Sickness Is In, Then Out, and Then In?

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Hey Everyone! Well what a crazy time here at the Botkin home. After just happening to come off the gentle family sickness, I got the fantastic crud that comes with my six week chemo pills. I had just gotten over a little cold that Hunter was sharing with the family. I started on the chemo pills stuff last Monday. I took the super pills, wasted two days trying to see how I was doing, and I was very good. Then it hit me and boy did I feel bad! 1st the sickness and then the chemo sickness. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Well now I an happy to tell everyone that I feel much better. I'm not officially feeling like a million bucks, but really starting to return to Eric. It is very funny or even bizarre how you take these pills and have challenges, then you take another set of pills and they help you and actually make you feel better. While I don't understand many of these things, all I can really tell you all is that I am very happy to still be here with you. I know that my issues are growing as I am starting to have more challenges with peoples names and many easy words are missing while I'm having a nice chat. Again I must share with you that I am glad that God has still allowed me to be here and share my time with everyone. Thank you.

Everyone is Sick?

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Hey Everyone. Hope your weekend was going much better for you than for us. We had a problem with Hunter, a problem with me and lastly a problem with Hallie. And it is all from the same bad sickness thing. The totally funny part is that Hunter got a terrible cough for 2 days, no flu, then it was given to me. I enjoyed two days of terrible nose pain, you know, that horrible crud running out of your nose whether you want to blow it or not. And finally Hallie with a throat pain that comes along with swallowing all that nose crap down the sore throat. FUN!! Well we are all almost back into the swing of things which is great as I will start another 6 week chemo tonight. Getting ready for the second version of "I'm not really sure how to prepare for this" medication set-up. But we all must continue do that which will keep us going forward. And again, I am VERY excited to still be able to be here with my family, friends and everyone else. I wanted to end this with something great, but you know what, after all that overwhelming crap and all the time felt working with the family, I got nothing. I mean I really wanted to think of something great, but honestly I an just happy to think after all that nose crud. So all I can really say is God Bless.

More Good Times....

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Hey Everyone. First before I get to any of my stuff, I hope that everyone was able to take a few minutes and think again over the 9/11 incident. It is continually amazing that the United States was able to be given such an unbelievable event. To have lost so many people who were never actually involved with the daily protection of our country is still unbelievable for me. I specifically remember riding back from a nothing call that morning and was told to check the TV when we arrived back at Station 12. Incredible. Anyway I got returned for a NEW MRI with a good condition. The old MRI uses 1.5 something or other to do the testing, and now I have been moved up to the new MRI that uses 3.0 something or other. Incredible to lie in the new one after being in the old one for the last 24 times was pretty incredible. I had several "wow" moments as it was a super test. Anyway again my tumor looked to be exactly the same with no significant changes so I will be on track for another 6 week pill just as soon as my blood returns to normal. My platelets were able to return to normal, but the white blood cells are still very low. Hopefully they will be better soon so that I can get on with my chemo.

Crazy week...Again?

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Hey Everyone. Sheesh, what an amazing week for the Botkin family. A man goes to the hospital, a boy goes to the emergency room and a woman with shingles, but the most amazing part is that Hallie and I were totally healthy last week. Now even though we were feeling good, we were very busy trying to help all of the family members who were having "issues". Even though we were really placed into some funny and stressful areas, we are happy to say that Hallie's dad is recovered and doing well, Hallie's mom is working hard to drop some germs, and Hunter absolutely does NOT have chicken pox, even though we thought he did. So a wonderfully busy week was to be filled with an equally wonderful, slow, and relaxing Labor Day, or that was what I thought. Well as you with kids all know every two - three years you decide that the toy room for your child needs some changes. The problem begins when your child starts taking on so many NEW toys that you begin to stop finding all that previous room. Well that was today's plan. OH MY GOD. Hunter's room hadn't been cleaned for about 2 years and there is a closet in that room, which over the last 6 years has become the convenient "crap" room. It is always funny how the easy clean up plans are "changed" two or three times before finding the correct solution. I am sure that none of my friends know what it is like to want a project to be started and finish in the same day, but I am happy to say that it looks nice. Aaa, another beautiful day in the cleaning moments. Now I am very confused as I have watched many shows on DIY and they are very quick, work with incredible help, and finish is with a burst of joy. I wish I could say this was the same for me I guess you can't believe everything on T.V. Well again I am very happy that we are done and it looks great. It is always interesting to sit back and look at the way it was all done to find those moments that were awesome and those that should have been done differently. The wife and I worked great together and we were hoping that the boy would pitch in. As it turns out he is just another 10 year old boy....I got all pissy with him for not being helpful and the reality is that he is ten! I know that if I keep on him and try to make him responsible and have pride in what he does and owns, someday he will be the same little boy who knows that his father loves him even if he has high expectations of who he should be and what he should do.

