Quick info

Well , I got the last MRI done on Thursday and wanted to show you all what it looks like in my super head. You can easily see the black whole where the previous large cancer got removed. Also you can see my current cancer with the little white piece over the black hole. The say that the current cancer piece is NOT growing, probably form my previous chemo medicine, which is VERY GOOD. Anyway I just wanted to share what it looks like in my super head. Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Time For That Talk

Well everyone I must tell you that life is pretty funny. I am sure that we all have those moments where you hear something or read something and decide that it is not for you and then it hits, Whack. Happened to anyone else? You see I had written this fantastic blog that talked about how you should spend your time. Should you be working hard or should you be spending time with your family? I had some great sentences and a few awesome jokes there for everyone to read. I had finished it up worked really hard to say invest time in your family so that you don’t miss your children. There it was another great writing by little old Eric. But then something different was shared with me. I ran into someone special. You see we were having an easy conversation about the whole thing and he shared with me his little problem. You see life had thrown him the wrong pitch, he was standing ready for the fast ball, but instead he had gotten the curve. This unknown or unexpected problem had changed the life he was using to focus on his family and was left with a very difficult focus on working to earn a living. I felt so ridicules. I had a great thing that told him not to waste his family time and he told me how he needed to work to help his family get to the next week or month. I always wonder how God can give you a great idea or thought to have for a while and just when you think you have it all God gives you a little more. Funny! So what is the right answer to this whole thing, well it is the same but a little different. While we must still focus life as I said before, I have learned where that focus should be. We should focus on closing your eyes and having a moment with God. What taking a moment to pray? The easy answer to that odd question is Yes. You see He is the bigger answer to all the problems and issues we were talking about. Having trouble with your kids, check with God. Getting in trouble with work and need to make it all come together, ask God for help. Looking for a way to find the answer to your problems, give it to God. I know there are some that will love this conversation and others that will say this is great and forget to stop and have that moment chatting with God, but all I can say is that with God’s help anything is possible.
As for me, well I am just great for now. Tomorrow is another thing. On Thursday I have 2 Dr. appt., blood draw, MRI (oh yeah #22 but whose counting) and Chemo, Yuk! As for me I will just be giving it to God!!!

My Big Guy

Hey Everyone. Well today is Sunday, a full two and a half days after my amazing chemo adventure. Now I am not here to share all the excitement of those Friday adventures, but just to let you know I did have the a super event of throwing up many times as I sat in the room with my arm still receiving the medicine. Yuck! But the point I wanted to share with you all today is about that little boy who could. You see Hallie had to go to the Prom with her kids with special needs meaning she was leaving at three thrity and the boundless ball of energy was suppsoed to be at my side the whole night. Ykies!!! How is he supposed to stay focused long enough to make sure I was doing ok. I am amazed and very proud to tell you Hunter, nine year old genius, did a great job. I thought, I'll just have to watch out for myself. Well I was very amazed that he did all the things on the instructions that Hallie had wrote for him. He checked on me every hour, made sure I ate, feed the dogs and even made us popcorn! He did all of these things while I was in the bed upstairs and he was in the room down below. And then finally he came up to my bed to go to sleep with me until Hallie returned from the dance. Amazing! It is so amazing that this is the little boy who has a history of moaning and crying that he is not getting to do what he wants to do. But last night he was able to do all that he needed to do to take care of his dad and stay focused on me. He made the night easy and I did not have to worry. I am so proud of that little nine year old genious that for the night he was able to push all of the normal crap he gives us over not getting to do what he wants to be there to assist and help his dad with anything that I needed. It is very unbelievable to see the actions of this young boy matching the goals and actions of his big father. All I want to say is thanks to God for allowing my hardest day ever to be made very easy by the young man who works just like me. Thanks again Hunter.

I had a thought....

Hey Everyone! I wanted to take time to thank some family friends for allowing us to spend the weekend in Oceanside. As you can see it was a bit colder than inland about 20 degrees but you can also see the boys did not seem to mind one bit. As I was watching the boys playing I started to think here are two boy, who played for several hours and enjoyed every minute (in the freezing cold) even though they are two very different personalities. Here are two boys one who

has an interest in reading and learning about stuff and the other who only has a mind for sports. They go to school together and enjoy each others company although they are totally different from one another. Even though they have different interest and ideas at school once at the beach they played together perfectly for hours. While I was watching them it became apparent that these two boys even though different in many ways are exactly the same. I started to wonder why as adults we are not able to look beyond our own personal interest and seek friendships or interactions with with others who are outside of our core group. We as adults have worked hard to become friends with a core group and then we stop seeking friendship with others because they are not just like us. What if we took the attitudes of a child and looked beyond our adult differences, just because we may not have the exact interests and thoughts does not mean that we may not benefit from each other in many ways. We as people miss out on what others can bring to us because we pass judgement on them for whatever reason. What if God's plan was for all of us to benefit from each other. I know that many of you are thinking what the heck am I talking about and I guess the bottom line is this....Don't miss out on something because you are to close minded to see beyond the differences. Be open to what each person may bring to you and realize that everyone has been put into ours lives for a reason.

