from his surgery.

The girls have been great through all of it. They have been careful with Wes (OK, except for the first night after the surgery when Abby ran in and jumped on him, jabbing her knee right into the incision.) They were very understanding of the fact that Daddy couldn't lift them or rough house with them for quite a while. Their precious prayers on his behalf brought such joy to our hearts.

Our church family has been amazing! They brought us meals, visited us, prayed for us, and were extremely caring. We had friends who helped take care of the girls, which was a huge help.

We appreciate all the prayers you have lifted up on our behalf. The notes of encouragement, love, and support shown to us blessed us more than you will ever know. We feel so blessed and loved. We are thankful to have such wonderful friends and family.

Other than all of that we had a great Christmas. We tried to do a lot of our same things we usually do during the Christmas season despite all that was going on. The girls and I had a blast making sugar cookies, cutting them out, baking them, and then decorating them. Those cookies were my weakness this year. The girls always have so much fun with the icing and sprinkles we will probably decorate cookies for all the different holidays through out the year.

We celebrated first with Wes's family in Arlington on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and then we headed back to Denison to celebrate with my Dad, Gina, my brother and sister and their families. Heather and Caleb came from Nashville and were able to spend several days in Texas.

We rang in the New Year with some of our friends from college down in the metroplex. Aaron and Janet kept the girls. They had a cousins sleep over. We plan on returning the favor sometime soon. The girls adore their cousins. It will be even more fun when Aivlyn gets older.

Avery started back to school this past Monday and Abby and I started back today. My students sure looked like they had all grown over the break.

Abby loved drenching her cookies with icing and then pouring as many sprinkles that could fit onto the cookie. More is better, right?



Yummy Christmas lunch!


Christmas Eve at Nana and Paw Paw's house.



Santa brought the girls some musical instruments. Now we are officially the Encalade Rock Band. We plan to tour soon.


Avery already knows the rock stance.


The Encalade cousins early Christmas morning.


Lexi chillin' in her warm sweater.


Dad and Gina gave all the grandchildren hermit crabs. At first Avery was terrified of them but the very next day she was holding them and playing with them. We started of with Pooh and Monkey Boy. Pooh died a few days ago. We aren't sure why. He was the one that has been the most active. He would always win the crab races. Ha! The girls changed Monkey Boy's name to Marsha. (I guess they wanted a girl's name???) They like Marsha to play with their other toys too.



Even the Barbies enjoy the new pet. Ha! Poor Marsha is just hoping she doesn't get trampled!

Well, come sit on my lap...


Hi Marsha!



Avery is extremely flexible and strong! She loved doing flips on the sliding trapeze.


Caleb going down the slide.


Abby shows everything on her face. "I am a little scared, but this is really fun!"


Grandpa watching all the excitement. Thanks for treating us to such a fun place!


Pick-a-boo, Abby!


Can you tell that she enjoyed posing for Heather?


Do you like my toe touch? You are never to old to have fun on these blown up things!


Abby working her dance moves in midair.


Wes consoling Avery. There are bound to be some small injuries during all the excitement.


He probably should not have attempted this slide one week after a radical orchiectomy. I think it was a little painful.


Tripp's first Christmas. I think he enjoyed it!

Warming My Heart

Abby has said and done a few things recently that have really warmed my heart. She can sometimes be our more challenging child, but it is moments like the ones below that help me keep my sanity and bring me great joy.

During her prayer the other night she said, "Please give us some warm wind because it is cold outside." After the whole prayer Avery responded with, "Warm wind, huh?" The way she said it was like she was saying, "So that is really what you came up with, sis?"

Abby and her friend, Sybil, bring smiles to our whole preschool during chapel when they decide to belt out (I mean scream at the top of their lungs) "STAND UP AND SHOUT IT IF YOU LOVE MY JESUS! STAND UP AND SHOUT IT IF YOU LOVE MY LORD! I WANT TO KNOW, OH, I WANT TO KNOW, DO YOU LOVE MY LORD?" Their faces are priceless! My friend, Carrie, (Sybil's mom), and I are pretty proud of their singing/yelling. They are praising God with all they have. I am not embarrassed. We have sung several renditions of this at home, too. It really hasn't gotten old yet.

Abby, Avery, and their friend Sybil at the Teddy Bear Parade a couple months ago.

The other day Wes was walking by Abby's room and she was laying on her back on her floor with her arms and legs spread out. She was saying, "Where are you, Jesus?" Wes peaked his head in and said, "Abby, He is in your heart." She continued, "But I don't see you in my heart!" That is a tough concept to grasp for a three year old.

