fayetteville service

the arkansas service is going to be a 2pm Friday at Baldwin Church of Christ. that is out 16 east near lake Sequoya. just after there will be a quick grave side out near mountain grove church of christ.

i understand that they are predicting bad weather. hopefully that will not deter anyone from coming to the service at baldwin but i would expect that not many people are expected to travel to the grave side. the family is really looking forward to seeing all of you.

karen loved you all.

2 services

karen and i talked last week about what she was wanting for arangements and we agreed that there should be a service in georgia and arkansas. so, with that in mind there will be a visitation sunday the 24th from 5 - 8 and a service on monday at 3. they will be at wards funeral home.

376 Fairview Rd
Stockbridge, GA 30281

as for the arkansas service it looks as if it will be last in the week. we are aiming for a friday service but that may change. i will post something as soon as we know, and i will try to finalize that monday morning.

karen was a great woman and it has shown these few days by the outpouring for her from everyone...she loved and now that love is being handed back to my family from those she loved.

my best friend

today at around 10:00am, karen means, my best Friend for the last 26 years, the only person on this earth that understands me, lost her battle with brain cancer.

i am not sure how many more posts there will be, but i will post at least a few details for those of you who have been following.

seizures

karen is now having some major seizures. right away this morning karen had a big seizure. we went to the ER and spent a day there to find out there really isn't anything they can do there. we got home about 5pm and in total today karen has had more than 8 big seizures today. her neurologists has upped her seizure meds and toda was the first day of the total does and hopefully that will make a huge difference tomorrow. we also have a "visiting nurse" group that is coming to help with blood work and therapy and other needs we may have. we are looking into getting help for lynette and me to make sure karen is getting the best care. i am worried about how things are going and am not getting alot of answers from the doctors right now as they look into how to help her.

still better

karen and her mom were home alone today. things went well. karen has been up talking to her mom instead of sleep all day. she did some exercises, and over all her attitude was better. it was great to come home from work and see a bright eyed karen sitting up. as the day is winding down she is very tired, but that is to be expected. she drank alot of water, lynette has been keeping up with the actual ounces so that we can tell the doctors how much is going in. she still is not eating alot, but is eating some. overall after last week, everything is getting better.

finished today strong

today has been so much better. i am not sure if it being off the chemo 4 days, 4 days of her new dose of decadron, or mom being here, but it was a better day. she ate a little for break fast and lunch, and had an ensure milkshake for dinner. she sat up alot of the day and all three of us had some good conversations.

she is still very weak and needs a little help to the restroom but even that was so much better.

i am always amazed at the people who are helping in whatever way they can. some of our church family showed up with a card and hugs, just what karen needed. every time i turn around some type of love is thrown our way. just when i think more cannot come, it does even better than ever.

even this three day weekend was a blessing at the right time.

daren, her dad, and sarah drove out early this morning and are home in arkansas. sarah saw karen at her lowest, and i wish she could see her now, but i hope she understands how much we love her, and how we thank her, and how much we needed her this last week.

bad day yesterday, great start today

let me say how hard it is for me to post this...
yesterday karen woke up around 7am and right away she told me that she was going to die, that it was her day to go, and that she just knew that Jesus wanted her in heaven. i am not sure if you can imagine how that made me feel. i asked her how she knew, and she said she just knew, that the chemo wasn't working, and that God wanted her.

in the mean time karens parents and brother were already on their way here to drop off her mom to stay with us. karen and i talked about just relaxing until they arrived and then we would talk about it with them, karen agreed. she refused to get out of bed. eventually i talked her out of bed around 5pm and we waited for her family to get here...it was not a great day for me and my attitude.

now, as a little reminder karen visited her neurologist here locally, thursday. he looked over the reports from her last few blood draws and cat scan. he said that the liver count that caused duke to stop the chemo for a few days can cause toxicity in the brain that will cause a person not to think straight. we all hoped that after a few days off the chemo and on a higher dose of a steroid, she would be clearer in her thinking.

i was hoping that this would happen saturday but instead we hit rock bottom.

so, karen's parents and brother showed up around 7pm, and i think that really helped karen alot. she went to bed that night apologizing for the was she was talking, and she told her brother that she had told Jesus he would just have to wait for awhile longer.

this morning karen even wanted to try some of mom's chocolate gravy. we got up, she ate a few bites and is talking so much clearer. she really is even having a hard time remembering some of the last two weeks. i really think her liver was poisoning her brain and the chemo was making her weak. i am not sure where we go from here with the chemo, i will be talking to duke tuesday to get some things straight.

let me just say this one thing, one time...no one knows what the future holds for us or when our time is coming. i do know this about karen, she is right with God and understands that God wants her with him and that they love each other. we all want karen to be here a long, long time, and today i know karen does too. i hope everyone that reads this is as right with God as karen is or could find the love that she has in her heart.

i can not imagine what someone without God in their heart has to look forward to if this life is all there is.