So in closing I want to thank God for allowing me to think outside the box! To thank Hunter's friend for being a great kid and friend to him. To the family who put us into the fantastic beach condo for the weekend and to my family because I love them.

Awsome Thursday

Hey Everyone. What an amazing day today was for me. First , I feel great. On today's Thursday I was able to have a great time being busy all day. I was so excited having a day which was there to make me feel like my old self. While some of my words were difficult to be found, it was nice for me to be able to be busy and still feel like a million bucks. I was so honored to be able to have dinner with John and Jane White from FFC (Firefighters for Christ) tonight. Having never met them before, it was almost shocking to see their email asking to meet with us for dinner. I was very happy as it was so wonderful to spend some time together with them. And the dinner was very yummy too! Well tomorrow, Friday, is the start of my next chemo battle. Since Hunter and I and been talking (which I will cover next week) I know that as horrible and yucky as this stuff is, I will be fine and a winner as that is what God is allowing for me to believe will happen. Catch you all in a few days, unless there is something more important and then I'll be back anyway.

Surprise!!!! Station 25

Hey Everyone. I am happy to say that most of the horrible chemo things are almost gone and I am almost being back to myself. To be myself for the next four days before I step in to gain another chemo on Friday. Yuk!! You are probably all looking at the strange pic and asking yourself what is that group of people? Well I have something that is unique that I want to share with you all. Over the last month I had been struggling with the chemo sessions and the things that happen to my body as a result for example my thinning hair, intestinal issues, nausea, food issues ect. I had been having a tremendous amount of both pain and unease. I know that this sounds strange to hear me, Eric, having so much difficulty and becoming the individual who wants to get on the blog and cry and be pissed off. I wanted to use the blog and tell everyone how I was angry and frustrated about the whole thing. I was spending time thinking about how to share my total anger with all of you and then hoping that I could get back on track and back up to running correctly. But I was having trouble deciding if I was going to complain and be the one bitching and moaning. You see I think I am supposed to be the one who is all dialed in. I know that you all will say it's ok to complain ect. but I want to be the one who has something important to share not complain about the situation I am in. So back to the pic, you see on Saturday night I was the individual who the surprise party was for. It was people who I knew 10..15 years ago from my old paid call fire station in Orange County. Station 25! Here were people who came from many place to see me and celebrate a time in our lives. They wanted to know how I was doing and I just could not complain to them about what was going on. So here God had put me in a situation right when I needed it, to be able to share the positives with everyone and it was then I realized that all the bad stuff was just not important. We had a great time remembering the old times and sharing the new things in our lives. It was so great! So first off I want to thank God for putting me right were I needed to be, I want to thank Tom and Kim for making this event happen, opening up their house and for being such great friends. I want to thank everyone who was there and for all those who traveled near and far thank you! It was great seeing everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I look forward to seeing everyone next year at our 2nd annual Station 25 reunion!

Tons of Items

Hey to Everyone! Well I have tons of info and things to share so lets begin by starting with the best and running to the worst. Here we go:
I got the last stitches taken out of my head today! Yea! It is only 2 months extra after my surgery and I finally have all the stitches removed. So fantastic to get it all done, cleaned, and complete.
Next a special thanks to all the teachers, and staff who were in the Faculty Follies & Silent Auction. It is VERY hard for me to sit back and tell you all what a great event that this was for us to attend. It was awsome seeing the people with their entertainment as well as having so many people there to help and assist us. I just want to say thank you from my heart. It is very difficult for me to talk about my situation, but I just want to again say thanks.
Before the teachers it was coming from the City of Riverside Fire Department who was able to give a little, or even quite a bit. To my brothers, sisters, and family members I just wanted to say thanks. After working next to most of you for my ten years and then by the person who is on this side of the help is unbelievable. For all this time I wished that I was there to be a helper, but I don't think that is too much part of my future. Thanks again.
Another totally unbelievable and shocking thing is the help from the City of Riverside Police Department. Getting something from your department was awsome. There are many times when we don't get to work side by side, but when you have given such a wonderful gift to a co-worker is truly thankful. Thanks again for all your help and your amazing gift.
Now the not so fun, the chemo which is an infusion. Last time I was only given one of the two types that I will get on Friday the 24th, and oh my gosh. Well let me share a little with you on this, since it took the nurse almost an hour to give me all the things that I need to know. Here I am, almost two weeks after the first one, and I am already starting to loose hair, have internal issues, and feel and hear many different things in my head. Sweet! Anyway I don't want you all to think that I am complaining, but this is the first time and just like we talked many days ago, this is just another one of those areas where I must be the one to step over the curb and keep walking. I mean really if this is the only thing that is going to be the help or the thing that keeps me here longer then it is exactly what I must get done. Besides who wants to be the guy to have a seat at the wall and look sad that his time is gone all because he didn't believe that with God he could do anything.