The 100th Post

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Hey Everyone! Well first, the amazing 100th post is pretty incredible. I had never thought that I would be the person to sit and type 100 different things about life. Blogs were always meant to be generated by awesome individuals who could write many stories for their folks, and here I have been placed on the same pile as them. Simply unbelievable. To those of you who are here for their first time I would say to go back in years and months and see some of the previous posts, and to those of you who have come many times all I can say is thank you. Thank you for keeping the blog important for me. You have been really great to allow me to continuously type thoughts, ideas and amazing things. OK, shifting, I went to get my blood checked yesterday and found that the white blood cells were still OK, and my platelets were getting very low. They said I was at 39 (thousand) and if I get to 20 we will be giving me some extra platelet medicine. I also got to talk to the doctor about my lost Tuesday and how it might have happened. I was interested that she said I don't know. Well I believe in her alot so we keep marching on. I also wanted to tell everyone that today the 29th of August is Hallie and my anniversary. We have been together for so a very long time. It is 17 years of being married or when you count dating it would be 24 years. Pretty incredible to have spent more than half of my life with the most amazing and incredible woman in the world. All I can say is thank you to you Hallie. I love you.

Today is What.... Wednesday!!!

Hey Everyone, Well obviously if you read the blog yesterday you know that I am having an issues. What is weird about my issues is that sometimes I have no memory, be it an event or a day I just can't remember. Interesting HUH! To have the ability to complete something than have no memory of it is both scary and sad. It is an amazing way to have an unknown day where you can do all the events but have no idea of things you will remember. If I looked at this I really hope that my little tumor growing is where this comes from because it can be remove and I can return to normal. I mean think about it to have a great morning with family and or friends and by the afternoon to have no memory of it occurring. Interesting! If you asked me how this could get worse right now I would have to tell you that I don't know. The only thing I know is the God has a reason for everything. So I don't know what the answer is, all I can do is trust in God and know that it is all meant to be. So remember that my name is Eric Botkin!

New Eric info!

Well I guess that when I update everyone knows that something is up and usually it is not the most exciting so here goes the latest on Eric. As of a little yesterday and all today Eric has been having short term memory problems. Can't remember what he ate, where he has been, where Hunter is, or anything that we talk about. I guess it is like he has little seizures or kind of blacks out even though he can function. He feels fine he just does not remember what he has done. I called the Dr. she is on vacation and returns tomorrow....the assistant and triage nurse asked alot of questions and they don't believe that it is anything that would be emergency related (stoke, big seizure, ect) so since the Dr. returns tomorrow they said we should wait to here from the Dr. in the morning unless something changes and then we will need to go to the ER! So I plan to keep his blog updated and this should help answer further questions.
Thanks for your continued prayers!
Hallie

My White Cells are What?

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Hey Everyone! Well today was the first time to go and check how the new chemo was working on me. I must tell you that having another new chemo medicine is not an exciting time. I mean here you are taking another medicine to stop the cancer in your brain from continuing to grow and it can be a difficult challenge. So many new opportunities to have no idea how your body is going to handle this new stuff. And now here I am again. Waiting to see if this thing is doing the right work and still not knowing if is doing something right. Well I am happy to share with all of you that my current chemo is going correctly. Now it is hard to believe that statement since I am pretty much feeling great with this new medicine. It is also easy to remember that I was with chemos that were very difficult for me to just complete. So here is what I was told. 1. My white blood was less than is should be, but it was not yet at a dangerous number. 2. My platelets had been reduced also but was not at a dangerous level either. Now I was told that over the next week before the next test my numbers could continue to drop and that I needed to work to keep them from dropping too low (resting, drinking plenty of water, ect). Yea!! Now I am pretty happy as I really had no idea of what to expect in this new chemo medicine. I am feeling pretty good as I start on week 4 since I took the chemo pill.