Run for Karen

Hi everyone! This is Daren (Karen's brother if you don't already know). I'm sure you noticed the new link to the top left of the page. I know Doug was asked to post that same link (http://www.runforkaren.com/), but didn't go into detail since it is probably a little difficult to talk about a fundraiser which benefits his family. So, I thought I would let those of you know what is going on that might not have visited the site.

A friend of Karen and Doug has organized a fundraiser in which he and others in the New Jersey area will be running a half marathon to raise money for the family and kids. These donations have been made tax deductible which I think is pretty awesome! The website that has been created is really good and explains the whole thing.

Having said all of this, there may be some stuff in the works to hold some events the same day as the run in different areas such as Georgia and Arkansas. I still need to talk to a few other folks who might already be working on these things and we will see what happens. I will keep everyone informed and please feel free to give me some feedback if you would like. Just email me at dspurlock@pgtc.com and let me know what you think, if anyone is interested, etc.. I have to admit that I am a little reluctant because there are so many people who have given not only during Karen's recent battle, but even the first one five years ago.People have given more than I could have ever imagined whether it be monetary donations , donating their time and efforts, or just a simple phone call or card. But, I feel like Mr. Andrew Stout has laid a great foundation with this fundraiser and I owe it to Karen to do all I can as she would do the same for me. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.

little learned but some news

Dr. Schnapper, karen's local neurologist, has been brought into the loop when we had to go to the ER last saturday. So, Duke has been in contact with him to get karen some local help with our issues.

First, about 2 weeks ago karen just started or stopped eating, and drinking very little. at first it was not that bad but it got worse up till she fell out saturday. at that point she became so weak that it is hard for me, or Sarah to even get her a step away to a portable restroom. sarah had to take her to Dr. Schnapper's and that was a very hard ordeal getting her in and out of the car. it was clear we needed some kind of help.

throughout the week as i emailed duke and talked to dr schnapper, we found out that karen all of the sudden had a high liver count in one of her blood work ups. duke stopped the chemo on thursday and will not start it back until the liver count is normal.

in the mean time i have been so worried about how weak karen had been getting (which i was convinced was from the lack of food or liquids) that i was ready to try and get her admitted into the hospital to try and get fluids in her and her strenght up. apparently you just can't get people admitted and it takes more than i would have ever thought to get it done. a little good news came today with out announcement.

i knew that dr schnapper had been talking to duke and trying to coordinate local help for us but i was not sure what they were working on. today a nurse from the group "Visiting Nurse Health System" came to the house to assess karen and our needs and told us that once a week they would be arriving to the house to do karen's blood work and therapy. this means karen's mom will not have to transport her to do these things which might have been near impossible for just her. i had some helpers set up to help her but this will be sooooo much better. there will still be a need to get karen to and MRI at least once a month but i know i can get lynette help for that day.

so , the other good news is that karen vital signs are all great.

the bad news is if the liver thing doesn't get corrected it may hurt this clinical trail and we may have to go in a new direction.

hopefully we can get her stregnth up and get the echemo back on track

average at best day

today karen's diarrhea pills worked better, she drank a little more fluids, and did not throw up. all good, but she slept most of the day and is so week that she is having a hard time walking the 30 feet to the rest room.

she has promised me that she would try to sit up more tomorrow and work on some word search games she likes, surf the web, but stay awake. she lays back so much i think it affects her balance when it comes time to walk.

hopefully she will have a great day tomorrow.

a little better today

karen's elbow is a little better today and she seems to be feeling a little better. she still is not eating that much but she is drinking enough. she also told me that she felt her balance was better and overall feelings were good. i talked to her duke nurses today to try and get things worked out and they gave me many things to try. there may be a Rx we are missing that is a pill that should be helping with appetite and taste. i am not sure where that one has been or if we misplaced it but we need that one ASAP and they are going to get it for me hopefully tomorrow.

karen seems a little depressed and has mentioned to me once that she thinks the treatments are not working. she may need some friends just to talk to during the day. she tells me she is too tired to talk sometimes, but always enjoys talking to her friends and just does not get enough of that. sometimes her friends say "we didn't call because we thought everyone was calling so we wanted to give some space" over all not many calls have came. i have told karen that if she is getting tired and wants to get off the phone people will understand if she say she needs to go, so please remember, if you call she may cut it short and it is not your fault at all.

worried and run for karen

first, i am very worried about the amount of food and liquids karens takes in every day. for the last 2 weeks she just hasn't been eating (she usually takes 2 or 3 bites) and then says she is done and this doesn't taste good to her. now, 2 weeks later she is getting almost too weak to walk by herself. yesterdays hospital stay was an eye opener showing me that i must not be doing enough for her and getting the fluids and food in her she needs. she gets so mad at me when i try to get her to eat more. i have tried being nice, mean, reasoning with her and well everything i can. so, now if there are any hints anyone can give me or us, it would be great.

