Day 4

Hi Everyone,

Randy is doing really well with his radiation treatments. I've noticed certain areas in which his hair is starting to thin. They told us that he would lose portions of his hair so we've been anticipating it.
He also finished up his last day of in home physical therapy today with Sam. We will start up out patient therapy on Wednesday. Our hope is to have therapy 3x/week before radiation then leave from there straight to the cancer radiation center for those treatments. That will be our life for the next 4 weeks or so. Then just plain old radiation until through the first week of May, another MRI, and follow up with his neurosurgeon.
Also, we would like to thank everyone that has so graciously provided us with a meal and meals to freeze. I can't tell you how much that helps me out. I now have the meals planned out on my calendar and I literally don't have to think. It is a tremendous blessing. Everyday I look at the clock and wonder where the day went. The meals allow me to take just a minute to breathe as I wrap up the day....thank you!
Anyway, I probably won't post again until next week...have a great weekend!
Love,
Rachel

Day 3

All is well today! Radiation went smoothly. Just the normal tiredness....we can handle that. Rachel has a bit of a headache and tiredness...mostly weather related we think.

Thanks for praying!
Randy and Rachel

Radiation Day 2

Hi Everyone,

Well, things went much better today (so far). Randy was actually in a very giggly mood during lunch today. He is napping now, but hasn't complained of a headache. We are just praying that he continues to have a nice afternoon and evening. We also set up his outpatient Physical Therapy today. It's about 1 1/2 miles from our house so that is good. He will have therapy on M, W, and F at about 9:30. From there we will leave for radiation. This will allow him to have the strength for therapy and the afternoon to sleep if he needs to.

Thank you for continuing to pray....
Love,
Randy and Rachel

Randy's Head

Hi again,

Just asking folks to say a little or a big prayer for Randy. Today was his first radiaion treatment (see the post under this one) and he is really struggling with a rough headache and extreme exhaustion. He slept the entire afternoon and early evening. He is really hoping that the next six weeks don't look like today (me too). I told him that we can pray through anything and that all of you will help us with that. Thanks so much!

Love,
Rachel

Radiation - Day 1-MIRACLE 13

Hi Everyone,

Randy had his first radiation treatment today. All in all things went very well. His actual radiation time is about 20-25 minutes (not including wait time etc).. We also met with the nurse, physicians assistant, and doctor which took up more time (that will be typical on Mondays - and Wednesday next week).

For the most part Randy is feeling pretty good. He is rather tired (he's been sleeping for the better part of the afternoon) and has a headache. It is hard to tell at this point if these things are symptomatic of radiation or if it is just a coincidence. He did have to wake up early this morning because he had physical therapy at 8:30 a.m. - plus we did have a little scheduling glitch with the radiation center today....read on.

When Randy finished up treatment today we were told that they would not be able to give us the appt. time we had requested b/c they did not treat patients during that time frame unless it was for a new appt. Well, I informed them that I was not happy because I was told originally that my request should not be a problem. Let's just say that by the time I started to explain my frustrations to the nurse I was in tears. I think the very thought of having to pack Joshua up everyday at his nap time just about did me in along with the frustrations of having gone through the trouble of setting this up in advance so we wouldn't have this problem....it all just overwhelmed me. Let's just say, we were a bit stressed out, but God is so much bigger than scheduling conflicts - and He cares so much about us that He just worked it all out. The nurse and doctor talked things over with me and they were able to give us an 11:00 am standing appointment...PRAISE GOD...we are naming this one...MIRACLE NUMBER 13...He cares about the small stuff that seems so big to us!!!!!

So, things are moving along. It will be a long 6 weeks (although my goal is to have my thank you cards done by next week), but we are certain that God will continue to hold our hand through the big and the little things that come up. We continue to learn that leaning on Him is the only way to stay sane amongst the trials of life :-)

Have an incredible day.....
Much Love,
Randy and Rachel