Hallie started back to work with all of her standard fun and almost after a week she seems pretty calm and stress free. I will get back to you with more as the year progresses. Hunter is getting ready to start playing soccer again and enjoying his way into the 5th grade. Me, I'm just looking for another quiet day. I know they are on there way soon.

Lastly, I wanted to thank a very special person who I share a unique bond with and who has been there for me before. When someone takes your hand and helps give you strength, love and encouragement, I just wanted to say Thank You!

Back to What?

Hey Everyone! OK several things to get us started this morning. First I just wanted to thank all those who have been to www.helpericbotkin.com as it has been neat to see different people looking at the web site. Whether you are interested or not it has been great to see different people checking out our pictures. Lastly if you could continue to be able to let your friends and family know will give others a chance to see our pictures too.
Next, I am sorry it took a little wile to get back but the six week pill was something else. However I started to feel really normal yesterday and so far, I am feeling pretty normal which is simply fantastic. It is hard to believe that I am on one pill which will last for six weeks, but hopefully chemo pill number #G or #H will do me good before the MRI on 9/10. On a little side know it is so hard for me to hear after 25 MRI's in only 22 months. That machine is so loud even with beautiful yellow things to protect your hearing. I'm sure that I am on a short plan for some ear helping stuff otherwise I won't be able to hear anything.
Lastly we are getting closer to the good or evil schools getting ready to start up for another year. I think both Hallie and Hunter are somehow thinking it is evil, but we all know that time keeps marching on and some things can never be changed. Whether it be me or you, time will always move along and some have to learn that many things are the things that cannot be changed by anyone. All we can do is pull your belt tight and just keep on moving along. So all we can really worry about is today and sometimes a little about tomorrow. Anything after those two days is simply unknown times to be controlled only when they actually arrive.

Whole Bunch of Stuff

Hey Everyone! What a great time last week. As of Thursday, Hunter is now a solid 10 years old. Pretty amazing to sit back and make our first change into double digits. Hunter had a great little week. First, I just want to thank all the incredible people who made it possible and helped us make this an awesome birthday a reality for our little guy. I would really like to have done it all on my own, but we all know that is not going to happen, so thank you again. We (and our niece Morgan) got to see the Padres baseball park, watch an Angel game, spend the night at Hilton, go to California Adventure (right next to Disneyland), and finish the surprises with a great night at the ESPN Zone a place for food and amazing games. Sheesh, that was so much stuff. I know that it was very cool to see his face get surprised as he didn't know any of these awesome events were to be one after another. Well one last day with 8 boys spending the night (yikes) and I will be able to return to being normal human being. Hopefully it all goes great.

Ok, now for the other side. As you all know I have been retired since November 2008, which kind of stinks as I saw some guys last week and I hated not still being able to work and have fun with them. Anyway, I have been able to receive 70% of my retirement funds which is better than nothing but not enough to pay all my bills. I tried to solve this issue with some things, used all our savings, tried to work but that is impossible, and it wouldn't be right to stand on the street looking for money. So what now. This issue has caused me a great amount to stress and concern. So much so that I was having issues with my words, not sleeping and other health related concerns. I know that men are broken into two different styles, those that want to take care of everything and those that want the care of nothing. Well I am unfortunately part of the group that wants to care for everything, even though Hallie would like me to take care of nothing. My want to help everyone and control our family issues finally hit the impossible. What to do financially when there seems to be no way to overcome the challenge. I had reached this point that caused Hallie to start to panic about me and what was wrong with me and my health. I was unable to think of a solution. I wanted to find the answer to our issues, but was trapped not being able to decide or find an answer. Hallie pulled me aside and reminded me that if I just let the stress go God will provide me an answer. Well it came through. An idea came to me one night. Back in 2005 I purchases a ton of books that I really loved and continue to feel very strong about, The ABC's of Making Money 4 Teens. A great book for the teens to have some awesome ideas about controlling money that is not usually given or shared with those teen kids. So I created a web site called http://www.helpericbotkin.com/ and I would really love it if you would check it out. It has my story and all the info about the books. I just want people to see the opportunity. Thanks for your help.