Andrew Stout, a long time friend of ours, has set up a facebook group and a website for karen. the site is www.runforkaren.com and the facebook group is also called run for karen. here is one more example of a great person working hard for us.

always exciting in this house.

this morning as we were getting ready for the day i noticed that a bruise on karens arm had swollen over night very unexpectedly. she bumped her arm about 2 weeks ago and i have been watching it everyday to make sure it was OK. i thought for sure that this was a bad infection the way it looked to me...right away i knew we needed to see a doctor as soon as possible about the elbow.

after karen was dressed we started to walk to the kitchen for breakfast. (karen has been complaining the last few days about being light headed). about 6 steps in karen said she didn't feel well and her leg was spasming. next thing i know she is slumping into my arms mumbling something. we slowly made it to the floor karen was totally out of it. her bad leg and arm (left) were both spasming and her face also seemed to have something was going on, but what i do know is that she was not responding to anything i said even though she seemed to be looking me right in the eye. jenna got me the phone to call 911 and as i talked to the lady karen came around and was her own self. we called her local neurologist, and duke u for advice. both said to go ahead and go to the ER have her elbow checked and get the neurologist on call to look at her.

so, from 9am until 7pm we spent the day at the ER. the first x rayed her elbow and just think it is a bad bruise that will take a long time to heal because of the blood thinner she is on. they put her on an IV to get fluids on her because she either fainted because she was dehydrated or it was a seizure from her tumor. her neurologist upped her seizure meds to take care of the seizure end. we left the ER with a CAT scan CD to take to Duke and our local neurologist so they can make sure nothing new (bad) has happened.

we will work hard to keep her hydrated and hopefully the tumor is stable like it was at duke monday.

last it is always amazing to me how many people are out there ready to help us a at drop of a pin. sure some people have plans that they cannot get out of and that is understandable, but it never takes me long to find what i need to make sure my kids are taken care of and karen is taken care of. we can never thank all of them enough...we have been blessed, and i know that God is working in this situation some how.

she does better with other people

karen seems to do better here at the house when i am not around. i am not afraid to admit that sometimes i do things for her that i should make her do on her own, but when i try to be hard on her she gets mad at me. so, i am very glad that her friend Sarah is going to be here next week and Lori the weeks after that. i am going to ask them to be harder on her and make her work. now that the Christmas break is over for me and someone else will be here almost full time, i think karen's attitude will be better.

on a side note my brother mike first brought this to my attention and i have been doing some research on it, but would love any input anyone else wants to give me...search on google "baking soda cancer treatment" and investigate for me then let me know what you think...i would appreciate any input about this.

good news

we just got back to the hotel from seeing the doctor. he said that the MRI showed stabilization. this is great news. we were told that this would not shrink the tumor, but that we needed it not to grow anymore. every thing is to keep it stable and this first month was stable. so, we have made our appointment for feb 1st. and will head up jan 31st and be back late on the 1st.

keep the prayers going please.

we made it

we are here at the hotel. this trip was better as far as driving goes (no traffic jams), but karen did not do as good. the chemo does not help on long trips. we made it though in one piece and safe.

tomorrows appointments start at 8am and i think we have several all day. then wednesday we just have a short appointment at 8am then we start home.

thanks for your prayers and please keep them coming.

Duke Trip # 2

tomorrow morning we are dropping the kids off to some very good friends and headed to Duke around 9am.

the trip has been paid for by our church who took up a LOVE offering for us before the first trip and that offering was enough to pay for almost 3 trips. we stashed away that money for these trips.

i cannot thank everyone enough who has given money to Karen's accounts to help. it has helped us keep our heads above the water. every time i think where is the money going to come from for something, some one sends something that is exactly the right amount for the need. I believe in God and Jesus, and know he is working through our friends and some people we have never even met...even a Friend of my uncle sent a good amount - Greg, thanks!

about my uncle paul...he had his surgery and is slowly getting some feeling back into his legs and some movement. everyone is optimistic that he will get enough back to walk soon. the mass around his kidney ends up just being close to the kidney and not effecting the kidney. it is some type of lymphoma but they will not know exactly what kind until tomorrow or the next day. the doc was fairly sure that it was caught at an early stage and should be easy to work with.

please pray for Karen, and Paul and this trip to duke