Quick Note...

Hey Everyone. Well I am almost back to normal after last Friday's chemo. That was something. I think that it is going to take several of these chemos to find the right way to treat my brain, making it better and gives me less issues. But on a good note, I met a guy last Saturday, which was amazing that I could talk to him because I felt "VERY BAD", anyway his name is Lew Stowers and he works on reporting news. Well he interviewed us for almost three hours and put a site for us that is on the internet. If you wanted to see lots of funny and amazing things about my life and family then you should go to www.helpnn.org/joomla/ and take a look. I know alot of this is about the Teachers thing that is happening tomorrow and will probably be used to create some more internet stuff since I heard it is unbelievable what they are auctioning. I did see a signed football, baseballs, and many things, over 50 baskets with some awsome gifts. Anyway I just wanted to let you all know. Have a great day and God Bless.

Chemo Round 1

Happy late Easter to everyone we hope you had a great day with your friends and family.

1st off Eric had his chemo on Friday and feels terrible, he has been nauseous the whole time and eating has been a big challenge. He finally had a BLT today but other than that, salad is about all he can eat. He is improving with each passing day but he hates not feeling well and continues to want to be his old "normal" self. Well he has off for almost two weeks and his next chemo is on the 24th and this time he will get 2 kinds instead of one. Hopefully we will have figured out a trick to help him feel better. If anybody has any suggestions please let us know!!!

Secondly he wanted to thank all of you that voted for the America's All-Star. He did not win the contest but it was a great opportunity. Thanks again for taking time to vote for him!!

Love & God Bless,
Hallie

Many Thanks!!!

Well everyone, happy Sunday (and Palm Sunday) to everyone. I have so many things that I wanted to say, so let me start with the old first. Thank you to everyone who was at my retirement dinner. It was a great thing to be there with so many of my family and fire friends. To have a great moment with four amazing men who were able to retire over the true balances. I really had a great time with you all. Next, a bigger thank you to all the individuals who were able to add funds to the gift for Hallie and myself. It is always so emotional for me and I can not say thank you enough. Finally amazingly and incredible was everyone who took the effort to come to my house and fix the grass in the back yard. It went from a crappy lawn to beautiful sod. We have been watering it, looking at it and it is just fantastic. It was been OK for sooo long and now to see real green grass is very good, besides the dogs can hardly wait to get onto the new grass! They have tried to sneak out a couple of times.

I went to the doctors on Friday and wanted to share with you where I am with everything. We started with a MRI, and just to share with you how amazing it is to get the MRI done and then we are able to look at it 30 minutes later. I have two small pieces of cancer that are there from the last surgery with one being in the empty hole and another at the base of my head. My doctor felt that it had not grown too much although he wants to get started with the chemo asap. So on I will start on Friday through an IV instead of the pills. I will only get one of the chemo's on Friday and on the 24th I should get both chemos. They are waiting on the 2nd one because the would has not healed enough to start one of them. I would love to tell you how I am overwhelmed at this whole thing, but that would be a total lie. I do believe that God has something for me to be, due, or accomplish before I get called to Him, although I know it is much different for my wife who will have to remain here without me. I really wish our situation was switched around but again believe that all we have to do is just accept that which God has for each of us as the thing that belongs in our future. And lastly a hung thanks to the wedding group who got married yesterday. I hope that this couple is able to have all the love that Hallie and I have been able to have for 17 years ( 24 years if you wanted to count all our dating time as well). Thanks everyone.

P.S. Hey everyone this is Hallie. I wanted share with those of you who may not know what my school is doing for us. On April 16th the staff is putting on a faculty follies and an auction. It is incredible the amount of talent that will be performing, the gifts that have donated and the time everyone has put into this event. Eric and I are as he would say overwhelmed! I have tickets( $5.00 each) if anyone is interested or you can get them at the door or from Chaparral doing school hours. If you would like more information you can go to TVUSD's website and look under events. http://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/. Thank you for all your support! Again!