“I am blessed, that I am for sure of.”
What a week! My parents came this week to stay while we were gone and I am for certain they think we are crazy. We definitely wore them out for sure, but I think they have enjoyed it a lot. We started out Monday night with the first round of boys sub-state at home. Tuesday night it was the girls turn at home. Both teams won so on to round two. Tammy and I’s flight left at seven a.m. Wednesday morning so as soon as the game was over we hoped in the car and headed to Lawrence to spend the night. So we gave everyone hugs and good lucks (especially Mom and Dad because the we going to need it to keep up with our crazy schedule this week) and hit the road. Four-thirty rolled around pretty fast and we were in Houston by nine-twenty and off to the races for Tammy’s testing.
We get Tammy taken care of and head home Friday. Our flight was early enough that as soon as we hit the ground in Kansas City we lit out like a rocket for Halstead three hours away. The boys played Thursday night and won the second round and now it was the girls turn. They won and it was finally time to settle down and get some rest. There was only one or two problems. Tucker had a basketball tournament in Solomon Saturday morning starting at eight in the morning which Tammy happened to be coaching. Oh and I almost forgot Morgan had a volleyball tournament in Topeka Saturday and Sunday, aaaaannnnnddd Our oldest two were both in the championship games for sub-state Saturday night. I’m pretty sure my mom and dads heads were spinning by this time and we decided that we needed to divide and conquer. So me, Morgan, and dad head out at five-thirty Saturday morning for Topeka while Tammy and Mom slept in and left the house at six-forty-five. Tucker’s team had a very good day. They didn’t have any w’s in the win column but Tammy said they really had a good day for playing fourth graders. They even got a third place medal (there were three teams in the bracket). Dad and I stayed in Topeka and watched Morgan as long as we could and then fired up the rocket to head two hours back to Halstead to meet up with everyone else which pretty much included the whole family on both sides.
What a great night. I think there were enough happy tears in the gym to solve the water shortage in California. Both teams played great games and congratulations to both coaches. Hesston had two great teams and they played with courage and class. They were very fun, exciting and nerve-wracking games to watch. Both our teams have a very good shot at being state champions and this is very exciting. We are only three games away. A fun fact is that if Kylee and the girl’s team win a state championship it will be the first time since Tammy’s team won it in 1990. That would be awesome. So after a whirl wind and a short stint working a concession stand at eight this morning here I am finally sitting down and getting you all updated. Thank you everyone who helped this week happen. Tammy’s mom and dad are always here to help in any way possible. Thank you Shelly and Annette for coming to the games and helping Morgan getting to where she needed to be in Topeka. Thank you David Barrett and Linda Vialpando Barrett for getting Morgan home safe and sound Thanks to all of our friends who were no doubt doing things that we have no idea about without us knowing because they knew we were about out of gas.
This week has been a week of blessings. We were blessed in so many ways with family and friends, basketball, volleyball, good talks on long car rides, and we even met some very awesome people along the way. There were a few tears along the way. After Tammy’s testing we found out that they were taking her off of the clinical trial. Her growth rate was over the magic 20% and that automatically kicks you out. This was very unexpected on our part, but it is what it is. She will go on Lonsurf which is a chemo in pill form that was FDA approved in September. We don’t know what to expect on it as far as results because it is so new. The side effects are the normal chemo side effects so we will see how Tammy handles them. She meets with her doctor here on Tuesday to get everything ironed out. Tammy’s name is on a list for some new trials that are supposed to be starting pretty soon so we are hoping that she can do one of them. They are immunotherapy studies so we are excited to try that route. She will go back to Houston in May for scans to see how things are going.
Overall this week has been a great week. We are exhausted, but we are full to the rim with blessings. Thank you to each and every one of you. We are blessed, that I am sure of.