A group of friends from church and some of my friends from out of town (through email) and I are studying the book, Shepherding a Child's Heart, which is written by Tedd Tripp. It is a must read! It really challenges you to look to the Bible as you parent. It teaches you what your goals as a parent ought to be and how to pursue those ends practically. It teaches you how to engage your children about what really matters, how to address your child's heart by your words and actions. It has really inspired me to parent using God's words to train my girls, addressing the issues of the heart. Anyways, I highly recommend it. One of the things that Tedd Tripp challenges parents to do is to bring scripture into disciplining. Wes and I have really tried this, and I know the girls are hearing us, and I am pretty sure they are understanding. Here are some memorable moments we have had lately.

I was complimenting Abby as she was going down for her nap the other day. I was telling her what a good morning it was and how she had acted kind and sweet, and how she had obeyed me and made me happy. I was sharing that God is happy when she obeys her parents and that life is a lot easier when you obey your parents. She responded with something like this, "Yes, I didn't act yucky today. I obeyed. I didn't want to disobey like Cain when he killed his brother. I didn't want to have a hard life." I hope she truly understands those words and isn't just repeating stories we have shared with her. On another occasion right after we had disciplined Avery, she came over and said, (OK, more like bragged), "Avery is disobeying. She is disobeying God, too. That makes God sad. I am not disobeying. That makes God happy."

What a tremendous responsibility we have as parents to raise our children in a Godly way in a culture that is all about doing what is best for yourself. Some days it really overwhelms me to think about it all!

Pray! Pray! Pray!

Two Sundays ago our preacher Todd had a terrific message! As a part of his sermon series on the Holy Spirit he had several of our members share their testimonies through a method we called, "Cardboard Testimonies". We smiled, we cried, our hearts were broken. It was amazing to see how God had worked in the lives of these people. God is truly working today!!!! Check it out at Park Avenue Church of Christ's Website

Fall Festivities

It is hard to believe its fall again. Time sure does fly!

The most exciting news we have is the birth of our adorable nephew/cousin James Tripp (he told us he would like to go by Tripp). He arrived on Wednesday, November 19. He is such a cutie pie and he has been adjusting well to his new life. It has been special to see Blake and Katy as proud parents. They are doing a wonderful job! The girls are elated to have a new cousin.

This made me almost want another one!

Avery getting in some sweet cuddle time.

The girls are interested in doing their own thing rather than taking a cute cousin picture.

Yes, I know I am good lookin'!

Two of their other cousins, Mylen and Aivlyn, celebrated their birthdays recently. Mylen turned 4 and Aivlyn celebrated her very first birthday. The girls always have a ball playing with their cousins and celebrating their birthdays. It will be even more fun when Aivlyn and Tripp get a little older and can hold their own around the older cousins.

I am a big one year old now!

Help me do this, mom!


I am so excited about my cake! (Janet, you always make the most amazing cakes!)

We took advantage of our fall festivities around the Grayson area. We hit the Sherman Fall Festival, Denison Fall Festival, and the Grayson County Fair.

Halloween brought along fun events such as our annual preschool fall festival, Avery's kindergarten Halloween party, and the Sherman Halloween Festival. Like most of you, we now have tons of candy. The girls didn't even notice when I took a big bag of it to share with the middle school girls I shared a cabin with on our middle school retreat this past weekend. Thanks girls!

Our little angel (most of the time).


Avery is the glittery witch on the cake walk. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of her in her costume. I will have to have her get dressed up again and do that. Oooops! That is what happens when you are trying to get pictures of your kids as well as your preschool students.



Abby's preschool class at the Fall Festival.


Wes and I and our wonderful middle schoolers on the retreat. Wish I had their energy!

Avery got her first report card, all E's (yipee!) and an E in citizenship. They have an awards ceremony every nine weeks when report cards go out. She got all the possible awards that a student could get. A reading award, citizen award, worker award, attendance award, and A Honor Roll. She has already done some state testing (kind of sad that kindergarten students have to take state assessment tests already). She got 100 percent on 7 of the 9 areas tested and between 92-99 percentile on the areas of the other test. We are quite proud! I hope and pray her joy in learning continues through out all her education years. I volunteer some at her school helping kids take reading tests, going on field trips, or helping the teachers with different projects from time to time.

Abby is doing well. She enjoys preschool and misses her sister while she is at school. She is our most affectionate child and I occasionally like to hold her while she falls asleep. She constantly cracks us up with her made up songs and dances. She is not shy! She has the sweetest prayers and most interesting ones too. She likes to pray for friends when they are sick, which melts my heart. The other day she prayed, "God, please give us the power!" Ha!

Our family has made the local paper 3 times. No, we don't have any friends on the staff, we just happen to be at the right spot at the right time, I guess.

Avery on the first day of school.


Our family at Open House at Avery's school. Yes, Wes is looking at his phone!


Our family is in top right hand corner watching the monkey show.

Avery got to participate in a mock vote at school.

Who should I vote for? I don't even know who these guys are?????

Can you tell me who to vote for?

Gotta love this smile!

Fun Times

We have had some fun family times lately. On Labor Day we joined Wes' parents, Granny, Katy and Blake at Burger's Lake. Here is how the website described this neat place:

Located in Fort Worth, Texas, Burger's Lake offers summer fun for everyone. Burger's Lake is a 30-acre park featuring a one-acre spring-fed lake for swimming.
Our facility includes:
- Two sandy beaches for sunning; wonderful big trees for shade
- A complete staff of certified lifeguards
- Over 300 picnic tables
- Six diving boards, a 20-foot slide and 25-foot trapeze
- Charcoal grills for cooking
- Plus much, much more!!!

We had such a blast here with everyone. It is a great place for young children. The girls loved the little slide where they could slide right into the lake, and they enjoyed the smaller diving boards as well. Avery told me she felt like she was at the Olympics. They spent a lot of time playing in the sand making castles and mud baths. I wish I could have taken a video of Avery on the 25 foot trapeze. Wes and I were surprised that she wanted to try it out after watching us. Wes went ahead of her and waited in the water while I placed her on the trapeze and away she went. She was supposed to drop into the water after swinging out, but she chickened out at the last minute and just hung on, so I caught her again. It was actually a little humorous, but I didn't dare laugh. We just praised her brave efforts and strong ability to hold on for so long. Wes and I enjoyed jumping off the high (about 30 feet) diving board, except for the few times when we totally busted. Needless to say, we were both sore the next day. A big "thanks" to Debbie and Ernie for treating us to this great family outing.

When we have gone swimming lately, we hear a lot of "Watch me!" from Abby as she shows us the way she swims.

Where did her hair go?


Burying Abby is hard work.


No, Wes has not lost his leg.


Anywhere is a good place to blow bubbles.


Going for a ride with Mommy!


The rest of the gang hanging out.


Abby flying high!


"My turn, Daddy!"

We went to the first football game of the year a couple of Friday's ago. The girls seem to enjoy it more and more every year. This year I kept hearing names of my past fourth grade students who were football players. I finally went through the program and counted how many of the players had been in my fourth grade classes. Turns out, I taught 11 of them. I would have never picked some of those scrawny little fourth graders out to be future football players. I have to say, it makes the game more interesting to watch when you know several of the players, personally.

Yesterday we went to the Sherman Fall Festival for the second year in a row. They really do have so much to offer. We started of the day with the annual Teddy Bear Parade. Children can bring their stuffed animals to be judged and then they get to be in a parade following the Sherman High School drum line. The girls dressed up their Build-a-Bears and we stuck them in their baby strollers for them to push. I think Abby must have thought it was a race because she took off in high gear, running, and kept a fast running pace the majority of the time. Maybe she will be our little cross-country runner??? I will have to post a picture of the two of them and their sweet friend, Sybil who joined us. Thanks Carrie for remembering your camera. Oooops! After the parade the girls also enjoyed jumping in a couple different bounce houses, painting tiles, painting T-shirts, making trail mix, and listening to a puppet show. One of the best things about this outing - IT WAS FREE!

The girls have been cracking us up, as usual, and I thought I would include a few things that come to mind that have made us laugh lately.

Avery one night at the dinner table: "This Oprah (okra) is good!

Avery during the football game: "How do they make the football costumes puffy?"

Abby after the football game: "I want to play the tuba! When I grow up I will get strong muscles to carry it."

Abby on several occasions: "When I was 5 I wore those shoes. When I was 5 I read that book."(It has been a hard concept for to grasp that she has never been 5 like Avery, or any other age over 3; only 1, 2, and 3.)

Abby when we picked up Avery from school one day: "Avery, I missed you!"

Abby after her nap today: "Mommy, I missed you when I took my nap, and I missed Avery when she went to school."

After telling her that learning how to buckle herself in her car seat was part of growing up Abby said in a frustrated manner, "I just want to eat food to grow up!"

Avery has her first fund raiser for school. At first she came home excited about selling things to win prizes, but then last night she told me, "I don't want to sell anything! I already have enough toys!" I can't say I blame her.

Today at church Abby warmed my heart. During the last song, she stood on the pew next to me holding a song book (I guess she can read the words in the book, but not on the screen. Ha!) Anyways, she really belted out "Our God Is An Awesome God" with us. She was full of joy and really gave it her all! She was too cute! Wish I could have caught that on tape too.

Avery is still enjoying Kindergarten. She has been making wonderful grades and has received a smiley face on her behavior chart every day! Way to go, girlie!

Teaching preschool has gone pretty well. I have discovered that there really is not much down time with two year olds! Abby is enjoying her preschool class as well. She has become quite a little artist lately staying in the lines while coloring and drawing things now that we can actually decipher. She just picked it up quite suddenly and often is found drawing her creations at the kitchen table.

Well, my bed is calling my name...