The O'Neal Family: June 2010

Update on Mom

It has been a while since I updated on Mom. These past few months have been difficult.

Her CA125 count is supposed to be under 35 which is considered normal. While she was on maintenance her count was rising, but still within normal range. Her doctor ordered a PET scan and it revealed that there was a small sac of fluid on her liver. Ordinarily this would not be a concern, but since her count was rising her doctor felt this was where the cancer cells were located. He decided to take her off of maintenance and back on chemo treatments. She is on two different drugs as part of the cocktail. It is a four week cycle: 1st week is both drugs, 2nd week is just one, 3rd week is both, and the 4th week is blood work.

These past few weeks have been hard for her. She has been very nauseated and tired. She has some good days, but the bad tend to be more frequent. She is taking a lot of medicine and her blood pressure has been pretty high due to the chemo. She is a trooper though. Her attitude is amazing. We know that God is in control.

On her last appointment they did another CA125 test and her count is up to 51 - not in the normal range. She will have a CT scan on Tuesday to see if there is more spreading. We are nervous and apprehensive, but once again God is in control. God is in control. God is in control. It is almost a mantra now...

Please pray for my mother! This has been hard for her and she is tired. I don't want to sound doom and gloom. We are still in a good position. Her doctors are wonderful and have led us in the best direction this entire time so we know we are in good hands. Just please pray! I will update after we have some answers. Thanks!!

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day weekend, but I am horrible and did not take any pictures!!

We went to my grandparent's house on Saturday and ate Dreamland BBQ, which is always wonderful. My grandparents had a house full with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins.

On Sunday we went to brunch at The Club - not to celebrate Father's Day - but to celebrate my Mimi's 90th birthday!! 90!!! She is amazing! This woman wakes up 3 mornings a week for water aerobics, volunteers at the Hoover Library, and still drives BY HERSELF to South Carolina to visit family. I want to be just like her when I grow up!

After brunch we went to Eric's parents to celebrate with his family and then to his grandparents to see Papaw. It is so nice to have so many fathers to celebrate with!

Let me brag on my husband for a minute...

He is an amazing father. He and Lucas a big buddies. Their faces light up when they see each other. He is very hands on. I never have to ask him to do a diaper change or feed Lucas. He loves to give Lucas a bath and they love to play together. I know that there are a lot of great fathers out there, but excuse me if I think that Lucas is the luckiest little boy in the world for having Eric as his Daddy. I have talked to other friends whose husbands do nothing to help with the children and I am so blessed to have a husband that WANTS to do these things!! Even with all of the training that Eric is doing for his Iron Man in November Lucas and I always come first. Have I mentioned that he is amazing?? Lucas and I are so blessed to have you!!

Lucas' 9 month check up

Lucas turned 9 months on June 3rd. I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up. He is such a precious little boy. He was 19lbs 13 oz (50th percentile) and 90th percentile for height. He did really well until it was time for shots. Only two this time so that was good, but still he always looks at me like "Why are you letting them do this to me???" He is fine a minute later, but still it isn't fun at the time.

He is crawling everywhere. He does not sit still unless he is sleeping. He is so curious which is a nice way of saying that he is nosey. He loves to eat and is getting 3 meals a day of fruit/veggies. He still has 4 bottles a day. The pediatrician told us to move on to whole milk now and he has done great with the transition (it is also nicer on the wallet to not spend $25 on a container of formula anymore too!). He loves to watch Tucker and Tucker loves to entertain, so it is a good system. We often tell Tucker to stay out of Luke's face that he is licking.

He is saying "Dadadadada" all the time, but "mamamamama" is no where close. That is fine though. You should see Eric's face when Lucas says "Da Da", it is so sweet.

This little boy is such a joy and I LOVE being his Mommy.

Iron Man 70.3 New Orleans/LJCC Memorial Day Triathlon/Buster Britton

On April 18th Eric competed in the Iron Man 70.3 in New Orleans. He went with his good friend Jason Carroll. This was a 1/2 Iron Man: 1.2 mile swim in Lake Ponchatrain (gross! although Eric said it wasn't bad), 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. He did great! Lucas was sick that weekend so we couldn't go cheer him on, but we were able to keep up with his progress via the IM website.

I am SO proud of him!! He has come so far with his training in the past year. You can see for yourself at his training website.

On Memorial Day, he competed in the LJCC Memorial Day Triathlon which was super-sprint race. He did a 200 yd swim, 8.5 mile bike, 2 mile run. Eric's parents came out to help Lucas and I cheer him on. It was a lot of fun. We went to the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham. Any one from the good ole days of Shades Cliff Swim Team (holla!) remember this facility? Well, let me just say that it is a fantastic facility (although the pool is very shallow so there is no diving). We had a great time. We stayed until the end and I am so glad that we did because Eric placed!! He came in 3rd in his division!! He got up on the podium...we were so excited!! Way to go Eric!!

On June 12th, Eric competed in the Buster Britton Triathlon at Oak Mountain, which was another sprint. He did a 400 yd swim, 13 mile bike, and the 5K run. Eric's mom, sister Melissa, and nephew Jackson came with Lucas and I to cheer him on. It was a lot of fun...but WOW it was hot!! We felt bad for the athletes having to compete in the heat/humidity. It is always fun to try to find Eric in the sea of racers (we all had a talk with him that he needs a new jersey that isn't all black so we can find him easier. He did great with this race too!

Grayton Beach

We went to the beach in April (gasp! I can't believe how far behind I am!) to celebrate Jackson's (our nephew) 4th birthday! We went to Grayton Beach, FL, which is right next to Sea Side. If you have heard of The Red Bar then this is Grayton. Eric's Aunt Debra has a gorgeous beach house right on the beach that she rents and then she also has a house that is a little off the beach. She owns a restaurant in Blue Mountain Beach off of 30A called JC's Off the Hook. If you are looking for an AMAZING restaurant that has a great family atmosphere this is the place to go. I promise it is not because I am biased...it really is fantastic!! Anyway, Eric and his family have been going to Grayton almost their entire lives and I fell in love with Grayton when Eric and I started dating way back in high school. If you are wanting to go to the beach without all the traffic, sitting on top of people at the beach, and want to have an amazing time with your family this is the beach for you!

Eric's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their two children (Jackson and Langdon), and Eric's grandparents went to the beach earlier in the week. Since I had JUST started my new job we couldn't go down until the weekend, but it was so much fun! This was Lucas' first time to get the sand in between his toes and he LOVED every thing!! He ate the sand by the fist full...even after several attempts to get him to stop (I promise we are not the type of parents to just let our son eat sand and not try to stop him.). Here are some pics from our trip: