Time for those resolutions!

Hey everyone! Before I talked too much today, I really wanted to take a moment and thank everyone again. It is just unbelievable to me, Eric a regular guy having so many different people help us. I want to thank those that provided dinners for us, gave us some money from the classroom, gave us a boot award for the fire department, helped us watch and be in control of Hunter, drive me to and from the City of Hope to get various things done or checked, people to take me out to lunch, and everyone who placed a wonderful message on the blog. Thank you to everyone. I know that without all of your help my family would have had a few horrible issues to overcome. Thank you again. I was trying to think of what to say today since I am finally almost ready to be a human again without that incredible facial stuff. (On a side note that stuff is horrible, horrible, and definitely horrible! )

I was thinking about how it is sometimes very hard for us to have a seat and prepare to close the 2008 and get ready to open a 2009. It is sometimes hard to take some time and see how close we came to having accomplished all those things we were going to want done as well as what is the chance of getting things done in 2009. Did you finish the year the way you had planned the year? Did you do what you wanted? Are you going to take time to evaluate your year? Are you going to look at 2009 and make a plan for what is important whether the house needs repairs, spending time with family, the all important losing weight and getting healthy or whatever is important to you. Everyone is happy to have 2009 here but with out a plan we will look back at 2009 and think what happened! Know is the time to take a few minutes to sit down write your goals and look to the year ahead, life is always throwing unexpected twist but with a plan those twist may not be to surprising. Then at the end of next year you can look back and say WOW I did just what I wanted to do and you can fill good about the year. It is always easier said than done so take a few minutes and write it down so you can make your 2009 dreams come true.

Have a Happy and safe New Year and I talk to you next year!

Maerry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. We hope you all had a wonderful day and a great New Years day to come. We had a nice Christmas and spent the day with family, Eric was feeling better and this was all the gift we needed. Anyhow about Eric he stopped taking that study drug last Saturday becasue the side effects were sooooo bad. The rash was terrible and it was just not worth all the pain. Today all the white bumps are gone, that have scabed over and are really really itchy. He is feeling much better and looks much better, he just can't stop itching, so maybe a few more day and the itching may stop.

It was a wonderful surprise on Monday when the RFD showed up with a boot tied with a big red bow. The department did a fund raiser and filled the boot for us. it was so nice and it could not have come at a better time. They helped Christmas happen at the Botkin house. We are so thankful and there are no words that can express our thanks. So THANK YOU RDF for making our Christmas a special day for us.

We hope everyone had a great day filled with family and friends and we wish you all a wonderful New Year!

Love and God Bless,
Hallie

What A Drag!

Hey everyone. I hope everyone is doing well able to work very hard getting all the families and friends gifts. I know that sometimes this can be such a huge challenge to get all those special items found, taken home and hid somewhere and only to be opened in a cool short 6 seconds. Oh well, I hope it is all going awesome for you. Now it is my turn. I so really wanted to be in a place where I could sit here and tell you all how great the testing of this special drug called BIWB 2992, but there is a little challenge. I haven't got that yet. I keep waiting for the people to tell me about some type of greatness or hell even some type of goodness, and I haven't seen it yet. I'm sorry for just letting all of this off for everyone but it is as though somewhere there should be that place for me to feel great that I am on this drug and the fact is I am very unhappy. You see two of these things have become a huge challenge for me, the diarrhea as well as the rash on my face and head. Now honestly the diarrhea is not that big of deal. I mean it is not fun but it is pretty easy. You feel like you have to go potty so you do. Some days you go none other days you go 6 times. Now is this fun, again hell no, but is it something that will take me out of the study, not really. Then there is the evil rash on my face and head. This is truly something that has brought me some incredible challenges. It was funny that this stuff started all the way back on Saturday, but I didn't realize what was going to be coming. Saturday through Friday has reached a point which has given me unbelievable white zits all over the area between my nose and facial hair, with it now moving up into the area of my eye brows and is something that I have a hard time with. Not only is it not pretty to look at it hurts and itches really badly. I can't get my hair wet and I can barely chew any food.I even told the Doctor today that I might be done because I can't take any more of this. Well we talked for a lot and she has until Monday to try and make some of this rash go away. I told her that I would try until Monday but otherwise I was going to be out of this study. It is very funny how I think it has been so different between each of the two surgeries on my brain over the last bits of time. I know that almost anything done a particular way after the first surgery must now be a total different way after doing the third surgery. Kind of interesting that I just wanted to be the same guy as before and yet I am having so many different issues that I am not like that guy at all. It sometimes makes me wonder what God wants from me since now I have so many other little things that are needing to be taken care of.
I am sorry to unload a bit, I know everyone wants to hear all the good but the good is just not here right now. Hallie told me it would be OK to vent on the blog so I guess sometimes I will be inspirational and other times I might just be venting. Like I said things are just different after the 3rd surgery.

New Info

OK, It seem as if Eric had some sort bug and all is well with the fluid from his head. No infection, although they will continue testing for 24 hours. Eric is feeling better no fever, chills or throwing up. So it looks like we are going home in a while and will spend the weekend celebrating Christmas with his mom and step-dad. Sorry for the scare!

Have a great weekend,
Hallie

Boys and Girls, Ladies and Gentelmen! Welcome to the circus.

Well everyone, it is great to say hello to everyone this evening. I know that once I share some interesting info you will say, "Oh my God". I assume that some will say, "Oh My God" and a few of you will even unleash a quiet," Oh Shit", but I want you all to know that however it turns out for me everything will be ok. Let me start with some of the information from our meeting on Tuesday with the doctors to discuss and ask questions about starting this new study and learning about the rules and what it means to me. We got together with two different doctors , the neruo surgeon who looked at the swelling to the side of my head and the oncologist who was giving me info on the new medication and what to expect. To make it easy, the doctor told me to wrap some gauze stuff around my head to keep pressure on the side and that should help the fluid go away. I said ok and wore it for 2 days and 2 nights before returning today, Thursday. The interesting part of all of this is when he asked if I was vomiting, pain, fever, chills, or anything on Tuesday the answer was easy, it was NO. The other doctor went over the two new medications one I am very familiar with, Temador, and the super new unknown med called BIBW 2992 or something like that. So we went home and waited to get ready for our Thursday start of these great medicines. We arrived at 8:00 this morning, had to get my blood tested to see if it was good for me to be in the program, even though I had just had the same testing two days ago, but still doing what needs to be done. We officially started at 10, I took the pill and had my blood drawn at 10:30, 11, 11:30, 12, 1, 2, 4, and 6. The next events are just when things went wrong. First I couldn't eat anything until 11:00, I finally got some food and ate. I complained of a head pain so they gave me some Tylenol. I was just waiting my time until the next blood draw and I had chills and then around 2pm I threw up multiple times, I was very cold as I laid in the bed, I needed another Tylenol because now I had a fever! Well we thought it was either the medicine or maybe the flu because we have all been feeling a little under the weather this week. At 4pm we decided to go eat some dinner. I was hungry and we did have 2 hours until the next blood draw. While we sat at the worlds most exclusive McDonald's Hallie said that she could see the swollen side moving as my powerful jaw was chewing. While I thought that was pretty funny, when we thought back to Tuesday and the questions about fever, chills and throwing up. Well now the answer is yes!! When we came back and asked the people to contact our doctor just to give him some new information. He thought through many opportunities and decide that he would drain the extra fluid and run some special test to see if it is an infection. If it is bad, then we have a whole lot of things to do (surgery), or maybe it is ok and I get to keep going with the new miracle stuff. Let me just tell you that as he sticks a needle into your head, it hurt!. He was successful at pulling out 40cc from my head and while it was very painful, I am glad that I had the opportunity to get it eliminated. Anyhow we should know some info by 10am on Friday. If you would like to call you may on my phone but don't try Hallie as her phone is dead. Oh did I mention that we are getting to spend the night at the hospital. Hallie and I were hoping for a date night but this was not what we had planned! Anyhow this is the new and exciting info on me. FUN STUFF!!

Ah Christmas is Comming

Hey everyone! I hope that everyone is doing well as the first weekend of December is coming to a wonderful end. Also, and more importantly, I hope that everyone has made some starts to get their home ready. It is really funny because in our old world we would wait until around the 15th and go get the tree, let it stay in some water until the weekend would arrive and at that point we would work like crazy to get, and make sure, that everything, inside and outside, was perfect. Whew, life is changed this year. Well I am exited and happy to tell you that everything is done. Let me again say that that EVERYTHING is done. Now I know that since our life has changed a little bit since all those previous Christmas moments, I am happy that it is done to give us some time to enjoy the real glory of Christmas. I know that sometimes we talk about the great presents or the card to be given, but there are so many things we should be excited about. We should be excited that we can sit together as a family long before Christmas Morning, that we can share in each an every moment that God has given us. As I have been sitting here recovering and thinking about all of those previous years and to realize that being busy was so not OK and that by just hurrying through everything because that was all the time that we were going to give to the event was the way of life. So it is important especially during this time of our hurried lives to remember the importance of family and to spend each and every moment possible with the ones we love. I hope everyone is able to enjoy as many moments until Christmas with their family as possible.

Oh, on a side note I am going into the hospital on Tuesday to go through a bunch of big test to see if one clinical oncology study will be an option for me. If it is I will fill in all the details next week. I still have some issues since returning from the hospital. I guess missing 4 days and having a bigger issue has caused my recovery to take a bit longer. I mostly just want to return to normal. Have a great night and hopefully a great week.