MAY DAYS

Jennifer took me to the Molly Brown Museum for a Mother's Day Tea, which was very nice. I'd long been wanting to see it, and the house was just beautiful.

Taylor is now 3 months old and I'm told she's getting quite the personality. The boys and I are going to be meeting Tyler, Shawna and Taylor at the Lake of the Ozarks in June, and I can't wait! It's been way too long since I've seen her, and the boys have yet to meet their niece.

Luckily, Alan's oncologist agreed with us that Alan's energy level just wasn't acceptable. We discussed various ways to go, and what we've decided is that he'll have one more chemo session at a slightly reduced dosage, and then give his body 4-6 weeks to recoup. At that point, hopefully his surgeon will be able to remove the tumor, which the most recent pet scan shows has been reduced in size, but is still active. The pet scan has also shown that the cancer that had spread to the liver, abdominal wall and lungs is now inactive. Chemo will resume after the surgery, but he should be in much better shape at that point.

Good Friends

Rich and Dee brought dinner over last week and we had a wonderful evening. For those of you that don't know them, they're our Sunday School teachers and friends from Church. The day-to-day happenings in Dee's life can be compared to the "I Love Lucy" antics and are definitely entertaining! They carried in a huge pan of breadsticks, two pans of salad, a large pan of lasagna and another of chicken parmesan, and a side order of chicken fettucine alfredo minus the alfredo for one picky lady of the house! Anyway, I didn't have to cook for days - it was great!


Christopher turned 15 on May 3rd, and on the 4th, we went to get his permit. An exciting time for him, a bit sad for me. My babies are definitely all grown up! He and Jason got a joint present this year (although Jason's birthday isn't until July). They got an XBox 360, and are enjoying playing it on the "big screen".


Alan was scheduled for chemo today, but his platelets were too low, so we're rescheduling for next week. Unfortunately we've had lots of delayed chemo sessions. His energy level is so low that sometimes I doubt he's going to make it up the stairs to go to bed. We do appreciate all of your prayers and are still optimistic that by Fall we'll be able to put this behind us.

At Taylor's 2 month check-up she weighed 11 lb. 9 1/2 oz. and was 23 inches long. She's growing and changing so much! Can't wait to see her.

Alan just had his 8th chemo session and has another Petscan scheduled for April 29th. Dr. Diab says that his cancer number is down from 302 to 38, so that is great news! We really contribute this to a tremendous amount of prayer on his behalf, along with great doctors and their knowledge of the newest and best technology and medicines. We expect nothing but the best outcome, but in the meantime, pray for strength and energy, as he's definitely lacking in those areas.

Blessed Easter

We enjoyed a very nice Easter Day with family and friends. Jennifer and Chad joined us at Church on Sunday morning, then a couple guys that Alan works with joined us for dinner. We're in the process of making more of a "media" room in the basement, and the boys had friends over that evening for a movie.

Prior to Easter Sunday, Alan had a port put in for his treatments. We've now gone through the Groshong and Picc Line, and hoping we have better luck with the Port. He spent most of Saturday at the hospital receiving 3 units of blood and platelets, as his body just doesn't seem to be producing enough.

The only downside to this special time was not having Tyler, Shawna and Taylor with us. Taylor is growing so fast, and we can't wait to see her again. In the meantime, we have lots of pictures!

More of Taylor

Brrrrrrrrr . . . it's cold outside!

We've barely seen snow this winter (well, unless you look at the mountain tops) but the past two days have tried to make up for it. We've lived here for just over 3 years, and the boys have only had one snow day up until this week, when they were off Thursday and Friday. How convenient, the snow has given a couple days head start to their spring break next week. Not complaining though, we've had a pretty dry winter. Christopher earned $20 this morning along with a couple neighbor boys clearing drive-ways.

Alan's been having IV's with antibiotics (3 a day) at home - these wood blinds make a great place to hang the IV bag! He's completed 6 of his chemo sessions now, so he's halfway through. We celebrated by having friends over for food and games and had a great evening. His energy level is still pretty low, but all in all he's doing well.

Looking Up

Things are looking up here at the Robinson household. Alan's groshong had to be removed due to the infection, and a picc line is now in place. He's getting additional antibiotics thru an IV here at home twice a day, and is feeling much, much better. Chemo has been postponed for a week to give him time to clear the infection and regain his strength, but all signs indicate that we are winning the battle. His cancer number is down from about 302 when we started the process to 69, which is great!

I'm missing the newest addition to our family, Taylor, and I'm really looking forward to her Papa, Aunt Jennifer and Uncles Jason and Christopher to get to meet her. Shawna and Tyler promise to keep us up-to-date with lots of pictures. Shawna will be picking up the pictures that we had made at Sears on Friday, and I'm anxious to get them!